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Assessment of the impact of teacher professional development is seldom accomplished by asking their students. This study addresses whether self-reported changes in teacher practices align with their students’ perceptions of changes in teaching practices. Participants were 39 teachers from two US states that completed at least 15 teaching sessions totaling more than 3.5 hours of teacher professional development (practice teaching) inside the simulated teaching environment of simSchool. The goals of the professional development were remediation of implicit bias in teaching practices and fostering equity in teaching. Pre-post surveys were completed by the teachers before and after the professional development sessions. Concurrent pre and post surveys were administered to 800 of the teachers’ G3-12 students. This study presents the results of examining whether teacher-reported changes in their teaching practices can be shown to align with changes reported by their students. 

Assessment of the impact of teacher professional development is seldom accomplished by asking their students. This study addresses whether self-reported changes in teacher practices align with their students’ perceptions of changes in teaching practices. Participants were 39 teachers from two US states that completed at least 15 teaching sessions totaling more than 3.5 hours of teacher professional development (practice teaching) inside the simulated teaching environment of simSchool. The goals of the professional development were remediation of implicit bias in teaching practices and fostering equity in teaching. Pre-post surveys were completed by the teachers before and after the professional development sessions. Concurrent pre and post surveys were administered to 800 of the teachers’ G3-12 students. This study presents the results of examining whether teacher-reported changes in their teaching practices can be shown to align with changes reported by their students. 

To address the diversity of student differences, educators need to actively recognize and counter patterns of bias in their teaching practices as well as in their classroom environments. This paper presents a tool for educators that is scalable for developing equitable, culturally responsive teaching practices through implementation in a simulated teaching environment. 

Improving teaching strategies through a simulated teaching environment has been shown to improve teacher self-efficacy, teaching skills, classroom management and multicultural awareness. The current study is using the simulation program simSchool to help educators recognize possible implicit bias with the goal of recognizing, reflecting and reducing any biases that may exist. Framing effect bias was used to detect possible bias due to expectations for students who were differing in gender and English language learner status, but underlying characteristic and capabilities were the same. Simulation-captured data are used to understand the changes that occur as educators have the opportunity over multiple sessions to adjust their teaching strategies based on objective performance and feedback data provided by the system. 

Twenty-seven teachers and teacher candidates completed two to five iterations of a simulated teaching module in simSchool, an online “flight simulator for teachers” environment. The system recorded instances of pedagogical practices as educators completed each trial. Analysis of data revealed that as a group, gains in addressing core teaching standards across simulated teaching trials where significantly (p < .05) improved, when judged by changes in aggregate scores from first trial to last. Further analysis indicated that three trials are good, but five trials are better for maximizing gains. Limitations of the study include the small sample size (n = 27). Replication with a larger group of participants is planned. 

o improve teaching practices that encourage more culturally responsiveness to the diversity of classrooms, a simulated teaching program is being implemented to provide reflective feedback intended to reduce implicit biases that may exist. This birds-of-a-feather session is intended to explore ways to validate the use of artificial intelligence in the simulated teaching environment. Pilot data have been collected from year one of a three-year project and results indicate improvement in strategies to teach in a culturally responsive manner. Pre-post survey data as well as simulation-gathered data are being used to validate the simulator through changes in teachers’ perceptions. 

Improving teaching strategies through a simulated teaching environment has been shown to improve teacher self-efficacy, teaching skills, classroom management and multicultural awareness. The current study is using the simulation program to help educators recognize possible bias with the goal of recognizing, reflecting and remediating any biases that may exist. Both self-report survey data as well as simulation-captured data are used to understand the changes that occur as educators have the opportunity for many trials of teaching using feedback for improvement each time. 

Bias reduction in teaching practices is a key foundation for enabling future leaders of society to achieve their highest innate and positively nurtured potential. The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted disparities in learning and emphasized the importance of socio-emotional stability for the long-term well-being of students and teachers. This paper presents a tool for educators that is scalable for developing equitable, culturally responsive teaching practices through implementation in a simulated teaching environment that is adaptive, interactive and augmented. Research questions to be studied during a three-year project recently funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation are described and baseline statistics gathered from pretest surveys among the first year teacher participants are presented. 

Bias reduction in teaching practices is an important step in enabling students to achieve their best in the classroom and beyond. The simEquity project using the simSchool simulated teaching platform is focused on helping educators to recognize, reflect on and reduce implicit biases that may exist in their beliefs and teaching practices. The innovation playground session will introduce attendees to the project and allow them to experience the platform to see the possible impact the program can have in teacher education.