09 Sep2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
In case you missed it, there is another opportunity to learn about how to use ESSER funding to recruit into Educator Preparation Programs (EPP).
As you know, in the past year, Congress has set aside billions for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. To help educator preparation programs effectively allocate those funds, AACTE created an Advocacy Toolkit with examples from EPPs across the nation who are expanding their recruitment using federal dollars. In this workshop, GoReact and AACTE put together a panel of national, state, and university teacher preparation professionals. We explored one state—Tennessee—which used ESSER funds to support a statewide Grow Your Own Program to address teacher shortages and diversify the profession.
30 Aug2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
In the past year, Congress set aside billions for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.
To help educator preparation programs effectively allocate those funds, GoReact and AACTE put together a panel of national, state, and university teacher prep professionals. They’ll dig into one state—Tennessee—that has used ESSER funds to support a statewide Grow Your Own Program to address teacher shortages and diversify the profession.
In this free workshop, our panelists will
- Analyze one particular state’s strategy for ESSER funds
- Share how ALL teacher prep programs can effectively use emergency relief funds
- Provide a resource AACTE has developed to support EPPs and Local Education Agencies to create a pathway into teaching
- Answer participant questions
12 Aug2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
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 This fall, AACTE is excited to continue supporting an opportunity for members to try out the PlanWise™ tool, a Chrome Extension developed by ETS and focused on delivering formative assessment practices and strategies. The PlanWise™ tool meets teachers where they are in a number of ways, including providing suggestions for formative assessment strategies to teachers and pre-service teachers while they are lesson planning in Google Docs.
Five AACTE member institutions have participated in introductory sessions and have determined that they are interested in trying out the PlanWise™ tool with their pre-service teachers. We are welcoming an additional five institutions to try out the tool this fall.
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06 Jul2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
Don’t miss your opportunity to pilot test PlanWise™ tool, a Chrome Extension developed by ETS and focused on delivering formative assessment practices and strategies.
AACTE, in collaboration with ETS, is excited to provide all of its members with this exciting opportunity. The PlanWise™ tool meets teachers where they are in a number of ways, such as providing suggestions for formative assessment strategies to teachers and teacher candidates while they are lesson planning in Google Docs. After an initial pilot with K-12 teachers, novice teachers noted the value and the utility of the tool in identifying a variety of new formative assessment strategies and indicated that the strategies increased their use of formative assessment with students.
06 Jul2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
This article originally appeared in Diverse Issues in Higher Education and is reprinted with permission.
Teacher diversity is invaluable for all students. Having a teacher of color at the helm of a classroom benefits all learners, both academically and through deep and enriching social emotional connections. However, according to The White House’s fact sheet for The American Families Plan, while teachers of color can have a particularly strong impact on students of color, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only one in five teachers are people of color, compared to more than half of K-12 public school students. That is why President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $9 billion in American teachers, addressing shortages, improving training and supports for teachers, and boosting teacher diversity.
Why teacher diversity matters
Representation in the classroom matters. Having a diverse teacher workforce connects cultures, sets high expectations, and reduces implicit bias. Far too often, students of color feel isolated, underrepresented or mistreated, which leads to lower graduation and higher dropout rates. Decades of research has demonstrated that teachers of color can help close access and opportunity gaps for students of color while being vital to the well-being of students of all races. With a teacher of color leading a classroom, students of color see themselves represented and identify with them as role models. A diverse teacher workforce not only supports a student’s academic and social and emotional outcomes, it can lead classroom students to consider becoming educators themselves.
29 Jun2021
By Trisha DiZio and Jacqueline Rodriguez
There is wide recognition that history and civics have been neglected disciplines in American K-12 education. Recent events, including the January 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol, underscored this point and the need to elevate learning in these essential disciplines.
The Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative has garnered broad cross-partisan and stakeholder support as a way to re-imagine and re-prioritize the important civic mission of K-12 public education. AACTE became an EAD organizational Champion in 2021 and is developing professional development that addresses inquiry-based civic instruction in our member educator preparation programs. AACTE is participating in the upcoming webinar, Monitoring Civic Learning Opportunities and Outcomes: State of the Field and Future Directions, on July 13
22 Jun2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE is excited to announce a new opportunity for members to pilot the PlanWise™ tool, a Chrome Extension developed by ETS and focused on delivering formative assessment practices and strategies. The PlanWise™ tool meets teachers where they are in a number of ways, including by providing suggestions for formative assessment strategies to teachers and teacher candidates while they are lesson planning in Google Docs. After an initial pilot with K-12 teachers, there is increased interest in expanding use of the PlanWise™ tool to teacher candidates. Many novice teachers in the initial pilot valued the utility of the tool in identifying a variety of new formative assessment strategies and indicated that the strategies increased their use of formative assessment with students.
12 Apr2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
We learned so much from our education deans during the 2021 Annual Meeting that we are hosting a webinar on April 29 to dive deeper into leaning in and leading through the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of systemic racism on campus and within their communities.
