A new report has shed light on the Southern Poverty Law Center's influence in American colleges, revealing its educational materials are being used to train future K-12 teachers in 38 states. The report comes as Congress and federal investigators intensify their focus on the organization.
Researchers examined 100 colleges of education and uncovered the SPLC's Learning for Justice, formerly Teaching Tolerance, and the group's Social Justice Standards embedded into teacher preparation programs nationwide. The report found that these materials are being incorporated into required education courses, teacher candidate handbooks, student teacher evaluations, lesson planning assignments, departmental frameworks, and professional development for educators.
The report argues that colleges help shape what future teachers bring into classrooms and that many universities keep their use of Learning for Justice materials out of public view. "Few COEs outwardly acknowledge their use of SPLC materials; instead, many COEs hide their usage and promotion behind faculty login pages," the report said.
The report points to multiple universities, highlighting how the standards have worked their way into courses, pre-service programming, and K-12 classrooms indirectly. For example, California State University, Sacramento's College of Education requires pre-service teachers to incorporate Social Justice Standards into coursework, lesson planning, classroom instruction, and professional evaluations.
Other universities, such as William & Mary's School of Education, also require pre-service teachers to incorporate the standards into their work. Western Washington University evaluates student teachers on integrating the standards into lesson planning, and Brandeis University guides its "Teaching for Social Justice" teacher education program using the standards.
The standards have also reached graduate programs, grant-funded initiatives, and state policy. The University of Maryland College of Education incorporates them into one of its teacher leadership master's degree programs, and the Maryland State Department of Education includes them in new teacher induction regulations.
Researchers also reviewed taxpayer-funded initiatives, including a $275,000 National Science Foundation grant supporting Northern Arizona University's project and a $3.3 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to Claremont Graduate University. The grant proposal for the latter said it would introduce Fellows to the following core social justice teaching ideas and practices, including the "Social Justice Standards from Teaching Tolerance."
The report comes after the Justice Department filed an 11-count indictment against the organization in April, alleging it defrauded donors by concealing millions of dollars in payments to confidential informants operating within extremist groups. The SPLC Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair denied any wrongdoing during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in June.
The report's findings have sparked concerns about the influence of the SPLC's materials on education and the potential for politically charged ideologies to be promoted in classrooms. Defending Education Director of Research Rhyen Staley said, "Pre-service teachers should not be forced to adhere to or promote politically charged ideologies to obtain a degree. Furthermore, students and their families deserve an educational experience that is free of political bias and promotes balanced viewpoints."
