BOSTON, MA—Teach Plus today released Profiles in Educator Courage, a compilation of resources that underscores teachers’ leadership in supporting immigrant and refugee students and their families. A recent Teach Plus survey found that teachers overwhelmingly support the continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, and that a majority of teachers, districts, and schools are taking steps to provide all children, regardless of their country of birth, equal access to education.
“Teachers nationwide are showing extraordinary leadership in making sure that their schools and classrooms are places where every student feels accepted and supported,” said Dr. Celine Coggins, Teach Plus Founder and CEO. “By using a variety of strategies, teachers are educating a generation of children who can connect with each other and understand each other’s unique experiences.”
Profiles features examples of a range of actions that teachers, schools, and districts are undertaking, such as providing trainings for students, parents, and teachers and helping students access DACA benefits; helping immigrant and refugee students access higher education; and helping all students understand and process current events. Profiles includes links to resources such as fact sheets, resource guides, materials to share with students and their families, and scholarship information.
“We work hard to meet students where they are, providing strong supports for students who are English language learners, translation services for families, and abundant targeted supports for students’ individual particular needs,” wrote a teacher from Massachusetts. “We’ve also begun to have regular conversations as a staff about race and culture and about understanding students from various backgrounds. We make sure every student feels that they belong and that they are part of our community.”
To illustrate teachers’ views on immigration policy, Profiles highlights the results from a recent Teach Plus flash poll on DACA. The policy drew broad support among educators: 89 percent of teachers supported its continuation. When it came to taking steps to provide equal access to education, 66 percent, or the majority of teachers, reported that their districts were doing so. The poll drew 681 responses from teachers in both charter and district public schools nationwide.
About Teach Plus
Teach Plus empowers excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. Teach Plus programs are designed to place highly effective teachers at the center of improvements in schools as leaders of their peers and outside schools influencing policy decisions that affect their classrooms. Since its inception in August 2007, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 23,000 solutions-oriented teachers across the country. www.teachplus.org
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