20 Dec2019
By Jane E. West
This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE
Congress Delivers a Big Christmas Present – and On Time!
Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate came together to have bipartisan votes in both bodies to pass two packages of funding bills, which will keep all of the federal government running. President Trump has indicated that he will sign the bills today, thus preventing another government shutdown.
Some key points about the education portion of the bill:
- It adds $1.3 billion in spending for education over FY 2019.
- The Department of Education’s budget now totals $72.8 Billion.
- Virtually no program received a cut in funding and many received substantial increases.
- The largest increases went to Title I ($450 million) and IDEA Part B ($400 million).
- Related programs in HHS received large increases as well, for example Head Start has a $500 million increase.
- A new Social Emotional Learning initiative received $123 million.
- Many minority serving institutions in higher education received considerable increases including an $11 million increase for HBCU graduate institutions.
- For the first time in years funding for research on gun violence prevention is provided at $25 million (for CDC and NIH).
18 Dec2019
By Deborah Koolbeck
As the Congress rapidly approaches the December 20 deadline for the Continuing Resolution (maintaining federal spending at the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) levels while the next year’s levels are negotiated), agreement was reached, and the two bills were released on December 16, 2019.
The Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2019 raised the non-defense and defense discretionary caps for FY20 and FY21, and was signed in early August as recess began. Given that the U.S. Senate had taken a stance not to move any bills without the aforementioned agreement in place, their work began in earnest in September. However, the bills were not completed by the end of the fiscal year (September 30), so Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) through November 21, 2019. With consternation around key issues, including funding for the border wall, another CR was put in place through December 20, 2019. It was unclear if the divisions between both parties and both bodies could be resolved by the new cutoff date, but it appears that the Congress is on target to meet its deadline.
18 Dec2019
By Marvin Lynn
Freedom of speech is an ideal to which those who founded this country believed in. I recall President Barack Obama’s many talks about the “American Ideals” of freedom, justice, and liberty, which I believe, includes free speech. Inherent in President Obama’s message was the notion that these ideals were not fully realized by historically marginalized communities in the United States. The current climate of our society further challenges our ability to see “freedom of speech” as something that is unifying rather than polarizing. This has become an increasingly important topic in higher education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, for example, continuously highlights issues regarding the intersection of free speech and civil discourse that are impacting education in unprecedented ways.
16 Dec2019
By Jane E. West
This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Funding Agreement on the Horizon! No Shutdown Anticipated
December 20, a week from today, is the deadline for Congress to pass funding bills to keep the government in business and avoid a government shutdown. After weeks of handwringing, a bipartisan $1.3 trillion deal seems to have been brokered whereby all appropriations bills will be passed in the House and the Senate next week. While no details of the bills are yet available, it appears that one of the breakthroughs was an agreement to keep the amount of funding for the border wall (President Trump’s priority) at the current level of $1.375 billion.
Education advocates are eager to see if any of the significant increases in the House bill will be retained in the final package. All fingers are crossed in anticipation of next week. Learn more.
16 Dec2019
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE President and CEO Lynn Gangone addressed more than 150 education stakeholders at the recent collaborative meeting of the Wallace Foundation’s University Principal Preparation Pipeline Initiative (UPPI). Gangone’s address, How teacher and leader preparation can work together to further principal pipelines, is available to view online for those who were unable to attend the convening.
The UPPI focus is on inclusive principal preparation, and builds on 15 years of Wallace-supported research and experience about what makes for effective principals and their “pre-service” training at colleges and universities. AACTE maintains a strong commitment to these initiatives including principal and leader preparation in inclusive and clinical placements.
Learn more about AACTE’s principal preparation initiatives, supported through its Wallace Foundation partnership.
16 Dec2019
By Linda Minor
AACTE’s 72nd Annual Meeting will take place at the iconic Atlanta Marriott Marquis, conveniently located downtown, with indoor MARTA access to Atlanta’s airport and local attractions. Within just a short walk from the hotel, you can enjoy the city’s shopping, dining, and entertainment centers while the conference is not in session.
Here are a few Atlanta fun facts to help kick start your exploration of the city:
13 Dec2019
By Laura Saylor
Two professors of education at Mount St. Joseph University, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education and University of Cincinnati School Psychology program, have been awarded a $1.2 million federal grant to work with three local school districts on improving the literacy of students with or at risk for dyslexia.
The U.S. Department of Education Model Demonstration Projects for Early Identification of Students with Dyslexia Grant was awarded to a team led by the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Approaches to Teaching and Professional Learning in collaboration with Amy Murdoch and Wendy Strickler, professors of reading science at the Mount.
13 Dec2019
AACTE’s DEI Video: Helping Students of Color Pursue Careers in Education
By Jerrica Thurman
Ed Prep Matters features the “Revolutionizing Education” column to spotlight the many ways AACTE, member institutions, and partners are pioneering leading-edge research, models, strategies and programs that focus on the three core values outlined in the current AACTE strategic plan: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Quality and Impact; and Inquiry and Innovation.
AACTE is excited to feature its Holmes Program as part of the new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Educator Preparation video series. For nearly 30 years, the AACTE Holmes Program has supported students who self-identify as racially and ethnically diverse and are obtaining graduate degrees in education at AACTE member institutions.
12 Dec2019
By Azaria Cunningham
Congratulations to Gelawdiyos Haile, Holmes Scholar of the Month for December 2019. Haile is pursuing a doctorate in counselor education at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He currently works as a graduate research assistant, where he coordinates a mentoring program. Haile is also a registered mental health counselor intern with the state of Florida, and serves as a professional tennis registry adult development instructor.