Educator preparation leaders, specifically, are managing the twin crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice within and across the nation’s institutions. We can all agree that the shift we experienced in our personal and professional lives as we witnessed horrific tragedies grounded in racism and discrimination continues to rock our schools and communities. As equity-minded leaders, three deans addressed faculty and student needs by starting with empathy and ending with action.
08 Mar2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
Calling all educators! Your review and your voice is requested. AACTE is proud to work collaboratively with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in the Learning First Alliance coalition. Our colleagues at NASSP, alongside their Board of Directors recently stated its intent to adopt two new position statements on LGBTQ+ Students and Educators and Supporting Principals as Leaders of Special Education—and your feedback is critical. Public comments are open now through March 31.
25 Feb2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
You won’t want to miss AACTE’s next webinar. Join education deans as they discuss how to lean in and lead through the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of systemic racism on campus and within their communities. Tune into the Leaning in and Leading Through Crisis discussion on March 18 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
22 Feb2021
By Laura Geringer and Jacqueline Rodriguez
CoSN, the national association of school district technology leaders, recently released two reports, Driving K-12 Innovation: 2021 Hurdles + Accelerators and Driving K-12 Innovation: 2021 Tech Enablers. The Driving K-12 Innovation reports capture the top nine topics (challenges, mega-trends, and tools), according to an advisory board of approximately 100 school leaders, technologists, educators, and changemakers. AACTE was proud to serve on the advisory board that supported the development of the report for the second year in a row.
Through the Driving K-12 Innovation series, CoSN continues its commitment to sharing high-quality trend reports that support the use of emerging technology in K-12 education to transform learning. In this initiative, a global advisory board of K-12 leaders, practitioners, and changemakers engages in discourse about the major themes driving, hindering, and enabling teaching and learning innovation at schools. Their work is divided into three steps: an initial survey to select the topics for discussion; discussion; and a concluding survey to capture the final thoughts from advisory board members and discern the top topics to feature in each publication. (Learn more at cosn.org/k12innovation.)
05 Feb2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
Educator preparation programs have experienced a tumult of change in the last 12 months. Many of our members have experienced decreased enrollment in initial licensure teacher education programs, all during a nationwide teacher shortage. Now, more than ever before, it is our responsibility to consider what may be creating barriers for candidates to enter our programs and our profession. AACTE plans to support member institutions’ examination of assessments used for entry into preparation programs and the barriers they create for potential candidates, especially candidates of color.
04 Feb2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE is pleased to announce the College of Education and Human Development at the Texas A&M University, as the next home to the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team. The editors were selected through a rigorous peer-review process and approved for a 3-year term, beginning in 2021, which can be extended for an additional 3 years.
The current editorial team at Michigan State University, which has served the JTE since 2015, will continue work on the journal through June 2021 to complete Volume 72.
“AACTE celebrates Texas A&M in their selection as the next editorial team for our flagship Journal of Teacher Education. Their team of scholars has the demonstrated experience, respect, and vision to lead the journal into its next chapter,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO of AACTE. “JTE is steadily increased its impact on the field under the tenure of the current editorial team at Michigan State University. AACTE owes a debt of gratitude to the tremendous editors at MSU, including incoming Board Chair, Dean Robert Floden, Dr. Gail Richmond, Dr. Dorinda Carter, and Dr. Tonya Bartell.”
08 Dec2020
By Jacqueline Rodriguez, Jane E. West, Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D. and Ward Cummings
The nation’s transition to the 46th presidential administration are underway. AACTE provided the Biden-Harris Administration’s Education Transition Team with its policy priorities for the coming year. Much of AACTE’s priorities stem from its advocacy throughout the year to increase the federal investment in education in PK-20, with a specific focus on recruiting and sustaining candidates in its education preparation programs.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, educator preparation stands at a dangerous crossroad. The college and university programs that prepare our teachers, principals, school counselors, and other essential education professionals are experiencing a debilitating wave of closures and faculty layoffs.
09 Nov2020
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
Join AACTE government relations consultant Jane West and her insightful and politically astute guests to dissect the 2020 election results at the federal level on November 18. Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis for the American Association of Colleges and Universities, will offer a perspective from the higher education sector while Danny Carlson, director of policy and advocacy for the National Association of Elementary School Principals, will cover the PK-12 perspective. Join us as we consider the following:
- Who is in the running for the next Secretary of Education?
- What will the education priorities be for the next four years?
- Will there EVER be another COVID relief bill? What will be in there for education?
- Who will chair the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in the Senate and what difference will it make?
- Who will take the helm of the all-important chair for the Appropriations Committee in the House and what difference will it make?
We will have a lively discussion about where the election results stand, what is possible with a new balance of power and how you can continue to make your voice heard! Remember, if you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu!
Register for our webinar Wednesday, November 18 from 3:00 -4:00 pm ET.
