AACTE Celebrates Teacher Data Literacy Week, April 29 – May 3

By Jerrica Thurman

AACTE joins the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) in celebrating Teacher Data Literacy Week, April 29 – May 3. The initiative is to elevate the importance of teacher data literacy, including why it is critical to ensure students and states meet their education and workforce goals, and the different actors who are involved in making it possible.

DQC will co-host with the National Parent Teacher Association and Teach Plus a Twitter chat using #TDLMatters at 3:00pm EDT on Thursday, May 2. The discussion will address the many barriers teachers face to being data literate, what teacher data literacy looks like in action, and what policymakers can do to support teacher data literacy.

For more information about Teacher Data Literacy Week, https://dataqualitycampaign.org/topic/strong-teachers-and-leaders/.

AACTE Congratulates 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson

By Jerrica Thurman

AACTE congratulates 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson and AACTE member institutions Virginia State University and Virginia Commonwealth University, which helped prepare him for his distinguished career path. Robinson is a 19-year teaching veteran who received the national honor last week by the Council of Chief State School Officers. (See AACTE’s press release issued today.)

Robinson teaches social studies at Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Justice Center, where he creates a positive school culture by empowering his students. He earned a bachelor of arts in history from Virginia State University and a master’s in educational administration and supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Washington Week: How to Plan Your Stay

By Linda Minor

Being new to AACTE, I learned a lot about what to expect during Day on the Hill when Deborah Koolbeck and I recently went to the Capitol. I have never been on the Capitol grounds before, although I have lived in the DC area for over 20 years, and it is beautiful. The weather was perfect. View video clip about Capitol Grounds. 

So, what can you expect during Day on the Hill? Tuesday will be a full-day of orientation at the hotel where you will build skills and prepare for their meetings with your congressional offices. Then, on Wednesday morning you will be bused to Capitol Hill for scheduled appointments with your elected officials. “But what about their luggage,” I asked? Attendees can bring luggage on the bus to the hill—or you can stay in town a little longer and take advantage of all the activities DC has to offer. View video clip about luggage. 

Are You Ready for Day on the Hill?

By Ward Cummings

In anticipation of Washington Week’s Day on the Hill, AACTE’s premier advocacy event, members of the Committee on Government Relations and Advocacy hosted a webinar on Thursday, April 18 to answer questions about the event. How to schedule a congressional meeting, how to develop an advocacy message, and how to walk into a U.S. Senator’s office with confidence, are just samples of the many issues discussed during the webinar. The recorded webinar, Are You Ready for a Day on the Hill? is now available to watch on the AACTE website. 

During the webinar, an experienced panel of experts shared their personal stories and provided guidance on the methods and reasons for advocacy.  Additionally, they explained what attendees at this year’s Washington Week in the nation’s capital can expect when they attend Day on the Hill events. 

Webinar attendees were instructed on what things to arrange prior to traveling, who to involve from their institution, how to request an appointment with their legislator, and how to prepare for the meeting. It was a one-stop-shop for all things related to the event.

State Leaders Institute: Develop your chapter, improve your skills, network with colleagues

By Michael Maher

What does it mean to be a leader? Are leaders born or are they developed?

If you Google the word “Leader,” depending on the day, you may end up with between 4 and 6 billion hits. There is certainly no shortage of opinions, courses, or books on leadership. Some individuals are leaders by virtue of their title, others are considered leaders whether or not they have a title. Whether leadership has been thrust upon you or it has slowly developed over time, you understand that leadership carries the challenge of expectations and obligations.

As a person who thinks about the concept of leadership quite a bit, it seems to me that, although some individuals may embody characteristics that lend themselves to leadership, true leaders are developed over time through a combination of professional development and lived experience. 

As a leader you have an obligation to those you lead, an obligation to the profession, and an obligation to yourself. In the field of education, and in teacher preparation in particular, there are no shortage of leaders. Those who are the most impactful, however, are the ones who continuously seek to improve their knowledge, skills, and relationships.

Watch Livestream of the 2018 NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy Release

By Jerrica Thurman

AACTE invites you to view a livestreamed panel discussion about the second release of the NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) results by the National Assessment Governing Board and the National Center for Education Statistics. The livestream is on Tuesday, April 30 from 2:00-4:00pm EDT. Register now!