His primary research interests include the process of addiction and recovery, multicultural counseling, human performance, and interpersonal neurobiology. He is currently involved in two empirical investigations that explore counselor preparedness, crisis work, and substance abuse in college students.
12 Dec2019
New Education Doctorate Focused on Social-Emotional Learning Is One of the First of Its Kind
By Kate Stringer
Kindergarten teacher and doctoral student Kimberly Atkinson directs her students in a stretching exercise with belly breathing to help them reset their bodies and minds for learning.
Ed Prep Matters features the “Revolutionizing Education” column to spotlight the many ways AACTE, member institutions, and partners are pioneering leading-edge research, models, strategies and programs that focus on the three core values outlined in the current AACTE strategic plan: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Quality and Impact; and Inquiry and Innovation.
This article originally appeared in The 74 and is reprinted with permission.
Seven years ago, Michael P. Alfano was sitting in his office at Southern Connecticut State University when a faculty member ran into the room in tears. That was how he first learned about the deadly school shooting 20 miles away at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 26 people—including a student in his graduate education program, first-grade teacher Victoria Soto—were killed.
The tragedy sparked a reckoning in Alfano—and educators across the country—who questioned whether school systems had failed to support individuals who acted out so violently. For Alfano, part of preventing a shooting, bullying, or any other form of violence in schools meant addressing childhood trauma, helping students understand and manage emotions, and training educators in this work.
10 Dec2019
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
Congratulations to the following individuals who will join the AACTE Board of Directors effective March 1, 2020:
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Carine Feyten, President, Texas Woman’s University
President/Provost Representative
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John Henning, Dean, School of Education, Monmouth University
At-large Representative
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Marvin Lynn, Dean and professor, College of Education, Portland State University
Council of Academic Deans from Research Education Institutions (CADREI) Representative
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Jesse Mendez, Dean and professor, College of Education, Texas Tech University
At-large Representative
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Kimberly White-Smith, Dean, LaFetra College of Education, University of La Verne
Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education (AILACTE) Representative
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10 Dec2019
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
“Clinical learning experiences for candidates must include real-time work with real data and in real settings,” said Janis Carthon, an associate professor at Albany State University in response to AACTE’s Twitter chat question focused on the use of data to support principal preparation for 21st century learning. Carthon joined other experts in the area of principal and leader preparation during AACTE’s second Twitter Town Hall on December 5.
AACTE is hosting four Twitter Chat Town Halls in 2019 aligned with its Wallace Foundation Webinar Series. All AACTE members and education stakeholders are encouraged to follow the Twitter hashtags noted below to participate in the Twitter chats, where experts join the public in dialoguing about principal and leader recruitment, retention, support, and successful clinical experiences.
The next Twitter Chat Town Hall will take place December 10, and will addresses the From Teacher to Principal: Educational Leadership Tracking Systems that AACTE partner the Wallace Foundation developed in collaboration with their University Principal Pipeline Initiative. Follow @AACTE and use #principalpipeline to join the conversation from 5:00 – 6 p.m.
09 Dec2019
By Patricia Alvarez McHatton
Racist Curricula in the 21st Century Do Exist
Any curriculum, even the most enlightened, has traces of racism. This is simply because we all have biases that come through in multiple ways. Our responsibility as educators is to be critically self-reflective and continuously monitor ourselves, our work, and our interactions with both the students we teach and those around us.
Invariably, believing we are culturally and linguistically responsive and sustaining is an indication that we still have work to do. This is because we are always in a state of becoming. New experiences and knowledge expand our ways of thinking and intersect with our lived experiences making the familiar strange. This is true for individuals and curriculum. That is why continuous critical self-reflection is essential as it affords us the opportunity to negotiate uncomfortable and challenging spaces, experiences, and interactions. It is through this disruption that we learn.
06 Dec2019
Augusta University on a Mission to Recruit More African American Male Teachers
By Stacey Eidson
Ed Prep Matters features the “Revolutionizing Education” column to spotlight the many ways AACTE, member institutions, and partners are pioneering leading-edge research, models, strategies and programs that focus on the three core values outlined in the current AACTE strategic plan: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Quality and Impact; and Inquiry and Innovation.
This article originally appeared in JagWire and is reprinted with permission.
Growing up in Elberton, Georgia, Marcus Allen had a lot of incredible teachers who inspired him to be the man he is today.
They were thoughtful, patient and caring, but Allen, who is now the principal of Grovetown Middle School in Columbia County, admits there was one major component missing throughout his childhood education.
“Back then, I didn’t see people who looked like me teaching,” Allen said. “I didn’t have any African American male teachers at my school. And I think it’s important for students to be able to see someone who they can relate to in the classroom. Somebody who they can say, ‘He really might be able to advocate for me.’”
06 Dec2019
By Deborah Koolbeck
As the year comes to a close, it is time for AACTE State Chapter presidents and ACSR Liaisons to cast their ballots in the 2019 election for the ACSR Executive Committee. As a reminder, the state chapters are divided into four regions: West, Midwest, South and Northeast. Annually, the ACSR voting members elect the ACSR Executive Committee Chair-Elect, and two regions elect their Region Representative to serve on the ACSR Executive Committee. This year the South and the Midwest regions are electing new Region Representatives.
