13 Feb2017
By Amanda Lester
On February 22, AACTE will host the third installment of a four-part webinar series highlighting the experiences and findings of each of the 10 institutions in the AACTE Black and Hispanic/Latino Male Teachers Initiative Networked Improvement Community (NIC). The webinar, “Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline at Boston University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and William Paterson University: Lessons From AACTE’s NIC,” will be held Wednesday, February 22, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.
The webinar will provide an inside look at the path of inquiry guiding the NIC’s overall work and how that process has shaped and changed recruitment and retention of Black, Hispanic, and Latino male teacher candidates at three participating institutions. Presenters will share specific initiatives and strategies developed through their participation in the NIC process to demonstrate how NIC-developed approaches can be adapted locally to advance a common goal – in this case, to increase the percentage of Black and Hispanic/Latino men receiving initial teaching certification through educator preparation programs.
30 Jan2017
By Kristin McCabe
Are you looking for assistance in preparing your programs for accreditation or state review? Or maybe you’re in need of guidance on refining your internal quality assurance system, or using performance assessments with your teacher candidates, or just making sense of all the data and other evidence you’re collecting?
AACTE is ready to help you with these and other needs. In fact, you have several options to choose from just this semester, with more being rolled out later in 2017. Whether you prefer to take a convenient online course, hire a trained consultant, or bring your colleagues together for hand-on, facilitated planning, we aim to provide the support you need.
24 Jan2017
By Jerrica Thurman
A new set of brief videos in AACTE’s Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series focuses on implementing clinical practice at the George Mason University (VA) College of Education and Human Development; see this article introducing the series and the first video segment. Today’s article highlights messages from the next two videos, which discuss the team-building approach used by Mason’s education faculty to create strong relationships with partner schools for supporting teacher candidates.
The College of Education and Human Development at Virginia’s George Mason University (GMU) and its professional development school (PDS) partners have established leadership teams to plan robust and personalized training programs for teacher candidates. The teams at the university and school sites work together to engage interns in well-rounded experiences, such as by involving them in local school activities, to help fulfill their individualized professional development plans.
17 Jan2017
By Mark LaCelle-Peterson
The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification held its annual Ted Andrews Winter Symposium January 4-6 in San Diego, California, convening educators from varied settings around the topic “Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Innovation Through Collaboration.”
The theme of partnership-driven innovation was reinforced through a number of sessions in which AACTE members presented along with colleagues from the PK-12 sector and from state education authorities. I was pleased to address the group on the topic of teacher recruitment policy and practice from providers’ perspective. Other notable sessions on the program included these:
17 Jan2017
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology last month to host a 2-day summit focused on advancing educational technology in teacher preparation. Participants were chosen based on their pledged commitment to the “Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation Challenge” announced last fall.
AACTE President and CEO Sharon Robinson welcomes attendees to the Advancing Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation Summit.
More than 30 AACTE members and partners attended the first day of meetings in the AACTE building, with workshops highlighting how to develop a culture for active use of technology in teacher preparation programs; promote standards, competencies, and credentials for higher education faculty and preservice teachers in educational technology; and build a sustainable system of professional learning.
On the second day, participants visited the White House for the Advancing Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation Innovation Summit. The event highlighted the forward-thinking work of providers advancing the four principles of educational technology in teacher preparation as outlined in the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan:
13 Jan2017
By Linda McKee
In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be leading AACTE’s first online course with FutureLearn, “Designing Assessments to Measure Student Outcomes.” I am thrilled to be bringing AACTE’s online professional seminars to this robust global platform with enhanced content and an innovative social-learning model. Won’t you join me for this enriching experience?
The assessment course opens January 30 and runs for 3 weeks, requiring about 3 hours per week of your time. Each week, we’ll explore a different aspect of assessment, starting with an overview of foundational issues such as validity and reliability before moving on to designing and using rubrics and surveys.
05 Jan2017
By Rodrick Lucero
It is my pleasure to introduce the George Mason University (VA) College of Education and Human Development as the next featured institution in the AACTE Research-to-Practice Spotlight series. Continuing our focus on exemplary models of clinical practice, this series highlights the long-standing professional development school (PDS) partnership cultivated by George Mason and schools in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mason is the state’s largest producer of PK-12 teachers and largest comprehensive research university.
