As the student population in our schools becomes increasingly diverse, many teachers need professional development to build cultural competencies: the skills and awareness related to issues such as culture, language, race, and ethnicity. To address this need, the Cultural Proficiency Institute for Educators (CPIE) has been established at San Diego State University within the College of Education. CPIE is a collaborator with the Minor in Cultural Proficiency.

Goals

CPIE’s goals are to provide current research-based information on cultural competencies that will help inform the design of professional development. This resource will be designed for higher education, state-, and district-level educators and professional developers who are preparing teachers to work with students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 

Commitments 

The institute’s multi-faceted commitments are to measure and assess cultural competency, by creating self-assessment tools, instruments, and processes to identify strengths and challenges in implementing cultural proficiency training programs.