On Monday, December 11, 2017, the Louisiana Department of Education announced that LSU and the University of Louisiana in Lafayette have been chosen to chair the Louisiana Educator Research Consortium, a network of teacher preparation providers from across the state interested in conducting research relative to educator preparation.

According to the Louisiana Department of Education, LSU and ULL will serve as co-chairs of the Louisiana Educator Research Consortium for five years. LSU and ULL will initially be tasked with:

• Establishing the process whereby an advisory board and member institutions are chosen, and choosing the board and member institutions;
• Setting the research agenda for 2018-2019, in consultation with the steering committee and the advisory board; and
• Organizing at least two meetings by April 2018 during which the advisory board will provide feedback on proposals relative to the Louisiana Teacher Preparation Quality Rating System, a system established by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in June 2017 to provide preparation providers with meaningful information for improvement, as required by federal regulations.

For more information on the long-term effects of this decision, you can read the full article, here.