28 Nov2017
By Renée A. Middleton
As AACTE Board Chair, I have shared and reflected monthly on several of our AACTE core values. This month, I would like to focus on one of our most important core values: professionalism.
This value calls for AACTE members to prepare teacher candidates to be not only successful educators, but also members of the larger professional community. Candidates should graduate from their programs with a clear understanding of the ethical responsibilities of being an educator and be equipped to contribute to the greater good in communities, school districts, and society.
09 Nov2017
By Deborah Koolbeck
Today the National Education Association (NEA) released an analysis of the U.S. House tax reform bill, H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” to project the impact on PK-12 education of the elimination of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction for individuals (the tax plan permits corporations to keep this deduction).
In a press release, the NEA highlighted the potential effect of this single elimination: “The impact of eliminating SALT on public education is nearly equal to the education jobs lost during the Great Recession. By most accounts, the country lost about 300,000 education jobs during that time.”
09 Nov2017
By Zachary VanHouten
As the tax reform debate wages on in Congress, and as many other items linger on the agenda, there is much to accomplish in Washington by the year’s end. Many of the items will have an impact on the education community. Let AACTE help unpack and process some of the latest developments for you by joining our free, members-only November and December Federal Update webinars.
To accommodate busy end-of-year schedules and various time zones, AACTE offers each webinar at two different dates and times. Click on your preferred date/time below to register.
08 Nov2017
By Deborah Koolbeck
Last week Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means introduced a tax reform bill, H.R. 1, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and scheduled the markup to start November 6 and continue until the work is completed. This process was initiated via reconciliation through the Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution.
Prior to the markup beginning, Brady offered a manager’s amendment making changes to the original bill, and the markup (watch it live and view additional resources here) allows committee members to offer amendments.
26 Oct2017
By Zachary VanHouten
If you missed this week’s member-exclusive AACTE Federal Update webinar, the recording is now available to view in AACTE’s Advocacy Center (scroll down to the “Federal Update Webinars” box).
With so much on the congressional agenda, it is tricky, but crucial, for advocates to stay informed. The AACTE Federal Update webinar brings you up to speed on the latest developments. It’s also a great learning opportunity for other faculty at you institution – as well as your students! – so we encourage you to share the recording with them.
16 Oct2017
By Zachary VanHouten
Education funding is at risk of devastating cuts if Congress cannot reach a budget deal that raises the caps on federal spending for Fiscal Year 2018. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) reform, tax reform, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) are all items vying for attention on an overcrowded congressional agenda.
With so many issues facing Congress, the need for the profession to stay informed is more important than ever. To keep up to date with all the latest information, please join AACTE for one of the October Federal Update webinars.
16 Oct2017
By Jane E. West
The American Council on Education, the major coordinating association for our nation’s colleges and universities, is leading the Protect Dreamers Higher Education Coalition, of which AACTE is a member. The coalition is coordinating a week of advocacy efforts beginning today, October 16, and has developed a website providing multiple resources related to Dreamers, including fact sheets and talking points, which can be used by individual campuses for advocacy.
In addition, the coalition is leading a letter that your institution can sign on to – but time is tight. The deadline is Wednesday, October 18, at noon EDT. To have your institution sign on to the letter, please reach out to your president’s office as well as your government relations staff. Find the instructions here.
06 Oct2017
By AACTE Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building
AACTE members and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone enjoy a moment at the 2017 AACTE Day on the Hill. Focus group respondents cited the Association’s advocacy work and convenings among the top member benefits.
As members of the AACTE Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building, we are eager to learn from the results of the AACTE survey currently under way – and we thank all of you who have participated! In the meantime, we would like to highlight some insights from a recent online focus group of 26 teacher educators from colleges and universities that are current, former, or prospective members of AACTE.
This group, convened on behalf of AACTE by Marketing General Incorporated (the same agency managing the current broad-market survey), reported an almost universally positive image of AACTE’s brand and belief in its mission. But what the current members of AACTE say they value most is the organization’s advocacy work, high-quality resources, and networking connections with other professionals in the field.
