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Jerrica Thurman

Director of Marketing & Communications, AACTE

Annual Meeting Early Bird Registration Closes Oct. 19

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Time is running out to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration rate for AACTE’s 69th Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida! This special offer expires October 19 at midnight EDT.

At the Annual Meeting, you’ll get a high value for your registration dollar. Hundreds of enriching sessions, networking opportunities, multiple meals and receptions, and access to the latest research and best practices are all included – giving you a great bang for your buck!

Linda Darling-Hammond to Headline AACTE Speaker Spotlight Session

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Linda Darling-Hammond will be the featured presenter at the AACTE 69th Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session on March 4, 2017. As an internationally acclaimed thought leader in education, Darling-Hammond will share the latest research and policy analysis on issues affecting educational equity and quality.

Darling-Hammond is president of the Learning Policy Institute and Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University (CA), where she is faculty director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Her research and policy work focuses on educational equity, teaching quality, and school reform. She has advised school leaders and policy makers at the local, state, and federal levels. In 2008, she served as director of President Obama’s education policy transition team. She is a former president of the American Educational Research Association, a former member of AACTE’s Board of Directors, and a member of the National Academy of Education as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

TeachNY Report Provides Foundation for Statewide Collaboration on Teacher Preparation

The TeachNY Advisory Council, convened last year by the State University of New York (SUNY), published last month a set of recommendations to address the most pressing challenges facing the state’s teacher development pipeline. The dozens of policy recommendations and innovative strategies for teacher recruitment, preparation, and career support are now providing a roadmap for a collaborative campaign between SUNY and the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

“If we take our 60 recommendations and the really hot buttons that we’re talking about right now in terms of policy and execution, and we take them to scale across the SUNY system, we will do good for New York,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher in an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education. What’s more, Zimpher said, the system hopes to “work with other states and with other policy makers, too, to take what we’re learning across the country.”

AACTE Washington Week Unites Educators in Advocacy

The value of “acting as one” was the resounding message highlighted throughout AACTE’s Washington Week, June 5-8, themed “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession.” Attendees were urged to join forces with fellow educators across conventional boundaries to build professional and political coalitions in order to effectively advocate for shared values. From connections made during the Holmes Scholars Summer Policy Institute to panel discussions at the State Leaders Institute through Day on the Hill advocacy work, the importance of building partnerships was stressed by invited partners and AACTE member participants alike.

Grant to Support State Leaders Institute Sessions

Please join AACTE for a free policy discussion and reception June 6! RSVP here.

Each summer, AACTE’s State Leaders Institute (SLI) brings together leaders of the Association’s state chapters to discuss important trends in state policies and to advocate for the profession. This year, the institute will be held June 5-6 as part of AACTE’s 2016 Washington Week, themed “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession,” at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA.

Thanks to a grant from the Learning First Alliance’s Get It Right campaign, the 2016 SLI will offer interactive sessions highlighting how state policy for college- and career-ready standards will be affected by the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the implications for educator preparation. Participants will gain a deeper understanding about the uniqueness of individual states, find ways in which they are similar, and discover how those similarities can help frame a common message.

Book Your Hotel by May 16 for AACTE’s Washington Week

AACTE’s Washington Week this June will be based at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA, located minutes away from downtown Washington, DC. Take advantage of AACTE’s special hotel rate and get complimentary high-speed Internet in guest rooms and meeting spaces when you make your hotel reservation within the AACTE room block by May 16.

The hotel offers guests complimentary shuttle service to and from the Reagan National Airport, just one mile away. Enjoy the Crystal Gateway Marriott hotel amenities, including three on-site dining options and convenient lobby access to the Metro.

The hotel will host most of the events of AACTE’s Washington Week June 5-8, ranging from advocacy opportunities to policy briefings, networking receptions, and more under the theme “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession.”

Free Webinar April 26 to Discuss Curriculum, Assessment for Educator Ethics

Please join educators from Georgia in an interactive webinar where they will share how they incorporated  professional ethics training and assessments in their curriculum and used the resulting data to inform program improvements.

Preparing Preservice Educators in Ethical Decision Making Using Innovative Strategies
Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT

Presenters:

  • Anne Marie Fenton, Director, Assessment, Georgia Professional Standards Commission
  • Sarah Hallstein, Teacher, Glenwood Primary School, Rome, Georgia
  • Edward Hill, Dean and Associate Professor, College of Education, Fort Valley State University
  • Troy Hutchings, Senior Strategic Advisor – Educator Ethics, Educational Testing Service
  • Jack Parish, Associate Dean, Outreach and Engagement, College of Education, University of Georgia
  • Francis Roe, Director of Field Experiences and Clinical Practice, Charter School of Education and Human Sciences, Berry College
  • Paul Shaw, Division Director, Ethics, Georgia Professional Standards Commission

Hear from these industry leaders as they walk you through their state’s work, in collaboration with Educational Testing Service, to deploy innovative strategies to prepare their state’s candidates in educator ethics.

