Congress Passed Fourth Pandemic Relief Bill. Will There be a Fifth?

Financial aid concept, Life buoy lifebelt with money bag This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

This Week in COVID-19 Relief Funding

Today the President will sign the fourth COVID-19 relief bill. Passed by a voice vote in the Senate and a live vote in the House of 388-5, the bill adds $484 billion bill to COVID relief funding. Funds are to be distributed as follows:

  • $321 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (small business fund which ran out of money last week
  • $60 billion in economic disaster loans for small businesses
  • $75 billion for emergency relief for hospitals
  • $25 billion for more coronavirus testing

Transitioning Your Education Preparation Program Online: Decision Making Opportunities for Education Leaders

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

AACTE and ISTE invite you to customize your learning during a 45-minute webinar on navigating the shift to online teaching on May 6, at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Successfully transitioning to a fully online summer or fall semester will require expedient decision-making, thoughtful approaches, and awareness of the challenges that lay ahead. In this webinar, university leaders who have already transitioned to online learning will share what they learned learnings and answer your questions about making a similar shift for your program.

The intention of this webinar is to provide educator preparation program leaders with an opportunity to “customize” the learning experience by selecting one of three breakout rooms. The three breakouts will focus on different levels of familiarity with online learning. An AACTE leader proficient in transitioning to online learning and an ISTE leader, a veteran innovator who has been using technology to transform learning, will lead each breakout.

Register today for Transitioning Your Education Preparation Program Online: Decision Making Opportunities for Education Leaders.

Chief Reps Called to Vote on AACTE Bylaw Revisions

AACTE invites all chief representatives  to perform a quick but important service to the association: vote on updated Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

As part of its stewardship of the Association, the AACTE Board of Directors oversaw a process last year to review and update the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. These documents describe AACTE’s purpose as a non-profit membership association and lay out the essential features of the association’s governance system. It is recommended that these reviews occur every five years, and they were last revised in 2015.

The Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws were updated to

  • Ensure compliance with Washington, D.C. law
  • Bring the Bylaws into alignment with current Association practice and with recognized best practices in non-profit governance
  • Incorporate changes recommended by the Board Composition Task Force
  • Improve readability and ease of use and eliminate redundancies or contradictions

Helping Teacher Educators Take a Stand Against Hate

Panelists - “Combating Discrimination and Hatred Through Education

On Feb. 29, my colleagues and I had the honor of delivering the Deeper Dive presentation, “Combating Discrimination and Hatred Through Education,” at AACTE’s 72nd Annual Meeting in Atlanta. This experience was a wonderful opportunity to help deans of education and other educational leaders understand the important role that they play—not only in shaping curriculum, but also in making the world a better place.

Hate exists because people do not understand each other and want to “other-ize.” Well, the most effective way to eliminate hate is through education, and I believe the Deeper Dive presentation underscored that message.

I, along with Rick Ginsberg (University of Kansas), Marvin Lynn (Portland State University), Margaret Grogan (Chapman University), and David Machlis (Adelphi University). presented about the Holocaust—how it happened, why it happened, and how educators should approach this type of subject matter in schools. Connecting the past to the present is not always easy, but it is imperative to prepare students to be active and informed citizens.

Teaching in a Time of Crisis Highlights the Need for New Standards

Distance learning. Cheerful little girl using laptop computer studying through online e-learning system

The morning of March 12, 2020 at the school where I had just started student teaching, teachers were directed to prepare 10 days’ worth of learning material for students in anticipation of the schools being closed for a period of two weeks due to the coronavirus. This was initially hoped to be a brief interlude—like an extended spring break—and while it was expected that students might or might not complete their learning activities at home, any minor losses in progress would surely be made up when the students returned to school in early April.

As time went on and it was clear that school could not resume as planned, decisions had to be made about remote learning—what it would look like, what expectations could be placed on students, and many other big and small decisions. In special education, these decisions have the legal considerations of students’ IEPs. Compliance with IEPs is evidenced in data collection and benchmark assessments, and the procedures to collect data and administer assessments must be consistent for validity.

Call for Entries: 2021 AACTE Dissertation Award

Do you know someone who recently completed a prize-worthy doctoral dissertation related to educator preparation? Applications for AACTE’s 2021 Outstanding Dissertation Award are being accepted in our online submission system now through August 21.

