Although teacher diversity, teacher preparation, and student achievement are contemporary and overlapping issues, they have suffered from the absence of African American educational principles and traditions. African Americans cultivated a sophisticated system of developing and supporting numbers of African American teachers; however, U.S. sociopolitical tactics have suppressed this method, which presently, has obscured the potential of this approach to effectively respond to contemporary issues in teacher education. The authors of this article seek to address current dilemmas in recruiting and preparing a diverse teaching force by reorienting teacher education toward an underutilized resource—African American pedagogical excellence. This article outlines the core attributes of African American pedagogical excellence, including its historical genesis, and reveals ways public school desegregation has jeopardized the transcendence of African American pedagogical excellence within teacher education. The article concludes with possibilities and recommendations for moving African American pedagogical excellence from margin to center in teacher education.

This article explores practitioner inquiry and culturally relevant pedagogy to create academic success with students facing high school exit examinations in Reading. In Florida, about one-third of African American students passed the test in 2010. Student perspectives on achievement, school processes, and engagement were incorporated with strategic practice to create a collaborative, classroom environment. Culturally relevant pedagogy, literacy theory, and English language arts instruction were integrated with student’s perspectives in curriculum design and instruction.

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