17 Mar2015
By Deborah Koolbeck
Please join me next week for a free webinar on what you can do next regarding the proposed federal regulations for teacher preparation programs.
The public comment period through the Federal Register, which closed last month, was just one piece of ongoing advocacy and outreach necessary to ensure the voice of the profession is expressed to policy makers and key stakeholders as the regulation process unfolds. Learn of the next steps for you to take on the federal proposed teacher preparation regulations.
16 Mar2015
By Amanda Bush
The discussion about developing and integrating high-quality teacher performance assessments across the continuum of teacher preparation was the highlight of several sessions offered at AACTE’s recent Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
An audience poll during the AACTE Town Hall Meeting illustrated that most of us work in states that either have policies regarding performance assessments in place or are considering implementing such policies in the near future. It’s no wonder, then, that related sessions were well attended.
16 Mar2015
By Amanda Bush and Christine DeGregory
If any of these statements sound familiar, chances are good that you were at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta! Here are the top phrases we heard during the conference:
10 Mar2015
By Christine DeGregory
One of the things I appreciate most about conferences is how the small groups of teacher educator voices residing within our home institutions can join together with others to create an impressively large chorus—one whose collective power can provide needed volume and attention to important issues.
At the AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta, I was encouraged to have my quiet voice as a future teacher educator amplified, thanks to the company of so many colleagues who share my passion about creating a developmental continuum that recognizes, values, and utilizes the expertise of classroom teachers in preservice teacher preparation and induction.
10 Mar2015
By Lucy Berrier
During their meeting February 26, members of AACTE’s Board of Directors chose officers for the coming year to serve with new Board Chair Mark Ginsberg (see related press release).
Effective March 1, the Executive Committee includes the following leaders:
- Chair: Mark Ginsberg, George Mason University (VA)
- Chair-Elect: Jane Bray, Old Dominion University (VA)
- Past Chair: Julie Underwood, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Secretary: Renée Middleton, Ohio University
- At-large: Grant Hayes, University of Central Florida, and Tim Wall, Northwest Missouri State University
10 Mar2015
By Donna Sacco
Throughout the AACTE Annual Meeting sessions in Atlanta, I was reminded of the lesson from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. The imperative of ample, authentic practice as a foundation for professional mastery resonated across several conference presentations.
06 Mar2015
By Sungti Hsu
AACTE is pleased to offer the State Chapter Support Grant Program for a 5th year, directing member dues toward strengthening the relationship between state chapters and AACTE and supporting the development of chapters through their initiatives.
06 Mar2015
By Kristin McCabe
Have you created PK-12 lessons aligned with new college- and career-ready standards? Achieve, Inc. wants you to share them—and is offering cash prizes for the best units of study submitted this spring.
The Achieve initiative known as EQuiP (Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products) is collecting instructional units to support the Common Core State Standards in English language arts (ELA)/literacy and math. Units rated exemplary by peer reviewers will win $1,500.
05 Mar2015
By Kristin McCabe and Deborah Koolbeck
On Tuesday, March 10, the U.S. Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language Education Office will host a free webinar to assist minority-serving institutions (MSIs) with applications for Fulbright-Hays grants. An additional webinar will be open to all audiences the following day.
03 Mar2015
By Matthew Wales
Now through May 29, AACTE is accepting session proposals for the 68th Annual Meeting, to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 23-25, 2016. We also invite applications by May 15 from AACTE member faculty to review proposals.
The conference theme is “Meeting the Demands of Professional Practice: Tough Questions, Tough Choices,” conceptualized as follows in the call for proposals.
02 Mar2015
By Trish Parrish
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability would like to encourage AACTE members to respond to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Call for Service. The online application for the CAEP “Volunteer Corps” is open through March 20.
Volunteers may apply to serve as reviewers at different levels or on CAEP’s governance bodies. The call seeks a diverse population of volunteers, not only faculty from programs holding CAEP accreditation. But it is important for teacher educators to be represented in CAEP, and this can be achieved if you volunteer!
02 Mar2015
By Lucy Berrier
Do you know an individual with broad or deep experience in the field of educator preparation? Do you think someone’s guidance would benefit the educator preparation community nationally? Nominate that person (or yourself!) by May 8 to serve an important role in the governance of AACTE.
27 Feb2015
By Julie Underwood
On February 26, the AACTE Board of Directors unanimously passed the following resolution regarding the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP):
“The Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) reiterates its support for a single, unified professional accreditation system for educator preparation programs. Further, AACTE is committed to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). However, the AACTE Board also reiterates its ongoing, significant concern about the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and asserts that there is a ‘crisis of confidence’ with respect to CAEP. Specific concerns are related to the accreditation standards, process for accreditation, costs associated with accreditation, the capacity of CAEP to implement the accreditation system and the representativeness of the CAEP governance structure.”
25 Feb2015
By Sharon Robinson
The following letter to the editor was published in the Washington Post February 23, in response to the February 20 commentary by the University of Virginia’s Robert C. Pianta, “Teacher Prep Programs Need to Be Accountable, Too.”
Robert C. Pianta vastly oversimplified the narrative about accountability among those who prepare educators.
Educator preparation programs should indeed be accountable, and the profession has been busy creating data tools and processes for accountability. States such as Louisiana, California, and Georgia are working to determine the best ways to use data collected through existing assessments and surveys to document program impact. These systems rely on access to K-12 student achievement data as one indicator.
24 Feb2015
By Trish Parrish
The state of Florida recently passed a new rule governing the implementation and evaluation of teacher preparation programs. The Florida Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (FACTE) was very active during the development and public comment periods for this new rule, and while we did not secure all the changes we’d hoped, we did make a difference in the process and in the outcomes.
FACTE implemented a detailed advocacy strategy during the public comment period. One of our greatest assets was our relationship with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), which has always worked to be partners with our programs. I cannot speak enough of the importance of building relationships with those charged with program approval before you are in the process of rule development. We have focused our efforts on building on our shared vision of ensuring every child in the state is taught by a high-quality educator.
