Framing Teacher Equity to Provide Equitable Access to Excellent Educators

• In Event: 68.060 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 68.060-13 - Disrupting Commodification and Privatization: Critical Examinations of Policies That Reify Education Inequities

Abstract

Disparities in teacher quality has been persistently reported as a barrier to educational opportunity. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education enacted The Equitable Access to Excellent Educators to mitigate disparities in teacher quality. While there are several root causes of teacher quality disparities, a rigorous definition of teacher equity must go beyond accountability frameworks. This paper unpacks teacher equity as a form of cultural politics and relies on the Texas context to rethink how teacher equity is complicated by the political economy of teacher education and preparation as well as teacher representation. To offer a more succinct analysis, I present a critical framing of teacher equity as a competing discourse of power, economics/resources, race, and context/situation.

Author

• Andrene Castro, The University of Texas - Austin