Visibility Matters: Higher Education and Teacher Preparation in Illinois – A Web-based Assessment of LGBTQ Presence

How visible are LGBTQ issues in programs that prepare educators to work in schools across Illinois? Which institutions include sexual orientation and gender identity in their policies? Are sexual orientation and gender identity identified in teacher education programs' conceptual frameworks? The Pre-Professional Preparation Project (P-Project) seeks to answer these questions and to report the results via the Visibility Matters report cards. Using only data available from university and college websites, the Visibility Matters report cards evaluate the public face of pre-professional programs across Illinois. This paper describes the project's rationale and goals, history, current status, and potential future directions.