This week, Education Dive took a look at how conversations around equity must begin with professional development and teacher prep programs. Also on the equity front, we explored UC-Irvine's strategic plan around becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution and its goal of seeing students in that population thrive.

Meanwhile in career and technical education, California is embarking on a push to rebrand those offerings — a move that could end up being interesting to states with free community college programs in particular. Could those states potentially promote CTE in particular to high school students uninterested in college as a free two-year extension of K-12 that will land them a higher-paying job in a specific field?

And in K-12, classroom design remains a hot topic as educators look for the right layout to promote innovation and productivity. Are the popular open layouts of today's hottest workplaces the way to go?

Be sure to check out our ISTE coverage, including an Alabama district's 6 steps to Chromebook success, and more in this week's most-read posts from Education Dive!

• 'I don't know how to lead for equity; that was not part of my program': As the current workforce inches closer to retirement, the national economy is dependent upon better serving groups we’ve traditionally ignored — and it starts with professional development.
• UC-Irvine brings intentionality to its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution: The University of California, Irvine, made becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution a goal in its strategic plan, and its aim is to help Latino students thrive.
• Alabama district shares 6 steps to Chromebook success at ISTE 2017: A trio of tech administrators shared best practices on issues ranging from device selection to networking, filtering and PD.
• Classroom design vital to ed tech innovation, productivity: Educators need to consider how classroom design can take advantage of innovations in ed tech, according to two individuals who completely redesigned a computer lab into an active learning environment.
• California launches CTE rebranding effort: California hopes to entice more students to consider career and technical education with a $6 million marketing effort, part of a larger effort by the state to expand such programs.

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