10 May2022
By Allison Little
The 100Kin10 Project Team is seeking applicants to serve as faculty interested in implementing a re-imagined Intro to Education Course through a racial equity and social justice lens.
The Project Team is interested in exploring how the course can be used as a recruitment tool to diversify the teacher workforce by centering racial equity and social justice in the course content. With support through 100Kin10, the Redesigning Introduction to Education Project Team is looking to work with five faculty who can teach this course during the Fall 2022 semester and participate in a community of practice to inform the work and foster discourse around its impact on students. Faculty participants will receive $5,000 as compensation for their efforts.
For more information, visit RedesigningIntrotoEd. The application deadline is June 1, 2022.
10 May2022
By Valerie Ooka Pang
In the second article commemorating AACTE’s recognition of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Heritage Month, Valerie Ooka Pang, a professor in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University, shares her favorite literature sources for teachers to use in their P-20 classrooms. Watch AACTE’s webinar with Ooka Pang and others to learn more about AANHPI representation and inclusion in classrooms and educator preparation.
As a teacher, how often do you consciously choose literature that is about AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) populations or was written or illustrated by AAPI authors and artists?
What do you know about AAPI children and their communities? Do you only know about Chinatowns or Chinese New Year? Stories about these singular aspects often convey stereotypical perspectives. AAPIs are people like others with dreams, fears, and hopes.
If you have little knowledge of AAPI communities and you would like to know how you can begin to integrate fantastic AAPI literature into your classroom, keep reading.
06 May2022
By Meghan Grenda
Did you know that AACTE membership is institutional — meaning when your school is a member all students, faculty, staff, and administrators have access to AACTE resources.
You and your colleagues may access all members-only tools and resources by visiting aacte.org and logging in with your email address and password. If you need your password reset, please select the blue “Password Reset” button.
Below are just a few additional resources available to you via your AACTE membership:
06 May2022
By Michael Rose
AACTE is sponsoring its second Public Policy in Action webinar on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. (EST) to help federal student loan borrowers new to the teaching profession manage their federal student loans and, eventually, to have them forgiven.
Among the most significant reasons educators to leave the field is low pay and the significant debt they must take on to earn their degree. This is particularly acute for those just starting out, whether it be as a teacher in a K-12 classroom or as a faculty member at a school of education.
The information in this webinar is critical to help keep profession-ready, highly motivated educators in our nation’s classrooms. AACTE encourages you to share the registration link with those who are on the verge or entering the profession via residency programs or new educators that may be interested.
In response to COVID-19, Congress passed legislation in 2020 that authorized a “pause” on all Federal loan repayment plans, interest accumulation and suspended garnishment efforts. This pause is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2022.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) is an underutilized program that forgives the federal student loan debts for borrowers that make 120 qualified payments while working in the public sector, including teaching and other education positions. While the program has been mismanaged over the past several years, the Biden Administration is working to make significant improvements to the PSLF, so that more beneficiaries will see their loans eliminated. This webinar will provide background on the program, explain the planned upgrades, and discuss how federal borrowers could benefit from the program.
Panelists will include the following:
- Michael Rose, Senior Director of Government Relations, AACTE
- Rachel Gentry, Director of Government Relations at National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)
- Michael Yudin, Principal, The Raben Group
Register today
How Educators Can Better Manage their Federal Student Loans
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (EDT)
04 May2022
By Matthew Wales
In today’s world, diversity, equity, and inclusion can sometimes feel like simply buzzwords. They are trendy to say, and deemed important to acknowledge strategically, but are the actions taken by academic leaders truly enhancing diversity amongst our faculty and candidates? Is there a collective, shared sense of what equitable practices look like? And most importantly, are the decisions of leaders today creating and cultivating spaces that are inclusive to all?
As a part of its strategic plan, AACTE and its members are committed to increasing the diversity of their faculty and the students they prepare, so that educators more accurately reflect the diversity within PK-12 schools. As such, AACTE firmly believes in the need to continually assist deans, program chairs, and other academic leaders in navigating and managing the ever-changing landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion within educator preparation. To that end, AACTE is proud to provide session content in both the dean and chair strands of the Leadership Academy that will address the following key questions:
- Why is it important to foster and promote diversity, and develop inclusive environments?
