Preparing Texas Teachers Through Policy and Partnership
Texas is making new investments in how teachers are recruited, prepared, supported, and retained. As districts and educator-preparation programs begin implementing the PREP allotment—and as the 90th Legislature considers the next set of education priorities—important questions remain about what successful implementation will require and how colleges of education can help strengthen the state’s educator workforce.
UTEP College of Education Dean Clifton Tanabe and UT Austin College of Education Dean Daniel Hamlin join us to explore the roles colleges can play through high-quality preparation, research, district partnerships, and policy leadership. Drawing on lessons from UTEP’s pioneering teacher-residency work and both deans’ experience connecting evidence with public policy, the conversation will consider how Texas can turn promising investments into sustainable systems—and how collaborative networks such as LONESTARP3 can help research, practice, and policy work together on the challenges ahead.
Daniel Hamlin is Dean of the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin and an accomplished education policy scholar and leader. Before joining UT Austin in 2026, he served as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education, Presidential Professor of Education Policy at the University of Oklahoma, and founding director of the Oklahoma Center for Education Policy. His leadership has spanned teacher certification, cross-agency data systems, school finance, early literacy, and teacher-quality policy. Hamlin has authored more than 70 scholarly and applied publications and brings extensive experience connecting research, policy, and statewide education improvement.
Clifton S. Tanabe is Dean of the College of Education and Professor of Educational Leadership and Foundations at The University of Texas at El Paso. Under his leadership, UTEP has transformed teacher preparation through the Miner Teacher Residency, a yearlong, district-partnered model designed to prepare teachers who are ready to lead diverse classrooms from their first day. Tanabe has advised Texas policymakers on teacher preparation and the educator workforce, helping shape conversations that contributed to the PREP allotment. His scholarship focuses on education law and policy, educational access, and the transformative power of education.