12 Mar2018
By Joe Lubig
The author presents at the AACTE preconference workshop on quality assurance in Baltimore, Maryland.
The AACTE Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability (CPPA) is charged with providing leadership in the development of professional consensus on standards, assessment, and practice in educator preparation. Our work is most effective when it is driven by the AACTE membership. The 70th Annual Meeting preconference workshop conducted by CPPA, “Quality Assurance: Moving Beyond Data Collection Towards Assuring Quality,” reinforced the collective wisdom of our profession and the level of care we put into our programs, candidates, and clinical partners.
Those in attendance at the February 28 session repeatedly raised the need for leadership at educator preparation institutions to foster a collaborative culture that constantly questions our practice. We all recognized that there is a delicate balance between the critique of our work and assuring that we are celebrating and advancing those parts of our systems that are working well. The tension most outstanding in our conversations was that of turnover of leadership or faculty in institutions. These observations led to thoughtful discussion by those in attendance to assist colleagues in planning quality assurance processes with an emphasis on program goals and outcomes and how we all could use those goals and outcomes specific to our institutions to keep drawing our faculty, candidates, and clinical partners back to our established priorities and purpose.
12 Mar2018
By AACTE
On behalf of members and the AACTE Board of Directors, President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone issued the following statement March 8 regarding the Association’s position on school safety:
“It is imperative to protect the safety of teachers and students in the classroom, as it is a fundamental right for children to go to school and learn and for teachers to teach without fear; the sanctity of the classroom must be preserved. Since Sandy Hook in 2012, there have been 239 school shootings; 438 people have been shot and 138 killed. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and its students’ advocacy have reinvigorated an urgency in the national discourse to ensure safe learning environments across America.
12 Mar2018
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
On Wednesday, March 21, AACTE will host a free webinar on principal leadership, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of the Association’s ongoing partnership to disseminate the latest research and practice innovations in principal preparation. Please join us from 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT for Leveraging Community Resources to Strengthen Clinical Practice for New Principals: Partnering with Legal and Social Services.
Difficult and changing situations with students and their families require principals to broaden their support network beyond school resources. The panelists on this webinar will discuss scenarios and possible resources available within the community. They will also share ideas for making intentional connections with community partners.
08 Mar2018
By Kristin McCabe
Opening Keynote speakers Lynn M. Gangone, Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, and Kimberly Tobey on stage at the Baltimore Convention Center
To all 1,900 of the AACTE members, partners, and supporters who joined us last week in Baltimore for the 2018 Annual Meeting: Thank you! Your presence was a valuable part of “Celebrating Our Professional Identity” for the Association’s 70th anniversary.
Over the coming weeks, Ed Prep Matters will bring you a variety of conference coverage. Meanwhile, you can view (and share!) conference photos on Facebook, browse the event’s Twitter feed, and enjoy the following recap videos:
08 Mar2018
By Zachary VanHouten
As we await a spring thaw, things are heating up in Washington as Congress continues tackling a crowded agenda. With a March 23 deadline to pass an omnibus funding the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018, advocacy abounds to fund educator preparation programs. In addition, the process for Fiscal Year 2019 kicked off with the president releasing his budget request to Congress on February 12, launching Congress into its appropriations process.
With Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization moving in the House and a bill rapidly approaching in the Senate, what might the final bill look like? Will it be bipartisan? Will the process continue or devolve as the election year unfolds? Aside from HEA, will you pay more for Internet access, or will the joint resolution to address the rules change move forward under the Congressional Review Act? Join AACTE’s Deborah Koolbeck to learn about these and other important topics by signing up for the March Federal Update webinar – an exclusive AACTE member benefit.
08 Mar2018
By Gail Bozeman
During its meeting February 28, AACTE’s Board of Directors chose officers for the coming year to serve with new Board Chair Wanda Blanchett (see press release).
Effective now through next February, the AACTE Executive Committee includes the following leaders:
06 Mar2018
By AACTE
(March 3, 2018, Baltimore, Md.) – The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is proud to welcome the new chair of its Board of Directors: Dr. Wanda J. Blanchett, interim provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. During her one-year term, Blanchett will lead the Board through strategic planning in partnership with AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone.
