24 Apr2024
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE is grateful for the service and contributions that Weadé James, Ph.D., vice president for organizational advancement, brought to AACTE during her four-year tenure. She will complete her time with the Association at the end of this month.
Through her service, James has expanded AACTE’s impact and non-dues revenue through grants and contracts and has strengthened relationships with education partners. Under her guidance, the AACTE Holmes Scholars Program has flourished, providing invaluable support and opportunities for emerging leaders of color in the field of educator preparation.
19 Mar2024
By Tyler Pointer
Join AACTE on Tuesday, March 26, at 1:00 p.m. EST for Lunch with Lynn, to learn about the work of AACTE 2024 Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education Winner, Kimberly A. White-Smith, Ed.D.
White-Smith, dean and professor at the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego and vice president of the California Council on Teacher Education, will join AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. to share her insight on the realm of teacher education. White-Smith has over 25 years dedicated to urban schooling and educator development and has been a fervent advocate for academic justice, particularly for marginalized communities.
22 Feb2024
By Tyler Pointer
As the realm of education continues to evolve, it is essential to pause and reflect on the milestones that have shaped the landscape of teaching and learning. The newest edition of Journal of Teacher Education (JTE 75.1) offers a profound opportunity to do just that.
At the forefront of this edition is an editorial penned by AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., and AACTE Dean in Residence Leslie T. Fenwick, Ph.D.
15 Jan2024
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of its annual awards for innovative research, best practices, and exemplary leadership in educator preparation. Through a rigorous selection process carried out by the AACTE Standing Committees, the AACTE Awards Program honors member institutions and individuals who have made bold, extraordinary, and innovative contributions to the field of educator preparation.
“The selection of this year’s winners represents the impact that research, practice, and innovation make in advancing and strengthening the educator workforce,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO. “AACTE congratulates all winners on their distinguished achievements, which show commitment to the field of educator preparation across all levels.”
The distinguished honorees listed below will be formally recognized during the 2024 AACTE Annual Meeting Feb. 16-18, 2024, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora/Denver, Colo.
03 Jan2024
By Tyler Pointer
In their work to prepare aspiring teachers with pathways to paid residencies, Prepared To Teach is offering a six-part webinar series titled “Foundations to Futures” to support building new residencies. Foundations to Futures is a free, exploratory webinar series on residencies that will culminate in an invitation to join the Prepared to Teach Community of Practice to launch residencies.
The series will launch on January 29, 2024, with its first webinar, “Foundations for a Strong Residency” which will focus on the potential teacher residencies have to fundamentally transform both how individuals enter the profession and how students and teachers experience schooling. This webinar will share the following:
- A vision for residencies as a unique approach to preparation—and why we need them today,
- How preparation programs and school/district partnerships form the backbone of a strong residency,
- The basics of co-constructing residency designs,
- And tools and resources—all Creative Commons Licensed—for you to use in your local context.
12 Dec2023
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE’s Senior Advisor Jacqueline King, Ph.D., was recently featured in The EdSurge Podcast where she discussed enrollment trends in teacher education programs across the United States with host Jeffrey R. Young.
The episode, entitled “The Growing Push to Recruit New Teachers,” goes in-depth on recruitment efforts from schools of education and how some of those efforts focus on further diversifying the profession.
The episode is available to listen to on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and other major streaming platforms.
21 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
As the teacher shortage in Michigan continues to affect the state, national shortages like the ones for special education teachers have led to new approaches to finding solutions for the issue.
According to Lansing City Pulse, in a survey of 46 out of the 56 intermediate school districts in Michigan, most districts selected special education teachers as one of their most critical shortages.
Special education teacher pay differs by district in the United States, with 2022 median pay at $62,950 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Earlier this school year, the city of Detroit began offering bonuses to attract more special education teachers to district programs, an initiative that has shown positive results in other states.
14 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
PEN America’s new report, America’s Censored Classrooms 2023: Lawmakers Shift Strategies as Resistance Rises, written by program director Jeremy C. Young and research consultant Jeffrey Adam Sachs has now been published, highlighting the progress of educational gag orders as a result of state legislative sessions in 2023.
