Join Me at AACTE’s 2021 Annual Meeting

By Robert Floden

As chair-elect of the AACTE Board of Directors, I invite you to join me and your colleagues at the AACTE virtual 2021 Annual Meeting, February 24-26. Education leaders from across the nation will convene and share innovative perspectives, orientations, strategies, and technologies designed to address equity and inclusivity among diverse groups of learners and school contexts.

 

Inclusion and equity are overarching principles that should guide all educational policies, preparation programs, and practices. To do so effectively, educators must recognize the principle that education, particularly in an inclusive democracy, is both a fundamental right and the foundation for more equitable, inclusive, and cohesive communities.

 

Themed “Resisting Hate, Restoring Hope: Engaging in Courageous Action,” this year’s conference will feature four strands: Equity and Inclusivity in Preparation and Practice; Activism for Renewing Democracy; Establishing a Sustainable and Diverse Profession; and Clinical Practice and Community Engagement. The Equity and Inclusivity in Preparation and Practice strand will leverage the collective knowledge and experience of leading experts on ways to advance AACTE’s strategic direction to revolutionize education for all learners and focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

Watch the video to learn more about the virtual conference. The February 19 registration deadline is quickly approaching! Register now and invite your colleagues and students to participate in AACTE’s 2021 Annual Meeting. View the event schedule and details at www.aacte.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and join the conversation using #AACTE21.

 

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact AACTE’s Events Team at events@aacte.org. 

 

I look forward to greeting you at AACTE’s virtual conference in two weeks!

Sincerely, 

Robert Floden, Ph.D. 
Chair-Elect, AACTE Board of Directors  
Dean, College of Education, Michigan State University 

Have No Fear, the AACTE Conference Community Center is Still Here

By Meghan Grenda

AACTE invites all members of the 73^rd Annual Meeting to visit the virtual Conference Community Center.  Learn about member resources, connect with other attendees and AACTE staff, and test your AACTE trivia knowledge for a chance to win one of many prizes!  The Conference Community Center will feature a number of activities:

AACTE Connect360

This new members-only resource is an engaging and interactive virtual platform that brings together AACTE’s community of 15,000+ individuals in an exciting way.  You will be able to start discussions and ask questions of fellow AACTE members, comment on each other’s posts, share best practices, and create your own unique member profile.  Visit the Conference Community Center for a demonstration of how the community works.

Celebrating HBCU Icons of Teacher Education

By Terrance McNeil

The members of AACTE’s HBCU Teacher Education Topical Action Group (TAG) are very proud of the contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) educators and researchers and the work that they have done within and beyond academia. More importantly, we commend the contributions made through the discourse and praxis on equity in education. We want to celebrate these contributions and promote the excellence that emanates from HBCU educator preparation programs. We look forward to your participation at our annual business virtual meeting on February 23, 2021 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

In keeping with this year’s theme, Resisting Hate, Restoring Hope: Engaging in Courageous Action, The HBCU Teacher Education TAG will engage in a discussion on how we are instrumental in this purpose by using our unique positionally to provide leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion. We hope you will consider joining us.

Join AACTE in Building Education Back Better

By Lynn M. Gangone

Greetings! AACTE has outlined clear, legislative and research priorities in this new year. We have also launched a new Consortium for Research-Based and Equitable Assessments (CREA). Please take a few minutes to watch the video and learn more about these initiatives and how you can support AACTE’s efforts for building education back better.

 

In just two weeks, AACTE will kick off its 2021 Annual Meeting, February 24-26. I can’t wait to welcome you to the premier national conference for educator preparation. There’s still time to register so secure your spot today. I hope to see you there!
  
Warm Regards,

Teacher Performance Assessments as a Tool for Teacher Learning, Program Improvement, and Accountability: The Case of edTPA

By Robert Floden

One feature of the AACTE Annual Meeting will be panel discussion about the uses of edTPA, for accountability, support for teacher learning, and program improvement.  The session is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24, from 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST.

