Deans for Impact

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Deans for Impact

We work to ensure every student is taught by a well-prepared teacher. To learn more, visit deansforimpact.org.

Deans for Impact (DFI) is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure every child is taught by well-prepared teachers. We support educator-preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice; partner with policymakers to ensure pathways into teaching are instructionally-focused, practice-based, and accessible; and equip leaders with the tools to address toda

y’s most pressing challenges in educator preparation. Guided by principles of cognitive science, we aim to help aspiring and early-career teachers create rigorous and affirming classrooms where all children thrive.

09/03/2026

Anyone who's driven in Houston knows getting from point A to point B is rarely a straight line. The city's complex highway system is the product of decades of balancing competing needs. Implementing Texas's House Bill 2 shares many similarities.

HB2’s PREP Allotment is an unprecedented state investment in teacher preparation, with incentives for paid, practice-based pathways; stronger district-EPP partnerships; mentor support; and embedded instructional expectations in literacy and math. One of its goals is to reduce Texas's heavy reliance on uncertified teachers.

How have programs experienced the PREP Allotment so far? We visited three different programs serving the Greater Houston community to find out. Our two-part story also shares early insights from our statewide HB2 implementation survey, to be released later this fall.

Read the story here: https://www.deansforimpact.org/about/news-and-blog/2026/09/03/making-quality-accessible-how-houston-teacher-pathways-are-responding-to-new-hb2-funding-part-i

09/01/2026

Advocacy is a core leadership practice and often an act of courage. At the 2026 Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities (TECSCU) Fall Meeting next month, focused on the theme of Courageous Leadership, we’ll present a two-part series empowering leaders as advocates and effective communicators:

Part 1: Story of Self as an Advocate (Sunday, October 4)
We’re thrilled to help kick off the Fall Meeting with this session that takes place during the opening reception. Participants will use a "story of self" exercise to link their own leadership identity to a challenge they're facing right now, and walk away with a clearly defined advocacy problem to bring to Part 2.
Presenters: Amber Willis, VP of Program, and Stephanie Lund, Impact Academy Program Director

Part 2: Advocacy in Action (Monday, October 5)
Building on the challenge identified in Part 1, participants will use DFI’s 3C communications framework to practice and hone advocacy communications strategies they can adapt across settings, from faculty meetings to legislative rooms.
Presenter: Cece Zhou, Senior Director of Communications

Will we see you there? Register for the TECSCU Fall Meeting: https://www.uwlax.edu/ex/tecscu/

08/25/2026

"As busy education professionals, we can become consumed by meetings, daily urgent issues, and the like, leaving little time for reflection and growth…Coaching, mentoring, and support from others has helped me make challenging propositions attainable.”

An essential part of our Impact Academy fellowship for executive leaders of programs, our coaches are alumni of the fellowship who coach and mentor fellows as they navigate a broad range of contexts.

Our 2026-27 Impact Academy coaches are Afra Ahmed Hersi (Loyola University Maryland), Amy Smith (University of St. Thomas), Beth Quick (The University of Alabama in Huntsville), Carolyn Theard-Griggs (National Louis University), Janna Scarborough (East Tennessee State University), James Meadows, Ph.D., (Washington Education Association), Laura Lackner Saylor, Ph.D., (Mount St. Joseph University), Mark McDermott, University of Iowa.

Here are a few more reflections from them on the value of coaching and mentorship in the leader role:

💡 "Coaching supports a leader in clarifying their own thinking around a specific challenge... Deans benefit from both, given the range and pace of challenges the role presents."

💪 "What motivates me most about coaching and mentorship is watching others discover strengths they don't yet fully see in themselves."

Learn more about our Impact Academy fellowship and sign up to be informed when our next application cycle opens: https://www.deansforimpact.org/programming/for-educator-preparation-leaders/impact-academy

08/20/2026

Texas is working to build stronger, better-supported routes into the classroom so every student gets a great education, and we'd love to share this story of change at .

During the 2024–25 school year, Texas had about 40,000 uncertified teachers, a major increase from pre-pandemic numbers. House Bill 2 seeks to address this by encouraging ed-prep programs and PK-12 districts to rethink and redesign certification pathways and build more sustainable teacher workforce systems.

Our session will share concrete strategies for navigating these policy shifts, with takeaways other states and programs can learn from. Co-presenters include Minda Lopez (Texas State University), Fiza Mairaj (University of Houston), Carlos Villagrana (Houston Endowment), and our VP of Public Affairs, Patrick Steck.

Click the heart on our proposal by 8/23: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-edu/page/community-voting/session/1784907290744001JtkQ

08/19/2026

We're encouraged to see the American Enterprise Institute and Research ED launch a joint effort to expand the conversation on bringing the science of learning into teaching practice. "The Practice Project" builds on a simple premise: policy can create the conditions for success, but only excellent teaching can deliver it.

