21 Jun2016
By Jane S. Bray
The recent passing of Muhammad Ali was a sad time for many. Although I was not particularly a boxing fan, I count myself among the millions of individuals around the world who were significantly impacted by Ali’s teachings. As educators and teacher educators, we stand to benefit from discussing and embracing the steadfast resolve shown by this great legend.
My fascination and admiration with Ali began with a personal encounter while I was attending college in Pennsylvania. The champ trained for some of his boxing matches in Deer Lake, PA. Upon a Saturday night whim, a group of friends and I decided to visit his training camp. We arrived there not realizing that there were actually regular visiting hours—and unfortunately, we had missed them.
20 Jun2016
By Aaron Goldstein
The Council of Chief State School Officers has released a new guide for state policy makers to engage stakeholders on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) implementation, and educator preparation providers (EPPs) are among the two dozen groups recommended for consultation. Although the guide indicates that EPP input is required only for state Title II grant applications, it encourages states to “not stop there” but rather engage whatever perspectives best represent the state’s interests. AACTE encourages its members and state chapters to get involved with their state’s ESSA implementation in as many areas and as early as possible.
20 Jun2016
By Kristin McCabe
Online registration is now open for the 28th annual seminar of the Japan-U.S. Teacher Education Consortium (JUSTEC), to be held November 4-7, 2016, at Japan’s Ehime University. An early-bird discount is in effect through August 15.
This year’s theme is “Collaborative Teacher Education With Local Communities,” with sessions that aim to explore regional rather than national solutions to local needs for educator preparation. The conference schedule includes an optional site visit to two local schools, a city tour, keynotes and seminar presentations from both U.S. and Japanese educators, networking and meal events, and more.
15 Jun2016
By Alan H. Jones
The California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) has for several decades viewed the preparation of new teacher educators to be among its most important responsibilities. Semiannual CCTE conferences have always been open and welcoming to graduate students and newly hired teacher education faculty. In recent years, however, the organization, which has served as the California state chapter of AACTE since a merger with the California Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in 2000, has created more purposeful programs to recruit and mentor future teacher educators.
14 Jun2016
By Jerrica Thurman
The value of “acting as one” was the resounding message highlighted throughout AACTE’s Washington Week, June 5-8, themed “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession.” Attendees were urged to join forces with fellow educators across conventional boundaries to build professional and political coalitions in order to effectively advocate for shared values. From connections made during the Holmes Scholars Summer Policy Institute to panel discussions at the State Leaders Institute through Day on the Hill advocacy work, the importance of building partnerships was stressed by invited partners and AACTE member participants alike.
14 Jun2016
By Denarius Stinson
AACTE’s 2016 Day on the Hill welcomed more than 120 member participants to the nation’s capital last week, building their capacity for political advocacy and delivering them to Capitol Hill to present their messages personally to member of Congress and their staff.
The event kicked off June 7 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. Attendees enjoyed a full-day orientation, expanded from prior years to more fully prepare them to articulate their positions, cultivate positive relationships with elected officials and the media, and partner with other education advocates.
AACTE President/CEO Sharon Robinson welcomed participants, saying she was excited to convene members for such an important cause. “We are taking on some of our greatest challenges,” she said. AACTE Board of Directors Chair Jane Bray and Committee on Government Relations and Advocacy Chair Joen Larson joined in offering greetings.
14 Jun2016
By Ann E. Larson
What an inspirational and invigorating experience I had last week at AACTE’s State Leaders Institute (SLI)—in my 7th year participating in AACTE’s Washington Week!
SLI was held June 5-6 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. Thirty-five states were represented by 60 attendees, many of whom were new faces adding to SLI’s rich and continuing conversations. This enrollment represented an increase from last year of 10 additional AACTE state chapters and also included 20 attendees who returned from the 2015 institute.
Over the course of 2 days, we enjoyed ample and fulfilling opportunities to engage with expert panelists, peers sharing research-based and cutting-edge practices in preparing high-quality teachers and leaders for PK-12 schools, federal updates, policy trend overviews, advocacy and coalition planning, working with policy makers and their staffers, working with the media, and individual and state chapter strategic planning work time. We also had the pleasure to interact at a special reception with not only each other but also a cohort of AACTE Holmes Scholars—graduate students from across the country who represent the brightest future in the profession.
14 Jun2016
By Kristin McCabe
A new study finds that using observational ratings of beginning teachers may be a viable alternative—or a useful complement—to relying solely on controversial “value-added” modeling (VAM) in evaluation of educator preparation providers (EPPs).
