A Natural Fit: Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teacher Pipelines

Our report, A Natural Fit: Supporting After-School Staff of Color in Teacher Pipelines, examines the experiences of current and former teacher candidates of color with after-school or OST experience to provide insights into how teacher preparation programs and state policymakers can create the right programmatic experiences and conditions to recruit after-school/OST staff into the teaching profession and prepare them for success.

We focus specifically on the experiences of candidates in what are considered non-traditional preparation pathways, such as teacher residencies and Grow Your Own programs. These programs tend to attract and retain a more diverse pool of teachers, with deeper connections to local school communities than traditional teacher education pathways.