Poll: Parents Concerned for Student Safety but Generally Against Arming Teachers

After a year marked by some of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, parents are more concerned than ever about the safety of their children, according to a special school security survey conducted as part of this year’s PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.

Public opinion on arming teachers is divided, and confidence in schools’ security against attacks is waning. Two thirds of parents with children in public school said they would rather not have their child in a classroom with an armed teacher; that number jumps to 80% of Black and Hispanic parents. But when asked if they support arming teachers who are also provided 80 hours of intensive training and support, parents are evenly split.

Exploring the Longevity of Education Deans

What factors contribute most to the longevity of education deans in their positions? Are there optimal lengths of time for these academic administrators to stay in their roles, and if so, how long and why? What are the personal and professional benefits or downsides of remaining in the role of education dean for an extended period?

These questions are among those emerging from a national survey on deans’ ways of thinking, being, and acting that revealed generally limited lengths of service in the deanship. The survey results have inspired a new line of research on factors contributing to deans’ longevity in the role, which may be important for critical initiatives to have a viable lifespan and for deans and their stakeholders to continue to be gratified.

Education Deans Sought for Focus Groups

UPDATE: Please sign up for a focus group by December 21.

What factors contribute most to the longevity of education deans in their positions? Are there optimal lengths of time for education deans to stay in their roles, and if so, how long and why? What are the personal and professional benefits of remaining in the role as education dean for an extended period?

We invite currently serving education deans who have at least 7 years of experience in this role to participate in one of several focus groups. These focus group sessions, supported by AACTE, will last 45 to 60 minutes and will be conducted during the weeks of January 8 and January 15, 2018, using electronic conferencing technology.

The Need for Data Regarding Educator Shortages

AACTE is partnering with the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) to increase input from educator preparation providers in the organization’s annual teacher supply and demand survey. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

The current shortage of educators is no longer a myth. Data from several reports, including the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) Educator Supply and Demand Report 2016-17, show that in numerous certification areas in most areas of the country, there are not enough well-qualified candidates to fill educator vacancies. And even in states where the demand for full-time teachers is not as severe as in other states, there is a critical shortage of substitute teachers.

Teaching Workforce Still Mostly White and Female; More Diversity Supports Needed

Last week, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released initial data from the 2015-2016 National Teacher and Principal Survey, providing the latest nationwide snapshot of the characteristics of public school teachers. (Results of the school-level survey are being released today, and principal-level data are available here.) The “First Look” report on the teacher survey (download PDF here) shows the education workforce has grown slightly more female (77% compared to 76%) and slightly less White (80% compared to 82%) than it was 4 years ago – although NCES cautions that comparisons are somewhat imprecise because some of the questions were worded differently or drew on different sources than in the former Schools and Staffing Survey, on which the new survey is based.

A recent article in Education Week highlights key data and comparisons between this survey and the last, noting that the education profession has made some advancements in diversifying the teaching workforce. However, these modest gains may be more conditional than intentional, and the survey spotlights continued trouble spots such as low pay and uneven assignment of teacher expertise. What this article says to me is that we must continue to work every day to make teaching a worthy career option, valued for its contributions to the democratic fabric of our society – especially among the most underrepresented demographics. As a profession, we have an ongoing imperative to attract highly motivated, diverse, innovative, smart educators into the profession and support them with programs rich in the pedagogy and content that will serve the nation’s young people well into the future.

Survey Seeks Strategies to Diversify Teacher Pipeline

The demographic diversity of the teachers in America’s classrooms does not reflect that of the students they are teaching. In light of this persistent gap, many teacher preparation programs have bolstered their efforts – or developed new strategies – to recruit, admit, and support teacher candidates from underrepresented groups. Several AACTE member institutions are participating in a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to boost the number of Black and Latino men in their teacher preparation programs, for example, and many others are at work in other national efforts and local partnerships.

Earlier this month, I was interested to learn of a related research project under way at Educational Testing Service (ETS) to explore efforts to diversify the teacher pipeline. As one part of this research, ETS hopes to identify successful strategies in postsecondary educator preparation programs and to help disseminate information to others. (AACTE is partnering with ETS to help support our members using performance assessments, but this research is not related to our partnership.)

Input Still Needed on AAEE Supply-Demand Survey

AACTE is partnering with the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) to increase input from educator preparation providers in the organization’s annual teacher supply and demand survey. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

The annual American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) Educator Supply and Demand Report needs your input! If you have not already done so, please complete this year’s survey by January 27.

Call for Participation – Study on Yearlong Preservice Preparation Models

The clinical models promoted by the Bank Street Sustainable Funding Project are among the high-quality formats for teacher preparation being studied by AACTE’s Clinical Practice Commission. The study described in this article is not officially connected with AACTE or the Clinical Practice Commission.

