06 Feb2019
By Conra D. Gist
On February 21, the Third Annual Diversified Teaching Workforce Institute (DTW) will convene teacher educators, aspiring teachers, school leaders and deans from across the nation to address one of the most pressing teacher education issues—diversifying the teacher workforce. Over 200 people, including the AACTE Holmes and Networked Improvement Community Members, have joined DTW Topical Action Group (TAG) members in Tampa, FL and Baltimore, MD at the first two Institutes. The Third Annual DTW Institute, part of the 2019 AACTE Annual Meeting Preconference, is organized by leaders of the DTW TAG, with the support of AACTE’s Member Engagement and Support team.
The Institute will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The morning activities will begin with opening comments by Marvin Lynn, College of Education Dean at Portland State University and be followed by an opening plenary, “Examining Teacher Diversity Across U.S. Policy Contexts,” to explore current teacher diversity initiatives and policies taking place in various states committed to addressing the recruitment and retention of teachers of color in the profession. Following the opening panel, the morning will offer four concurrent breakouts sessions by teacher diversity experts in growing your own initiatives, culturally responsive pedagogy, and program development focused on strategies and approaches that they are utilizing at their home institutions.
06 Feb2019
By Kelly Hinchcliffe
This article and photo originally appeared on wral.com and are reprinted with permission.
Muhammed Clemons, a Winston-Salem State University elementary education major, says he struggled with the way some teachers handled his disobedience when he was a child. That inspired him to become a teacher and be a role model to his future students, especially those who struggle in school like he did.
NC’s colleges of education: Student diversity
North Carolina’s 46 colleges of education enrolled more than 51,000 students in their undergraduate programs from 2011 to 2017. Search the database below to see how many students each college’s undergraduate education program enrolled by race and gender during those years. The data include both public and private colleges.
05 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE is delighted to announce Butler University College of Education as the recipient of the 2019 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives for its Global Network for Teacher Preparation program. Kelli Esteves, Butler College of Education (COE) associate professor and global coordinator, will be presented with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
Butler’s Global Network for Teacher Preparation is a comprehensive program designed to bring international and multicultural perspectives into their teaching through experiential learning in other countries. Made up of local and global partners, the network has sent faculty and students around the world and has hosted educators on Butler’s campus and in its lab schools from Sweden, Colombia, Italy, Australia, and China to ensure its teacher candidates are exposed to international perspectives and curriculum. The network’s local partners include the College of Education’s two Reggio-inspired Lab Schools, Shortridge International Baccalaureate World School (lab high school) and Butler’s Center for Global Education. Global partners are the Institutes of Higher Education student exchange partners, including Uppsala University, Sweden, University of Tasmania, and the Education University of Hong Kong; and School partner for student and educator exchange—Vallentuna Gymnasium in Sweden.
05 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability has selected Jane S. Bray as the recipient of the 2019 AACTE Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education. Bray, dean of the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, will be presented with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
The Pomeroy Award, named for longtime AACTE Executive Director Edward C. Pomeroy, recognizes distinguished service either to the educator preparation community or to the development and promotion of outstanding practices in educator preparation at the collegiate, state, or national level.
Bray joined the AACTE Board of Directors in 2013 as a representative of the Advisory Council for State Representatives (ACSR), a coalition of leaders from AACTE’s state chapters. During her tenure on the AACTE Board, she was elected to serve as a member of the AACTE Executive Committee. She became chair of the AACTE Board in March 2016 and led the national search for the next president and chief executive officer of AACTE. Bray chaired the national search committee while completing her normal responsibilities as board chair. This daunting task included leading interactions with the search committee and the AACTE Board of Directors, and managing the intricacies of a national search that included a wide range of individuals and constituents. Bray is being honored for her exceptional contributions to AACTE at a time of great significance and importance to the Association.
05 Feb2019
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE is delighted to announce the selection of Millennial Teachers of Color, by Mary E. Dilworth to receive the 2019 AACTE Outstanding Book Award. The award will be presented at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting Closing Session, February 24, in Louisville, KY.
The volume, published in 2018 by Harvard Education Press, explores the opportunities and challenges for creating and sustaining a healthy teaching force in the United States. Millennials are the largest generational cohort in American history, with approximately 90 million members and, of these, roughly 43 percent are people of color. This publication offers a fresh look at these millennials and explores their views of the teaching profession, focuses attention on their relation to schools and teaching and considers how these young teachers feel about teaching for social justice.