- What cultural implications do I need to attend to in the areas of teaching, research, and service?
- What specific actions are necessary to address the cultural implications in the areas of teaching, research, and service?
Working within job-alike cohorts, attendees will engage in several activities designed to “disrupt” the normal thinking around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Participants will define their own characteristics of what makes an equitable environment, and then with outside collaboration from peers, dig deeper to see just what gaps may need to be filled to create more inclusive practices and spaces. In the end, attendees will leave the session with an action list of practices to implement, which can be customized for their institution.
Don’t miss your chance to participate in this engaging and interactive look at diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic leadership. Join us June 26-30, 2022, at the Renaissance International Plaza Hotel in Tampa, FL, where you can choose from one of three track options
- New Chairs and Academic Leaders – June 26-28
- New and Seasoned Deans – June 28-30
- Full Conference (All Sessions) – June 26-30
Be sure to check out the schedule of content to be offered this year and reserve your spot today for AACTE’s new and improved Leadership Academy experience.
03 May2022
By Michael Rose
National Teacher Appreciation Week is May 1 through May 7, 2022. AACTE celebrates the work of teachers across the country and recognizes the significant contributions our nation’s teachers make in preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world.
AACTE joins with the American Federation of Teachers and more than 200 other partnering organizations, to thank teachers for “helping every child in America lay the groundwork to build a better life, which starts right in their very own school.” In addition, the campaign recognizes that, “Despite political interference, disrespect for [their] professionalism, and a seemingly endless struggle for resources, [teachers] rise to the occasion to help prepare every child for whatever comes next, and [they] do it with incredible humanity and grace.”
03 May2022
By Janae Blanscet
Have you considered volunteering for a leadership position in AACTE? Whether you volunteer to lend your talent and expertise to one of AACTE’s programmatic advisory committees or seek a position on the Board of Directors, this is your final chance to nominate yourself or a colleague to serve during AACTE’s upcoming 75th anniversary year. Nominations are due by May 15.
Educator preparation is an essential element in revolutionizing education and combatting the divisive issues threatening our nation’s education systems. AACTE is at the center of efforts to ensure that all students receive the expert instruction and support they need and deserve.
02 May2022
By Brooke Evans
For the first time in three years, AACTE will be hosting its 2022 Washington Week in-person in Washington DC, June 6 – 8. This annual educational policy and advocacy event draws together AACTE’s State Chapter Leadership, Holmes’ Scholars, deans, and faculty for an opportunity to learn and advocate for education and for high quality educational preparation programs throughout the country.
This year, AACTE is combining the best programming from three separate events — State Leaders Institute, Holmes Policy Institute, and Day on the Hill — into one reimagined mini-conference for enhanced collaboration and networking. The 2022 Washington Week program includes shared keynotes and strand-based sessions on today’s most critical issues in education and teacher preparation: censorship, educator shortage, and educator diversity. Attendees can choose to align with a particular strand throughout the event or select sessions from among the three strands.
Several AACTE members shared their top reasons for attending Washington Week, including Stacy Duffield, director of the Office of Teaching and Learning at North Dakota State University. According to Duffield, members should attend the event because “the learning and connections are invaluable.” Read more about Duffield’s thoughts on why members should make the investment and register for 2022 Washington Week.
02 May2022
By Eleanor Su-Keene
I’m not your model minority. In fact, I spent much of my life contemplating whether I’m actually a minority at all. In the United States, racial socialization runs along a Black/White spectrum, where until recently, Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) communities existed outside of mainstream racial dialogue. If I may elaborate. As a society, people move through in different ways, and it is only when you come across barriers or lack the privilege afforded to others based on race, that you experience oppression and injustice firsthand. Asian Americans occupy a contentious, invisible space in which race is operationalized as simultaneously a privilege and a form of discrimination. As Cathy Park Hong wrote in Minor Feelings, “Asians lack presence. Asians take up apologetic space. We don’t even have enough presence to be considered real minorities. We’re not racial enough to be token. We’re so post-racial we’re silicon.”
