15 Sep2022
By Rachel Walker Bowman
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, AACTE is re-posting an Ed Prep Matters article by student member Rachel Bowman that spotlights Mildred Boveda and David Fuentes, who discuss their heritage and what it means in the world of teacher education.
When Mildred Boveda, associate professor of special education at Penn State University, was filling out some basic forms required for an academic appointment, she came to a question that made her pause:
Which of these best describes your race/ethnicity?
- White/ Non-Hispanic
- Black/ Non-Hispanic
- Hispanic
The list went on.
Boveda, an Afro-Latina woman of Dominican descent and complex intersecting identities, had always felt more at home in the Black community. But the erasure of her Latina roots, even just through a checkmark, was not something she could reconcile with.
She checked Hispanic.
13 Sep2022
Apply by Oct. 31
By Michael Rose
One of the barriers to a diverse and well-prepared educator workforce is the high cost of college and student loan debt. Research has found that higher debt burdens are associated with students avoiding public service jobs, particularly in the education field.
To encourage highly qualified individuals to become teachers or serve in other public sector jobs, the federal government created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in 2007, which eliminates any remaining federal student loan debt for those individuals that make 120 qualified payments while working for a qualified non-profit employer.
13 Sep2022
By Beth Kubitskey
For 30 years, I have been involved in teaching and teacher education as a graduate student, lecturer, professional development facilitator, teacher, professor, and administrator. Most of that time I was part of the university system. I worked for years at one of the oldest teacher preparation programs in the country (Eastern Michigan University) and now at an institution that offers a non-profit higher education alternative route certification (University of Michigan – Flint, although it is a 30+ credit master’s program). I wondered if my experience prejudiced my view on for-profit alternative route programs (alt. routes). Was my negative visceral reaction to “why can’t getting your teaching certificate be like getting a real estate license?” justified? With enrollment in traditional higher education teacher preparations falling 47% from 2010-2020 and enrollment in for-profit alternative routes up 140%, am I just reacting to the threat?
The webinar presented by AACTE: “The Growth and Impact of Alternative Certification: Findings from Two Studies” confirmed my concerns. Texas, the first state to approve non-higher education alt-routes, prepares more teachers than any other state in the country, and as of 2018-19, had 41 for-profit alt route programs that accounted for 68% of all enrollments in teacher education programs in the state. As such, Texas was used as the site of a two-components study on for-profit alternative route certification programs.
12 Sep2022
By Rachel Besharat Mann
Rachel Besharat Mann will share her experience in translating learning sciences into practice using the Digital Promise Learner Variability Navigator tool during the webinar co-hosted by AACTE, “Learning Sciences Research for the Classroom” on September 26, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Below, Mann offers a preview about her experience using the web app for whole child learning.
You can read all of the teaching books and take all of the courses but being in the classroom is a completely different experience. You are working with individual people with varied backgrounds and needs and their behaviors; strengths, and needs can change based on a variety of factors outside of a teacher’s control. There is no roadmap to tell you how students learn differently or even if they are learning at all. This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way over the years and have vowed to help my higher education students avoid the same pitfalls in K-12 classrooms that I did.
12 Sep2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Congress may have been on recess for the month of August, but it certainly did not feel like a break. Behind the scenes staffers maintained diligent in their work as Members spent time both in Washington, D.C. and their home states and districts for the opportunity to hear directly from constituents. In mid-August, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act is the legislation we have formerly referred to as the “reconciliation bill” or “Build Back Better.” That said, the Inflation Reduction Act is much different than any of the previously proposed “reconciliation bills” — including no investments in the educator workforce. Read more about what is included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
12 Sep2022
By Learning First Alliance
On September 1st, 2022, the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics released the mathematics and reading results of 9-year-olds from the 2022 NAEP long-term trend assessment. The following summary is from NAEP’s Highlights report:
In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a special administration of the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) reading and mathematics assessments for age 9 students to examine student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020. This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics.
