02 May2018
By Kristin McCabe
Last month, AACTE cosponsored an event organized by PREPARED TO TEACH: Sustainable Funding for Quality Teacher Preparation at Bank Street College of Education to present its new report on the economics of teacher residencies. AACTE Director of Programs and Professional Learning Amanda Lester served as a panelist at the event along with New York Deputy Commissioner for Higher Education John D’Agati and Prepared To Teach Director (and report author) Karen DeMoss.
The report, Following the Money: Exploring Residency Funding Through the Lens of Economics, dives into the realities of funding high-quality teacher preparation and calls on policy makers to understand the financial barriers candidates face.
01 May2018
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
Teen suicide, school violence, the opioid epidemic, and many other societal crises are influencing schools in new and devastating ways. School principals are required to become first responders in a multitude of emergency situations. Please join us Wednesday, May 16, 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT for a free AACTE webinar on principal leadership sponsored by The Wallace Foundation.
Panelists for this webinar, Leveraging Community Resources to Strengthen Clinical Practice for New Principals: Crisis Management, will discuss critical response protocols and potential communication pitfalls for new administrators. Topics will include –
01 May2018
By Christine Tambini
Is establishing or revisiting your quality assurance plan one of those “important but not urgent” tasks that you can’t seem to get around to tackling? Do you need advice to ensure that your plan is robust and can point the way to improved outcomes for your graduates? AACTE is here to help! Join us for the 2018 Quality Support Workshop, August 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio.
Building on two successful workshops held in 2017, this year’s event will provide a focused opportunity for you to design or refine an action plan for assuring and improving the quality of your program. And not just conceptually either—you will actually work on your own quality assurance plan!
01 May2018
By Zachary VanHouten
It’s been a busy spring in Washington, DC, and there is a lot to stay on top of. For AACTE members, it’s not hard to catch up on the latest developments – just visit our archive of webinar recordings!
The most recent Federal Update webinar, held last week, is available in our archive. These exclusive, members-only webinars are held twice monthly while Congress is in session so that you can stay up to date on federal policy, funding, and other national-level developments related to educator preparation.
30 Apr2018
By Jerrica Thurman
UPDATE: Deadline to participate extended to May 25
AACTE is pleased to partner with Mediaplanet on an upcoming campaign to help celebrate and inspire those who teach. The campaign, aptly titled “Empowering Our Educators,” will take the form of a set of articles and resources to be published June 20 online and in print, with printed copies to be distributed at a variety of conferences and events (including AACTE’s Leadership Academy!). As part of our partnership, Mediaplanet is extending AACTE members a 20% discount on any ads they wish to place.
As the everyday demands of the teaching profession in our country are compounded by persistent staffing shortages, inadequate pay, and low public esteem, it’s no wonder that many teachers feel forced to leave the field, mobilize for walkouts, or discourage young students from pursuing teaching as a career. This campaign aims to serve as a guide to teachers who feel underappreciated or burned out by celebrating the importance of their work, highlighting opportunities for professional engagement and growth, and rekindling their passion for education with inspiring stories and fresh ideas. As the leading voice on educator preparation, AACTE has long advocated on behalf of teachers as well as the institutions that prepare them to enter the profession, and we’re proud to partner with other education organizations on this work.
30 Apr2018
By Matthew Wales
Are you a new dean or department chair – or simply looking to advance your career as an academic administrator? Get off to a strong start with AACTE’s Leadership Academy this June in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The annual Leadership Academy, a popular professional development event for new administrators, was reimagined in 2017 to provide a more interactive, updated look at leadership in educator preparation. So if you have attended the Academy in the past, you might want to consider reuniting with us in Milwaukee, as you are sure to walk away with new ideas and concepts in our 2018 experience.
30 Apr2018
By Beth Giles-Klinkner
Experienced advocates share their experiences during the 2017 AACTE Day on the Hill.
The buses pull around the corner. Capitol Hill is buzzing with activity. This is your first time advocating. Butterflies begin to fly and then you remember: You are well prepared for this thanks to AACTE!
You’ll feel comfortable and confident as you head into Day on the Hill (June 6) because of AACTE’s extensive orientation the day before. During this “prep day” (June 5), you will be introduced to folks who are seasoned veterans at this type of work. They remember what it was like to be in your shoes and to be taking their first journey into advocacy.
27 Apr2018
By Zachary VanHouten
A new resource developed by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) offers a 50-state comparison of school leader certification and preparation programs, along with individual state profiles.