“What I’d like to see AACTE do is to continue on the path that it’s been on for 70 years,” Blanchett said. “Continue to be that education, and specifically, teacher education policy advocate. Continue to be that professional standards advocate.” In addition, she said, she hopes the Association will take bold steps in supporting its members to increase the diversity of the profession at all levels from PK-12 teachers to the professoriate, ensuring that the curriculum in our teacher education programs better prepares all candidates to meet the needs of today’s diverse students and their families and reflects a commitment to diversity, equity, and social justice, and taking a stand with like-minded organizations to improve school safety for all students and educators, including advocating for and securing common-sense gun laws.
02 Mar2018
By Zachary VanHouten
To keep members informed, AACTE regularly monitors and reports on the activity of the National Council on Teacher Quality that could affect educator preparation programs. Visit our NCTQ resource page for additional information.
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released an analysis and set of recommendations for states to track teacher shortages and surpluses.
01 Mar2018
By Matthew Wales
Now through May 29, AACTE is accepting session proposals for the 71st Annual Meeting, to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, February 22-24, 2019. We also invite applications by May 22 for AACTE member faculty to review proposals.
The conference theme is “Sustaining and Advancing the Profession,” conceptualized as follows in the call for proposals:
28 Feb2018
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE has partnered with Education Talk Radio for more than a year to broadcast interviews about the success and innovation in educator preparation. Through monthly episodes, AACTE member institutions, partners, and staff have been featured on the online radio show, which reaches over 70,000 listeners each month, to highlight their work on a variety of topics, including combating teacher shortages, creating a diverse teaching workforce, and building strong university-school partnerships for clinical practice initiatives. (View the complete lineup of recordings of AACTE interviews on the radio show in recap blogs here.)
Larry Jacobs, president and show host of Education Talk Radio, is a graduate of an educator preparation program and a strong advocate for the profession. “I believe the work of teacher preparation is critical to producing high-quality teachers,” Jacob said. “With so many colleges of education facing a decline in enrollment, I would like to offer my show as a platform to promote the good work that happens at these institutions.”
28 Feb2018
By Gail Bozeman
Your association wants you! Are you ready to become a leader in the national educator preparation community, or do you know someone who is? Nominate yourself or a colleague by May 7 to serve in an AACTE governance role.
AACTE is currently seeking applications from volunteers to serve on the AACTE Board of Directors and the following standing committees:
26 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
Congratulations to 2018 National Superintendent of the Year David Schuler of Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, Illinois!
Schuler, who heads the state’s second-largest high school district, was Illinois’ finalist for the honor given by AASA, the School Superintendents Association. He is also an alumnus of an AACTE member institution, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
26 Feb2018
By Renée A. Middleton
AACTE members are committed to high research standards and to producing scholarship that contributes to educational practice. Although the complexity of educator preparation presents a vast spectrum of subjects for scholarly inquiry, I’d like to highlight the importance and timeliness of studying those related to one particular domain: clinical practice. In fact, the new report of AACTE’s Clinical Practice Commission (CPC) unearths a fertile field of opportunities for research that is both rigorous and relevant.
Last month, the CPC hosted a briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, where it offered a thorough conceptual framework and explanation of clinical practice, along with recommendations for implementation. The report released at the event, A Pivot Toward Clinical Practice, Its Lexicon, and the Renewal of Educator Preparation, sets forth 10 proclamations for effective clinical preparation, thus signaling that AACTE is “intentionally committed to a bold voice” in teacher education.
23 Feb2018
By AACTE
(February 23, 2018, Washington, D.C.) – Lynn M. Gangone, President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), today issued the following statement regarding the school shooting that took place in Parkland, Florida, a week ago and the nation-wide conversations that have occurred since the incident:
“AACTE would like to express its deepest sympathy for the teachers, students, parents and community of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who mourn the loss of family and friends victimized by the school shooting on February 14, 2018. Schools are the nuclei of local communities and the preparatory grounds where future leaders are educated and shaped to inform and engage in our democracy. Preserving the safety and sanctity of the classroom is critical for teachers and students to effectively build trust, respect and care in order for all children to learn.
23 Feb2018
By JTE Insider
Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the authors of a recent article. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles themselves in the full JTE archives online – just log in with your AACTE profile here.
In the January/February 2018 issue of JTE, Susan D. Martin and Sherry Dismuke of Boise State University (ID) published an article titled “Investigating Differences in Teacher Practices Through a Complexity Theory Lens: The Influence of Teacher Education.” The article is summarized in the following abstract:
