06 May2016
By Aaron Goldstein
The Education Commission of the States (ECS), a national state policy organization that partners with education policy leaders including AACTE, has released six reports that provide guidance to state policy makers seeking to address teacher shortages.
An introductory report, Teacher Shortages: What We Know, examines the teacher labor market and highlights recent findings from state task forces that have addressed policies related to teacher shortages.
Five additional reports consider different state strategies to tackle shortages: alternative certification, financial incentives, induction and mentorship, evaluation and feedback, teacher leadership.
05 May2016
By Jerrica Thurman
Please join AACTE for a free policy discussion and reception June 6! RSVP here.
Each summer, AACTE’s State Leaders Institute (SLI) brings together leaders of the Association’s state chapters to discuss important trends in state policies and to advocate for the profession. This year, the institute will be held June 5-6 as part of AACTE’s 2016 Washington Week, themed “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession,” at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA.
Thanks to a grant from the Learning First Alliance’s Get It Right campaign, the 2016 SLI will offer interactive sessions highlighting how state policy for college- and career-ready standards will be affected by the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the implications for educator preparation. Participants will gain a deeper understanding about the uniqueness of individual states, find ways in which they are similar, and discover how those similarities can help frame a common message.
02 May2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Ed Prep Matters is pleased to bring you this special feature on state policy and AACTE state chapter activity. For a summary of March’s state activity, see this article; February’s state activity is available here.
Overview of State Policy Activity
Thanks to AACTE’s State Policy Tracker, we can identify trends in state legislation and regulations related to educator preparation.
So far this year, approximately 300 state bills related to educator preparation have been introduced. Of these, 186 were related to certification and standards, and 18 have been enacted. Many of these laws are related to lowering certification standards for alternative-route programs, differentiated licensure standards for certain subjects including STEM fields and career and technical education (CTE), and allowing more pathways into teaching to alleviate shortages. Seven bills related to teacher certification and shortages have been signed into law in 2016 with themes such as expanding scholarships for teacher candidates and offering loan forgiveness for teachers. Five state bills have been signed into law related to teacher licensure standards.
25 Apr2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Last week, I hosted a webinar demonstrating the AACTE State Policy Tracker, an online tool that provides an interactive and user-friendly way for member institutions and state chapters to be more informed on state legislation and regulations related to educator preparation.
The webinar’s video recording and presentation slides are now available here.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the online policy tracker, contact me at agoldstein@aacte.org or (202) 478-4504.
19 Apr2016
By Jerrica Thurman
Please join educators from Georgia in an interactive webinar where they will share how they incorporated professional ethics training and assessments in their curriculum and used the resulting data to inform program improvements.
Preparing Preservice Educators in Ethical Decision Making Using Innovative Strategies
Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT
Presenters:
- Anne Marie Fenton, Director, Assessment, Georgia Professional Standards Commission
- Sarah Hallstein, Teacher, Glenwood Primary School, Rome, Georgia
- Edward Hill, Dean and Associate Professor, College of Education, Fort Valley State University
- Troy Hutchings, Senior Strategic Advisor – Educator Ethics, Educational Testing Service
- Jack Parish, Associate Dean, Outreach and Engagement, College of Education, University of Georgia
- Francis Roe, Director of Field Experiences and Clinical Practice, Charter School of Education and Human Sciences, Berry College
- Paul Shaw, Division Director, Ethics, Georgia Professional Standards Commission
Hear from these industry leaders as they walk you through their state’s work, in collaboration with Educational Testing Service, to deploy innovative strategies to prepare their state’s candidates in educator ethics.
18 Apr2016
By Rod Jonas
The North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NDACTE) received an AACTE State Chapter Support Grant last year to assist with the development and administration of a set of common assessments to be used by all North Dakota teacher preparation programs to improve the effectiveness of programs and quality of graduates.
During this school year, members of NDACTE have engaged in meetings and training workshops to learn how to effectively implement four common assessments: the Preservice Teacher Exit Survey, the Transition to Teaching Survey, the Supervisor Survey, and the Preservice Teacher Observational Assessment.
18 Apr2016
By Shelly Meyers
It is no secret that South Carolina has faced many challenges related to education. Most recently, a shortage of teachers has been severely affecting the most vulnerable regions of South Carolina: our rural and poverty-stricken regions. In a state where most students live below the poverty level, there are some unsung heroes doing their best with the lowest of means, but we desperately need to improve our recruitment and retention of professional educators.
