Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity (BranchED), also known as the MEB Alliance, is a left-of-center advocacy group that seeks to increase minority representation in the teaching sector. Drawing on research from Rutgers University, the National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, BranchEd seeks to increase minority representation among the teachers in institutions that serve racial and ethnic minorities, citing research that suggest that minority students perform better when their teachers are of the same ethnicity. ¹ This group is a recipient of funds from MacKenzie Scott’s multi-billion dollar grant pledge. ²

Guide to Inclusive Instruction

BranchED’s online pamphlet “Inclusive Instruction: Rubric & Guide for Implementation” encapsulates the organization’s approach to increasing minority teaching representation. The document centers around the intersection of racial, religious, and gender identities and is broken down into nine sections called “criteria.” Criterion 7 encourages the fostering of “critical perspectives in teacher candidates.” The text states that developing a critique against certain school systems “empowers” the teacher candidate to create a more equitable educational experience for students. It then asserts some systems that are open to critique, which include English-only classrooms, valuation of Whiteness, and “ableness.” Criterion 9 encourages teaching from historical perspectives centered around “marginalized groups” instead of the more common “White, euro-centric” perspective. ³

The document also encourages teachers to become involved in activism when they witness an injustice, and to work for religious, socioeconomic, and sexual diversity with regard to both to teaching materials they use and those who present them. ⁴

Transformation Centers

BranchEd coordinates a three-year teacher preparation project called Transformation Centers, aimed to improve educator diversity by “explicitly infusing equity into programming.” These programs are aimed at K-12 and college facilities. Participating universities from its second group (known as the second ‘cohort’) include Texas A&M International University, Virginia State University, and Mount St. Mary’s University. ⁵

California’s University of La Verne and its Pomona Unified School District are also participants of this program, which includes a $400,000 grant. Part of the strategy included a shift from standardized testing of incoming college students toward a subject “waiver” system to “help knock down structural barriers.” ⁶

Research Fellowships and Resources

In addition to publishing a newsletter and its own research and teacher preparation materials, BranchEd hosts webinars and in-person conventions. BranchEd’s website also hosts a Resource Portal that provides teacher training courses. Topics include “Self-Assessing Linguistic Biases,” “Introduction to Translanguaging in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms,” and “Hegemonies of English and Ways for Teacher Educators to Counter Them in School Settings.” ⁷

BranchEd also hosts an Emerging Research Fellows Program, aimed at producing minority scholars, with a focus on those who amplify minority-serving organizations and programs. Fellowships are awarded to post-graduate and working faculty candidates.  All three fellows chosen for 2021-2023 had done post-graduate work centered around racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. ⁸

People

Cassandra P. Herring is the founder and president of BranchEd. She is the former dean of the school of Education and Human development at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. She was a member of the Deans for Impact program in Austin, Texas, a year-long project that sought to produce more effective minority educators. ⁹

Frank L. Gettridge is the chairman of the board at BranchEd. He is the executive director at the National Public Education Support Fund, where is he is also former co-chair of the Racial Equity Working Group. Gettridge is also the former National Lead of Program Strategies for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. ¹⁰

1.  “What We Know.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/evidence/
2. Scott, MacKenzie. “Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All.” Medium. March 23, 2021. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9
3. Lisic, Elizabeth et al. “Inclusive Instruction: Rubric & Guide for Implementation.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Inclusive-Instruction-Rubric-Implmentation-Guide.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=abfce9c1-3ab3-41bf-8602-cf7338434393
4. Lisic, Elizabeth et al. “Inclusive Instruction: Rubric & Guide for Implementation.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Inclusive-Instruction-Rubric-Implmentation-Guide.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=abfce9c1-3ab3-41bf-8602-cf7338434393
5.  “Teacher Preparation Programs at Six Minority Serving Institutions Transform Teacher Preparation by Explicitly Infusing Equity into Programming.” BranchEd. Feb. 10, 2021. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Transf-Ctr-Cohort2_.pdf
6. ^[1] Rojas, Javier. “University of La Verne Receives $400,000 Grant to Boost Diversity Among Teachers.” Daily Bulletin. February 24, 2021. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/02/24/university-of-la-verne-receives-400000-grant-to-boost-diversity-among-teachers/
7. “Resource Portal.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://resources.educatordiversity.org/
8. “Research.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/emerging-research-fellows/
9. “Cassandra P. Herring.” Linkedin. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-cassandra-herring-8b462415/
10. “Who We Are.” BranchEd. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.educatordiversity.org/board-members/