The Sustainable Funding Project (SFP) at Bank Street College of Education (NY) seeks educator preparation leaders to participate in a study of clinically rich preparation programs.

Educators agree that sustained preservice clinical practice is essential to ensure teachers enter the classroom well-situated for success. SFP studies how to enable all aspiring teachers to enter the profession through affordable, high-quality programs—programs that include yearlong clinical experiences for teacher candidates—so that every teacher is prepared for the demands of the 21st-century classroom.

Reminder: Complete Supply-Demand Survey by Jan. 16

AACTE is partnering with the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) to increase input from educator preparation providers in the organization’s annual teacher supply and demand survey.

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If you haven’t already done so, could you please take 10-15 minutes to complete the 2016-17 AAEE Supply and Demand Survey? You do not need to be a member of AAEE to participate in the survey, and all respondents will receive an executive summary of the results. The survey is open through January 16.

Call for ‘Data Dive’ Blog Articles

To expand the Data Dive blog series on Ed Prep Matters, AACTE invites members to submit brief articles presenting and discussing data related to educator preparation.

Like all blog submissions, Data Dive articles should be approximately 500 words and contain news or commentary relevant to AACTE or to educator preparation generally. Please include tables, charts, or other illustrations of the data and your analysis. Advertising-related posts are not permitted, and the content – including any graphics – must not infringe on any copyright agreements or laws.

The Demand for Educators: Good News for Candidates, A Daunting Challenge for Hiring Administrators

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

For future teachers, the job outlook is bright. For school hiring personnel, the challenge of finding enough qualified educators for their vacancies is daunting.

The growing mismatch between teacher supply and demand was documented strongly in a comprehensive report published by the Learning Policy Institute last month. One of the key data sources cited in the study is the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) “Educator Supply and Demand Report 2014-15,” which now has a new edition available—and the shortage situation has not improved.

Decoding the GPA Category: A Closer Look at Title II Data

Editor’s note: This is the last blog in our series exploring data on program entry and exit requirements from the 2014 federal collection mandated by Title II of the Higher Education Act. The data include 1,497 providers of “traditional” programs based in institutions of higher education (IHEs), 472 providers of IHE-based alternative programs, and 201 providers of non-IHE-based alternative programs.

Despite the questionable validity of using students’ grade-point averages (GPAs) to predict their future success on the job as classroom teachers, GPA is one of the most common requirements for admission to and graduation from many colleges and professional schools.

Exit Requirements for Teacher Preparation Programs: Another Look at Title II Data

Editor’s note: This is the fourth of six blogs exploring data on program entry and exit requirements from the latest available (2014) federal collection mandated by Title II of the Higher Education Act. The data include 1,497 providers of “traditional” programs based in institutions of higher education (IHEs), 472 providers of IHE-based alternative programs, and 201 providers of non-IHE-based alternative programs.

In this article, we look at the frequency of various program completion requirements among three types of providers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. (See our recent blogs about the number and frequency of various entry criteria and the number of exit criteria used by these three categories of providers.)

Exit Requirements for Teacher Preparation Programs: A Look at Title II Data

Editor’s note: This is the third of six blogs exploring data on program entry and exit requirements from the latest available (2014) federal collection mandated by Title II of the Higher Education Act. The data include 1,497 providers of “traditional” programs based in institutions of higher education (IHEs), 472 providers of IHE-based alternative programs, and 201 providers of non-IHE-based alternative programs.

Although critics sometimes claim that educator preparation programs have few or no requirements for admission and completion, federal Title II data say otherwise. In this article, we explore the number of exit requirements reported by different types of providers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. (See our recent blogs about the number and frequency of various entry requirements.)

As noted in the first blog of our series, the Title II survey provides 15 options for providers to indicate their entry and exit criteria:

Entry Requirements for Teacher Preparation Programs: Another Look at Title II Data

Editor’s note: This is the second of six blog articles exploring data on program entry and exit requirements from the latest available (2014) federal collection mandated by Title II of the Higher Education Act. The data include 1,497 providers of “traditional” programs based in institutions of higher education (IHEs), 472 providers of IHE-based alternative programs, and 201 providers of non-IHE-based alternative programs.

This is the second of six blog articles that explore federal data on educator preparation program entry and exit requirements. Taking a different angle from the last blog, this article looks at admissions requirements by frequency to identify which ones are most common.

The annual Title II collection asks providers about 15 common admission requirements, including the applicant’s subject area, transcript, overall grade-point average (GPA), content GPA, professional GPA, credits, scores on ACT/SAT/basic-skills tests, essays, interviews, recommendations, fingerprint and background checks, and “other.”