Using AACTE Resources to Advance the Local Message
In August, the Advisory Council of State Representatives (ACSR), the governing body of AACTE’s state chapters, released a set of state policy statements to enhance educator preparation. The statements represent the priorities of more than 1,100 educator preparation providers nationwide. AACTE created a customizable template in which state chapters can adapt the statements to meet their state and local needs.
The Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE) has been working on tools to advance our message with the state legislature and other key stakeholders. One of our newest assets is the ACSR State Policy Statements, which we adapted by adding a statement on our membership. MACTE has 100% participation among the state’s institutions of higher education that support educator preparation. We felt it was critical to illustrate that we are the collective voice of educator preparation in Missouri.
We plan to disseminate this new document in a variety of ways including:
- Mailing a copy to all representatives at the start of the new legislative session.
- Disseminating a copy during face-to-face sessions with members of the legislature.
- Communicating to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State Board of Education to illustrate the role of MACTE as the key representative for educator preparation.
- Providing our information to staffers of legislative education committee members. Our hope is that they will contact us when beginning to formulate education and higher education bills.
The MACTE State Policy Statements document is available here (PDF).
Diana Rogers-Adkinson is president of the Missouri Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and dean of the College of Education at Southeast Missouri State University.
Tags: advocacy, state affiliate, state policy