05 Feb2019
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE will honor announced Emily Evans Fanaeian as the recipient of the 2019 AACTE Outstanding Dissertation Award for Preparing Pre-service Teaches for Working with Linguistically Diverse Students: Examining University Teacher Preparation Programs Across the United States. The author completed her dissertation for the Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and is now the interim director of English as a Second Language/Bilingual Graduate Programs for the School of Education at Edgewood College (Madison, WI). She will be recognized formally with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
In her dissertation, Evans Fanaeian designed an ambitious multiple case study to examine the ways in which university-based teacher education programs take up the task of preparing general education teacher candidates to provide instruction to English learners. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Director of Teacher Education Center, Kimber Wilkerson, explained: “Dr. Evans Fanaeian’s dissertation research provides many important implications for teacher education. Acknowledging the importance of preparing general educators to meet the needs of the wide diversity of learners in our schools, Dr. Evans Fanaeian designed an ambitious multiple case study to examine the ways in which university-based teacher education programs take up the task of preparing general education teacher candidates to provide instruction to English learners. In this study, she surfaces the very real local and contextual constraints that teacher educators face when attempting to add complexity to teacher preparation programs. This is particularly important at a time when teacher preparation programs face pressure to reduce the time and cost toward degree. Dr. Evans Fanaeian’s research provides insightful guidance to teacher educators considering different approaches to incorporating new content. Her recommendations for practice are thoughtful as well as pragmatic, and could be applied conceptually to other types of expertise beyond educating English learners.”
05 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE is delighted to announce the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) College of Education is the recipient of the 2019 AACTE Best Practice Award for Innovative Use of Technology for its iPad Mobile Initiative program. Donna Wake, associate dean of UCA’s College of Education, will be presented with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
The UCA College of Education is in its third year of implementing the intensive 1:1 mobile technology initiative for all undergraduates in its initial preparation programs. Beginning in fall 2016, students who were enrolled in the university’s undergraduate elementary, special education, middle level, and all secondary education programs were immersed in the mobile technology initiative. The iPads devices were formally listed as a College of Education curriculum requirement, and students were able to purchase the devices at the education rate.
“Vision isn’t something you declare. It’s something you build. The mobile learning initiative has given our school the opportunity to transform traditional approaches into a commitment to active learning, increased student voice, and accessibility,” said Victoria Groves-Scott, dean, UCA College of Education. “This has been especially important as we strive to prepare the teachers of tomorrow to educate students who live in an increasingly interconnected and information-saturated world. Through contextual analysis and application, we aim for our students to be creators and designers of learning opportunities rather than simply as carriers of information.”
05 Feb2019
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE has chosen an article by Melanie M. Acosta of the University of Alabama, Michele Foster of the University of Louisville, and Diedre F. Houchen of the University of Florida, as recipients of the 2019 AACTE Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education Article Award. Their article, “Why Seek the Living Among the Dead? African American Pedagogical Excellence: Exemplar Practice for Teacher Education,” was published in the September/October 2018 issue of the journal and will be recognized formally with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
In this article, the authors address current dilemmas in recruiting and preparing a diverse teaching force by reorienting teacher education toward an underutilized resource—African American pedagogical excellence. This article outlines the core attributes of African American pedagogical excellence, including its historical genesis, and reveals ways public school desegregation has jeopardized the transcendence of African American pedagogical excellence within teacher education. The article concludes with possibilities and recommendations for moving African American pedagogical excellence from margin to center in teacher education.
05 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability has selected Kelly C. Henson to receive the 2019 AACTE David G. Imig Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education. Henson, who in January 2019 retired as the executive secretary at the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, will be presented with the award at the AACTE 71st Annual Meeting, February 22-24, in Louisville, KY.
The Imig Award, named for AACTE President and CEO Emeritus David G. Imig, recognizes distinguished achievement in the formulation, implementation, or analysis of teacher education policy, or in the performance of distinguished scholarship in educator preparation.
Since 2007, Henson has led substantive educator preparation policy, certification, and ethics reform efforts in his role at the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. During his distinguished career of over 45 years in education, he also served as the superintendent of schools in Floyd County, principal of Walton High School, principal of Pope High School and associate superintendent in Marietta City Schools in Georgia. He has contributed to the statewide and national implementation of tiered certification, preparation program effectiveness measures (PPEM), performance-based educational leadership, enhanced ethics instruction and assessment and job-embedded professional learning.
05 Feb2019
By Deborah Koolbeck
As the U.S. Department of Education is engaging in negotiated rulemaking on the TEACH grants, the Department announced that it is opening a process for reconsideration of conversion. TEACH grant recipients study to teach in a high-need field and commit to teaching in a high-need school in their chosen field for 4 years. Recipients have an 8-year window in which to complete these 4 years of service. If a TEACH grant recipient does not complete this service, the grant funds received convert to Direct Unsubsidized Federal Loan. For those TEACH grant recipients whose grant(s) were converted to loan(s) and who met or are meeting the TEACH grant service requirements, a reconsideration can be requested.
The Department shares the following on its webpage:
If you met or are meeting the TEACH Grant service requirements within the eight-year service obligation period, but had your grants converted to loans because you did not comply with the annual certification requirement, you can request reconsideration of those conversions.
