30 Mar2018
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 authors 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.
In the January/February 2018 issue of JTE, Meghan Shaughnessy and Timothy A. Boerst of the University of Michigan authored an article titled “Uncovering the Skills That Preservice Teachers Bring to Teacher Education: The Practice of Eliciting a Student’s Thinking.” The article is summarized in the following abstract:
28 Mar2018
By Robert Toy-Giles
Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs traveled to the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting earlier this month to capture voices from the field in a series of in-person interviews with AACTE members and volunteer leaders. The recorded discussions later aired in three segments on Jacobs’ radio show, the first of which is highlighted below (subsequent articles will feature the other segments).
In the first interview, two members of AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability – Jacob Easley of Eastern Connecticut State University and Deb Rickey of Grand Canyon University (AZ) – discussed the committee’s work to assist teacher educators with quality assurance and program improvement. Having just facilitated a preconference workshop on the topic, Easley and Rickey explained what quality assurance means for colleges of education and what the key challenges are.
27 Mar2018
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE staff members and friends participate in the March for Our Lives March 24 in Washington, DC.
Thousands of Americans rallied from coast to coast to demand lawmakers take action to make our nation’s schools safer during the March for Our Lives held Saturday, March 24, in response to last month’s shooting at a Florida high school. Student survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting led the protests emphasizing the importance of school safety for all communities across the nation. Among the massive group of activists in Washington, DC, were several staff members from AACTE.
27 Mar2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE is now accepting nominations for the 2019 Outstanding Book Award. Nominations must be made through our online submission system by May 3.
The Outstanding Book Award recognizes books that make a significant contribution to the knowledge base of educator preparation or of teaching and learning with implications for educator preparation. Here are our most recent winners:
23 Mar2018
By Zachary VanHouten
If you missed AACTE’s March Federal Update webinar, the recording is now available to AACTE members only in our Resource Library.
View the webinar recording and slides to learn about the latest developments in Washington, DC, relating to educator preparation, including the latest on Higher Education Act reauthorization, federal funding, net neutrality, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and more.
23 Mar2018
By Benita Kluttz-Drye
The annual Holmes Program gathering at AACTE’s Annual Meeting was held in Baltimore, Maryland, from February 28 to March 2. To date, this was the largest assembly we’ve had from the program, with students from over 47 universities and institutions in attendance as well as faculty, coordinators, and program alumni. The theme for the conference was “Celebrating Our Professional Identity,” and the subtheme for our preconference event was “I Too Am Holmes.”
A wide variety of sessions was available for Holmes Cadets, Honors, Master’s, and Scholars. Students were able to share their research through poster sessions, roundtable discussions, and paper presentations. Breakout sessions covered topics such as Effective Strategies to Recruit and Retain Minority Preservice Teachers, Beginning the Doctoral Journey, Navigating Dissertation, and Navigating Untenured Faculty Positions, to name a few. Members also had the opportunity to network, collaborate, and share their experience of being part of this dynamic community called HOLMES.
23 Mar2018
By Jane S. Bray
This column originally appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and is reposted with permission. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
As America struggles to recover from the recent school shootings in Parkland, Florida, where 17 lives were tragically and unexpectedly cut short, we find ourselves embroiled in the same responses that surface after all mass shootings. Vigils, memorials, and protests abound across our nation to try to make sense of these unfathomable events and to demand an end to this violence; and there are reiterated cries for stricter gun laws.
23 Mar2018
By Randa Suleiman
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) partnered with AACTE to invite practitioners and administrators from PK-12 schools and educator preparation programs (EPPs) to provide a retrospective look at the influence of edTPA since consequential use began in fall 2013. The panel participants presented their views of the benefits and challenges of educative edTPA implementation in different policy contexts; how actionable evidence from edTPA has informed their programs, teaching, and scholarship; and connections across the full continuum of professional learning and development for teachers. The March 2 panel at the 2018 AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore featured two new teachers who have completed edTPA over the past 5 years, a PK-12 administrator, EPP and state leaders, and two faculty scholars.
23 Mar2018
By Monique Matute
Congratulations to Brianna Joseph, Holmes Scholar of the Month for March 2018!
Joseph is a 3rd-year full-time doctoral student in the Department of Exceptional Student Education at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Her research interests include the over- and underrepresentation of students from various racial/ethnic backgrounds in special education and integrating adults with intellectual disabilities in fitness activities.
23 Mar2018
By Deborah Koolbeck
In the late evening of March 21, the text of the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus was released. Coming in at 2,232 pages, the bill includes items well beyond funding of the federal government’s discretionary programs, at a total cost of $1.3 trillion to fund the government through September 30, 2018.
The U.S. Senate passed the measure in the first hour of March 23, sending the package to President Trump for his signature; later that same morning, the president tweeted out a veto threat. With members of Congress headed home or attending the funeral of a colleague, if the president vetoes the measure, the government will shut down.
23 Mar2018
By Zachary VanHouten
The U.S. Department of Education has announced a new round of applications for the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant program. Intent to apply is due April 5, and full applications are due May 17.
The new grant competition has two absolute priorities, one competitive preference priority, and one invitational priority:
20 Mar2018
By Amanda Lester
On February 28, AACTE hosted a daylong preconference workshop titled “Strengthening the Pipeline to Transform the Principalship,” sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The event, held just prior to the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, was attended by PK-12 and higher education leaders from across the nation and engaged participants in presentations and conversation on educational leadership through the lenses of policy and practice.
The agenda was broken into two thematic segments. The first segment highlighted how policy, partnerships, and resources influence strategies to renew principal preparation programs. The second included presentations about key policies that influence the renewal of principal preparation programs.
20 Mar2018
By Zachary VanHouten
The U.S. Department of Education has announced additional federal aid for schools and students impacted by recent natural disasters.
To assist schools in California impacted by wildfires, the Department has disbursed $2 million in Project SERV funds to the California Department of Education. The funds will help fund portable classrooms, substitute teachers, mental health services, and transportation for displaced students (along with substitute bus drivers).
19 Mar2018
By Kristin McCabe
Cindy Gutierrez of the University of Colorado Denver listens as fellow panelist Steve Wojcikiewicz of the University of Portland (OR) discusses institutional supports for “deeper learning” teacher preparation.
A “Deeper Dive” session held March 3 at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting shared lessons on how to engage preservice teacher candidates in the kinds of meaningful learning experiences they are expected to create later for their own students. Organized by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), “Walking the Talk: Teacher Preparation for Deeper Learning” highlighted findings from a national study of seven teacher preparation programs that are organized in ways that align with deeper learning approaches – meaning less emphasis on rote learning and more on experiential, innovative, collaborative, and equity-focused pedagogy.
LPI researcher Maria Hyler opened the session by describing the primary features of successful programs identified in the study, details of which will be published by Harvard Education Press in a book later this year. These features include opportunities for candidates to experience learning that is applied and transferred, developmental and personalized, collaborative and social, contextualized, and socially just. Hyler then invited panelists representing several programs in the study to outline one of the key domains.
19 Mar2018
By Bryan S. Zugelder
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) partnered with the University of North Carolina (UNC) System to present at the 2018 AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore a unique model of using edTPA rubric constructs. The team showcased how edTPA’s critical dimensions of teaching (planning, instruction, and assessment) apply to the instructional coaching of novice teachers during teacher induction, with a trajectory for growth through teacher leadership and beyond. The March 1 presentation included a brief overview of the professional growth plan used in preservice preparation and how it can be used after teacher candidates graduate.
