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Innovation at Rutgers: Preparing Effective Physics Teachers

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Zach VanHouten at zvanhouten@aacte.org.  

Rutgers University (NJ) is making a big impact on physics education through an innovative program housed in the Graduate School of Education.

Innovation at Montclair State University: Preparing Teachers for High-Need STEM Fields

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Zach VanHouten at zvanhouten@aacte.org

Over the past few years, Montclair State University has developed a series of programs geared toward increasing the supply of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers. Programs including the Newark-Montclair Urban Teacher Residency (NMUTR) and the Integrative Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (iSTEM) program are contributing to the national initiative “100Kin10,” which seeks to prepare 100,000 new STEM teachers by 2021.

Innovation at Lesley University: Assessment System to Support Continuous Improvement

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Kristin McCabe at kmccabe@aacte.org.

Faculty in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University (MA) have built a comprehensive e-portfolio and assessment system to provide data on candidate performance and support continuous improvement processes. The assessment system aligns key formative assignments in initial, professional license, and advanced professional development programs to standards-based program outcomes. Candidates submit all assignments to an e-portfolio system, where faculty score them based on valid and reliable rubrics. The assessment system also contains data on candidate performance on state exams and summative performances from clinical experiences.

Meet the Chair: Julie Underwood

AACTE’s Board of Directors is headed this year by Julie Underwood, dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Underwood is a nationally recognized authority on school law and has coauthored several books on the topic. Her background includes work in higher education and at the National School Boards Association, where she served as associate executive director and general counsel from 1998 to 2005.

Innovation at Georgia State University: NET-Q

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Zachary VanHouten at zvanhouten@aacte.org.

Georgia State University (GSU) is the largest producer of minority educators in the state of Georgia and graduates approximately 500 teachers annually. GSU’s Network for Enhancing Teacher Quality (NET-Q) program aims to increase teacher quality in urban and rural areas in Georgia. The program includes both pre- and postbaccalaureate initiatives for educators serving high-need school districts in these settings.

NET-Q boasts a partnership with at least 15 rural PK-12 schools, local businesses, two historically Black colleges, and the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.

Three New TAGs Approved, Open for Membership

AACTE is pleased to announce that three new topical action groups (TAGs) have been established and are accepting new members:

The Research in Teacher Preparation TAG is dedicated to identifying current research gaps in teacher preparation literature to guide collaborative research projects among TAG members.

The Assessment of and for Student Learning TAG is dedicated to determining which national and local assessment standards and tools are most valuable to establish “core assessment principals” and developing a paradigm of PK-12 student performance assessment that is appropriate for the 21st century.

Redesigned AACTE Web Site Streamlines Design, Content

I am pleased to announce that today marks the official launch of the redesigned AACTE.org.

In service to our members and the broader educator preparation community, AACTE undertook a major overhaul of its web site over the past year. Last August, many of you responded to our request for feedback on our web site. Based on your thoughtful input, we have transformed our information-sharing platform to be a more useful, supportive asset for our ongoing collaborative work.

In a time when information is almost exclusively created, shared, and accessed electronically, it is important that our electronic information-sharing tools be technologically current, well-designed, and user friendly. This redesign of AACTE.org serves as a smart, relevant electronic business card among power players in the greater education community—and more important, as a go-to resource for members like you.

Innovation at CSU Fullerton: Partnering With Schools to Improve Science and Content Literacy

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Jessica Milton at jmilton@aacte.org.

Beginning in 2009, California State University (CSU) Fullerton has enjoyed a partnership with neighboring Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District to support science instruction in the classroom. The partnership has served not only to improve the practice of teacher candidates in science instruction, but also to improve K-5 student achievement in science and content literacy. Throughout their time in the classroom, candidates jointly plan, teach, and reflect on their lessons.

