01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability has selected Stacy K. Duffield, professor in the College of Human Development and Education at North Dakota State University, to receive the 2018 AACTE Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting Closing Keynote session, March 3 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Pomeroy Award, named for longtime AACTE Executive Director Edward C. Pomeroy, is one of the Association’s highest honors, recognizing distinguished service either to the educator preparation community or to the development and promotion of outstanding practices in educator preparation at the collegiate, state, or national level. Duffield stands out in all of these categories.
01 Feb2018
By Arlene Borthwick
On behalf of the AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology, I am delighted to announce the winner of the 2018 AACTE Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology: the College of Education at Oklahoma’s Northeastern State University (NSU), for its Robotics Academy of Critical Engagement (RACE) program. Representatives from NSU will receive the award on Saturday, March 3, during the Closing Keynote at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
This annual award celebrates and recognizes the innovative use of educational technologies in a school, college, or department of education in ways that stretch beyond established practice to enable change in teacher education programs.
01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE will honor Molly Baustien Siuty, assistant professor of inclusive teacher education at Portland State University (OR), with the 2018 AACTE Outstanding Dissertation Award for her study (Re)constituting Teacher Identity for Inclusion in Urban Schools: A Process of Reification and Resistance. The award will be presented at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting Closing Keynote session, March 3 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Siuty’s dissertation investigated how teacher candidates’ learning about diversity and inclusion in their preservice preparation programs translates – or struggles to translate – into their practice as new teachers. The study uncovered important insights for bridging gaps between teacher preparation and induction.
01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has chosen an article by Claire Sinnema, Frauke Meyer, and Graeme Aitken of the University of Auckland (New Zealand) to receive the 2018 AACTE Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) Article Award. The winning article, “Capturing the Complex, Situated, and Active Nature of Teaching Through Inquiry-Oriented Standards for Teaching,” was published in the January/February 2017 issue of the journal. The award will be presented at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting Opening Keynote session, March 1 in Baltimore, Maryland.
In this article, the authors identify problems in the design and implementation of teaching standards that widen the divide between theory and practice. They propose an alternative model, dubbed Teaching for Better Learning, which attempts to account for the complex contextual features that teachers face and that significantly shape the identification of student needs and instructional practices. This model also positions both teachers and students as learners and is driven by inquiry and evidence. In this way, the authors raise critical issues that diverse stakeholders in teacher preparation – from practitioners to policy makers – must take into account to ensure more effective teaching.
01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability has selected Jolanda M. Westerhof, associate vice president and director of teacher education for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), to receive the 2018 AACTE David G. Imig Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting Opening Keynote session, March 1 in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Imig Award, named for AACTE President and CEO Emeritus David G. Imig, recognizes distinguished achievement in the formulation, implementation, or analysis of teacher education policy, or in the performance of distinguished scholarship in educator preparation.
01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE is delighted to announce the selection of Cultivating Racial and Linguistic Diversity in Literacy Teacher Education: Teachers Like Me, by Marcelle Haddix of Syracuse University (NY), to receive the 2018 AACTE Outstanding Book Award. The award will be presented at the 70th AACTE Annual Meeting Closing Keynote session, March 3 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Reviewers praised this book for its clear and engaging writing and its well-sourced, thoughtful scholarship – as well as its timely and critical focus on diversifying the teaching workforce. The book’s copublishers, Routledge and the National Council of Teachers of English, articulate this focus in the following abstract:
01 Feb2018
By Kristin McCabe
Congratulations to the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education (New Brunswick, NJ) on its selection to receive the 2018 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives! The award will be presented March 1 at the Opening Keynote of the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) offers learning opportunities that link the local and global to connect future educators, leaders, and researchers to the reciprocal influences of local communities and global society. Teacher candidates may participate in several global opportunities, including education-study abroad programs, PK-12 mentoring, and a new linguistically diverse program, “The Conversation Tree: Community-Based Language Partnerships.”
30 Jan2018
By AACTE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For interviews, contact Jerrica Thurman
(202) 478-4502 or jthurman@aacte.org
(January 30, 2018, Washington, D.C.) – Today, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) publicly released a statement by its Board of Directors regarding its recent vote on national accreditation:
AACTE champions high-quality preparation that assures educators are profession-ready as they enter the classroom. National accreditation serves a critical function in assuring this quality by requiring providers to address profession-wide standards of excellence. To uphold AACTE’s commitment to supporting high quality, the AACTE Board of Directors held an extensive discussion about national accreditation at a special meeting in Washington, DC, on January 18, 2018, devoted solely to this topic. After much deliberation on behalf of the membership, the AACTE Board approved by the overwhelming majority the following statement:
The Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) reaffirms the importance of a unified national professional accreditation system that aligns with AACTE’s Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation.