The report finds that, while the threat of gag orders has not diminished this year, the form and structure of such laws have changed dramatically. According to the report, more gag orders became law this year than in 2022, though fewer were introduced.
In PK-12, there was a major shift away from critical race theory (CRT) bans toward “Don’t Say Gay” bills, many of them as a result of Florida’s law last year. These bills attempted to censor any mention of gender, sexuality, or identity in the classroom, including extending some bans all the way through grade 12. In higher education, there was a shift away from classroom restrictions and toward limits on university governance processes that protect academic freedom. Diversity and inclusion bans, curricula, general education courses, accreditation agencies, and even university mission statements were censored, particularly in Florida, and Texas, and a bill still under consideration in Ohio.
07 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
InnovateEDU is reviving the EdSAFE AI Alliance to promote the responsible use of AI in education on a global scale. As a founding steering committee member, AACTE joins the EdSAFE AI Alliance alongside fellow education and learning partners to foster AI policy, collaboration, and best practices for PK-12 education.
Originally convened in 2020 and operative through September 2023, the newly revived alliance will continue its mission based on its core philosophy, the SAFE Framework:
- Safety: data privacy and security and a “do no harm” approach;
- Accountability: clear stakeholder responsibilities;
- Fairness: bias-free equity and ethics; and
- Efficacy: demonstrable learning outcomes from the use of AI technology.
The working goals of the EdSAFE AI Alliance’s mission include guiding responsible policy development, crafting initiatives to bring such policy to fruition, publishing white papers, supporting district and state policy labs, and creating special fellowship programs.
More information is available at EdSAFE’s new website.
07 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE’s Dean in Residence Leslie T. Fenwick, Ph.D., recently delivered the 20th Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research in Washington D.C.
According to the American Educational Research Association, which hosted the event, the Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research illuminates the important role of research in advancing the understanding of equality and equity in education.
Fenwick’s lecture, “Otherwise Qualified: The Untold Story of Brown and Black Educators,” offered a newly excavated history of implementing the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. It also advances her theory of “cultural elision” to explain how Brown is still misdefined.
24 Oct2023
By Tyler Pointer
A new report by Data Quality Campaign (DQC) shows data legislation in various states that have passed into law could positively affect student performance.
In 2023, state legislators introduced 269 bills in 44 states and Washington D.C. that address data across education and the workforce, 72 of which became laws. The Education and Workforce Data Legislation Review by DQC spotlights the bills introduced and laws enacted in 2023 addressing data governance, as well as other recommendations for states to support data access through improved statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs).
03 Oct2023
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE invites members to attend the 2023 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Brown Lecture, “Otherwise Qualified: The Untold Story of Brown and Black Educators” presented by AACTE Dean in Residence Leslie T. Fenwick, Ph.D., on Thursday, October 19 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. ET at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C.
Fenwick will deliver the lecture to an in-person audience and offer a newly excavated history of the implementation of Brown v. Board of Education. The lecture will also broadcast live.
21 Sep2023
By Tyler Pointer
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) 2022 Best Practice Award for Innovative Use of Technology winner Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO)’s College of Education, Health, and Human Studies was recently designated as an Apple Distinguished School.
A designation the college has held since 2014, SEMO’s College of Education, Health, and Human Studies holds this distinction through 2025. The college received this honor for its integration of technology through the university’s EDvolution Center, a space on campus dedicated to innovation and emerging technology.
At the EDvolution Center, students can experience the Virtual Reality Room, utilize the podcasting booth, and collaborate with others using mediascapes, so they may use and share these and other technological tools with their students in their own classrooms. Through their work in assisting students in solving contextual problems in meaningful ways utilizing technology, the EDvolution Center and the EDvolution Model, a research-based model focusing on effective and appropriate technology integration received the AACTE 2022 Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology.
“We are extremely proud to earn this prestigious distinction for an additional three years,” said Joe Pujol, dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Studies. “The selection of Southeast as an Apple Distinguished School highlights our success as an innovator and a compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic achievement.”
