Posts Tagged ‘equity’

AASPA Seeks ‘Promising Practices’ for Addressing the Educator Shortage

We know the educator shortage is a national crisis. To promote conversations across traditional silos, the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) convened PK-20 stakeholders, including AACTE, to discuss educator workforce and pipeline shortages at the annual National Educator Shortage Summit. The results of this gathering are represented in a whitepaper entitled 5 Shifts for Addressing the Educators Shortage.

This white paper moves beyond surface-level responses to examine deeper, systemic issues that contribute to mismatches between educator supply and demand. Five comprehensive shifts are presented in contrast to traditional calls to action. A discussion of each shift contains high-level recommendations, along with examples of actions that different stakeholder groups can take to address the educator shortage.

In the States: Texas State Senate Approves Anti-DEI Bill

The “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.

Last week, the Texas State Senate approved a bill that would largely restrict how the state’s public universities can promote equitable access to higher education and cultivate diversity among students, faculty and staff. The bill, SB17, would require universities to close their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices; ban any mandatory training surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion; and eliminate the completion of diversity statements as part of the hiring process.

To Be Seen and Valued: Strategies to Affirm and Support Arab American Students’ Cultural Identities

The authors of this article write from a positionality as Black women teacher-educators who value the cultural identities K-12 students bring into the learning space. As such, they prepare teacher-candidates to value, respect, and include the cultural identities and experiences of students. Much of teacher-candidates’ preparation includes modeled teaching and learning practices infused throughout their courses.

Teachers are often looked upon to develop and sustain classroom spaces that include and value the cultural identities and experiences of students. However, many teachers do not share similar cultural identities and experiences with their students. Muhammad suggests, “youth need opportunities in school to explore multiple facets of selfhood, but also to learn about the identities of others who may differ (Muhammad, 2020, p. 67).

NCTR’s BEI Releases Education Policy Report to Better Support Black Educators

The National Center for Teacher Residencies’ (NCTR) Black Educators Initiative (BEI) recently released a report focused on state, higher education, and school district recommendations to support the recruitment and preparation of Black educators. 

Informed by the work and impact of NCTR’s BEI-supported teacher residency programs, the report, “Doing Better for Black Educators: Six Policy Recommendations for Improving the Recruitment and Preparation of Black Educators,” provides six policy recommendations and action steps that are meant to help teacher preparation programs, school districts, and states use what BEI grantees are learning in order to improve the recruitment, preparation, and support of Black educators across the country.

Project Impact Focuses on Increasing the Number of Minority Male Teachers

Students participating in the Project Impact program during an event in May 2022 at the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education.

The goal of California State University, San Bernardino’s Project Impact, a community outreach initiative of the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education, is direct: Help close the academic achievement gaps in the state’s K-12 schools, which will ultimately pay dividends in the classroom and its students through the recruitment, training and deployment of minority male teachers into California’s classrooms.

Project Impact was a vision that Watson College of Education Dean Chinaka DomNwachukwu brought with him when he came to CSUSB. It was born out of his own educational journey as a public school teacher in East Los Angeles in the 1990s. He knew firsthand how it felt to be the only Black male teacher on campus at the K-12 schools where he worked.

Diversifying Teachers and Teacher Educators: A U.S. Imperative

While the majority of U.S. K-12 students are children of color, only 20% of teachers are people of color — and 40% of the nation’s public schools do not have a single teacher of color on record. Despite a now decades old, nationwide effort to diversify the teaching profession, there is obviously still much work to be done. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) hold great promise towards the goal of bringing more teachers of color to the profession. They also provide teacher candidates opportunities to do their student teaching in schools and communities that are racially diverse. Of importance, these teacher candidates share a common interest in remaining in multicultural and high-needs schools after getting certified.

A related, but significantly less prominent issue, concerns the diversity of teacher educators. Across higher education, 75% of professors are White and teacher educators are over 76% White, demonstrating that many teacher candidates will not have a single professor of color as they make the transition through their teacher preparation programs. This challenge has huge ramifications for what happens in teacher education programs, including how candidates are recruited, how the curriculum is designed, and how urgently a program works to address critical issues of race and equity. Moreover, as Galman, Pica-Smith, and Rosenberger note: “It’s important that teacher educators have examined their own  implicit biases before asking preservice teachers to engage with [them].”

Register Today: Educator Prep Recruitment and Support for International Students

Educators play a crucial role in how students are welcomed both into the classroom and within their communities — and understanding how to integrate international, intercultural, and global experiences and perspectives into the curriculum of teacher education is vital in a globally connected and diverse world.

As part of the first webinar in the Global Education Faculty PLC Professional Development Series, AACTE members are invited to join a panel of faculty experts and international scholars as they discuss educator prep program recruitment and support for international students on April 17. Save your spot and register today.

Andrews Institute Awarded Cross-Discipline National Science Foundation Grant

A new grant will support TCU’s effort to determine how it has implicitly influenced the inequities found in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) departments. The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant is titled ADVANCE Catalyst: Faculty Resources and Opportunities for Growth in STEM, also known as FROG in STEM. By identifying barriers and bridges for women STEM faculty, this project aims to produce institutional change that will impact not only STEM, but also all women faculty at TCU.  

“Receipt of this award will facilitate our institutional goals to increase the representation and advancement of women among our academic science and engineering faculty and ensure that all our faculty in every discipline are supported and thrive at TCU,” said Floyd Wormley, associate provost for research and dean of graduate studies. “I can think of no better person at TCU than Dr. Weinburgh to lead these efforts, and she has the administration’s full support.”

U.S. Has a Teacher Shortage. HBCUs are Helping to Change That

This article was originally published by The Associated Press

Surrounded by kindergarteners, Lana Scott held up a card with upper and lower case Ys, dotted with pictures of words that started with that letter: Yo-yo. Yak. Yacht.

“What sound does Y make?” Scott asked a boy. Head down, he mumbled: “Yuh.” Instead of moving on, she gave him a nudge.

“Say it confident, because you know it,” she urged. “Be confident in your answer because you know it.”

He sat up and sounded it out again, louder this time. Scott smiled and turned her attention to the other kids in her group session.

You’re Invited: Learn About the HBCU TAG During #AACTE23

Join us at the AACTE Annual Meeting this year to learn how historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are transforming teacher education and preparation. The HBCU Teacher Education Topical Action Group (TAG) provides a platform for leaders and scholars associated with HBCUs to share their ideas and research on teacher education and preparation.

On Friday, February 24, 2023, from 8:00 a.m.  to 12:00 p.m., come to the Marriott IndyPlace’s Indiana Ballroom F to learn about the innovative programs and research initiatives at HBCUs that are driving change and making a difference.

Explore Indy’s Diverse Culture with a Local at #AACTE23

Register Today for Two Preconference Tours

Attendance at the AACTE 75th Annual Meeting demonstrates your advocacy in educator preparation — and your priority in serving institutions with goals to support and increase diverse educators, equity in access to high-quality instructional environments, and the inclusion of all students in PK-20 classrooms. 
 
Before you arrive to Indy, be sure to register for two pre-conference activities, as well as a special opening session on Saturday about the importance of supporting intellectual freedom in the classroom.
 
Preconference programs, open to members and nonmembers, and tours are not included in the AACTE Annual Meeting pricing. Preregistration and an additional fee are required to participate. If you’ve already registered for the conference and would like to register for a preconference activity, contact the registration team at gjones@aacte.org.

Educators, We Must Defend AP African American Studies

This article was originally published by Education Week and is reprinted with permission.

Dear Florida Educators,

When I was growing up in Florida and I would hear church folks describe a troubling event that ran afoul of their moral compass, they would say, “it’s just not sitting right with my spirit.” That’s how I’ve been feeling lately when I hear about recent efforts in my home state of Florida to limit academic freedom in higher education; stifle intellectual curiosity in schools; ban books; obliterate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in higher education; and silence the questions of pre-K-12 learners who may be struggling with their gender identity and sexuality.

I was educated in public pre-K-12 schools and graduated from three major Florida universities with my undergraduate and graduate degrees in the area of special education. I’m a former special education teacher who worked in Pinellas, Seminole, and Miami-Dade counties and was a tenure-track faculty member at Florida International University. Yet today, when I think about the education landscape in my home state, I’m grieved that instead of being lauded as a leader in innovation and delivering high-quality, equitable educational opportunities to all learners, Florida is applauded by its governor as “the place where woke goes to die.”

Celebrate Black History Month at Annual Meeting Sessions Dedicated to Supporting Black Educators

Join AACTE as we celebrate Black History Month. This year, AACTE’s 75th Annual Meeting falls in February, the theme of which is Innovation through Inspiration: Remembering the Past to Revolutionize the Future; and how could we revolutionize the future of education and education and education preparation to ensure all learners receive a high-quality, equitable education without Black educators? AACTE is excited to offer programming throughout Annual Meeting and its preconference events, February 23 – 26, dedicated to supporting Black Educators and the representation of Black history and perspectives and curriculum and educator preparation policy and practice. 

National Program Seeks to Advance Underrepresented Faculty through Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

Next month, members will gather for AACTE’s 75th Annual meeting and immerse ourselves in several days of sessions within the theme of “Innovation through Inspiration: Remembering the Past to Revolutionize the Future.” As representatives of an institution of higher education that was founded in 1855 as the Paterson City Normal School in response to the growing demand for professional preparation of teachers-in-service in the emerging free public schools of Paterson, New Jersey, and one that is now a comprehensive university that proudly wears its designation of Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and is led by a president who is a first-generation college graduate and a member of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, we are excited to share an initiative that aligns with AACTE’s Annual Meeting theme.

In fall 2023, William Paterson University will welcome two pre-doctoral fellows into the College of Education, one in teacher education (preferably with a specialization in early childhood education or secondary education), and one in special education. Applications are now being accepted for this unique pre-doctoral fellowship program aimed at supporting career development of faculty from underrepresented backgrounds.

In the States: A Look at FAPE and Faith-based Schools

The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.

OCR Enters Resolution Agreement with Virginia’s Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) Regarding the use of Restraint and Seclusion

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) in Virginia entered into a resolution agreement regarding the use of restraint and seclusion and the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. OCR identified concerns that SECEP may have denied FAPE to students with disabilities when it did not reevaluate students after multiple incidents of restraint and seclusion and when students missed significant instructional time.