04 Apr2017
By Amanda Lester
A major forum at last month’s AACTE Annual Meeting highlighted actions under way to diversify the teaching workforce and advance social justice at universities across the country. Titled “Meeting the Needs of All Learners: Advancing Social Justice and Diversity in Teacher Preparation,” the forum featured panelists from four Association initiatives working toward these objectives: the AACTE Black and Hispanic/Latino Male Teacher Initiative Networked Improvement Community (NIC), the Diversified Teaching Workforce: Recruitment and Retention AACTE Topical Action Group, the AACTE Holmes Program, and the AACTE Committee on Global Diversity.
The forum was moderated by Sharon Leathers of William Paterson University (NJ) and included the following panelists, each of whom is a member of one or more of the four initiatives: Lora Bailey of New Mexico Highlands University, Traci Baxley of Florida Atlantic University, Jacob Easley of Eastern Connecticut University, Conra Gist of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Reyes Quezada of the University of San Diego (CA).
04 Apr2017
By Michelle Kotek
How can state policy makers, education agencies, and school officials work together more cohesively to address critical teacher pipeline issues? Leaders from three states discussed strategies and obstacles to this shared goal during a major forum, “Acting as Systems: A Pipeline Approach to Educator Preparation Policy,” held March 2 at AACTE’s 69th Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida.
The forum, moderated by AACTE Senior Vice President Mark LaCelle-Peterson, featured discussions among the following policy leaders:
04 Apr2017
By Rebecca Gutierrez
How does the work of teaching become the work of justice and equity? At AACTE’s 69th Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida, TeachingWorks organized one of the six major forums around this question, convening panelists from across the nation to discuss high-leverage practices for teachers to disrupt inequity in the classroom. Speakers at the March 3 forum emphasized the need for teachers to orient their practice around valuing community and students’ individual voices in order to advance social justice and learning for all.
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, education dean at the University of Michigan and head of TeachingWorks, moderated the forum with panel conversations based on building relationships with students, leading group discussions, and implementing routines for classroom discourse. Audience questions were also incorporated in the forum via live interaction and the hashtag #TWforum on Twitter.
28 Mar2017
By Rebecca Gutierrez
The 2017 AACTE Speaker Spotlight Session featured a rousing address from Linda Darling-Hammond, who encouraged educators to persist in their focus on educational equity and advocacy despite the barrage of obstacles and distractions in the current environment.
Although teacher educators have been hard at work and have much to celebrate, she said, there is not a moment to relax in confronting the challenges of the day. Citing issues such as child homelessness, access to healthcare, funding cuts, and policy centered on “testing without investing,” she urged attendees to step up their work with candidates to engage in equity-focused practices. Recent surges in racist and anti-immigrant incidents further hamper students’ well-being and ability to learn.
28 Mar2017
By Jerrica Thurman
The Welcoming Session at the AACTE 69th Annual Meeting featured guest speaker Shaun Harper, professor and executive director of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. In his presentation, “Ed Schools and the Mis-Education of White America,” he discussed diversity, equity, and race issues in education and the obligation of universities – especially educator preparation programs – to address them.
He emphasized the critical role for schools of education in preserving and advancing democracy in America: As preparers of teachers for the public schools, they are in a position to ensure that every student is educated with the proper consciousness and skills needed to raise race questions and pursue greater equity. Harper said that most teacher preparation programs do not currently live up to this objective, as their curricula contain very little about cultural diversity and fail to challenge racial biases.
28 Mar2017
By Rebecca Gutierrez
Did you notice a fresh burst of energy at AACTE’s Annual Meeting this year? Then you might have been lucky enough to interact with the high school students from the South Texas Independent School District (STISD) who attended as participants in the AACTE Holmes Program.
28 Mar2017
By Christine Tambini
Registration is now open for AACTE’s Washington Week, a set of advocacy-focused events held annually in the nation’s capital. This year’s Washington Week will be held June 4-7 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View in Arlington, Virginia, and on Capitol Hill. The week includes the following signature events:
21 Mar2017
By Amanda Lester
In conjunction with the 69th Annual Meeting, AACTE hosted a daylong workshop March 1 titled “Strengthening Leadership Through Communities of Professional Learning Educational Leadership Preconference,” sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The event was attended by higher education leaders from across the nation, who shared model strategies and identified priorities and actions needed to strengthen principal preparation across local contexts.
