Leading and Engaging Faculty in Teacher Preparation Reform: The Role of Deans

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This Special Issues Brief from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center in partnership with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education summarizes the experiences in leadership of six current and former deans who have been identified as engaging in successful collaborative reform efforts within their colleges. We look to their experiences to support leaders, like you, in understanding the actions they took and the strategies they employed that may be useful to other leaders of educator preparation programs (EPPs) who are committed to restructuring curricula and programs in their own settings. The leaders we showcase in this brief cultivated collaboration among general and special education faculty and supported them in developing innovative programs for meeting the needs of both general and special education teachers who share responsibility for teaching within diverse and inclusive classrooms, including classrooms with students with disabilities. Because few resources exist to support deans in their efforts to work with faculty to engage in this work, we believe the experiences of these leaders should be useful to other deans as they work toward similar outcomes.