Petaluma Regional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Residency Implementation

To meet the demand for bilingual teachers that represent their diverse communities and special education (SPED) teachers in California public schools, Petaluma City Schools, Old Adobe Unified School District, and South County Consortium in partnership with Sonoma State University’s (SSU) School of Education (SOE), will develop a collaborative partnership, the Petaluma Regional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Residency (PRDEIR). The goal is to provide teacher candidates in the shortage areas of bilingual education, TK/K, and SPED, including an emphasis on diversifying the teacher workforce, with the opportunity to participate in an intensive teacher residency program instead of a traditional student teaching placement to be well-prepared and highly effective teachers for our local contexts. Another critical goal of this partnership is to prepare preservice teachers and their mentors to identify and address issues of race, racism, and homophobia in learning settings and facilitate residents' engagement in anti-racist/anti-bias teaching practices to create classroom cultures based on principles of equity and inclusion.