Author Archive

Rene Roselle

University of Connecticut, Neag School of Education

2013 Leadership Academy Alumna Returns as Faculty in 2017

Registration is now open for AACTE’s Leadership Academy, June 25-29 in Providence, Rhode Island. One of this year’s faculty members is René Roselle, who attended as a participant just 4 years ago. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

In spring 2013, I was given the opportunity to become associate director of teacher education at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. Having been a faculty member for 8 years, I felt ready to expand my knowledge of the university and school by serving in new way. We had hired a new executive director of teacher education, and the role of associate director was newly created to support the director. Although I was familiar with the setting, having been a faculty member and doctoral student at UConn since 2001, I had no real preparation for the new role – until a colleague recommended the AACTE Leadership Academy.

AACTE Networked Improvement Community Yields Exciting Results at UConn

The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Like other programs, our teacher preparation program at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education has long struggled to recruit as many students of color as we’d like. That’s why we joined AACTE’s networked improvement community (NIC) in 2014 to collaborate with other institutions on strategies to bring more Black and Latino men into our programs. Already, we have nearly doubled the percentage of students of color in our program, going from roughly 12% of students to 20% of our entering cohort this fall.

Plans and Progress: AACTE Clinical Practice Commission

The AACTE Clinical Practice Commission (CPC) is composed of 25 members whose experiences represent the spectrum of teacher preparation, from PK-12 through higher education graduate programs, as well as the perspectives of national education organizations.

The CPC conducted its initial work via a series of conference calls and electronic communications throughout the spring and summer, culminating in an August meeting in Washington, DC, hosted by AACTE (see report here). Over the 2 days of intense dialogue and collaboration, commissioners arrived at a common understanding of the current status of clinical practice and a shared sense of commitment to the urgent, complex work of the commission. Our passionate colleagues exhorted the group to “be bold!” in our efforts to both reflect the excellent work already in progress nationally and provide leadership for the future.