30 Jan2018
By AACTE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For interviews, contact Jerrica Thurman
(202) 478-4502 or jthurman@aacte.org
(January 30, 2018, Washington, D.C.) – Today, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) publicly released a statement by its Board of Directors regarding its recent vote on national accreditation:
AACTE champions high-quality preparation that assures educators are profession-ready as they enter the classroom. National accreditation serves a critical function in assuring this quality by requiring providers to address profession-wide standards of excellence. To uphold AACTE’s commitment to supporting high quality, the AACTE Board of Directors held an extensive discussion about national accreditation at a special meeting in Washington, DC, on January 18, 2018, devoted solely to this topic. After much deliberation on behalf of the membership, the AACTE Board approved by the overwhelming majority the following statement:
The Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) reaffirms the importance of a unified national professional accreditation system that aligns with AACTE’s Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation.
30 Jan2018
By Lynn M. Gangone
AACTE is committed to high-quality educator preparation and works continually to assist member institutions in understanding what is necessary to engage in quality assurance processes. A recent decision by the AACTE Board of Directors, described in this blog by AACTE Board Chair Renée A. Middleton, reaffirms the importance of a unified national accreditation system that assures our nation’s teacher candidates are of the highest caliber, and clarifies AACTE’s role in the quality assurance environment. The Board and the AACTE national office team are dedicated to listening to and serving our members, and Dean Middleton’s blog reflects that commitment to member value.
One of the primary roles of educators is to prepare learners to become engaged citizens in a 21st-century democratic society. Today’s educators enter highly diverse schools that reflect the breadth of our nation, and AACTE members are committed to ensuring that their candidates are ready and able to be successful with all of their students. National accreditation requires educator preparation providers to address profession-wide standards of excellence and supplies metrics that support high quality by promoting programmatic reflection and continuous improvement. AACTE members embrace accountability measures that demonstrate their programs’ effectiveness and contribute to program improvement.
30 Jan2018
By Renée A. Middleton
As AACTE Board Chair, I am most appreciative of the diligent work the AACTE Board of Directors has conducted over the past few years to address the important issue of national accreditation for educator preparation. From the liaison work and member conversations led by the Board’s special subcommittee and AACTE leaders starting in 2015 to our most recent Board meeting on January 18, 2018, we have dedicated much attention to this important topic. AACTE published a statement today about this month’s Board vote reaffirming our support for national professional accreditation.
National accreditation assures the public of the highest quality preparation of educators who serve all levels of the PK-20 continuum. A unified national accreditation system brings together partners and stakeholders across the entire education profession to support profession-wide standards of excellence. I use the term “system” to convey an assemblage of related stakeholders forming an interconnecting network around a set of standards, principles, practices, and processes as a unitary whole. In our recent vote, the AACTE Board reaffirmed the importance of a unified national professional accreditation system that aligns with AACTE’s “Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation,” which we approved in 2016, as critical to advancing our profession.
30 Jan2018
By Sara Hiller
How do you know your graduates are any good?
What should an institutional assessment system include – and what should it not?
How do you establish faculty buy-in for quality assurance?
These aren’t rhetorical questions, or even cruel riddles! They are real questions to be answered at a half-day preconference workshop on quality assurance, to be held Wednesday, February 28, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., in conjunction with the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
26 Jan2018
By Amanda Lester
Interested in learning more about what’s been happening at AACTE this year? Looking for information about innovative initiatives being led by AACTE members and partners? For all of this and more, be sure to add the AACTE Gallery time blocks to your personalized 2018 Annual Meeting Online Event Planner schedule. Returning to the Annual Meeting for a second year, the Gallery will offer opportunities to network while learning about promising innovations in educator preparation.
In addition to offering interactive presentations, this year’s Gallery will feature a dedicated coffee and conversation space where Annual Meeting participants can chat with representatives from AACTE member and partner initiatives, as well as AACTE staff, to learn more about programs and opportunities of interest. The AACTE membership booth will also be located nearby, and staff will be on hand to share information and answer questions.
26 Jan2018
By JTE Insider
Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the author of a recent article. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles themselves in the full JTE archives online – just log in with your AACTE profile here.
This interview features insights from the article “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Schooling: Initial Teacher Educators Into the Fray” by Greg Vass of the University of New South Wales (Australia). The article, which appears in the November/December issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:
25 Jan2018
By Zachary VanHouten
Did you miss the January AACTE Federal Update webinar? The recording and slides are now available in AACTE’s Resource Library – a free, member-exclusive benefit! Catch up on all the latest developments in Washington, DC, as Congress works through a packed and polarizing agenda this month. Feel free to share these resources with colleagues at your institution who might also be interested in viewing.