In response to the increasing role of technology in students’ lives, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administers the Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) assessment—the first one of its kind in the United States. TEL adds valuable information to what NAEP reports for science and mathematics. This assessment measures students’ capacity to understand technology and how to design objects, processes, and systems to meet human needs. During the livestreamed event, presenters will discuss how the 2018 results compare to the 2014 debut of TEL and show how this assessment breaks the testing mold.

Critical Friends Working Toward Program Improvement While Building a Partnership

By Catherine Rosa and James Zoll

In September of 2018, University of North Georgia (UNG) Educational Leadership staff began partnership discussions with Gwinnett County Schools. The UNG educational leadership program went through several iterations and was working toward revising the program to align with the Principal Pipeline Research from the Wallace Foundation. This revision also met the requirements for the new Tier 1 certification program implemented by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. We were new to the work and very interested in the successful, data-driven work Gwinnett County Schools Leadership development programs.

The initial discussions were about the application process and how we screen candidates, as well as, how we measured the success of our candidates beyond the obvious licensing test by the state.  This was the beginning of deep thinking for us about our program. We quickly learned that to build a quality program, we needed to attract the best candidates and track them through their placements in schools as leaders to determine the effectiveness of our work. We were most impressed with Gwinnett’s systems for measuring the success of their leadership development programs. This was great timing for our program as our Tier I participants had just completed the first cohort.  

The quality measures divide the process program improvement into six domains. We shared our practices in our Tier I program in each of the six areas, collecting evidence to support our work with our critical friends from Gwinnett.  At the same time, Gwinnett County Schools examined its practices in its principal preparation program sharing with us as critical friends. The process was transparent and helpful.  We both walked away with fresh ideas for improving our programs.

Iowa Chapter Implements Initiative: Navigating Professional Risks

By Nadene Davidson and Jeffrey Haverland

The Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (IACTE) is engaged in an initiative to bring the Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE) to Iowa’s teacher preparation programs. Educators have the responsibility to ensure a safe environment and support the well-being of each and every child. The MCEE was designed as a framework to inform the decision-making process that educators can use to guide them through the gray areas of the profession based on five guiding principles. The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) began developing MCEE in 2012 and adopted it in 2015. The MCEE is designed to protect the rights of students and support educators’ commitment to the profession.

There are five principles of responsibility identified in the MCEE:

1. Responsibility to the profession
2. Responsibility for professional competence
3. Responsibility to students
4. Responsibility to parents/guardians, colleagues, the community and employers
5. Responsible and ethical use of technology

Five Tips to Help Your 2020 Annual Meeting Proposal Stand Out

By Matthew Wales

AACTE received high praise for its sessions during the 2019 Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY. Such acclaim can be contributed to one important element: the competitive nature of the Annual Meeting selection process. Each year, AACTE receives many more proposals for consideration than can be accommodated, so only the “best of the best” content makes its way into the programming for the conference. 

Want to see your work featured during AACTE’s 2020 Annual Meeting in Atlanta? Then take note, because you will want to prepare a proposal that stands out in our peer-review process. Follow these five tips, and you are likely to distinguish yourself from the rest:

1. Mind the Details –Y our proposal will be evaluated based upon the 10 criteria and elements outlined in the Expectations for Presentations. Familiarize yourself with these prior to writing your proposal. And most importantly, do NOT include any information that identifies either the authors or the institutions in the written proposal.
   
   
2. Be Succinct and Specific – Choose a title that clearly conveys your topic. Proposals selected for presentation tend to state their subject matter upfront in the title. Additionally, the majority of chosen proposals contain short, concise abstracts that highlight the main focus of the presentation.

Get Answers to Your Questions at April’s Federal Update Webinar

By Deborah Koolbeck

The AACTE Federal Update Webinars are back! As April has unfolded, quite a few things have started to bloom and grow in Washington, DC, including the budget and appropriations process. The President’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request was released and the Congress is in full appropriations season. But will the caps on defense and non-defense discretionary funds be raised to avoid deep cuts in programs? What is unfolding with legislation, including the Higher Education Act reauthorization?

