Teaching Bullying Prevention, School Climate, and SEL: Seven Research-Informed Principles for Schools of Education

Did you know that October is National Bullying Prevention Month? AACTE member professor Ron Avi Astor, who holds joint appointments in the schools of social work and education at the University of Southern California, has two new books out this fall addressing bullying prevention and creating welcoming schools for vulnerable groups, and he prepared the following article to share some of his research and resources with Ed Prep Matters readers. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Preparing our nation’s teachers, principals, superintendents, and pupil personnel to create safe, welcoming, and supportive schools has become a high priority for colleges and universities. PK-12 schools have the power to prevent students from becoming bullies and to prevent victims from becoming bullies or being further victimized. Organizations such as the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Sciences have put forth research summaries and materials for universities to use with this aim in mind. In addition, many states are now actively working with organizations such as the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning to better implement social and emotional learning (SEL), positive school climate, and bullying prevention into schools and to consider ways to measure these areas as part of their state student surveys and accountability systems. (See list below for useful resource links.)

Special Registration Discounts Broaden Access to AACTE Annual Meeting

Did you know AACTE offers special registration discounts for not only members but also “first-timers,” students, and PK-12 partners to attend the 2018 Annual Meeting? Now is a great time to think about inviting these groups to join us in Baltimore, Maryland, and save even more by registering before the Early Bird deadline of October 18.

Our Emerging Leader discount is meant for those members who are “first timers” and new to the profession. Dozens of junior faculty take advantage of this offering each year, which gets them full access to the conference at more than 60% off the regular member price. Eligible faculty/administrators have worked in higher education for 5 or fewer years and have never been to AACTE’s Annual Meeting before. Special requirements: The Chief Representative from your institution must designate Emerging Leaders (a maximum of three individuals) in our online registration system, after which those individuals may register at the discount. But don’t wait – this rate is not available on site in Baltimore!

Scholar of the Month: Stacey Litam, Kent State University

Congratulations to Stacey Litam of Kent State University (OH), Holmes Scholar of the Month for October!

Litam’s research rests within the field of counselor education. Her specific research interests pertain to supporting, advocating for, and designing interventions working with survivors of and individuals within sex trafficking. She is also engaged with the improvement of mental health services and civil justices for marginalized groups in regard to sex, sexual orientation, religion, and race.

Celebrate National Principals Month

AACTE celebrates National Principals Month this October! The key to student success is a great school, and the key to a great school is a great principal. Please join us in this opportunity to say “thank you” to principals across the nation and to recognize their valuable contributions in your local community.

National Principals Month gives us the chance to honor and reflect on the roles of school leaders and the importance of preparing them well. AACTE members across the country are working to advance principal preparation through a variety of initiatives and partnerships. For example, AACTE member institution Colorado State University will host a 2-day School Leadership Institute this fall to survey new principals about ways to enhance university-based preparation programs and support school leaders in their critical first year on the job. Many other institutions are participating in AACTE’s new Principal Preparation Program Learning Community Topical Action Group, a member-led collaborative exploring issues and promising practice in principal preparation.

Deadline Extended! Apply by Oct. 20 for AACTE Awards

The deadline to apply for a 2018 AACTE Best Practice Award or Professional Achievement Award has been extended to Friday, October 20. Act now to win recognition for your program or colleagues and to contribute to “Celebrating Our Professional Identity” at the 2018 Annual Meeting when the awards are given in Baltimore, Maryland!

Award winners are honored during the general sessions at the opening and closing of the conference, providing inspiring bookends to the experience with examples of outstanding achievement and best practice.

Why Join AACTE? Members Cite Value in Advocacy, Resources, Networking

AACTE members and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone enjoy a moment at the 2017 AACTE Day on the Hill. Focus group respondents cited the Association’s advocacy work and convenings among the top member benefits.

As members of the AACTE Committee on Membership Development and Capacity Building, we are eager to learn from the results of the AACTE survey currently under way – and we thank all of you who have participated! In the meantime, we would like to highlight some insights from a recent online focus group of 26 teacher educators from colleges and universities that are current, former, or prospective members of AACTE.

This group, convened on behalf of AACTE by Marketing General Incorporated (the same agency managing the current broad-market survey), reported an almost universally positive image of AACTE’s brand and belief in its mission. But what the current members of AACTE say they value most is the organization’s advocacy work, high-quality resources, and networking connections with other professionals in the field.

New Task Force to Study Clinical Preparation of Special Education Teachers

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new AACTE task force to study how to improve the preparation of special education teachers through clinical practice. Growing out of the work of the AACTE Clinical Practice Commission (CPC), the AACTE Special Education Task Force held its inaugural meeting October 1-2 in Washington, DC.

The task force is charged with applying the CPC frameworks for clinical educator preparation to the particular needs of developing special education teachers. During this week’s meeting, the group began outlining the scope of its work, which is supported by a grant from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center. The task force will study areas such as dual licensure and dual preparation models, pipeline strategies around recruitment and retention, interdisciplinary collaboration, and other factors pertinent to this specialized preparation. They ultimately plan to identify models and develop recommendations to amplify promising practices, establish continuous improvement benchmarks, and provide guidance for the field.

New Report Rings Alarm Bell on Teacher Shortages

The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) is out with a new analysis of teacher turnover and its impact on teacher shortages, showing that the nationwide shortfall of 100,000 teachers predicted in last year’s study A Coming Crisis in Teaching? has largely been realized and issuing recommendations to stem the problem before it grows worse.

