10 May2016
By Rodrick Lucero
The National Policy Board for Education Administration (NPBEA) seeks comment by May 22 on new draft standards for leadership preparation programs. Once approved, these preparation standards will replace the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) standards and be used to guide the educational leadership program design, accreditation review, and state approval of preparation programs for principals and superintendents.
The proposed National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) Standards specify what novice leaders should know and be able to do, at the building and district level, after completing a high-quality educational leadership preparation program. The new draft aligns the standards for preparation programs with the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) approved by NPBEA last fall. Formerly known as the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards, the PSEL standards articulate the knowledge and skills expected of school leaders broadly.
02 May2016
By Michelle Kotek
AACTE congratulates 2016 National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes, who teaches history at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Connecticut.
The Council of Chief State School Officers announced Hayes’ selection last week following a rigorous selection process. She will be honored Tuesday, along with the other three finalists and all of the state teachers of the year, by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House.
Hayes, who has been in the classroom for more than 12 years, earned her bachelor’s degree in history and social science from Southern Connecticut State University and her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Saint Joseph (CT).
02 May2016
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE joins the National Education Association (NEA) and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in celebrating terrific teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 2-6, and National Teacher Day, May 3.
Tune in to the White House tomorrow as President Obama recognizes this year’s national and state teachers of the year, and don’t forget to reach out to congratulate any honorees who are alumni of your programs!
How can you get involved in the teacher celebration? In addition to holding events for your alumni or simply thanking teachers in person, here are some easy ways to engage on social media:
18 Apr2016
By Zachary VanHouten
From left to right: Jeannie Oakes, University of California – Los Angeles; Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden; Mary Keller, Military Child Education Coalition; Catherine Bradshaw, University of Virginia; Ron Avi Astor, University of Southern California
During the American Education Research Association (AERA) 2016 annual meeting last week, Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden was a featured panelist in a session on military-connected students in PK-12 schools. Stressing the need for more research and additional support for these students, Biden reflected on her visits with military families around the world and the commonly overlooked needs of military-connected students.
Other panelists discussed their research on military-connected students as well as the need to ensure teachers are prepared to address the needs of these students. Mary Keller, president and CEO of the Military Child Education Coalition, joined Biden in discussing some of the transformative work that colleges of education have embarked on through the Operation Educate the Educators partnership with AACTE to ensure teachers are prepared to meet the needs of military-connected students.
12 Apr2016
By Rodrick Lucero
Educators Rising, the national network supporting high school students who are interested in the education profession, seeks comment on its brand-new draft standards by April 24.
In partnership with the National Education Association, Educators Rising is coordinating an effort to back-map the road to accomplished teaching into the “pre-preservice” secondary space. Using a committee process modeled after the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Educators Rising brought together accomplished practitioners to draft strong standards for what teenagers should know and be able to do to demonstrate they are developing the skills and dispositions of effective educators.
12 Apr2016
By Whitney Watkins
Congratulations to April Holmes Scholar of the Month Shaywanna Harris!
Harris is a second-year doctoral student in the Counselor Education program at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests are traumatic childhood experiences, brain development in children, resilience in families, and neurofeedback training in counseling.
Harris is known for working collegially and collaboratively with diverse individuals across different organizations. As supervisor of a community counseling and research clinic at her university, she has demonstrated a commitment to successfully advocating for and valuing diversity. She also works with minority children of alcoholics by conducting research and disseminating information to the public through manuscript publications.
29 Mar2016
By Kristin McCabe
The National Policy Board for Education Administration (NPBEA) has officially assumed leadership for the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) 2015, a revision of the former Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards. The standards were formerly owned by the Council of Chief State School Officers, which worked with NPBEA to update the document last year with extensive public input.
"Leaders in higher education and principals at all levels of the K-12 continuum engaged in a thoughtful, deliberative process based on the reality of the contemporary principal’s work," said JoAnn Bartoletti, NPBEA president and executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "Our consensus is that the new standards are aspirational, reflect the complexity of school leadership, and filter the principal’s work through a lens of student-centered practice. They recognize the importance of cultural responsiveness in the context of a role that addresses the needs of each student."
29 Mar2016
By Melvin Bogard
Ed Prep Matters is featuring “Stories of Impact” to showcase AACTE member institutions with educator preparation programs that are making a positive impact in their communities and beyond through innovative practices. We are committed to sharing members’ success stories and encourage you to do the same.