AEI Senior Fellow Robert Pondiscio shared: "Education has no shortage of opinions. What it often lacks is an accessible body of professional knowledge that practitioners can rely on to hone their craft."

By making learning science more accessible through a practice-based lens, we hope this project sparks new thinking about the instructional moves and decisions that can support stronger teaching and learning, from preparation to classrooms.

Learn more about the project here: https://www.aei.org/commentary/introducing-the-practice-project/

08/17/2026

This month, our team gathered in Chicago for our biannual staff retreat to center our greatest asset: our people.

As a fully remote organization, these in-person gatherings mean a lot to us. It’s a chance to step back with both joy and intention, creating space to reconnect, reflect, and strengthen how we work together. Over a few days, we made time for the conversations that are harder to fit into a screen: reexamining the values and structures that define how we work together, threading the needle across each other’s work, and building camaraderie over meals and local activities.

We left the Windy City feeling more connected and with a little more wind in our sails for the work ahead. ⛵

08/12/2026

As schools and states move quickly to adopt AI tools and develop guidance for their use, we’re pleased to announce we’re partnering with TeachingWorks to build a framework of competencies that will help novice teachers use strong instructional judgment in AI-enabled classrooms. The framework will serve as a practical resource that teacher-preparation programs, state leaders, and education organizations can use with novice and aspiring teachers, grounded in the science of learning.

Our CEO Valerie Sakimura shares: “By building a clear, coherent AI framework for and with educator-preparation programs, we can help ensure the future teacher workforce is responsive to evolving educational needs, while staying focused on the strong human judgment and excellent teaching students need to thrive.”

Francesca Forzani, Deputy Director of TeachingWorks, added: "The instructional decisions that teachers make every day—interpreting and responding to student thinking in the moment, facilitating classroom discourse, and building relationships with students—remain central. This framework will help educator-preparation programs identify the knowledge, skills, and professional judgment new teachers need to use AI in service of excellent instruction, not in place of it.”

Supported by the Gates Foundation, the project will also produce recommendations for coursework, field experiences, and licensure changes, plus case studies from early-adopting PK-12 districts, states, and ed-prep programs.

Read the full press release: https://www.deansforimpact.org/about/news-and-blog/2026/08/12/deans-for-impact-and-teachingworks-to-produce-ai-framework-for-teacher-preparation

08/10/2026

We'd love your vote to bring our panel to next year!

Leaders across Texas are redesigning teacher preparation programs in response to House Bill 2 policies aimed at addressing teacher shortages and increasing the number of certified teachers in the state. Stronger, better-supported pathways into the classroom ensure every student gets well-prepared teachers.

This panel brings together researchers and leaders who are working hand-in-hand to advance impactful solutions, including Minda Lopez (Texas State University), Fiza Mairaj (University of Houston), Carlos Villagrana (Houston Endowment), and our VP of External Affairs, Patrick Steck. Together, they'll share data and real-world stories on how HB2, cross-sector partnerships, and redesigned pathways can help rebuild Texas' teaching workforce.

Want to see this panel at SXSW EDU? Cast your vote!

Click the heart on our proposal here: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-edu/page/community-voting/session/1784907290744001JtkQ

08/06/2026

One of the most important challenges in education is translating learning science research into classroom practice. New guides by former DFI staff member Rebekah Berlin, published by Student Achievement Partners, make evidence-informed instructional practices for multilingual learners concrete and actionable, with examples drawn from high-quality instructional materials:

Literacy: https://schusterman.widen.net/s/vldn722srx/strengthening-literacy-instruction-for-multilingual-lear

Mathematics: https://schusterman.widen.net/s/glrrpkcvwl/strengthening-mathematics-instruction-for-multilingual-l

Learn more and access supplemental resources here:
https://learnwithsap.org/multilingual-learners-resources-to-support-every-language-learner/

08/03/2026

Want to help shape the next chapter of educator preparation? We’re growing our Board of Directors and looking for candidates who bring relevant professional expertise, a strong commitment to our mission, and the capacity to provide thoughtful oversight and leadership.

As a member of our Board, you’ll join a respected group of thoughtful and strategic leaders committed to ensuring every student is taught by well-prepared teachers. Read reflections from current board members about why they're energized by the work at DFI.

We welcome nominations and expressions of interest through August 7:https://www.deansforimpact.org/files/assets/boardmemberdfidescription.pdf

Address

2028 E Ben White Boulevard #240-5417
Austin, TX
78741

Telephone

+15125965417

Website

http://www.deansforimpact.org/

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