15 Dec2016
By Sharon Robinson
I am excited to announce AACTE’s plans to enhance the online professional seminars offered through our Quality Support Center. Thanks to a new partnership with FutureLearn, a global leader in online learning, our short courses on quality assurance topics will relaunch in 2017 with clearer presentations, better graphics, and a broader peer community.
AACTE originally developed the series of six courses in 2015 in response to your request for affordable and widely accessible training on how to use data wisely, build evidence for state and national program reviews, and address other quality concerns. Hundreds of you have already taken at least one of these courses, and your enthusiasm and valuable feedback informed our decision to ramp up the offerings. In short, we are engaging in our own continuous improvement!
13 Dec2016
By Angela Maynard Sewall
As the fall academic semester ends and we turn to planning and early implementation for the next term, now is a prime time to assess what our programs have accomplished and the scope of work that lies ahead. One way to “self-check” is to consider peers’ approaches as well as expert advice to help inform our work – and a convenient opportunity to do so is presented in the archived webinars in the AACTE Resource Library.
New standards are emerging, states are reassessing their foci and processes in light of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act, major transitions are pending in the Department of Education and elsewhere, and the call for evaluation of outcomes rather than inputs only increases. These topics and others are among the lessons of recent AACTE webinars.
29 Nov2016
By Rodrick Lucero and Tim Finklea
It’s been a busy fall of traveling for the AACTE Member Engagement and Support team as we’ve been visiting campuses to document exemplary clinical partnerships and practices for our online Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series, part of the AACTE Innovation Exchange.
This fall, we’ve been filming at St. John’s University (NY); the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and California State University, Long Beach. We are also busy scheduling visits with State University of New York at Oswego and Butler University (IN) for spring 2017. At each location, we’ve met with deans, professors, teacher candidates, school district principals, teachers, and PK-12 students to see firsthand how a variety of programs are developing and sustaining successful clinical partnerships. The video production company “Ideas That Breathe” has been a valuable partner for filming, editing, and producing a compelling series from each site we visit. Each series is then segmented into episodes for posting on the Innovation Exchange and highlighting in the Ed Prep Matters blog.
29 Nov2016
By Amanda Lester
Next month, AACTE will host the second installment of a webinar series highlighting the experiences and findings of each of the 10 institutions in the AACTE Black and Hispanic/Latino Male Teachers Initiative Networked Improvement Community (NIC). The webinar, “Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline at Florida Atlantic University and the University of St. Thomas: Lessons From AACTE’s NIC,” will be held Wednesday, December 14, 2:30-3:30 p.m. EST.
The goal of this NIC is to identify broadly applicable strategies to increase the percentage of Black and Hispanic/Latino men receiving initial teaching certification through educator preparation programs. This webinar will provide an inside look at the path of inquiry guiding the NIC’s overall work and how that process has shaped and changed recruitment and retention of Black, Hispanic, and Latino male teacher candidates at two participating institutions.
08 Nov2016
By Deborah Koolbeck and Sungti Hsu
Today, we are pleased to launch the online AACTE Advocacy Center to support your work in both federal and state advocacy. Please take a moment to visit the new center and explore the resources you’ve requested!
In this one-stop center, you’ll find downloadable advocacy guides, important hyperlinks, and an assortment of other digital resources. Want to catch up on the latest Federal Update webinar or blog post? Looking for contact information for your state legislators or tips on setting up a meeting with your representatives? Give us a visit!
08 Nov2016
By Renée A. Middleton
The AACTE Board of Directors this fall approved a revision of the AACTE Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation, a document originally drafted in 2006 to state the Association’s aspirational views regarding national accreditation.
The revision was spearheaded by the Board’s subcommittee formed to engage with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The Board felt it was important to reaffirm our core values with respect to what we see as essential elements to any process of accreditation.
08 Nov2016
By Rodrick Lucero
AACTE and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education to put together a dynamic Teach to Lead summit last week on improving teacher preparation.
31 Oct2016
By Amanda Lester
Please join me Tuesday, November 15, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST for the third webinar in this year’s AACTE clinical practice series, “Advancing Science and Math Teaching in Diverse Elementary Classrooms: A Clinical Practice Model at San Francisco State University.”
Presenters Judith Munter, dean of the Graduate College of Education, and Stephanie Sisk-Hilton, associate professor of elementary education, will discuss the clinical preparation model at San Francisco State University (SFSU) centered around ensuring elementary education candidates and practicing elementary educators in their partner schools are highly prepared to teach science and math to an increasingly diverse population.