Some teacher educators see edTPA as a valuable tool, but other have concerns. Recent research has described its weaknesses as a criterion for high-stakes decisions about individual teachers.  This session is intended to help teacher educators and policy makers appreciate the variety of ways edTPA is being conceptualized and implemented, with the associated variation in positive and negative consequences.

Confirmation of New Secretary of Education Moves Forward

By Jane E. West

This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

House and Senate Press Forward with First Steps to Pass Biden COVID Relief Package

In dramatic moves in both the House and Senate last week, the stage was set to enact President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. Early in the week the House passed a Budget Resolution followed by Senate passage of a Budget Resolution early Friday morning—with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Harris. The Budget resolution is the shell that will initiate the creation of legislation that will form the COVID-19 relief package. Because the Senate Resolution is different from the House resolution, the House will next take up the Senate version and pass it so that both bodies are working from the same playbook.           

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance: Even in a Pandemic

By Megan Reister, Heather K. Olson Beal, Tracy Ensor, Emily Regan Wills, Mary Ellen Cashen and Shelby Gull Laird

In Part 1 of this article, the authors talked about how as teacher preparation program professors in different areas of the United States, they managed to still provide valuable, worthwhile, and innovative professional development for their preservice educators and graduate students who are in-service teachers, despite the myriad ways in which COVID-19 derailed the spring semester.

In Part 2, the authors share the feedback from their students who participated in the virtual professional development.

We, six collaborators, banded together to provide professional development for pre- and in-service teachers’ professional learning experiences during their transition to emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020) through a self-initiated professional learning community (SIPLC) (Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2009). Adopting this widely practiced research method among teacher educators (Hamilton & Pinnegar, 2013), the collaboration aimed to deepen the understanding of preservice and in-service teachers’ experiences in the SIPLC as they transitioned to remote teaching under the pandemic (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Song et al., 2020) using Zoom recordings.

Café Con Leche: Navigating Student Supports in a Financial Crisis at William Paterson University

By David Fuentes and Johanna Torres

Authors David A. Fuentes and Johanna Torres of William Paterson University, along with Andrew Morse of the University of Northern Iowa, will present a Learning Lab during the AACTE 2021 Annual Meeting, “Navigating Student Supports in a Financial Crisis” on Wednesday, February 24, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. In this article, Fuentes and Torres highlights their university’s efforts to support its diverse student population.

The unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic that hit in earnest of March of last year resulted in an abrupt disruption of teaching and learning at William Paterson University in northern New Jersey, as it did at institutions of higher education throughout the country. Students, faculty, and staff readied to quickly acclimate to our new learning ecology, one that was rife with technological challenges, but we were less prepared to understand the scope and breadth of the other hardships to come. Like other public universities located in the Mid-Atlantic region, March 2020 brought about changes at our institution that included the closure of our physical campus space, a loss of the varied and structured physical learning communities, and many of the physical opportunities that drove our community and kept us in touch with students and each other. Our offices designed around student support, civic engagement and campus life had to be re-imagined embracing the digital learning environments that faculty and students were creating. Adding to the dynamic change was a sense of urgency as our community, like others, began experiencing loss of a magnitude only experienced by previous, war-ravaged generations.

Applying Technology-enhanced Teaching Strategies to the New Normal in 2021 and Beyond

By Jon Clausen, Lisa Dieker, Liz Kolb, Michael McVey, Robert Moody and David Slykhuis

The AACTE Committee on Information and Technology will host a Deeper Dive session at the AACTE 2021 Annual Meeting, “Applying Technology-enhanced Teaching Strategies to the New Normal in 2021 and Beyond” on Thursday, February 25, 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The committee members offer a preview of the panel discussion in the following article.

