The CREATE Project
CREATE residents report lower levels of teacher burnout, higher levels of self-compassion and higher levels of stress management in teaching, relative to the comparison group teachers (source).
89% of a recent cohort of CREATE reported being very or extremely confident in their understanding of race- and equity-related concepts in schools, compared to 67% of comparison teachers (source).
An external evaluation found a positive and statistically significant impact of CREATE on teacher retention for Black educators. Specifically, 96% of Black educators in CREATE continued into their second year of teaching, compared to 63% of Black educators in a comparison group (source).
The CREATE Project at a Glance
The CREATE Project is a partnership between Georgia State University and Atlanta Public Schools.
This project serves teacher candidates from the university as they move into the field of teaching at Atlanta Public Schools (APS), with the aim of supporting critically conscious, compassionate and highly skilled educators dedicated to practices of teaching that prioritize deep joy and thriving in schools.
CREATE approaches this work with five goals in mind:
- recruit, support and retain early career educators
- design and enact transformative learning experiences and professional development opportunities for experienced educators in the schools where CREATE residents are placed, and to the district and community at large
- sustain effective and financially viable models for educator recruitment, support and retention
- ensure all research efforts are designed to benefit partner organizations and support useful dissemination
- ensure the CREATE Project remains focused on the realization of its mission and vision via a culture of continuous improvement, transparency and freedom dreaming
How we do the work
Residency
Research
Community Engagement and Continuing Edu (CECE)
Sustainability and Operations (S&O)
Our Current Funders
Upcoming Events
2nd Annual CRP Institute: Family and Community Engagement
Friday, September. 29, 2023: 8:30a-4pm @ GSU College of Law
Open to the public!
Join us at our 2nd Annual Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Institute! This year’s theme is Family and Community Engagement, CRP and My Practice.
We are excited to come and learn together as we continue connecting the dots of our culturally relevant pedagogy journeys across all aspects of our work. This 2nd annual institute is not a place for you to ‘sit and receive’ information- we have intentionally designed this institute to be a space for us all to actively participate in sharing our learnings across our positions in this work.
Register now! Registration closes September 22, 2023.
Open to the public!
Register Here!
Metro-Atlanta Area Male Educator of Color Convening
Saturday, September 30, 2023 @ The GSU College of Education and Human Development
Open to the public!
The Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship-Atlanta and The CREATE Project are excited to continue partnering on the next Metro-Atlanta Male Educator of Color Convening. Join us as we continue the conversations and work we we discussed at our last convening in May 2023.
Register here!
(CREATE PD) CREATE 101: Thinking through your educational space, place, and practice
October 16-17 and November 6-7, 2023 (4 days total)
Open to the public!
This retreat introduces participants to The CREATE Project’s framework for supporting experienced educators and educational leaders as they:
- navigate the profound challenges and current education climate
- pause and think deeply about who they are personally and professionally in their educational setting
- explicitly connect their work to the CREATE Project approach to supporting education in Atlanta
Through highly interactive learning experiences, guest speakers, a place-based learning experience and more, participants in CREATE 101 will:
- learn new ways to remember, explore and develop their disposition, skills and embodiment practices related to their work
- develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the historical and current Atlanta education ecosystem landscape
- look at work in Critical Friendship, facilitate professional dilemma presentations, and engage in dialogue imperative to transforming education
Register here!
(CREATE PD) Healing Centered Justice
October 23-24 and November 13-14, 2023 (4 days total)
Open to the public!This highly interactive and research-based learning experience empowers teachers and leaders to develop a healing–centered framework that they can incorporate into their professional practice.
Despite a wide range of constraints and profound challenges that schools and educators are facing, this learning experience seeks to better understand the specific needs of educators in order to provide tailored support for them within the education ecosystem.
Through guest speakers, art and music creation, wellness-focused cooking, engagements with nature and more, participants will:
- ENGAGE in an offering of time and space to work deeply while fostering supportive community engagements within their classrooms and schools
- FOCUS on integrating well-being practices into the content curriculum and interactions with their students and colleagues
- LEARN how to incorporate healing practices into their teaching and daily engagements while dialoguing with relevant laws and guidelines
- CREATE their own healing–centered frameworks that they can incorporate into their own contexts
This retreat will provide educators with tools and resources to nurture healing environments and care within their educational settings, benefiting their personal well-being and professional practice.
Register here!
Critical Residency Convening
Friday, March 1 through Saturday, March 2, 2024
Downtown Atlanta
In Spring 2024, CREATE will be hosting a Critical Residency Convening designed to bring together folks interested in taking up what it means to take a critical turn in teacher residency work. Call for proposals is now open.
Contact Us
CREATE Co-Directors
- Camea Davis, Ph.D. – Director of Research
- Carina Freeman, M.Ed. – Director of Residency
- Dana E. Salter, M.Ed. – Director of Community Engagement and Continuing Education
- Flavia Gordon-Gunter, Ed.S. – Director of Residency
- LaCretia Plane, MBA – Director of Sustainability and Operations
- Stephanie Behm Cross, Ph.D. – Principal Investigator
College of Education & Human Development
Atlanta, GA 30303