30 Jan2018
By Lynn M. Gangone
AACTE is committed to high-quality educator preparation and works continually to assist member institutions in understanding what is necessary to engage in quality assurance processes. A recent decision by the AACTE Board of Directors, described in this blog by AACTE Board Chair Renée A. Middleton, reaffirms the importance of a unified national accreditation system that assures our nation’s teacher candidates are of the highest caliber, and clarifies AACTE’s role in the quality assurance environment. The Board and the AACTE national office team are dedicated to listening to and serving our members, and Dean Middleton’s blog reflects that commitment to member value.
One of the primary roles of educators is to prepare learners to become engaged citizens in a 21st-century democratic society. Today’s educators enter highly diverse schools that reflect the breadth of our nation, and AACTE members are committed to ensuring that their candidates are ready and able to be successful with all of their students. National accreditation requires educator preparation providers to address profession-wide standards of excellence and supplies metrics that support high quality by promoting programmatic reflection and continuous improvement. AACTE members embrace accountability measures that demonstrate their programs’ effectiveness and contribute to program improvement.
30 Jan2018
By Renée A. Middleton
As AACTE Board Chair, I am most appreciative of the diligent work the AACTE Board of Directors has conducted over the past few years to address the important issue of national accreditation for educator preparation. From the liaison work and member conversations led by the Board’s special subcommittee and AACTE leaders starting in 2015 to our most recent Board meeting on January 18, 2018, we have dedicated much attention to this important topic. AACTE published a statement today about this month’s Board vote reaffirming our support for national professional accreditation.
National accreditation assures the public of the highest quality preparation of educators who serve all levels of the PK-20 continuum. A unified national accreditation system brings together partners and stakeholders across the entire education profession to support profession-wide standards of excellence. I use the term “system” to convey an assemblage of related stakeholders forming an interconnecting network around a set of standards, principles, practices, and processes as a unitary whole. In our recent vote, the AACTE Board reaffirmed the importance of a unified national professional accreditation system that aligns with AACTE’s “Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation,” which we approved in 2016, as critical to advancing our profession.
30 Jan2018
By Sara Hiller
How do you know your graduates are any good?
What should an institutional assessment system include – and what should it not?
How do you establish faculty buy-in for quality assurance?
These aren’t rhetorical questions, or even cruel riddles! They are real questions to be answered at a half-day preconference workshop on quality assurance, to be held Wednesday, February 28, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., in conjunction with the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
26 Jan2018
By Amanda Lester
Interested in learning more about what’s been happening at AACTE this year? Looking for information about innovative initiatives being led by AACTE members and partners? For all of this and more, be sure to add the AACTE Gallery time blocks to your personalized 2018 Annual Meeting Online Event Planner schedule. Returning to the Annual Meeting for a second year, the Gallery will offer opportunities to network while learning about promising innovations in educator preparation.
In addition to offering interactive presentations, this year’s Gallery will feature a dedicated coffee and conversation space where Annual Meeting participants can chat with representatives from AACTE member and partner initiatives, as well as AACTE staff, to learn more about programs and opportunities of interest. The AACTE membership booth will also be located nearby, and staff will be on hand to share information and answer questions.
26 Jan2018
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 author 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.
This interview features insights from the article “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Schooling: Initial Teacher Educators Into the Fray” by Greg Vass of the University of New South Wales (Australia). The article, which appears in the November/December issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:
25 Jan2018
By Zachary VanHouten
Did you miss the January AACTE Federal Update webinar? The recording and slides are now available in AACTE’s Resource Library – a free, member-exclusive benefit! Catch up on all the latest developments in Washington, DC, as Congress works through a packed and polarizing agenda this month. Feel free to share these resources with colleagues at your institution who might also be interested in viewing.
Remember, there will be no February Federal Update webinar (we will resume again in March!), as you’ll have the opportunity to attend two Washington Update sessions in early March at AACTE’s 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. You’ll also want to attend Deborah Koolbeck’s “advocacy speed-dating” session March 2, where you can participate in your choice of five mini advocacy trainings:
23 Jan2018
By Kristin McCabe
What makes a public school successful? A new report from the Learning First Alliance (LFA) identifies six common elements critical to success – while also emphasizing that each school must tailor its programs to the specific goals and challenges of its setting. In other words, all successful schools share key characteristics, but how these elements are implemented and integrated depends greatly on context.
LFA members, which include AACTE and collectively represent more than 10 million educators, parents, and local policy makers, contributed their sectors’ best practices and research to the compendium to advance a collective vision of how and why public schools flourish. In addition to AACTE, LFA members include AASA, The School Superintendents Association; American Federation of Teachers; American School Counselor Association; Consortium for School Networking; Learning Forward; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; National PTA; National School Boards Association; and National School Public Relations Association.