09 Sep2022
By Leslie Ekpe
Congratulations to Daniqua Williams, named Holmes Scholar of the month to kick off the 2022-2023 academic year! In June of 2022, Williams successfully defended her dissertation study titled “Assessing Multicultural Counseling Competency Training with College Counselors who Serve International Students.”
08 Sep2022
By Brandi Palmer
AACTE is celebrating 75 years by inviting members to come together to revolutionize the future of education and educator preparation.
Registration for this upcoming Annual Meeting, February 24 – 26, 2023, in Indianapolis, IN — “Innovation through Inspiration: Remembering the Past to Revolutionize the Future” — is now open.
08 Sep2022
By Brandi Palmer
AACTE is seeking peer reviewers from a wide spectrum of backgrounds to serve in selecting learning opportunities of the highest quality for its 75th Annual Meeting, themed, “Innovation through Inspiration: Remembering the Past to Revolutionize the Future.”
This is an opportunity to volunteer your time and expertise to select session topics from this year’s proposal submissions that will shape the conversation at our 75th anniversary meeting, focused on revolutionizing and elevating educator preparation and the teaching profession. To apply, visit Call for Reviewers.
06 Sep2022
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
Congratulations to the AACTE state affiliate organizations from Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, and Montana which were selected from among numerous excellent applicants for a 2022-23 State Affiliate Support Award. AACTE uses these awards to support state affiliate organizations in advancing the following priorities:
- Advocacy and Policy Leadership
- Enhancing Program Quality
- Partnership and Communication
06 Sep2022
By Brandi Palmer
AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., delivered the opening Keynote of the First Congress of the Network of Deans and Deans of Education of Latin American Universities (Redecanedu) in Santiago, Chile, on Sept. 1. Gangone joined remotely with the international meeting of education leaders.
06 Sep2022
By Jill McGranahan
This article originally appeared on MSU Denver RED.
With the psychological and economic pressures of Covid-19, increased gun violence, systemic racism, political polarization and, most recently, the financial stresses of inflation, many adults are struggling with their mental and emotional health. It’s no wonder that children, too, are experiencing more trauma than ever.
Last fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association jointly declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health due to “soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness and suicidality” caused by Covid-19 and other factors. Trauma such as physical abuse, bullying and witnessing violence will often contribute to higher anxiety and negatively impact attention, memory, cognition, problem solving, reading ability and academic performance, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
02 Sep2022
By Liam Knox
This article originally appeared on Inside Higher Ed.
As the school year gets underway, a national teacher shortage has K-12 districts scrambling and job boards lengthening. The president of the National Education Association called the lack of classroom teachers a “five-alarm crisis.” Some students are returning to full-time in-person learning only to find their instructors teaching through screens, often from hundreds of miles away. Many teachers are overburdened by large classes, and in some cases, they are teaching without a degree. Some districts will start the school year with a four-day week to accommodate a lack of staff.
The flow of new teachers through the pipeline has slowed to a trickle, in part due to years of declining enrollment in education programs. Now higher education institutions are looking for ways to reverse what has become an alarming national trend.
31 Aug2022
Strengthening the Teaching Profession Through Public and Private Sector Actions
By AACTE
AACTE met with the Biden-Harris Administration today to discuss the nationwide school staffing shortages.
“It was an honor to have AACTE at the table with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other key decision makers, such as the Secretaries of Education and Labor,” said AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. “There are solutions to this crisis, and I am confident that in working together we will accelerate our work to recruit and retain highly-qualified and diverse teachers. Education is an exciting and worthwhile profession, and I believe that today’s conversations, alongside members of the talent industry, will take us far as we lead collaborative and solutions-based work. To have this spotlight today on the education profession from the White House elevates the importance of teachers and education in the U.S.”
30 Aug2022
By AACTE
Be a part of AACTE as we celebrate 75 years at the 2023 Annual Meeting! Submit a proposal for AACTE’s 75th Annual Meeting February 24 – 26 in Indianapolis, IN. Help create innovation through inspiration, as we turn to our past successes to revolutionize the future of education. The deadline to submit is October 1.
