The U.S. Department of Education has announced a new round of applications for the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant program. Intent to apply is due April 5, and full applications are due May 17.
The new grant competition has two absolute priorities, one competitive preference priority, and one invitational priority:
On February 28, AACTE hosted a daylong preconference workshop titled “Strengthening the Pipeline to Transform the Principalship,” sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The event, held just prior to the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, was attended by PK-12 and higher education leaders from across the nation and engaged participants in presentations and conversation on educational leadership through the lenses of policy and practice.
The agenda was broken into two thematic segments. The first segment highlighted how policy, partnerships, and resources influence strategies to renew principal preparation programs. The second included presentations about key policies that influence the renewal of principal preparation programs.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced additional federal aid for schools and students impacted by recent natural disasters.
To assist schools in California impacted by wildfires, the Department has disbursed $2 million in Project SERV funds to the California Department of Education. The funds will help fund portable classrooms, substitute teachers, mental health services, and transportation for displaced students (along with substitute bus drivers).
A “Deeper Dive” session held March 3 at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting shared lessons on how to engage preservice teacher candidates in the kinds of meaningful learning experiences they are expected to create later for their own students. Organized by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), “Walking the Talk: Teacher Preparation for Deeper Learning” highlighted findings from a national study of seven teacher preparation programs that are organized in ways that align with deeper learning approaches – meaning less emphasis on rote learning and more on experiential, innovative, collaborative, and equity-focused pedagogy.
LPI researcher Maria Hyler opened the session by describing the primary features of successful programs identified in the study, details of which will be published by Harvard Education Press in a book later this year. These features include opportunities for candidates to experience learning that is applied and transferred, developmental and personalized, collaborative and social, contextualized, and socially just. Hyler then invited panelists representing several programs in the study to outline one of the key domains.
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) partnered with the University of North Carolina (UNC) System to present at the 2018 AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore a unique model of using edTPA rubric constructs. The team showcased how edTPA’s critical dimensions of teaching (planning, instruction, and assessment) apply to the instructional coaching of novice teachers during teacher induction, with a trajectory for growth through teacher leadership and beyond. The March 1 presentation included a brief overview of the professional growth plan used in preservice preparation and how it can be used after teacher candidates graduate.
AACTE Media Relations Intern Shardae Proctor, a communications major at Maryland’s Towson University, attended the AACTE Annual Meeting earlier this month. Ed Prep Matters asked her to report on what she learned at one of the Deeper Dive sessions.
Across the country, many schools continue to struggle to staff their classrooms with qualified teachers and to diversify their workforce to more closely match student demographics. To explore the contributing factors and potential solutions to this challenge, the editors of AACTE’s Journal of Teacher Education organized a “Deeper Dive” session at the AACTE Annual Meeting March 1 titled “Filling the High-Quality Teacher Pipeline: Promising Research and Strategies.”
The U.S. Department of Education has announced it will redirect $22.9 million in unspent funds to provide assistance to institutions that have been affected by the 2017 series of severe hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
According to the announcement, the Department “will provide $5.4 million to students through the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant Program, at 285 colleges and universities, including 277 postsecondary schools located in Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.” Additionally, the Department plans to provide $17.5 million by means of the Federal Work Study program.
UPDATE: Video recording is now available! Visit the AACTE Learning Center to watch.
At the March 3 closing session of AACTE’s 70th Annual Meeting, Diane Ravitch delivered a rousing defense of public schools and an unsparing critique of those who seek to privatize education in America.
She opened with a declaration of admiration for the bravery and articulate activism of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, following the recent tragic shooting there. Ravitch noted their engagement has been enabled by a well-rounded education—including drama, speech, and other subjects that have been eclipsed in many places by the focus on raising test scores.
The March 1 Opening Keynote Session at the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting featured an interactive panel discussion on recruiting and retaining profession-ready candidates in teacher preparation programs as well as increasing the number of teacher candidates of color. AACTE President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone, who facilitated the discussion, was joined by special guests Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, assistant vice chancellor of Teacher Education and Public School Programs for the Chancellor’s Office of the California State University (CSU) System, and Kimberly Tobey, executive director of the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP).