The agenda featured two interactive segments, both of which explored ways to renew principal preparation programs through collaborative action.
16 Mar2017
By Dana Dunwoody and Tim Finklea
This month, more than 80 participants in the AACTE Holmes Program convened with coordinators and alumni for our annual preconference event at the AACTE Annual Meeting. The 2-day program (see the agenda) led by members of the 2016-2017 Holmes Scholars Council, the National Association of Holmes Scholars Alumni (NAHSA), and AACTE provided a rich variety of integrative and thought-provoking sessions and interactions.
15 Mar2017
By AACTE Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability
On March 1, approximately 45 educators participated in an AACTE preconference workshop (in advance of the 69th Annual Meeting in Tampa) designed to help them gain knowledge and skills related to accountability, continuous improvement, and quality assurance in their educator programs. Back by popular demand from the 2016 Annual Meeting, the session, “Rubrics, and Validity, and Reliability: Oh My!” was organized and led by members of AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability.
Over the course of 4 hours, participants reflected on how they are meeting expectations regarding the assessment of teacher candidate performance, compared and contrasted their assessment approaches with participants from other institutions, and considered the impact their candidates are having on PK-12 student learning. In small groups, attendees engaged in hands-on activities introducing them to the rationale for using rubrics, developing and implementing strong holistic and analytical rubrics, ensuring that rubrics provide for the collection of reliable and valid information related to targeted tasks, and increasing understanding about the importance of this work in the context of accountability.
14 Mar2017
By Kristin McCabe
This month, AACTE will host free webinars on incorporating content knowledge for teaching (CKT) into education course work, presented by experts from TeachingWorks (University of Michigan) and ETS® Educator Series (Educational Testing Service). Please join us March 29 for a focus on elementary English/language arts CKT and/or March 30 for elementary mathematics.
In each hourlong event, you’ll hear about and discuss approaches that can be used to engage preservice teachers with the kinds of content problems they are likely to encounter during their work as a teacher, such as in –
10 Mar2017
By Kristin McCabe
Are you preparing for a CAEP accreditation visit? Wondering how to apply evidence from your candidates’ performance assessments to make sure your program prepares them for key practices? Or perhaps you’re looking for new ideas for recruiting and supporting a more diverse candidate pool? Find the guidance you need at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop!
In just over 6 weeks, AACTE will bring expert facilitators and a selection of workshop sessions to Fort Worth, Texas, April 24-26. We’ve just posted a detailed schedule with descriptions of session choices to help you plan your time effectively (download the PDF here).
07 Mar2017
By Kristin McCabe
Last week, AACTE was honored to welcome nearly 2,000 members, partners, and friends to hot-and-sunny Tampa, Florida, for the 69th Annual Meeting. Together we shared research, innovative practices, questions, and answers in a robust program addressing the theme “Acting as One: The Power of the Professional Community.”
Over the coming weeks, Ed Prep Matters will bring you a variety of reports from the Annual Meeting, including videos and slides from the general sessions and major forums just as soon as they’re available. Meanwhile, you can view (and share!) our conference photos on Facebook, browse the Twitter feed, and enjoy the following recap videos from Association TV.
02 Mar2017
By Matthew Wales
Now through May 30, AACTE is accepting session proposals for the 70th Annual Meeting, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, March 1-3, 2018. We also invite applications by May 16 for AACTE member faculty to review proposals.
The conference theme is “Celebrating Our Professional Identity: Shared Knowledge and Advocacy,” conceptualized as follows in the call for proposals:
21 Feb2017
By Kristin McCabe
How can you unleash the power of teacher leaders to connect preservice and in-service educators … to enhance clinical partnerships between educator preparation providers and PK-12 schools … and to inform the quality of programs and practice across the continuum of teacher development? Join with peers from your region at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop to construct solutions collaboratively to these and other compelling issues around performance assessment, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.
These workshops will be offered in three regions this year: Fort Worth, Texas (April 24-26); Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 10-12), and Seattle, Washington (November 9-11). At each event, over two half days and one full day, participants will engage in interactive plenary sessions, select from a variety of topics available in break-out blocks, have dedicated time to work in teams and consult with facilitators, and enjoy networking receptions to wrap up each day. See the chart below for an overview of the draft program for the Fort Worth workshop (and visit our website for specific dates and times).
