Enhanced HBCU Teacher Preparation Role Discussed at U.S. Education Department Meeting: A national strategy to avert teacher shortages as well as improve overall teaching quality in U.S. public schools will include the participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as key players in the formulation of strategic policies, U.S. Education Department officials told a gathering of HBCU education school officials and HBCU presidents on Tuesday.
Noting that HCBU graduates account for 50 percent of African-Americans teaching in U.S. public schools, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said HBCUs will play a critical role in helping the United States meet the demand for new teachers in the coming decade.
“Education is the civil rights issue of our generation,” Duncan told attendees at the HBCU Teaching and Teacher Education Forum that was held at the U.S. Education Department.
The meeting, which was organized by the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, brought together many of the veterans of past teacher education programming and credentialing reforms to plot new strategies based on what one attendee called “an ideal moment in time.”"
