Silver City, NM – The Western New Mexico University School of Education elementary programs received an A+ for diversity in the 2020 Teacher Prep Review, which is published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a body that researches, evaluates, and ranks 2,400 teacher preparation programs.

Programs only earn this grade when the percentage of enrolled candidates of color (60% for WNMU) exceeds the diversity of the state teacher workforce (46% for New Mexico) by at least 10 percentage points and also meets or exceeds the diversity of the local population (54% persons of color for WNMU).WNMU is found to be 13.8% more diverse than the New Mexico teacher workforce and 6.5% more diverse than the local population.The A+ grade indicates that the WNMU School of Education contributes significantly to the diversification of the teacher workforce. 

“A diverse teacher workforce benefits all students. We are proud to be preparing teachers who are ready to make positive impacts on a rapidly diversifying student population,” said Dr. Debra J. Dirksen, Associate Dean of the WNMU School of Education.

The NCTQ’s reworked program diversity standard includes state teacher workforce data, Title II enrollment figures, and new methodology to better reflect programs’ contribution to a diverse workforce.

[cutline] A teacher in training at Western New Mexico University, which recently earned an A+ for program diversity, interacts with area school children.