Over the past year, educators have learned much about technology in teacher education. Technology has become the classroom and often the location of field placements. While many of these learnings were forced due to the pandemic, lessons learned can be carried forward into 2021 and beyond to create improved responsive teacher preparation programs in the future at all levels of education.  As a result, the AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology Committee is offering a Deeper Dive session that includes teacher preparation experts discussing the lessons learned from remote learning and ways to move forward post-COVID with technology in teacher preparation.  The Deeper Dive session will include panelists from a wide variety of teacher preparation institutions to discuss their particular lessons learned from the challenges of the pandemic. Furthermore, our panelists will share how we can move forward in teacher preparation to prepare new and veteran teachers to teach with technology in 2021 and beyond. Our panelists include the following:

Video Observation Improves Teacher Preparation and Enhances Collaboration

By Caroline Forrest and Cori Woytek

Authors Caroline Forrest and Cori Woytek will be presenting a live Q&A session at the 2021 Annual Meeting, “Using Video Across Diverse Settings to Provide Meaningful Feedback & Facilitate Reflective Conversations,” Thursday, February 25, 1:30 – 2:30 pm.

Providing resident teachers with meaningful feedback to improve their instructional practices is—and always has always been—a hallmark of our teacher education program here at Western Colorado University. Through the use of video coaching, which we implemented four years ago, we’ve been able to ensure this feedback is even more effective, rich, and applicable.

Apply Now to Participate in AACTE’s Consortium for Research-Based and Equitable Assessments

By Jacqueline Rodriguez

Educator preparation programs have experienced a tumult of change in the last 12 months. Many of our members have experienced decreased enrollment in initial licensure teacher education programs, all during a nationwide teacher shortage. Now, more than ever before, it is our responsibility to consider what may be creating barriers for candidates to enter our programs and our profession. AACTE plans to support member institutions’ examination of assessments used for entry into preparation programs and the barriers they create for potential candidates, especially candidates of color.

How to Get the Best Virtual Experience at #AACTE21

By Linda Minor

As AACTE’s hosts its first virtual Annual Meeting, we talked with our AV production company, Manor Hill Productions, to share information on what the attendees can expect during the meeting. 

Many associations have transitioned their conference to a virtual setting due to COVID-19. What are important aspects for a successful virtual conference/platform to ensure attendees have a valuable experience?

To get the most out of their virtual experience, we encourage you to explore the platform and familiarize yourself with where things are and how to navigate around. Similar to entering a hotel or convention center and finding where the meeting rooms are, the same can be said about a virtual environment. Click around the space and follow the links to understand where everything is located. Visit the exhibit floor, see where the breakouts and main stage sessions will be. Look at the agenda and decide when your desired sessions will be taking place. Everyone wants to network. If you are looking for specific people you can seek them out to chat and catch up. Just because it is a virtual environment does not mean you lose the ability to connect.

AACTE Names Texas A&M Faculty as Next JTE Editors

By Jacqueline Rodriguez

AACTE is pleased to announce the College of Education and Human Development at the Texas A&M University, as the next home to the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team. The editors were selected through a rigorous peer-review process and approved for a 3-year term, beginning in 2021, which can be extended for an additional 3 years.

The current editorial team at Michigan State University, which has served the JTE since 2015, will continue work on the journal through June 2021 to complete Volume 72.

“AACTE celebrates Texas A&M in their selection as the next editorial team for our flagship Journal of Teacher Education. Their team of scholars has the demonstrated experience, respect, and vision to lead the journal into its next chapter,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO of AACTE. “JTE is steadily increased its impact on the field under the tenure of the current editorial team at Michigan State University. AACTE owes a debt of gratitude to the tremendous editors at MSU, including incoming Board Chair, Dean Robert Floden, Dr. Gail Richmond, Dr. Dorinda Carter, and Dr. Tonya Bartell.”

Engage in Courageous Action at #AACTE21

By Jerrica Thurman

Teachers Speak, Is Anyone Listening? An EdUp Experience Podcast Interview with Lynn M. Gangone

By Elvin Freytes

AACTE President and CEO, Lynn M. Gangone is the latest guest on The EdUp Experience podcast with Elizabeth Leiba and Joe Sallustio, EdD. In this episode, Gangone covers the timely topic of the important role teachers play in our society, especially now more than ever.