As more attention turns to the ways in which school leaders are prepared and certified, particularly in light of the impact school leaders have on student learning, states are evaluating and developing policies to strengthen and improve the quality of school leaders. ECS conducted the 50-state assessment of school leader policies and identified the following key takeaways:
27 Apr2018
By Kristin McCabe
UPDATE: The release of this report and the May webinar have been postponed. Please stay tuned for the new dates!
One of the many exciting events occurring during AACTE’s Washington Week (June 3-6) will be the release of Colleges of Education: A National Portrait, a major new report from AACTE that provides a comprehensive picture of today’s schools, colleges, and departments of education: the work they do, the people who do that work, and the students they serve. Please join author Jacqueline E. King for a free webinar May 15, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT, to preview the report’s major findings.
AACTE produced this report to describe the many ways that its members contribute to U.S. education and to outline some of the challenges they face. The report also provides a wealth of information that colleges of education can use for benchmarking their work. Below are just a few of the report’s many findings:
27 Apr2018
By Matthew Wales
AACTE experienced another record-setting year for its Annual Meeting in 2018, receiving an astounding 567 proposals for consideration. Given the limited number of spaces available for presentations, we were able to accept only 47% of the proposals received.
Looking to share your work at AACTE’s 2019 Annual Meeting in Louisville? Then you will want to prepare a proposal that stands out in our competitive, peer-review process. Here are five tips to keep in mind:
24 Apr2018
By Shardae Proctor and Kristin McCabe
Five new videos are available this week in AACTE’s Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series highlighting clinical preparation and partnerships of the Butler University (IN) College of Education. In these final videos of the series, Butler faculty, students, and partners reflect on the network of relationships that support their work, the contributions of community businesses and mentors, the benefits gained by mentor teachers, and the profession-readiness of Butler graduates.
The clinical practice programs of Butler University’s College of Education leverage connections among several partners to support their common vision. Both the college and its PK-12 partners extol the benefits of their symbiotic relationship.
24 Apr2018
By Kristin McCabe and Robert Toy-Giles
Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs (center) shares a light moment with AACTE Board Chair Wanda Blanchett (Rutgers University, NJ) and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone during their interview in March.
In a recent radio show recorded at AACTE’s 70th Annual Meeting, Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs interviewed several leaders in educator preparation about their work, including AACTE members from Kentucky as well as Board of Directors Chair Wanda Blanchett and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone.
The first interview of the show focused on work in Kentucky to use technology and create a statewide system for sharing teacher preparation program data and accountability (as presented in a session elsewhere in the conference). The following guests joined the interview:
24 Apr2018
By Trish Parrish
AACTE’s Day on the Hill is always an exciting event for me. I love the energy of the group at orientation and the feeling of making a difference when I visit my elected officials and their staff during Washington Week. But anticipating these visits can also provoke some anxiety, which is why AACTE offers a full day of preparation before our Capitol Hill visits.
The orientation day has always prepared us well, but this year’s promises to be even better. The enhanced agenda offers a choice of two tracks with breakout sessions tailored to increase readiness based on your experience and comfort level with advocacy.
24 Apr2018
By Deborah Koolbeck
AACTE is pleased to offer the State Chapter Support Grant Program for the 2018-2019 academic year, directing member dues toward supporting the development of AACTE state chapter initiatives and relationships. Applications for the grants are now being accepted through AACTE’s online submission site.
For the current funding cycle, the AACTE Board of Directors has allocated a total of $50,000 for the grant program, of which $40,000 is for “Chapter Activities” and $10,000 is for “Chapter Development.”
20 Apr2018
By Larry Daniel
James McManus (undergraduate social studies education major), Jennifer Bucciarelli (MAT math education major), and Associate Professor Stephenie Hewett represent The Citadel in their visit with Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) at the 2016 AACTE Day on the Hill.
I have been attending AACTE’s Day on the Hill (DOTH) for the past 18 years. It is a highlight event of the year, as it allows opportunity to assess our priorities for advocacy while simultaneously putting advocacy into action. Over time, I have found that some of the best advocacy team members are our education students. I have had the privilege of making DOTH congressional visits accompanied by numerous students over the last 8 years – including both undergraduate and graduate students – and, in every case, the students have added value to the conversations well beyond what might have been obtained by faculty and deans alone.
When planning our Hill visits, we ask students to help us deliver important messages about pending legislation or federal education budgets and policies to our congressional members, and they are very effective in doing so. More importantly, we ask our students to tell their own story: Why did they decide to become an educator? How will new policy changes impact them as practicing teachers and school leaders? What can the federal government do to make a career in education more important to other students at their institution? When students visit and present answers to these and other questions, congressional members and staffers take notice.
