Review of (Re)designing programs: A vision for equity-centered, clinically based teacher preparation

As a novice teacher on an alternative route to licensure, I did not question if individuals who looked and sounded like me belonged in the front of a high school classroom. I am a White female. In the 1999-2000 school year, my race and gender represented 84% and 75% of the teaching force in U.S. public schools (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2021). That was early in my career. In 2017-2018, soon after I left PK-12 for higher education, 79% of teachers were White and 76% were female (NCES, 2020). Yet the representation of White students in public schools fell from 61% in 2000 to 49% in 2015 (NCES, 2020). While the student population diversified racially, the demographics of the teaching force remained largely the same. So did my attitudes toward cultural awareness.