Eastern Michigan University was one of five universities to be chosen for the statewide competitive Educator Preparation Provider Collaborative.
EPP is a two-year, statewide initiative by Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative to strengthen Educator Preparation programs at colleges and universities.
“This was a competitive process statewide and the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, or MEWI, invited EPPs from across the state. Colleges and Universities compete to participate in this EPP collaborative," said Ryan Evely Gildersleeve, dean of the College of Education at EMU. "We participated in a round-table sort of introduction to what the collaborative could be, what opportunities, who else might be involved, earlier in the fall semester."
The EPP Collaborative enables schools to improve their Educator Preparation Programs through collaboration with other universities. Participants are able to share data, are provided with technical assistance and are able to build higher quality apprentice programs, among other benefits, according to Deans for Impact.
Deans for Impact is an organization that supports college EPP programs throughout the country.
“We were extremely motivated to submit a proposal, and that proposal effort was really led by Dr. Yukari Amos, who is the associate dean of the College of Education, as well as Dr. Jackie McGinnis who is the department head for the Special Education and Communication Sciences and Disorders Department, and also Dr. Wendy Burke the department head for Teacher Education,” Gildersleeve said.
EMU’s EPP program has two goals in mind while participating in this collaborative, Gildersleeve said.
Their first goal is to strengthen relationships with transfer students from community colleges across the state. EMU strives to achieve a friendlier, more holistic approach to supporting transfer students’ success in their Education Preparation Program, Gildersleeve said.
Their second main goal is to strengthen workforce partnerships for future educators.
The EPP Collaborative is facilitated through MEWI with the help of two other organizations, EdPrep Partners and 2Revolutions.
EdPrep Partners is an organization that provides guidance and technical assistance to EPP programs at colleges and universities. EdPrep Partners aims to strengthen faculty, supervisors, programs leaders and course work, as well as guiding EPPs through the planning and execution of their educator preparation.
2Revolutions is an organization that brings together communities of educators throughout the country. 2Revolutions work toward three main goals: transforming the student experience, empowering educators and aligning system conditions.
EMU will be collaborating with Northern Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Western Michigan University and Michigan State University.
“We don't often have structured ways to deeply share and learn from our peers across the state, and we certainly wouldn't be able to afford the high-caliber technical assistance from 2Revoltions and EdPrep Partners and without the support from MEWI, the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative, and this Educator Preparation Provider Collaborative,” Gildersleeve said. “We see this in part as a recognition of our legacy of leadership in educator preparation in the state of Michigan and we’re proud to be carrying that legacy forward.”
