Jamia Thomas Richmond, Ph.D., and Suzanne Horn, Ph.D., professors in Coastal Carolina University’s Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences, have been selected to participate in the inaugural “Inquiry Initiative” sponsored by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) from July 29-Aug. 2, in Nashville, Tenn. The three-year initiative is an innovative, collaborative exploration of teacher education practices and research, focused on opportunity gaps in education. Opportunity gaps are defined as the unequal or inequitable distribution of resources and options individuals or groups encounter in schools, colleges and universities, and employment and professional contexts.

Richmond is a professor of special education an associate dean for academic affairs and student engagement; and Horn is an associate professor and coordinator of the M.A.T. program. The professors were among 80 university- and school-based teacher educators and education scholars from around the United States chosen to participate in the initiative.

Rachelle Rogers, Ph.D., president of ATE, described the rationale behind the development of this important new structure, “ATE is committed to exploring ways teacher education scholars and practitioners can impact the pressing teaching and learning challenges of our time. The Inquiry Initiative is a unique, sustainable, and collaborative structure that we believe can have that impact.”

The initiative aims to cultivate and support collaborative research inquiries across geographic and institutional contexts over a three-year span. Imagined as an alternative to the traditional “drive-thru” mode of professional engagement available via most academic conferences, the initiative will include sustained and sustainable professional partnerships that result in pedagogical innovations, research reports and presentations, and education policies.

ATE is the nation’s oldest professional organization dedicated to the preparation of teachers. It aims to promote advocacy, equity, leadership, and professionalism for teacher educators in all settings and supports quality education for learners at all levels. An individual membership organization, ATE enhances quality teacher education through both exemplary clinical practice and research.