Member Voices: Join AACTE Twitter Campaign on #EDregs
With an intention of generating 100,000 comments to the U.S. Department of Education on its proposed regulations for teacher preparation programs, the members of the AACTE Committee on Government Relations and Advocacy are leading the charge with a Twitter campaign to spread awareness of the proposed regulations.
Remember, the deadline to comment is February 2, and the teacher preparation profession’s voice must be heard! (See AACTE’s regulations web page for more information.)
Please join our Twitter campaign at #EDregs to help us reach out to colleagues, public officials, students, organizations, and the public to help generate more conversation on Twitter about the regulations—leading, we hope, to more comments submitted to the government.
How to Participate
Include the hashtag #EDregs in every tweet about the regulations. Possible messages include general or targeted encouragement to respond, highlights of a particular concern or detail in the regulations, reminders of the deadline, or links to relevant resources.
To get you started, you might consult these resources in determining what to tweet:
- AACTE’s overview document, distilling the lengthy regulations into a four-page summary
- AACTE’s concerns document, outlining key problems in the proposed regulations
- AACTE’s template letter, providing sample text for comments to the Department
- Research or data from your program relevant to the regulations
- Research presented in the Journal of Teacher Education issue with the theme “Examining the Complexities of Assessment and Accountability in Teacher Education,” including VAM studies and related research (complimentary full-text online access through February 2!)
- The potential impact of the regulations on your teacher candidates and students
- Estimates of cost and burden to states and schools (see AACTE’s letter on this topic to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget)
Tweets can tag other Twitter users to invite their response, or simply to call their attention to your message or involvement. For example, I might tweet to AACTE:
- @AACTE Just submitted my comments on the #EDregs – many concerns! [include hyperlink if applicable]
Other examples you might use:
- I’m concerned about the #EDregs. I’ll be submitting comments to @usedgov by 2/2. Join me in using #EDregs to share your concerns!
- #EDregs for #teacherprep are a cause for concern. Send @usedgov your comments by 2/2: http://bit.ly/EDregsSUBMIT
- The #teacherprep regs by @usedgov would stifle innovation & reform currently under way. Join me in sharing your concerns using #EDregs.
It’s also helpful to retweet others’ messages that resonate with you. Be sure to follow the #EDregs stream and retweet or “favorite” any tweets you like.
As a general rule, if you plan to tweet to someone, “follow” the person on Twitter first. People are more likely to reply or pay attention to your tweet if you are already following them.
Click here for a list of key public officials and national organizations to which you might want to tweet. Reach out to others of local importance to your institution.
While we are focusing on a Twitter campaign, we also encourage you to post on any forms of social media. The end goal is to get as many people as possible to comment on the proposed regulations. Help us meet our goal of 100,000 comments! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
Questions? E-mail regs@aacte.org.
Tags: community engagement, federal issues