One way the state is supporting this goal is through Proviso 1A.73, also known as the Rural Teacher Recruiting Incentive. The FY16 budget allows for $1.5 million to be spent on this plan. The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) at Winthrop University along with the South Carolina Department of Education and the Education Oversight Committee has been charged with the responsibility to develop the initiative, and CERRA Executive Director Jane Turner submitted the plan for the first year in January 2016 with multiple components:
01 Apr2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Ed Prep Matters is pleased to bring you this special feature on policy and AACTE chapter activity in the states. For a summary of February’s state activity, see this article; January’s state activity is available here.
Overview of State Policy Activity
In March, at least 30 state legislatures met as part of their 2016 legislative sessions. At least 184 state bills were introduced related to educator preparation. Since the New Year, approximately 300 bills have been introduced, of which seven have been signed into law.
01 Apr2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Please join me April 18 for a free webinar demonstrating the latest AACTE member resource, the State Policy Tracker.
The online tracker, available to AACTE members only, is an interactive tool to help you find state legislation and regulations related to educator preparation.
29 Mar2016
By Jerrica Thurman
Registration is now open for AACTE’s Washington Week, a set of advocacy-focused events held annually in the nation’s capital. Under the theme “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession,” this year’s Washington Week will be held June 5-8 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA, and on Capitol Hill. Please join us to deliberate on provocative issues in the profession, experience interactive sessions with industry leaders, and showcase your work with legislators.
22 Mar2016
By Jerrica Thurman
In advance of the 68th Annual Meeting, AACTE held a press briefing last month at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focused on educator preparation providers’ work to address the teacher shortages in Nevada. Panelists discussed the challenges they face and innovative solutions under way to meet the urgent demand for qualified teachers in the state’s two largest counties and in both rural and urban areas.
Presented by AACTE in partnership with member institutions in the state, the briefing featured an interactive panel discussion moderated by Mark LaCelle-Peterson, AACTE senior vice president for policy and programs, with the following panelists:
- Kenneth Coll, Dean, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno
- Kim Metcalf, Dean, College of Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Dennis Potthoff, Dean, School of Education, Nevada State College
- Thomas Reagan, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Great Basin College
- Staci Vesneske, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, Clark County School District, on special assignment to the superintendent’s office
02 Mar2016
By Sungti Hsu and Aaron Goldstein
Education Commission of the States (ECS) recently produced a searchable resource summarizing the education policy highlights contained in governors’ State of the State Addresses going back to 2011. ECS also offers a shorter report on the top education issues mentioned in just the 41 addresses made in 2016.
Governors cited the following topics most in 2016:
01 Mar2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Ed Prep Matters is pleased to bring you this special feature on policy and AACTE chapter activity in the states. For a summary of January’s state activity, see this article, or to see a year-end recap for 2015, see this article.
Overview of State Policy Activity
In February, 40 state legislatures convened for their 2016 legislative sessions. At least 160 bills were introduced in 30 states that could have an impact on educator preparation programs.
03 Feb2016
By Deborah Koolbeck
On February 2, the U.S. Department of Education released guidance to chief state school officers on how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funds in effect through the 2016-2017 school year may be used to “eliminate redundancy and ensure efficacy and quality of assessment.” You might recall that the Department released a Testing Action Plan in October 2015 to reduce the overtesting of our nation’s youth.
The guidance elaborates on what the Department views as principles for good assessments. The principles state that every assessment should be
- Worth taking
- High quality
- Time limited
- Fair, and supportive of fairness, in equity in educational opportunity
- Fully transparent to students and parents
- Just one of multiple measures
- Tied to improved learning
02 Feb2016
By Aaron Goldstein
Over the past month, 35 state legislatures have convened for their 2016 legislative session—and it’s already been a productive year. Since January 1, nearly as many state bills related to educator preparation have been introduced as in all of 2015. In 2015, about 150 such bills were introduced; during January 2016, there were 133, introduced in 33 state legislatures. The states with the most bills proposed so far are New Jersey, Oklahoma, Iowa, Florida, and Michigan. Some of the common topics addressed in the bills include modifying teacher certification/licensure standards as related to teacher shortages and alternative routes to certification, investing in scholarships and loan forgiveness for teachers, and mandating training for teachers to support students with dyslexia as a requirement for licensure.
In addition, since the New Year, 34 state regulations have been proposed in 17 states related to educator preparation. The vast majority of the proposed state regulations relate to streamlining or clarifying teacher certification standards.