New Jersey’s Rowan University has a new initiative poised to make an impact in increasing the number of men of color going into teaching, aiming to diversify the educator pipeline to better reflect the nation’s demographics. In fact, the program’s very name is IMPACT—Increasing Male Practitioners and Classroom Teachers.
28 Mar2016
By Jerrica Thurman
The Wallace Foundation this month announced a major new initiative to support the redesign of higher education-based programs for preparing school leaders. Investing $47 million over 5 years, the University Preparation Program Initiative will bring together selected institutions and school districts to share best practices and develop more effective principal training.
The initiative will fund improvements to principal preparation programs at up to six universities in partnership with high-need districts. It will also invest in research on effective partnerships, course work, and clinical experiences, and it will engage states in reviews of pertinent policies in support of the work. The selected universities and their district partners will be announced in the fall.
24 Mar2016
By Zachary VanHouten
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) is reaching out to select large school districts throughout the country as it prepares to launch a new initiative, Great Districts for Great Teachers. This new initiative seeks to recognize between 10 and 20 districts for having strong practices on five indicators developed by NCTQ:
- Rational compensation structure
- Professional support
- Effective management operations
- Career pathways and leadership opportunities
- Adequate support services for students
22 Mar2016
By Mark LaCelle-Peterson
Navigating the opportunities and challenges that new data sources and reporting requirements present was a frequent theme at this year’s AACTE Annual Meeting. In one well-attended session, representatives of the group Deans for Impact (DFI) released their latest policy paper, From Chaos to Coherence: A Policy Agenda for Accessing and Using Outcomes Data in Educator Preparation, also described here on the DFI blog. (You may recall that DFI, started in 2015 by Benjamin Riley when he left the New Schools Venture Fund, shares AACTE’s commitment to using outcomes-focused data to inform and improve educator preparation. Its 22 member deans include 15 from current AACTE member institutions, many of whom serve or have served on AACTE committees and in other leadership roles.)
The brief calls on policy makers to make better data on graduates’ performance in the field available to programs—an important priority that resonates across the educator preparation profession. As the report notes, despite widespread calls for connecting evidence of new teachers’ effectiveness back to their preparation programs, “there has been no coordinated effort to provide these programs with valid, reliable, timely, and comparable data about the [educators] they prepare” (p. 2). Individual institutions, state university systems, AACTE state chapters and their leadership group, and our accreditor have all called attention to this persistent problem.
15 Mar2016
By Michelle Kotek
A new study from the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) introduces compelling research on the characteristics of teacher leaders and factors that challenge or support them. The report, Great to Influential: Teacher Leaders’ Roles in Supporting Instruction, follows up on the 2014 study From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness Across the Career Continuum. In light of the new study’s findings, the report suggests strategies for school districts to capitalize on the assets presented by teacher leaders, ranging from providing broader career path options to increasing their interaction with preservice and novice educators.
09 Mar2016
By Jolanda M. Westerhof
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) invites applications for the Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award, which honors exemplary teacher education and professional development programs at AASCU-member public colleges and universities. The submission deadline for this year’s award is April 22.
To win this award, teacher education and professional development programs at AASCU institutions must not only demonstrate effectiveness in producing PK-12 learning outcomes; award winners must also demonstrate and explain how they have redesigned their programs as a result of these PK-12 learning outcomes (including, but not limited to, state data—when and where this is available).
16 Feb2016
By Melvin Bogard
Ed Prep Matters is featuring “Stories of Impact” to showcase AACTE member institutions with educator preparation programs that are making a positive impact in their communities and beyond through innovative practices. We are committed to sharing members’ success stories and encourage you to do the same.
As America and its school-age population grow increasingly diverse, educator preparation programs are striving to recruit and prepare more teachers from historically underrepresented groups. Statistics show that by 2050, the United States will have no clear racial or ethnic majority, yet the educator workforce remains largely White—a mismatch decried as violating students’ educational civil rights.
12 Feb2016
By Kristin McCabe
Congratulations to Thomas S. Tucker, superintendent of Princeton City Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, who has been named 2016 AASA National Superintendent of the Year!
Tucker’s selection was announced February 11 at the National Conference on Education hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association. He was one of four finalists for the honor; others included Pamela Moran of Charlottesville, Virginia; Steven Webb of Vancouver, Washington; and Freddie Williamson of Raeford, North Carolina.