04 Oct2017
By Kim Metcalf
Students from Clark County School District at the Rebel Science Camp in March. The district’s diversity makes it a "living laboratory” for developing educational practices the entire country will eventually adopt.
This article was originally published in the UNLV News Center and is reposted with permission. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
From the earliest days of our republic, we have believed that education was critical to our democracy. Our founders knew that the health of our country, the wellbeing of the citizenry – and particularly the strength of the democracy – would be built on a well-educated population. Though disagreements have been fierce regarding who is to be educated, how much education they need, and whether to measure its value in economic growth, individual growth, or societal growth, fundamentally, we have always agreed that educating our citizens is important.
19 Sep2017
By Todd Alan Price
This month’s members-only Federal Update webinars are today and tomorrow, September 19 and 20 – or just view the recording in our archive if you miss them! The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Over the summer of 2017, I integrated a valuable new asset into my doctoral-level Critical Policy Analysis class: advocacy resources from AACTE. From the members-only webinars to downloadable advocacy guides, these materials informed my students’ discussion of policy items pertinent to not only Illinois but the nation at large. They also provided current, practical information and tools for students to become more engaged in advocacy outside of class.
11 Sep2017
By Aaron Goldstein
Last month, AACTE staff hosted an exhibit at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. We also invited leaders of the local AACTE state chapter, the Massachusetts Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE), to join us in the exhibit booth to share their work with attendees. Over 5,000 state legislators, state legislative staff, and trade association representatives attended the conference.
As I learned from last year’s NCSL Legislative Summit (see my takeaways here), state legislators are eager to receive input from teacher educators. One recurring theme from my conversations with state legislators this year was that they are unfamiliar with the major state policy levers pertaining to educator preparation – accreditation, licensure, and program approval. It was good for AACTE staff and MACTE leaders to interact with attendees from dozens of states, including many members of state legislatures’ education committees.
30 Aug2017
By Aaron Goldstein
Seven state chapters of AACTE will share $50,000 in funding from the 2017 State Chapter Support Grant competition.
AACTE is pleased to support these state chapters as they develop new initiatives and projects focused on advocacy, program quality, and chapter development. For the 6th year, these grants will help strengthen AACTE’s relationship with our state chapters.
15 Aug2017
By Michael Maher
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The Legislative Long Session in North Carolina this year was, in many ways, a productive one for education, generating a number of consequential bills that became law. Included in the slate was the reintroduction of the Teaching Fellows program, thanks to a collaborative effort led by Senator Chad Barefoot and the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (NCACTE).
07 Aug2017
By Zachary VanHouten
A new advocacy guide is now available for download in AACTE’s Advocacy Center. This guide, “Creating Leave-Behind Documents for Meetings With Elected Officials,” is part of our ongoing effort to provide opportunities to advance your advocacy capacity.
Through this AACTE members-only resource, you will learn of some best practices for developing materials to take to meetings with elected officials and other important stakeholders. As participants in AACTE’s Day on the Hill can attest, developing one-page “leave-behinds” for these meetings is important when time is short and you have much to share about your programs and their impact on your community and state. Leave-behind documents allow you to focus your meeting time on key talking points while supplying more in-depth information as a reference for elected officials or their staff. To learn more, check out the new guide!
31 Jul2017
By Zachary VanHouten
In case you missed July’s Federal Update webinar – available exclusively to AACTE members – it is now available on demand in AACTE’s Resource Library. Just log in to view the video recording or download the slides from July or any webinar from the past year!
The Federal Update webinars are AACTE members’ go-to source to catch up on all the developments in Washington, DC. For July, AACTE Government Relations Director Deborah Koolbeck highlighted the latest action on the Fiscal Year 2018 federal appropriations process, the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, ways you can engage your members of Congress during the August recess, and more.