Remember, there will be no February Federal Update webinar (we will resume again in March!), as you’ll have the opportunity to attend two Washington Update sessions in early March at AACTE’s 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. You’ll also want to attend Deborah Koolbeck’s “advocacy speed-dating” session March 2, where you can participate in your choice of five mini advocacy trainings:
23 Jan2018
By Kristin McCabe
What makes a public school successful? A new report from the Learning First Alliance (LFA) identifies six common elements critical to success – while also emphasizing that each school must tailor its programs to the specific goals and challenges of its setting. In other words, all successful schools share key characteristics, but how these elements are implemented and integrated depends greatly on context.
LFA members, which include AACTE and collectively represent more than 10 million educators, parents, and local policy makers, contributed their sectors’ best practices and research to the compendium to advance a collective vision of how and why public schools flourish. In addition to AACTE, LFA members include AASA, The School Superintendents Association; American Federation of Teachers; American School Counselor Association; Consortium for School Networking; Learning Forward; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; National PTA; National School Boards Association; and National School Public Relations Association.
22 Jan2018
By Amanda Lester
If you are looking for an opportunity to engage in a dynamic day of discussion and information sharing about the preparation of school leaders, look no further. With the generous support of The Wallace Foundation, AACTE is excited to again be able to host a free, day-long preconference event before AACTE’s Annual Meeting to share ideas and issues focused on strengthening the principal pipeline.
Strengthening the Pipeline to Transform the Principalship will be held Wednesday, February 28, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Marriott Baltimore Inner Harbor. Participants will draw upon emergent Wallace Knowledge in School Leadership as well as presentations on emergent policy issues, initiatives to improve practice, and exemplars of practice in educational leadership to explore approaches and address persistent problems in principal preparation.
22 Jan2018
By Arlene Borthwick, Elizabeth S. Finsness, Teresa Foulger, Jo Hoffman, Liz Kolb, Shelly Meyers, Laila Richman and Elizabeth Wilson
Is it time to upgrade your candidates’ tech competency? Please join us for a free half-day symposium before AACTE’s Annual Meeting, organized by the AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology (I&T), to share leadership strategies for better integrating technology in teacher preparation.
19 Jan2018
By Kristin McCabe
Members of the AACTE Clinical Practice Commission speak at the National Press Club January 17. Left to right: Jennifer Roth, Diane Fogarty, Kristien Zenkov, and Jennifer Robinson.
AACTE hosted a press briefing January 17 in Washington, DC, showcasing the work of the AACTE Clinical Practice Commission (CPC) and releasing the report A Pivot Toward Clinical Practice, Its Lexicon, and the Renewal of Educator Preparation.
Held in the historic National Press Club, the briefing opened with a welcome from AACTE Board Past Chair Jane Bray, dean of the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University (VA). More than half the members of AACTE’s Board of Directors were in attendance, as were 30 members of the CPC and dozens of representatives from Washington-area education organizations, colleges and universities, news media, and AACTE staff.
19 Jan2018
By Zachary VanHouten
The clock is ticking on what appears to be an imminent federal government shutdown, unless a last-minute deal is struck on a short-term funding solution (continuing resolution) through either next week or February 16. Republicans and Democrats are facing off on numerous issues.
What’s causing this logjam? Challenges range from settling on a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, increasing defense spending, deferring some healthcare tax provisions, extending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and raising spending caps (aka “a budget deal”). What’s also coming in February is the need to raise the debt ceiling. Looking forward, we could see more action on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act through the spring.
17 Jan2018
By AACTE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For interviews, contact Jerrica Thurman
(202) 478-4502 or jthurman@aacte.org
(January 17, 2018, Washington, D.C.) – Clinical practice and partnership are central to high-quality teacher preparation, and although a variety of delivery models can coexist, they all must incorporate key principles to be effective, according to a report released today by a commission of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).
16 Jan2018
By Deborah Koolbeck
As you plan your session schedule for the AACTE Annual Meeting, don’t neglect your advocacy skill development! Please join me Friday, March 2, at 2:00 p.m. for “Putting Advocacy to Work.”
In this speed-dating-style session, I will run the clock while you circulate through your choice of introductory mini-sessions led by experts and professionals. There will be four time slots during this hour-long opportunity, each beginning with a few minutes of commentary by the leaders, and then opening for questions and discussion. Move from table to table to learn how to start off:
16 Jan2018
By Kristin McCabe
A recent Journal of Teacher Education article proposes a new model to integrate social justice with the concept of pedagogical content knowledge. In “Foregrounding Equity in Teacher Education: Toward a Model of Social Justice Pedagogical and Content Knowledge,” authors Jeanne Dyches of Iowa State University and Ashley Boyd of Washington State University lay out the theoretical model they call Social Justice Pedagogical and Content Knowledge, or SJPACK. A recent podcast interview with the authors for the JTE Insider blog sheds light on the model.
In the interview, the authors explain that since Lee Shulman’s concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was introduced in the 1980s, it has thoroughly permeated teacher preparation, but it does not explicitly link PCK to equity concerns. They wanted to tease out the different ways this would look in different disciplines.
