Review Initial teacher education: What does it take to put equity at the center? Marilyn Cochran-Smith a, * , Fiona Ell b , Lexie Grudnoff b , Mavis Haigh b , Mary Hill b , Larry Ludlow a a Lynch School of Education, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, United States b Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, Symonds Street, Auckland 1150, New Zealand highlights  Four tasks involved in making equity the centerpiece of initial teacher education.  Task 1: Conceptualizing inequality/inequity and teacher education's role.  Task 2: Defining practice for equity.  Task 3: Creating equity-centered programs tailored to local history of inequality.  Task 4: Researching equity-centered teacher education. article info Article history: Received 14 October 2015 Received in revised form 24 February 2016 Accepted 10 March 2016 Available online 6 April 2016 Keywords: Teacher education Diversity Equity abstract This article addresses the question: What would it take to put equity front and center in initial teacher education? Drawing on research and innovative programming, the authors argue there are four essential tasks: conceptualizing educational inequality and the role of teacher education in challenging inequality; defining practice for equity; creating curricula and structures that are equity-centered and tailored to local patterns of inequality; and, engaging in research for local improvement and theory building about the conditions that support candidates' equity practice. The article conceptualizes each of these tasks and illustrates how they have been addressed in one context. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 68 2. Educational inequality and equity-centered initial teacher education ..................................................................... 69 2.1. Educational inequality as an international problem ................................................................................ 69 2.2. Equity and initial teacher education ................................................. ........................................... 69 2.2.1. A critical sociohistorical view of equity ............................................ ...................................... 69 2.2.2. Twin goals of teacher education for equity ............................................................................... 70 3. Teaching for equity as the goal of teacher education .................................................................................... 70 3.1. Effective practice/pedagogy for under-served students ............................................................................. 70 3.2. Practice for equity in teacher education ............................................... ......................................... 71 3.2.1. Practice for equity: six facets ................................................. .......................................... 71 3.2.2. Practice for equity and “the practice turn” ................................................................................ 72 4. Enacting equity-centered teacher education ................................................. .......................................... 72 4.1. The New Zealand context ...................................................................................................... 72 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: cochrans@bc.edu (M. Cochran-Smith), f.ell@auckland.ac.nz (F. Ell), l.grudnoff@auckland.ac.nz (L. Grudnoff), m.haigh@auckland.ac.nz (M. Haigh), mf.hill@ auckland.ac.nz (M. Hill), ludlow@bc.edu (L. Ludlow). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.03.006 0742-051X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Teaching and Teacher Education 57 (2016) 67e78