29 Apr2022
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 past two weeks, but it certainly did not feel like that behind the scenes. There has been a flurry of activity surrounding the President’s FY2023 Budget Request. Education advocates are working diligently to get their appropriations requests to Members — hopeful to see historic increases for education funding making it across the finish line.
The Debate over Student Loan Forgiveness Continues as the Department Cancels $238 Million in Debt for 28,000 Borrowers
On Thursday, President Biden confirmed reports that he is considering canceling “some” amount of federal student loan debt. “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” The President said in remarks at the White House. “I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction.”
29 Apr2022
By U.S. Department of Education
During Second Chance Month, the U.S. Department of Education announced actions to help incarcerated individuals access educational programs as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to support reentry, empower formerly incarcerated persons, enhance public safety, and strengthen our communities and our economy. The Department has invited 73 colleges and universities to participate in the third round of the Second Chance Pell Experiment, an initiative first launched by the Obama-Biden Administration to expand access to Federal Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals enrolled in participating programs. The expansion will bring the total number of schools able to participate in the Second Chance Pell Experiment to 200. The Department is also announcing changes to policies to help incarcerated individuals with defaulted loans, including affirming that incarcerated individuals qualify for a “fresh start,” which returns borrowers with defaulted loans to repayment in good standing and allows them to access programs like the Second Chance Pell Experiment. The Department will also allow incarcerated individuals to consolidate their loans to help them exit default in the long term.
29 Apr2022
By Nicole Dunn
School leadership is second only to teaching among school-related factors in its impact on student learning, and school leader preparation programs play a key role in facilitating that success. As the leading voice in educator preparation, AACTE has launched a new podcast series, “Revolutionizing School Leadership Through Research”. This new podcast series highlights three cutting-edge research reports from the Wallace Foundation’s Knowledge Center on School Leadership. The three-episode series defines the evolving role and expectations of the principalship, the corresponding preparation required to meet those expectations, and the state policy levers that can be pulled to increase the number of qualified, equitable leaders in that position.
The first episode takes a macro look into the connection between school leadership and school outcomes. AACTE speaks with the lead author, Jason Grissom, of the Wallace commissioned report, How Principals Affect Students and Schools, A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research”, Grissom walks through the major landscape shifts in the past 20 years, with key insights into how preparation programs can be effective, equitable leaders.
29 Apr2022
By Michael Rose
AACTE is hosting its second Public Policy in Action webinar, “How Educators Can Better Manage their Federal Student Loans,” on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT). These public policy events are designed to help members understand critical policy updates originating from Congress or the Biden Administration. May’s webinar is focused on two critical items related to the educator workforce: the potential restart of payments on Federal student loans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. We hope that attendees will also share policy developments related to student financial aid in their states.
29 Apr2022
By Leslie Ekpe
Congratulations to Anthony L. Webster, Holmes Scholar of the Month for April 2022.
Webster is a Ph.D. candidate at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He was raised in Greenville, MS, and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Jackson State University (JSU) and a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs at Eastern Michigan University.
26 Apr2022
By Linda Minor
The AACTE 74th Annual Meeting brought together attendees from across the country to discuss, explore, reflect upon, and learn about the current challenges and innovative plans for the future of educator preparation. Over the 3-day conference, presenters addressed the theme, “Rethink, Reshape, Reimagine, Revolutionize: Growing the Profession.” AACTE is excited to share the video recordings of the general sessions and deeper dive sessions on Connect360. These attendee-only resources are available to access on-demand for continual professional development.
#AACTE22 Keynote – Derek W. Black
#AACTE22 Closing Keynote – Leslie T. Fenwick
Are we there yet?: Honoring the Legacy of HERS 50th Annivesary and Women’s Experiences in Higher Ed
JTE Editors Deeper Dive
Apprenticeships for Teaching: A National Model