We will cover this and more during the AACTE April 2019 Federal Update webinar. Remember there is always time to get your questions answered, and the webinar will be recorded and posted on the AACTE Advocacy Center federal page.

Register Today:

Tuesday, April 23 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. EDT

Wednesday, April 24, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon EDT

Call for Entries: 2020 AACTE Awards

By Linda Minor

Applications for the 2020 AACTE awards are now open on AACTE’s online submission site. Entries for the Outstanding Book Award are due May 16 and entries for the Outstanding Dissertation Award are due August 20. All other award submissions are due October 9.

This is the 24^th year AACTE’s awards program has been recognizing member institutions’ exemplary programs as well as individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to education preparation. For an overview of the 2019 award winners, see this press release.

Register for the UCF Holmes Scholars Research & Scholarship Expo

By Ann Shillingford-Butler

I have exciting news for all master’s and doctoral students! The University of Central Florida (UCF) Holmes Scholar Program will host a Research & Scholarship Expo, Building Bridges: Promoting Impactful, Equitable Research, on June 28-29 in Orlando, FL. The Expo will include sessions on developing and conducting qualitative and quantitative research, exploring and securing external grant funding, developing winning manuscripts (conceptual and empirical), problem-solving through the dissertation journey, building meaningful mentoring relationships, and other practical topics related to successfully navigating higher education and the publication process.

Our keynote speaker will be David H. Jackson, Jr. dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research at Florida A& M University.

Although the Research Expo will be hosted by the UCF Holmes Scholar program, the sessions are open to all master’s and doctoral students. For registration and hotel information, please visit https://2019ucfholmesscholarexpo.eventbrite.com.

For more information, feel free to contact me at Dr-S@ucf.edu or Amanda Wilkerson at Amanda.Wilkerson@ucf.edu.

JTE Author Insights: Examining Preservice Teacher Quality and Attrition

By JTE Insider

Read the latest JTE Insider blog interview by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles in the JTE online archives—just log in with your AACTE profile.

This interview features insights from the authors of the JTE article “Keeping Our Best? A Survival Analysis Examining a Measure of Preservice Teacher Quality and Teacher Attrition.” Robert Vagi, Margarita Pivovarova, and Wendy Miedel Barnard co-authored the article, which is published in the March/April 2019 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education.

Q1. What motivated you to pursue this particular research topic?

With a background as a classroom teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that great teachers can have on students. In my experience (and research supports this), those teachers are most desperately needed in challenging schools. As a result, I’ve always been interested in the strategic recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. This interest fit naturally with my Ph.D. program that was housed in one of the largest teacher education colleges in the country. My co-authors, on the other hand, have been engaged in research on teacher quality and evaluation for several years, both for pre-service and in-service teachers.

Learn from Alumnus at AACTE Leadership Academy

By Matthew Wales

AACTE’s Leadership Academy is the perfect professional development opportunity for you to discover who you are as a leader. Designed for new and aspiring deans, department chairs, and anyone looking to develop or enhance their skills as an academic administrator, the academy covers the essentials of leadership while helping attendees cultivate a supportive network of peers. Here’s what the newest member of AACTE’s Academy Faculty, John Kuykendall had to say about his experience, including being a previous Academy participant:

What do you feel is the most valuable reason for attending the Leadership Academy?

For new administrators, it is essential to know that you are not alone in your role. I consider it necessary to develop a support group around your new leadership position and to have colleagues to call upon for guidance and assistance. The sessions at AACTE’s Leadership Academy provided me with key awareness in the decision-making process and leadership practices and strategies. My experience with the Academy was essential in developing a confident start in my new role as a dean for a school of education.

Update your AACTE Member Profile to Access Member-Only Resources

By Meghan Grenda

Help AACTE keep you informed on developments that impact educator preparation. Update your member profile! Our online process makes it easy and fast—just visit aacte.org to access the AACTE Profile Manager. 

The AACTE Profile Manager allows us retrieve the most accurate member information to deliver the content and communications you’ll find most valuable. The Profile Manager allows you to edit your contact information, select your research areas of expertise, view any outstanding orders, and manage your subscriptions.  An updated profile also provides us the opportunity to customize information specific to your member needs.