Deans for Impact: Who we are and what we stand for 

In 2015, 24 leaders of educator preparation programs came together to answer a question: How might we transform educator preparation so the U.S. might one day be an international leader in preparing effective educators? 

The resulting organization, Deans for Impact, represents a diverse set of institutions — private research universities, former land grant colleges, historically black and Hispanic-serving institutions, and innovative, practice-focused programs. But what all members — including the authors of this piece — have in common is our commitment to principles that will elevate our own performance and that of our field. We have formed a network of educators who accept responsibility for the quality of our graduates: We want to use data to improve our programs and to change the dialogue about what it takes to prepare effective teachers. Educator preparation programs can do better.