Strengthening AACTE’s Innovation Exchange
AACTE is undertaking a new effort to strengthen its Innovation Exchange by developing better navigation tools, adding fresh resources, and boosting engagement opportunities for the professional community.
“The Innovation Exchange must be an interactive platform for bringing together and amplifying the innovative work our members do,” said Rodrick Lucero, vice president of member engagement and support.
Launched in 2014, the Innovation Exchange supports innovation in the professional community and speeds the pace of change by creating a forum in which AACTE’s members, partners, and other professional colleagues can share experiences and findings as they address the most urgent issues of student achievement, curriculum reform, and preparation program advancement. Its content is guided by four interdependent components: pedagogy, workforce development, capacity building, and documentation and synthesizing research.
Components of the Innovation Exchange already include the edTPA National Academy of Consultants; the Educator Workforce Advisory Task Force, working on strategies to improve novice-teacher retention; a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) focused on increasing the pipeline of teachers from historically underrepresented populations; the Innovations Inventory, cataloguing members’ successful efforts to improve student learning or particular workforce needs; the Research Fellowships in Educator Preparation, currently investigating teachers’ persistence in urban settings and the factors affecting new teachers’ job placement; and the Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series, showcasing members’ work to boost candidates’ clinical experiences using relevant research.
Future additions will include a component on educational leadership, supported by AACTE’s partnership with the Wallace Foundation; the work of the new Clinical Practice Commission; and an expanded AACTE Holmes Scholars® Program. In addition, new installments in the Research-to-Practice Spotlight series are in development featuring Colorado State University, Ohio University, and Montclair State University.
The renovated Innovation Exchange will also feature a refreshed web site integrating improved technical capabilities for accessing new media and podcasts, engaging in online communities, and participating in an interactive Q & A column on problems of practice. The Innovations Inventory will be expanded to include a peer-review process especially for research produced by junior faculty members who are on the tenure track.
Stay tuned as we roll out these exciting elements of a refreshed Innovation Exchange!
Tags: AACTE online resources, content areas, membership, pedagogy, research, technology, workforce development
