Scholars in Maine, New Jersey Named AACTE Research Fellows
AACTE has awarded its inaugural Research Fellowship in Educator Preparation to teams based at the University of Southern Maine and at William Paterson University of New Jersey. The 1-year fellowships commence August 1.
Each of the two research teams, which include emerging as well as experienced scholars, will receive $30,000 to support projects examining critical issues in educator preparation.
Factors Affecting New Teachers’ Job Placement
The University of Southern Maine (USM) team is led by Amy Johnson and Cathie Fallona with additional research support from Charlie Colgan, David Silvernail, and Jean Whitney. Their project will study what student and institutional factors are most influential in determining job-placement rates for graduates of traditional teacher preparation programs. By examining employment data from graduates of six public institutions, researchers aim to inform policy makers, preparation programs, and others about practices that influence (or do not influence) graduates’ employability—a much-needed service given increasing demands by accreditors and the federal government for evidence of program impact.
Click here for more information about the USM study.
Teacher Persistence in Urban Settings
The New Jersey project involves researchers from three institutions: Dorothy Feola, Kabba Colley, Manina Urgolo Huckvale, David Fuentes, and Sharon Leathers from William Paterson University; Susan Polirstok and Gail Hilliard-Nelson from Kean University; and Monica Williams Shealey and other faculty from Rowan University. Their study will explore the effects of varied pathways into teaching on their graduates’ retention in urban schools through at least their 4th year of teaching, examining high-profile programs from across all three institutions—including the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship and the federal Teacher Quality Enhancement, Teacher Quality Partnership, and Transition to Teaching programs.
Click here for more information about the New Jersey study.
New Program, Stiff Competition
The Research Fellowship is a new AACTE program for 2014, initiated as part of the recently launched Innovation Exchange to help develop a sustained research agenda for the profession focused on high-impact practices, dynamics and economics of educator workforce development, and other critical issues in educator preparation.
The Research Fellows were selected through a highly competitive process over the past few months. Nearly 80 applications were submitted in March and underwent review by a 10-member panel. After scoring each proposal according to criteria in the application guidelines, reviewers narrowed the pool to 13 semifinalists, which then received further scrutiny and discussion before the winners were chosen.
Many thanks to members of the review panel:
- Jorgelina Abbate-Vaughn, University of Massachusetts-Boston
- Patricia Hoffman-Miller, Prairie View A&M University
- Kevin Kelly, University of Dayton
- Elba Maldonado-Colon, San Jose State University
- Ellen McIntyre, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Phyllis Metcalf-Turner, St. Mary’s College of California
- Mistilina Sato, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- Kate Scantlebury, University of Delaware
- Dwight Watson, University of Northern Iowa
- Jennie Whitcomb, University of Colorado at Boulder
Both teams of Research Fellows will be presenting their work to the AACTE membership through blog posts, webinars, Annual Meeting sessions, and other channels throughout the academic year. Stay tuned for more information!
Tags: clinical preparation, content areas, research