This award recognizes excellence in doctoral dissertation research (or its equivalent) that contributes to the knowledge base of educator preparation or of teaching and learning with implications for educator preparation. Overseen by AACTE’s Committee on Research and Dissemination, this award includes a $1,000 cash prize, as well as special recognition at AACTE’s 73rd Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA, February 26 – 28, 2021.

Individuals receiving a doctorate since January 1, 2019 are eligible to apply for this award. The primary selection criterion is quality of scholarship. The narrative summary file should answer the following questions about the dissertation:

International Panel Zooms in at #AACTE20 to Discuss the Education Workforce

International Panel #AACTE20

At the AACTE 72nd Annual Meeting held in Atlanta, GA, educators from all over the world had the opportunity to share their research and practitioner journey through conversations around diversity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and innovations in teaching and learning. In a session, “Transforming the Educational Workforce,” moderator Carole Basile of Arizona State University (ASU) presented the international panelists via Zoom: Liesbet Steer of the Education Commission, education program and evaluation specialist Kingsley Arkorful from Ghana, Paul Atherton of Fab Inc., and Dale Johnson and Ukiah Malambo of ASU.

The international team provided a snapshot of how adaptive technology can better support students in countries like Vietnam. Arkorful led the discussion around the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI). This project aims to turn the Education Commissions’ Learning Generation recommendation on expanding strengthening, and diversifying the education workforce into action that will harness the latest evidence and innovations to inform new ways of approaching education workforce design to improve learning outcomes for this century.

Panelists Take a Deep Dive into the Preventative and Responsive Trends in Campus Safety

Panelists - Understanding the Preventative and Responsive Trends in Campus Safety

Deeper Dive:  Understanding the Preventative and Responsive Trends in Campus Safety

For decades, students, teachers, and parents have lived with the reality of campus violence, particularly gun violence. It is clear that meaningful action is needed to keep our schools safe, and to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. Educators have a special responsibility to lead on this issue. Across the country educators are joining community and political leaders in search of a multi-faceted approach to intervene, prevent, and respond to school-based violence. 

During the 2020 Annual Meeting, a panel for explored this topic during the “School Safety Matters” Deeper Dive session, beginning with a national overview of the state of gun violence on school and college campuses. The presenters discussed policy levers used to address this violence and acquainted attendees with the tools and strategies being used to prevent and respond to school-based gun violence.  Moderator Ben Erwin of the Education Commission of the States (ECS) facilitated the discussion between his ECS colleague, Zeke Perez, Amanda Fitzgerald from the American School Counselor Association and Elizabeth Brown, principal of Forest High School in Ocala, FL.

When will Educators Receive COVID Relief Funding?

CARES Act

This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Implementation of the $2 Trillion CARES Act: Where Do We Stand?

It’s hard to keep track of the swirl of information about federal efforts to address the pandemic in the education space. Here is my best shot at a high-level summary of where things stand:

  • It’s been three weeks since the $2 trillion third package of funding (COVID-3 or the CARES Act) became law
  • The bill includes the following and distribution to date is as noted:
    • $13.5 billion for elementary and secondary education
      • No announced process or timeline for distribution yet
    • $14.25 billion for higher education
      • $6.3 billion is being distributed to IHE’s for students who need emergency financial aid and have expenses related to the pandemic
    • $3 billion for a Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund
      • fund now available for distribution

Revolutionizing Education

AACTE DEI Video: The Importance of Equitable Disciplinary Actions in Schools

AACTE DEI Video: The Importance of Equitable Disciplinary Actions in Schools

Ed Prep Matters features the “Revolutionizing Education” column to spotlight the many ways AACTE, member institutions, and partners are pioneering leading-edge research, models, strategies and programs that focus on the three core values outlined in the current AACTE strategic plan: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Quality and Impact; and Inquiry and Innovation.

In this segment of the AACTE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion video series, AACTE members promote equitable disciplinary practices for teachers to use as restorative measures to build positive relationships with students. The video segment, The Importance of Equitable Disciplinary Actions in Schools, addresses the importance of eliminating prejudgments so educators can better understand students’ contexts and backgrounds and develop a new lens for addressing disruptive behaviors in schools.

Applications Open: Supporting Effective Educator Development Grants

SEED Grant Program

On April 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education via the Federal Register announced that applications are available for the FY20 grant cycle of the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant program. With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, this program was expanded to include institutions of higher education as participants in the program. The Department estimates that $22 million will be available for these 3-year grants. 