An article about the study by Matthew Ronfeldt and Shanyce Campbell of the University of Michigan School of Education, published in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, is now available online.
In what the authors describe as the first study to investigate the use of teachers’ observational ratings to evaluate their preparation programs and institutions, the results are compelling.
“The demands for teacher preparation accountability continue to grow, from the proposed federal regulations to new accreditation standards,” said Ronfeldt, who was also the 2016 recipient of AACTE’s Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education Article Award. “We sorely need better ways to assess program quality. Although VAM makes an important contribution to our understanding of program outcomes, we likely need multiple measures to capture something as complex as preparation quality. We are excited to find that teacher observational ratings could be a viable supplement.”
13 Jun2016
By Yupin Bae and Michelle Kotek
Editor’s note: This is the third of six blogs exploring data on program entry and exit requirements from the latest available (2014) federal collection mandated by Title II of the Higher Education Act. The data include 1,497 providers of “traditional” programs based in institutions of higher education (IHEs), 472 providers of IHE-based alternative programs, and 201 providers of non-IHE-based alternative programs.
Although critics sometimes claim that educator preparation programs have few or no requirements for admission and completion, federal Title II data say otherwise. In this article, we explore the number of exit requirements reported by different types of providers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. (See our recent blogs about the number and frequency of various entry requirements.)
As noted in the first blog of our series, the Title II survey provides 15 options for providers to indicate their entry and exit criteria:
13 Jun2016
By Francisco X. Gaytán
When considering the trends in college degree attainment among students of color, there appears to be a tale of two genders, and something must be done about it. In April, I was part of a group of educators from across the country that convened in New Jersey at William Paterson University’s College of Education to consider the issue. The attendees have been working together over the past 2 years as members of AACTE’s Black and Hispanic/Latino Male Initiative Networked Improved Community (NIC), drawing upon the collective expertise of the member institutions to increase representation of Black and Hispanic/Latino males in the teacher workforce.
13 Jun2016
By Melvin Bogard
A new set of brief videos in AACTE’s Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series focuses on operationalizing clinical practice through the award-winning partnerships of Ohio University’s Patton College of Education (see this article introducing the series, this overview of the first three videos, and this summary of the next four videos). Today’s article highlights messages from the next three segments, which feature faculty and administrators from the partner schools as well as Patton College students.
09 Jun2016
By Whitney Watkins
The annual Holmes Scholars Dissertation Symposium and Retreat convened May 27-28 at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. The retreat served as an invaluable exchange of knowledge, mentorship, and networking. Professionals in the fields of counseling and mentoring, qualitative research, quantitative research, and grant writing guided more than 70 participants in their doctoral journeys.
09 Jun2016
By Amanda Lester
AACTE is excited to announce the launch of a new webinar series on clinical practice beginning this month. Kicking off Thursday, June 16, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EDT, the series will highlight examples of AACTE members’ clinical programs and partnerships and will provide updates on the work and progress of AACTE’s Clinical Practice Commission (CPC), which plans to release a white paper in early 2017.
The inaugural webinar, “Building the Pathway From Theory to Practice: The AACTE Clinical Practice Commission” will feature members of the CPC presenting an overview of their work during the past year. Learn about the commission’s efforts to establish a clearly defined pathway between the research and theory supporting clinical teacher preparation in order to operationalize and support best practice in the field. The overview will include–
09 Jun2016
By Sharon Robinson
Carol Smith, 1949–2016
Carol E. Smith, longtime AACTE staffer who deftly guided the Association through the early standards movement and years of accreditation reforms, died June 6 in Falls Church, Virginia. She was 66.
A native of Johnson City, Tennessee, Smith gave 23 years of devoted service to AACTE. After an early career in the banking and legal fields, she joined the AACTE staff as an administrative assistant in 1985 and worked up to senior leadership as vice president for professional issues before leaving in 2008.
Her portfolio of responsibilities was vast, including orchestrating the Association’s liaison with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, contributing to the design of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and convening the Task Force on Teacher Education as a Moral Community, among others.
09 Jun2016
UPDATE: Submission deadline for Best Practice and Professional Achievement Awards has been extended to October 26
By Kristin McCabe
Nominations for all of the 2017 AACTE awards are now open on AACTE’s online submission site. To read detailed submission information, please refer to the official Call for Entries.
Now in its 21st year, AACTE’s awards program recognizes member institutions’ exemplary programs as well as individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to education preparation. For an overview of last year’s winners, see this press release.