Since the partnership began, student achievement scores have experienced double-digit gains, and teacher candidates report greater confidence in their science pedagogy. Proficiency levels in one school increased from 25% to 44% in just 1 year of partnership work. Candidates’ confidence to engage students in science increased from 77.5% to 97.5%, and the percentage reporting confidence in their content knowledge in science increased from 57.5% to 90.0%.

Innovation at Arizona State University: iTeachAZ

The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Jessica Milton at jmilton@aacte.org.

In response to the call for increased rigor and effectiveness in teacher preparation, one of the largest teacher preparation programs in the country, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University (ASU), implemented iTeachAZ. The program includes changes in teacher preparation that focus on improvements in candidates’ content knowledge mastery, classroom readiness, and assessment literacy. The program provides a senior-year residency experience that extends student teaching from a single semester to a full school year, enabling students to live the “full life” of a teacher. ASU has also integrated performance assessments throughout the teacher preparation program.

Membership Committee Chair: Service Brings Broad Perspective on Profession

The Call for Nominations to serve on AACTE’s Board of Directors and standing committees is open at submit.aacte.org until May 9, 2014. One of the seven standing committees is the Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building, focused on membership recruitment and retention, including the development of supporting programs and services. I asked the committee’s chair, Patricia Heydet-Kirsch, director of Assessment of Program Evaluation at Florida Atlantic University, to share why she was drawn to serve and what experiences she has gained.

What caused you to want to serve on AACTE’s Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building?

I was interested in serving on AACTE’s Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building to understand the broader perspective of AACTE’s impact.

Voting on the Bylaw Changes Has Now Ended

Thank you for voting on the changes to the AACTE bylaws during this month’s online vote. The proposed changes to both bylaws passed, with over 90% of respondents supporting the changes.

The first set of changes applies to Article II, Section 2, which now reads as follows:

Q&A With AACTE Board Member Grant Hayes

With AACTE’s annual Call for Nominations under way, I asked a current Board of Directors member to share why he serves on the Board and what skills have proved particularly valuable. Grant Hayes, executive associate dean and professor in the College of Education and Human Performance, University of Central Florida, graciously accepted my request. The Call for Nominations is open at submit.aacte.org from now until May 9, 2014. If you have any questions, please contact me at lberrier@aacte.org.

What caused you to want to serve on AACTE’s Board of Directors?

Serving on the Board provides me the chance to make a difference and to give back to the profession by assisting to achieve AACTE’s goals and mission. It also affords me the opportunity to be part of a leadership team of one of the most dynamic professional associations in education.

Connect With TAGs

You may have heard about AACTE’s Topical Action Groups (TAGs), a valuable member program that provides an AACTE-sponsored forum for peers to work together on a common professional topic of interest.

Now we’ve made it even easier for you to connect with TAGs! Simply click here to identify your areas of interest and expertise through AACTE’s Profile Manager—it won’t take more than a minute.

RFP Announcement: AACTE State Chapter Support Grant Program

AACTE is pleased to offer the State Chapter Support Grant Program for a 4th year, directing member dues toward strengthening the relationship between the state chapters and AACTE and supporting the development of state chapters through their initiatives. Since the creation of the program, AACTE has dispensed $150,000 in grants to 26 states to support chapters’ advocacy, professional development, and capacity-building efforts.

Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming Events for Holmes Scholars, Alumni

After successful AACTE Holmes Scholars® preconference events in Indianapolis, AACTE and the National Association of Holmes Scholars Alumni (NAHSA) are planning a number of exciting activities for Holmes Scholars and Scholar alumni in the upcoming months:

April 1: Proposals Due for Diversity Conference—NAHSA and the College of Charleston (SC) are inviting Holmes Scholars and alumni to submit proposals for presentations at their 2014 Diversity Conference, which will take place in Charleston, South Carolina, October 11-12. Proposals for presentations should address research-based pedagogy that helps children reach their academic potential; how partnerships among K-12 educators, schools, school districts, and/or institutions of higher learning have demonstrated success with underrepresented groups; and how language, culture, or race impact the achievement of youth of promise. The call for proposals is available here.