Registration Now Open for AACTE Washington Week, June 5-8

Registration is now open for AACTE’s Washington Week, a set of advocacy-focused events held annually in the nation’s capital. Under the theme “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession,” this year’s Washington Week will be held June 5-8 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA, and on Capitol Hill. Please join us to deliberate on provocative issues in the profession, experience interactive sessions with industry leaders, and showcase your work with legislators.

Wallace Foundation Launches New Investment in University-Based Principal Preparation

The Wallace Foundation this month announced a major new initiative to support the redesign of higher education-based programs for preparing school leaders. Investing $47 million over 5 years, the University Preparation Program Initiative will bring together selected institutions and school districts to share best practices and develop more effective principal training.

The initiative will fund improvements to principal preparation programs at up to six universities in partnership with high-need districts. It will also invest in research on effective partnerships, course work, and clinical experiences, and it will engage states in reviews of pertinent policies in support of the work. The selected universities and their district partners will be announced in the fall.

Nevada Teacher Shortages, Solutions Discussed at AACTE Press Briefing

In advance of the 68th Annual Meeting, AACTE held a press briefing last month at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focused on educator preparation providers’ work to address the teacher shortages in Nevada. Panelists discussed the challenges they face and innovative solutions under way to meet the urgent demand for qualified teachers in the state’s two largest counties and in both rural and urban areas.

Presented by AACTE in partnership with member institutions in the state, the briefing featured an interactive panel discussion moderated by Mark LaCelle-Peterson, AACTE senior vice president for policy and programs, with the following panelists:

  • Kenneth Coll, Dean, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno
  • Kim Metcalf, Dean, College of Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Dennis Potthoff, Dean, School of Education, Nevada State College
  • Thomas Reagan, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Great Basin College
  • Staci Vesneske, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, Clark County School District, on special assignment to the superintendent’s office

As Global Engagement Grows, AACTE Explores New Initiatives

Did you know that AACTE has a growing international footprint? Although “American” is our first name and our membership is primarily domestic, the world is watching—and engaging—more widely, especially online.

We recently explored who is engaging with AACTE from around the world and discovered audiences in more than two dozen countries are visiting our web sites, connecting with us via social media, or accessing the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) online.

During 2015, the most frequent visitors were from the following countries:

AACTE Welcoming Session Reframes Effective Teaching for Equity

The Welcoming Session kicked off the AACTE 68th Annual Meeting with a keynote from Pedro Noguera, distinguished professor at the University of California Los Angeles and one of the nation’s most important voices on education and equity issues.

Noguera challenged the audience to take a closer look at what it means to be a highly effective teacher. As the American student population becomes increasingly diverse and opportunities remain profoundly unequal, he argued that more teachers must have the ability to teach effectively across race, class, language, and cultural differences.

“The best teachers teach the way students learn rather than expecting students to learn the way they teach,” Noguera said.

Join the Conversation at AACTE Town Hall Meeting

As you join the nationwide conversation on the future of educator preparation at the AACTE 68th Annual Meeting next week, don’t miss your chance to interact with the Association’s leadership during the Town Hall Meeting. Members of the AACTE Executive Committee will take the stage to discuss topics of interest to the field and answer your questions on Wednesday, February 24, at 11:45 a.m. PST.

“The vision for having a town hall meeting was to get the members actively involved in the issues we are facing,” said Fayneese Miller, who served as chair of the AACTE Board of Directors during 2013-14 and is now president of Hamline University (MN). “How can we as a community begin to solve some of the questions? How do we work collaboratively? How do we ensure that a variety of different voices are heard?”

Take advantage of the opportunity to ask tough questions and receive candid answers from these current AACTE leaders on how the Association is working to support members in meeting the demands of the profession:

68th Annual Meeting Overview

Tomorrow is your last chance to register at a discount and to book your hotel room at The Mirage Hotel for the AACTE 68th Annual Meeting! Complete your conference registration by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on January 27 and save up to $40.

Next month, AACTE will hold its 68th Annual Meeting February 23-25 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Be there to experience the full lineup of conference activities around the conference theme, “Meeting the Demands of Professional Practice: Tough Questions, Tough Choices,” supported by four strands: