Posts Tagged ‘shortage’

Supporting the Educator Profession with COVID Funds

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, Congress passed several pieces of legislation to support the safe re-opening of schools and address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and learning of students.  Funds included in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds played a critical role in helping achieve these and related goals.

Kentucky School Leaders Prepare December Grads for Interviews, Teaching Careers

(Left to right:) Karen Lymon, Megan Barnes, John Moore, Chelsea Clark, Cynthia Bruno and Michael Price.

When University of Kentucky clinical instructor Joni Meade prepares to say goodbye to each class of teacher candidates from the UK College of Education, one of her final tasks is assembling a group of Kentucky school personnel. 

Together, the school personnel — principals and other district leaders — create a simulation for graduating seniors in elementary education to put the finishing touches on their interviewing skills and prepare for the hiring process.  

AACTE Contributes to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact

As we review the accomplishments of 2022 and look toward a New Year, AACTE is honored to have been one of the national organizations to have contributed to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC), recently finalized and ready for enactment by states.

Especially in the era of extraordinary teacher shortages, the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC) creates the opportunity for classrooms across our country to have a profession-ready teacher guiding and supporting student’s academic growth.

National Educator Shortage Summit: Be Part of the Conversation

The National Educator Shortage Summit, J is an interactive event that convenes focused groups of PK-12 and higher education stakeholders to address the challenges of the national shortage of teachers and the teacher pipeline to share ways to replicate practices via a national strategy. Central to this conversation will be the use of data and collaboration in sharing promising practices. Above all we hope this Summit will start comprehensive conversations among these groups in the education community and serve as a place where they can pool different perspectives. The event, held January 19-20, 2023 in New Orleans, LA, will take place at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District Hotel but you can also stay at the Courtyard New Orleans Warehouse Arts District.

NJACTE Officers Appointed to Task Force on Public School Staff Shortages

Stacey Leftwich (left) and Amy Kline (right) of the New Jersey Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (NJACTE).

Stacey Leftwich, president, and Amy Kline, treasurer/president-elect, of the New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NJACTE) were appointed to Governor Phil Murphy’s newly established Task Force on Public School Staff Shortages. Created under Executive Order No. 309, the task force is part of Governor Murphy’s efforts to address ongoing school staff shortages and will be charged to develop short and long-term recommendations to increase the number of K-12 school staff — including teachers and support staff — in the State of New Jersey.

GACTE Works to Elevate the Teaching Profession throughout Georgia

The Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (GACTE) has been looking at the teacher pipeline in our state and receiving input on ways to increase teacher recruitment and retention. Several state reports confirm the shortage in Georgia and GACTE’s goal was to get everyone on board to look for ways to help reduce shortages. GACTE convened an initial meeting where three main action items were identified including (1) Elevate Teacher Voice in the school and in policy and legislation; (2) Re-imagine induction and mentoring to increase the dignity and honor of the profession; and (3) Raise the profile of teachers in Georgia. A second meeting at Kennesaw State University, brought the collaborative together to turn general strategies from the first meeting into action items.

Amid Teacher Shortage, Black Male Educators Point to Why There Aren’t More of Them

Marvin Burton, Jr. poses for a photo this year with his wife and three sons. Courtesy of Marvin Burton Jr.

This article originally appeared on ABC News.

Educator Marvin Burton Jr. is a self-described renaissance man.

“You have to be that type of teacher now,” Burton Jr. told ABC News, adding, “It’s never a dull moment. I don’t know of a teacher that’s not tired when they leave from just the daily work — the daily grind.”

The advanced, professionally-certified vocal music instructor has taught everything from special education to English language arts over the past three school years because he said a nationwide teacher shortage has forced him in different directions. Burton Jr. said he’s “totally exhausted” most evenings when leaving Drew-Freeman Middle School in Suitland, Maryland, driving to pick up his three sons in Temple Hills before commuting another half an hour home to Brandywine.

USC Research Calls for Long-Term Strategy to Address Teacher Shortages

A University of South Carolina research team’s new report suggests that the state does not need another series of programs, but rather a new strategy, to truly change the future of teaching. The report showcases evidence of what is and is not currently working for the teaching profession, innovations already underway in certain school districts, and insight from South Carolina educators who are ready to evolve teaching and learning in South Carolina. (Read the report summary and the full report.)

With funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a team of researchers at the USC College of Education released the report, The Future of South Carolina’s Teaching Profession, focusing on the current state of the teaching profession in South Carolina. It offers suggestions to alleviate the teacher shortage challenge while addressing student-led learning.

In the States: Addressing Students with Disabilities Services and Educator Shortage

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.

Office of Civil Rights Comes to Agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) Over Students with Disabilities Receiving Services

On Wednesday, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced they have come to an agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools after the district failed to provide thousands of students with disabilities with the services required under law during the pandemic. “I am relieved that the more than 25,000 students with disabilities in Fairfax County will now receive services federal law promises to them, even during a pandemic, to ensure their equal access to education,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement.

The OCR investigation found that during the pandemic, Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest school district in Virginia, reduced its special education instruction and “inaccurately informed staff that the school division was not required to provide compensatory education to students with disabilities who did not receive a [free appropriate public education] during the COVID-19 pandemic because the school division was not at fault.”

AACTE in the Headlines: Innovation in Teacher Preparation

During the month of November, AACTE made headlines that highlighted innovation in teacher preparation programs, strategies for addressing the teacher shortage, ways to diversify the teaching profession, and censorship in schools.

AACTE has been cited in media outlets ranging from K-12 Dive to the Star-Telegram and Forbes on issues that include teacher apprenticeships, teacher preparation programs and engagement in education.

New Data: AACTE Finds College and University-Based Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs More Effectively Address Educator Shortage than Alternative Programs Outside of Higher Ed

AACTE released a new analysis focusing on alternative preparation programs run by institutions of higher education (IHE-based alternative programs). The study shows that IHE- based alternative teacher preparation programs are bringing more educators to the strained workforce than alternative programs run by organizations other than colleges and universities.

“This new analysis confirms that colleges and universities serve a critical role in preparing qualified future educators for the profession,” says AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. “These IHE-based alternative-based programs are doing the critical work of addressing the teacher shortage by providing those who have already earned a bachelor’s degree with a streamlined path to becoming fully licensed teachers.”

Substitute Teaching as a Developmental Opportunity: Fellowship Program Pilot

Substitute teacher pools are a rich — and often overlooked — source of teacher candidates. In a recent survey of over 4,000 substitute teachers, nearly 30% reported that they are aspiring to become credentialed teachers. Substitute teaching is a great, low-stakes way to check out teaching. As one sub explained:

“It is a great way to get your foot into the world of teaching. You get to see how different each school is and gain great learning experience from it. It is also a nice way for you to build professional relationships with the teachers as well as students.”

CCC&TI Joins App State, Public Schools in Inaugural NC Educator Pipeline Collaborative Cohort

Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will participate along with seven other teacher preparation partnerships from across the state in the inaugural North Carolina Educator Pipeline Collaborative cohort. The initiative will identify innovative methods for recruiting and preparing educators for North Carolina’s public schools.

The collaborative was launched by The Public School Forum of North Carolina in partnership with the NC Office of the Governor and The Belk Foundation and includes school districts, universities and community colleges working to strengthen the educator pipeline. Together, the cohort will share, develop and implement policies and practices that enhance and extend efforts to recruit, prepare, support and retain a diverse and highly effective educator workforce.

Using COVID Funds to Support Apprenticeships

The Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague letter to states and local educational agencies (LEAs) to remind them that they can continue to respond to the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by using funds Congress appropriated in response to the pandemic to, among other things, expand opportunities for high-quality work-based learning, often referred to as “apprenticeships.”

UNM’s ‘POLLEN’ Program Fills Critical Principal Shortage in Indigenous Schools

This article was originally published by the University of New Mexico Newsroom

A large part of the next wave of Indigenous school principals will come from The University of New Mexico.

There’s a growing group of dedicated learners aiming for that goal, in the Promoting Our Leadership, Learning, and Empowering Nations (POLLEN) program housed in the College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS).

This immersive, licensure program began in 2016 to put teachers on a direct pathway to higher leadership in Indigenous or Native-serving schools. It has since received roughly $750,000 in grant funding to secure the future of principals and learners.