The conversation began with identifying ways for how teacher preparation programs are effectively implementing programs and practices that reaffirm strengthening and diversifying the teacher candidate pool. The panelists highlighted successful strategies such as developing community college partnerships, creating capacity for students to have ease of transfer, and providing support to assist first-generation college students and others to pass through required pathways to completion.
During the 70th Annual Meeting preconference events for the AACTE Holmes Program, selected Holmes Scholars participated in a brand-new competition to receive AACTE funding for their dissertation research. AACTE is pleased to announce that the winner of the AACTE Holmes Dissertation Funding Competition is Kayla C. Elliott of Florida Atlantic University for her study, Pride, Power, and Prejudice: The Impact of Performance-Based Funding on Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The funding competition, announced to Holmes Scholars in December, offered a prize of $5,000 to support the winning applicant in completing his or her dissertation. In addition, the winner will receive complimentary registration to the 2019 AACTE Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.
Today kicks off national Public Schools Week, March 12-16, celebrating the success of public schools around the country. AACTE is among the 50 national education groups representing teachers, principals, superintendents, parents, and other civic organizations that have issued a joint statement in support of public education and are celebrating the critical roles for public schools in developing future generations of successful citizens.
Sponsored by AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the weeklong event provides opportunities for supporters to speak out about the value of public education. Using the hashtags #PublicSchoolsWeek and #LovePublicEducation, participants are encouraged to express their own feelings toward public education and why the success of public schools is essential to the future of education in America.
The AACTE Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability (CPPA) is charged with providing leadership in the development of professional consensus on standards, assessment, and practice in educator preparation. Our work is most effective when it is driven by the AACTE membership. The 70th Annual Meeting preconference workshop conducted by CPPA, “Quality Assurance: Moving Beyond Data Collection Towards Assuring Quality,” reinforced the collective wisdom of our profession and the level of care we put into our programs, candidates, and clinical partners.
Those in attendance at the February 28 session repeatedly raised the need for leadership at educator preparation institutions to foster a collaborative culture that constantly questions our practice. We all recognized that there is a delicate balance between the critique of our work and assuring that we are celebrating and advancing those parts of our systems that are working well. The tension most outstanding in our conversations was that of turnover of leadership or faculty in institutions. These observations led to thoughtful discussion by those in attendance to assist colleagues in planning quality assurance processes with an emphasis on program goals and outcomes and how we all could use those goals and outcomes specific to our institutions to keep drawing our faculty, candidates, and clinical partners back to our established priorities and purpose.
On behalf of members and the AACTE Board of Directors, President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone issued the following statement March 8 regarding the Association’s position on school safety:
“It is imperative to protect the safety of teachers and students in the classroom, as it is a fundamental right for children to go to school and learn and for teachers to teach without fear; the sanctity of the classroom must be preserved. Since Sandy Hook in 2012, there have been 239 school shootings; 438 people have been shot and 138 killed. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and its students’ advocacy have reinvigorated an urgency in the national discourse to ensure safe learning environments across America.
On Wednesday, March 21, AACTE will host a free webinar on principal leadership, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of the Association’s ongoing partnership to disseminate the latest research and practice innovations in principal preparation. Please join us from 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT for Leveraging Community Resources to Strengthen Clinical Practice for New Principals: Partnering with Legal and Social Services.
Difficult and changing situations with students and their families require principals to broaden their support network beyond school resources. The panelists on this webinar will discuss scenarios and possible resources available within the community. They will also share ideas for making intentional connections with community partners.
To all 1,900 of the AACTE members, partners, and supporters who joined us last week in Baltimore for the 2018 Annual Meeting: Thank you! Your presence was a valuable part of “Celebrating Our Professional Identity” for the Association’s 70th anniversary.
Over the coming weeks, Ed Prep Matters will bring you a variety of conference coverage. Meanwhile, you can view (and share!) conference photos on Facebook, browse the event’s Twitter feed, and enjoy the following recap videos: