2026 Spring Convening: Community-Engaged Educator Preparation: The Power of Learning in Context
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
12:00–3:00 p.m. ET
The Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) foregrounds the importance of rich, relational learning experiences—for youth in schools as well as in-service and preservice educators. This year, EdPrepLab’s Spring Convening invited participants to explore community-engaged educator preparation as a responsive approach to strengthening local relationships, elevating essential histories, and generating transformative possibilities for teaching, learning, and leading. Featured speakers from Tulane University and the Tate Etienne and Prevost (TEP) Center shared highlights from their work across the education sector in New Orleans, with a focus on implications for practice, preparation, and policy. All members of the EdPrepLab network and the general public were welcome to attend this very special event, featuring civil rights pioneer, Dr. Leona Tate.
12:00–1:15 p.m. ET | Members Only Session
During the members-only portion of the convening, participants discussed takeaways from EdPrepLab’s place-based site visits to New Orleans and Los Angeles, and engage in small group conversations about other pressing issues in educator preparation—such as artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, international research and collaboration, and SoLD as a shared lens for program design and policy engagement.
1:30–3:00 p.m. ET | Public Session
The public session featured a moderated panel of speakers from the TEP Center and Tulane University’s School of Professional Advancement, who shared examples about engaging the local community, schools, and teacher and leader candidates in experiential learning about the legacy of school desegregation in New Orleans and the United States.
Moderator
- Jessica Blum-DeStefano, Director of Practice and Professional Learning, EdPrepLab, and Leadership Faculty, Bank Street Graduate School of Education
Panelists
- Dr. Leona Tate, Founder and Executive Director, TEP Center
- Tremaine Knighten-Riley, Program Director, TEP Center
- Hazel S. Woods, Ph.D., Associate Program Director & Professor of Practice, Tulane University
- Brooke Grant, Ph.D., Senior Professor of Practice, Tulane University