The SEED grant program’s main goal is to increase the number of highly effective educators by supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of educators. This program is designed to encourage the use of rigorous evidence in selecting and implementing opportunities to support educator’s development across the continuum of their careers, including preparation, recruitment, evaluation, professional learning, and leadership development.

CARES Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Supporting Students

AACTE Responds to COVID-19

CARES Act

The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, included nearly $14 billion to support higher education institutions and students. This funding included $6.28 billion to provide cash grants to students for expenses related to disruptions to their education due to COVID-19. The funds move from the U.S. Department of Education to the institutions of higher education, and the institutions disperse the funds to students.

The allocation to each institution is set by a formula established in the CARES Act, weighted by the number of full-time students with Pell grants but also considers the total population of the school and the number of students who were not enrolled full-time in online programs pre-COVID-19. (View the methodology. It is important to note that this initial disbursement is for 50% of what is in the allocation table.) The institution must fill out a Certificate of Agreement with the Department to receive the disbursement via grants.gov. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wrote a letter to college and university presidents sharing guidance on this disbursement.

Reminder to Complete AACTE Member Survey

Member Survey Banner

On behalf of the AACTE Board of Directors, I send greetings and warm wishes for your health and safety during this critical time. As your colleague, I understand your tireless efforts to navigate through the unprecedented challenges the coronavirus has caused for your educator preparation program and university. While we may experience similar struggles, our circumstances may differ because institutions are unique in their own way along with the local communities they serve.

AACTE is currently conducting a survey to better gauge the diverse needs of its member institutions. The survey was distributed to senior leaders with responsibility for a school, college, or department of education such as deans, associate deans, vice presidents, or department chairs. If you have not yet received the AACTE invitation to participate in the survey, it may have landed in your spam folder.

I ask that you take a few minutes to complete the short survey by Friday, April 24. AACTE will use your responses to 

  • determine the support members need;
  • inform the public and policy makers about how the coronavirus is affecting educator preparation; and
  • share aggregated information with members to help you benchmark your experience against your peers.

Start Survey

It is imperative that we receive your feedback so we can be better informed about how to assist you and our profession through this difficult time. Thank you in advance for your time and participation in the survey.

My prayers are with each and every one of you.

Bridging the Gap: Preparing Diverse Faculty Through the Inaugural AACTE/Holmes Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The road to tenure can comprise unforeseen barriers to success for some underrepresented faculty of color, barriers that often start before pursuit of a tenure-track appointment. Underrepresented faculty describe gaps in mentoring that can begin in graduate school and later impact their opportunity to receive a tenure-track offer as well as their success during the tenure process (Cole, McGowan, & Zerquera, 2017Garrison-Wade et al., 2012).  For those faculty who receive tenure-track appointments, gaps in mentoring can persist during the tenure process. Underrepresented faculty of color discuss not receiving quality support and mentoring from senior faculty during the tenure process. They also discuss feelings of isolation, lack of value for their research, and an expectation to serve as the diversity consciousness of their department. A 2016 report by the TIAA Institute made visible the impact of barriers to tenure among underrepresented faculty of color. The report found relatively small gains in the number of underrepresented faculty of color across a twenty-year period. Gains were mostly attributed to an increase in non-tenure-track appointments.

A Recap and Reflection: Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of Immigration for Teachers and Teacher Education Programs

As presenters at the AACTE 2020 Annual Meeting Deeper Dive: Challenges of Immigration and Teacher Education, the authors offer a recap and reflection of the session.

 “Quisieron enterrarnos, pero no sabían que éramos semillas” is a Mexican proverb translated as “They wanted to bury us, but they did not know that we were seeds.” This proverb captures the current experience of many immigrants and their children in U.S. society. Immigrants in the United States and around the world are being “buried” under policies and practices that violate their human rights, yet immigrant students and families remain incredibly resilient. Immigrant families draw on sociocultural assets to persevere through setbacks. These conditions have direct implications for teacher education in the U.S. and abroad.

Given the large numbers of immigrants of Latinx descent in the United States, we focus our commentary on Mexican and Mexican American communities. Two-thirds of the U.S. Latinx community is of Mexican origin, and one in seven of all U.S. students in elementary and secondary schools has a Mexican-born parent or grandparent (Jensen & Sawyer, 2013; Passel, 2011). The United States shares many of these immigrant children and youth with its neighbor to the south, México. Indeed, the fastest-growing group of “students we share” between our two countries are U.S.-born students of Mexican heritage living in Mexico and struggling to integrate into Mexican schools (Gándara, 2020).