In the updated report – Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It – Desiree Carver-Thomas and Linda Darling-Hammond share recent data revealing that in just 31 states, 82,000 positions are filled by underqualified teachers and at least 5,000 are unfilled altogether; extrapolated to all states, the total number is likely around 110,000. If current trends persist, they say, we could face an even higher shortfall next year. The shortages are most acute in the fields of special education and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and are disproportionately present in high-poverty and high-minority schools.

Creating High Teacher Quality in Teacher Prep Programs- Radio Talk With AACTE Members

Rebecca West Burns
D. Mark Meyers

An online Education Talk Radio program last month featured AACTE members in a discussion of how their educator preparation programs contribute to high teacher quality. Host Larry Jacobs interviewed guests Rebecca West Burns, assistant professor at the University of South Florida, and D. Mark Meyers, director of the Educational Administration Program at Xavier University (OH).

The show began with discussion around the continuum of teacher development, from preservice preparation through stages of leadership, both formal and informal. Burns explained that teacher leaders include those who are instructional coaches or mentors as well as those acting less formally as leaders from within their classroom. Teachers can work collaboratively to share knowledge and help each other make progressive changes in their school. Meyers added that leadership principles applied by teacher leaders and administrators are often the same, although they may be implemented differently.

The Future of Teaching in Clark County – and the Nation

Students from Clark County School District at the Rebel Science Camp in March. The district’s diversity makes it a "living laboratory” for developing educational practices the entire country will eventually adopt.

This article was originally published in the UNLV News Center and is reposted with permission. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

From the earliest days of our republic, we have believed that education was critical to our democracy. Our founders knew that the health of our country, the wellbeing of the citizenry – and particularly the strength of the democracy – would be built on a well-educated population. Though disagreements have been fierce regarding who is to be educated, how much education they need, and whether to measure its value in economic growth, individual growth, or societal growth, fundamentally, we have always agreed that educating our citizens is important.

Introducing the New AACTE Video Wall

Today, we are excited to unveil the new AACTE Video Wall as a tool to better showcase members’ impact and amplify their voices. Please check it out at videos.aacte.org!

For several years, AACTE has encouraged members to “tell their stories” so local communities and policy makers can learn more about the positive work educator preparation professionals do every day. Storytelling is indeed essential to getting your message out in a way that creates lasting impressions in people’s minds and hearts. AACTE is now integrating storytelling, video and technology to more broadly disseminate member stories.

Congressional Activity Heats Up – Engage With AACTE Action Alerts, Webinars

As Congress returned from August recess, its agenda included a laundry list of items, and it is shaping up to be a very busy fall on Capitol Hill. Budget and appropriations, hurricane relief, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Higher Education Act reauthorization, and tax reform are just some of the issues that will fill the congressional calendar. For many of these topics, the voice of the education profession will be an important perspective for your members of Congress to hear.

Follow these three steps to ensure your constituent voice is heard:

Podcast Interview Explores Implications of New Science Standards for Preparing Teachers

What does strong preservice preparation look like for teaching the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? This question is explored in an article published in the May/June 2017 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, an issue that also includes several other articles on the topic of the implications for teacher preparation of the Common Core and other new PK-12 learning standards.

A recent podcast interview for the JTE Insider blog provides insights from Mark Windschitl of the University of Washington and David Stroupe of Michigan State University, authors of the article “The Three-Story Challenge: Implications of the Next Generation Science Standards for Teacher Preparation.” JTE Graduate Assistant Bernadette Castillo conducted the interview.

SREB Commission Issues Recommendations for Teacher Preparation Data Systems

A commission made up of college of education deans, state legislators, university presidents, heads of postsecondary systems, state and district superintendents, and leaders of nationwide organizations has released a report presenting recommendations for state policy related to teacher preparation data systems. This Teacher Preparation Commission of the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit organization that works with states to improve public education and support state policy makers, is charged with developing and identifying state recommendations to improve teacher preparation programs.

More Than the Numbers – Teacher Preparation Data Systems: State Policy and Recommendations, the Commission’s first report, focuses on how to build strong statewide data systems for teacher preparation drawing on policy models in three states – Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In Louisiana, the report acknowledges the work of the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Teacher Preparation Program Dashboard for promoting data in a more accessible and transparent way. In North Carolina, the report praises the University of North Carolina Educator Quality Dashboard. In Tennessee, the State Board of Education, Tennessee Department of Education, and Tennessee Higher Education Commission redesigned the state’s Teacher Preparation Report Card to provide an interactive tool for aspiring teachers. Other practices that the report praises are data systems’ ability to follow teachers through their careers, focus on outcome measures, break down data “silos,” and make data more accessible.

New Annual Meeting Session Formats to Elevate Engagement Opportunities

The AACTE 2018 Annual Meeting will feature new and improved sessions that will provide deeper levels of audience engagement. AACTE is committed to modeling best practices for effective learning and offering attendees contemporary approaches to pedagogy. Join AACTE in Baltimore, Maryland, for a collaborative and interactive educational experience designed to contextualize data and information, foster peer-to-peer interaction and dialogue, and apply sound principles of adult education.

All of the conference formats for Major Forums and concurrent sessions have been revamped. In fact, we will say “good-bye” to Major Forums and “hello” to Deeper Dives! In the enriched Deeper Dive sessions, still scheduled in pairs during dedicated time slots, you will get inspiring content to apply in your daily work by exploring the practices and dispositions crucial to educator preparation today. Topics at these sessions reflect work that is central to AACTE’s mission and its ongoing initiatives, including presentations from collaborating institutions, affiliate organizations, government agencies, think tanks, and thought leaders from the field.