18 Mar2019
By Jerrica Thurman
Front Row (left to right): Amber Haley, Azaria Cunningham; Middle Row (left to right): Ke-La Harris, Sacha Cartagena; Reena Patel-Viswanath, Lydia Carsenale, Valentina Contesse, Timara Davis; Back Row (left to right): Adegoke Adetunji, Marquess Vela; Absent: Carla Roberson
AACTE welcomes the 2019-2020 Holmes Scholars Council, elected during the preconference events at the Annual Meeting last month. The council will work closely with AACTE liaison, Brandon Frost, to plan activities and communicate with Holmes participants throughout the year.
08 Mar2019
By Ward Cummings
We all know educator preparation is held accountable at the state level. That is why the ability to advocate and engage with your state elected official and agencies is such a consequential part of developing and preparing educators. For those interested in engaging with their elected officials, the question then becomes, where do I start and how can I build the strong relationships that are such a vital part of effective advocacy?
On March 14, the members of the AACTE Government Relations and Advocacy Committee hosted a webinar to address these and other important questions. The organizing theme of the webinar was identifying and constructing the building blocks of effective and productive engagement with legislators, their staff, and key regulators at the state level.
08 Mar2019
By Tracy Spesia
AACTE is pleased to share excerpts from a testimonial by one of the 2019 Annual Meeting attendees, Tracy Spesia of the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, IL. In a letter to AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Spesia shared how the AACTE Annual Meeting has consistently influenced and brought value to her work as the edTPA coordinator at her institution:
“It was a professional and personal pleasure to attend the 71st AACTE Annual Meeting in Louisville. This annual conference’s tremendous impact on me, and the ripple impact it has had on my college and community, is clear. I actually have the documentation to prove it!
In 2010, I accepted the full-time position of Field Experience Coordinator (and Partnership Liaison) at the University of St. Francis. In 2012, my dean asked me to assume the edTPA coordinator position. The toolbox needed some new tools. By a stroke of luck, the AACTE annual conference was in nearby Chicago in spring 2013, and the dean suggested I attend to learn more about edTPA. I had never heard of AACTE. I had no idea what edTPA was about. I had never really attended a professional conference. This opportunity marks such a turning point in my career.
08 Mar2019
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
At its meeting prior to the 71st Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY, the AACTE Board of Directors elected the following board members to leadership positions on the AACTE Executive Committee:
Chair-Elect
Ann Larson
Dean and Professor, College of Education and Human Development
University of Louisville
07 Mar2019
By Barbara Baals
This article on AACTE Board of Director Monika Williams Shealey and accompanying photo originally appeared in Rowan Today and are reprinted with permission.
Monika Williams Shealey has been named senior vice president of the newly created Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Rowan University.
Shealey, who joined Rowan as dean of the College of Education in 2013, will oversee a division that brings together departments and programs to develop initiatives designed to address issues of access, equity and inclusion across all of the University’s campuses.
“Under Dr. Shealey, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will be tasked with making Rowan a model institution—a University where diversity is valued and equity and inclusion are routine,” Rowan President Ali A. Houshmand said in announcing Shealey’s appointment.
07 Mar2019
By Linda Minor
Are you a new dean or department chair – or are you simply looking to advance your career as an academic administrator? The AACTE Leadership Academy covers essential topics, from managing finite resources to creating effective development and public relations programs, while helping to cultivate a supportive network of peers.
Register now for AACTE’s Leadership Academy, June 23 – 27 in Pittsburgh, PA at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel.
At AACTE’s Leadership Academy, you will
- Learn to articulate critical components of leadership, including styles, motivations, and a commitment to diversity and inclusivity, as they pertain to your own practice as a leader.
- Build a comprehensive understanding of the multiple roles and functions of your appointed position, particularly in an individual institutional context.
- Strengthen key leadership skills, enabling you to more effectively serve as both a team leader and member, manage time, develop inclusive environments, foster and promote diversity, resolve conflicts, and facilitate change.
- Engage in discussions, via small-group settings and collective sessions, to forge networks with other professionals in similar leadership positions.
04 Mar2019
By Brandon R.T. Frost
AACTE is now accepting applications from member institutions to join a new networked improvement community (NIC) focused on special education teacher recruitment and retention.
The shortage of special education teachers and the lack of diversity among all teachers have been well documented. Half of all schools and 90% of high-poverty schools struggle to find qualified special education teachers.
The aim of this NIC is to positively impact the special education teacher shortage and the lack of diversity in the special education teacher workforce in public schools. Participating institutions will identify a range of best practices related to increasing enrollment, strengthening partnerships with P-12 schools, and retaining special education teachers.
Read more about this new initiative on our website and in the Reducing the Shortage of Special Education Teachers NIC Charter.
Applications are due on April 1, 2019. Member institutions will be selected through a structured review process and notified in late April of 2019. An introductory virtual meeting will be held in May of 2019, and the first in-person convening will be held in the fall of 2019.
01 Mar2019
By Meghan Grenda
Kathryn Hildebrand, AACTE member and dean of Idaho State University (ISU) College of Education, passed away on Monday, February 25 after a battle with cancer.
As a vital advocate for the educator preparation community, Kathy targeted her efforts toward creating strong partnerships with school districts in the region, which included promoting dual enrollment courses high school students could take to earn credits at the College of Education. Kathy pushed the agenda within the education community, with a focus on priorities that included course offerings through innovative technology, distance learning, and online models.
Kathy earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University where she was a track athlete. She holds a doctorate in physical education and curriculum and instruction from Florida State University. She served as dean of the College of Education at ISU since March 2018, having previously served in the same capacity at Troy University. She also served as the AACTE chief representative for the ISU College of Education.
27 Feb2019
By Ward Cummings
During the AACTE 2019 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Yolanda Carter, chair of the Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (KACTE), met with me and AACTE Director of Marketing and Communications Jerrica Thurman to discuss a range of statewide education and teacher preparation issues. Carter shared with us how KACTE is working to further diversify the incoming teacher pool and the goals the state chapter plans to pursue in the months ahead.
What are the pressing challenges in education and teacher prep in Louisville and Kentucky?
One of the bigger things is how to get all teachers on board with teaching in a culturally responsive way. How do we get more diverse teachers into the field and reconfigure the programs to get more students engaged? In Kentucky, the Board of Education has been merged with the Kentucky Professional Standards Board. An umbrella office was created to oversee and pursue effective leadership strategies. This development creates an opportunity to look at regulations that impact K-12 schools regarding teaching certificates, counseling etc. KACTE is working with the board and other relevant educational entities in the state to figure out how best to work together for the benefit of students, teacher candidates and institutions of higher education.
27 Feb2019
By JTE Insider
Read the latest JTE Insider blog interview by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles in the JTE online archives—just log in with your AACTE profile.
This interview features insights from the JTE article “Context Matters: Contextual Factors Informing Mentoring in Art Initial Teacher Education” by Ayelet Becher and Lily Orland-Barak. The article is published in the Nov/Dec 2018 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education. You can read the full text by visiting this link.
26 Feb2019
By AACTE
(February 26, 2019, Washington, D.C.) – Education Students and Diversity: A Review of New Evidence, an issue brief released today by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), provides new information on student diversity in U.S. colleges of education. As a supplement to AACTE’s signature report, Colleges of Education: A National Portrait, the new issue brief draws from a recently released U.S. Department of Education survey—The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. It examines the characteristics of students working toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, compares these students to the general student population, and identifies key differences by race/ethnicity.
The issue brief presents newly available data on the following topics for education students in bachelor’s and master’s degree programs:
- Personal characteristics
- Family circumstances
- Parental education
- Financial status
- Employment
- Attendance patterns
25 Feb2019
By AACTE
(Feb. 25, 2019, Washington, D.C.) – The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) welcomes the new chair of its Board of Directors: Kim Metcalf, Ph.D., dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). During his one-year term, Metcalf will lead the Board through strategic planning in partnership with AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone.
“I believe colleges of education are at a turning point,” said Metcalf. “As an association, we can continue to sustain the status quo, with an emphasis on ‘best practices’ based on ideas or outcomes that are nearly 40 years old, or we can focus our efforts on research and innovation that provide our member institutions and our professional colleagues with the tools they need to address the challenges of tomorrow.”
Metcalf has served in his current role at UNLV since 2013, where he has focused on leveraging the unique context of Southern Nevada and the Clark County School District to encourage development of “next generation” approaches to education, educator preparation, and education policy. His research in teacher education and in education policy—particularly his research on school choice—is nationally recognized by the Association of Teacher Educators, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and the American Evaluation Association, among others. His publications include the coauthored textbook, The Act of Teaching, now in its sixth edition.
25 Feb2019
By Jerrica Thurman
Over the last three days, AACTE held its 71st Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY. Themed “Sustaining and Advancing the Profession,” the conference convened practitioners and partners from across the nation to present research and highlight practices that address opportunities and challenges in educator preparation, including preparing classroom-ready educators, increasing teacher and college faculty diversity, and framing the role of education in ensuring an engaged citizenry in a liberal democracy.
“Cataclysmic changes in our schools, and indeed our country, are forcing us all to reassess, recalibrate, and dare I say, reimagine and invent in the ways that teaching has always been a reflective practice,” said AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone during her welcome address. “Together we can turn obstacles into opportunities.”
19 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
Jacob Easley II, dean of the Graduate School of Education at Touro College, recently authored A Way Forward Toward Professionalizing Teacher Education: A Response to the AASCU Teacher Education Task Force Survey, a commentary published in the Educational Renaissance journal. In the paper, Easley reviews the recommendations resulting from the 2016 American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Teacher Education Task Force survey. The survey was completed by member presidents, provosts, and their deans of education at public institutions of higher learning to better understand the state of the profession.
The results from the national AASCU survey yielded six recommendations for quality teacher education programs. Of the six, Easley categorizes the first four are as similar to the standards that inform national accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP):
- Bolster clinical experiences
- Ensure strong university-school partnerships
- Step up recruitment into preparation programs
- Build agreements with community colleges
17 Feb2019
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE Congratulates 2019 National Superintendent of the Curtis Jones Jr., superintendent of Bibb County School District in Macon, GA.
Jones, was Georgia’s finalist for the honor given by AASA, the School Superintendents Association. He is also an alumnus of AACTE member institutions, Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, where he received his Ed.S. from the Carter & Moyers School of Education and NOVA Southeastern in Florida, where he received his Ed.D. from the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education.
Jones joined the Bibb County School District in April 2015. Using his classroom and administrative experiences, he developed the district’s strategic plan, “Victory in Our Schools.” The plan has five goal areas: increasing student achievement; increasing student and stakeholder engagement; increasing teacher and leader effectiveness; being a reliable organization; and learning and growth. This plan drives the district’s continuous improvement efforts through shared accountability for all stakeholders and resource alignment.
