Ariela Martinez Named May Holmes Scholar of the Month

By Leslie Ekpe

Congratulations to Ariela Martinez, Holmes Scholar of the Month for May 2021. Martinez is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in higher education leadership at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, TX. Her research interests examine enhancing undocumented and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) student college success. 

Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, Martinez was a college access and higher education professional who served students from diverse academic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds at the high school and collegiate levels. She has held professional titles that include TRiO Student Support Services Lead Ambassador, College Adviser via TCU College Advising Corps, Success Coach at Tarrant County College (TCC), and Senior Transfer Admission Counselor and adjunct instructor at TCU. Martinez earned her associate degree from TCC and her B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from TCU. As a critical scholar, her research interests center on issues of educational equity in higher education for minoritized students.

Amplifying AACTE’s Voice in the Corridors of Power

By Michael Rose

Advisory Council of State Representatives: A Collaborative Network of State Chapters

By Anne Tapp Jaksa, Beth Kubitskey and Christine C. Gorowara

One value of being a member of AACTE is the national advocacy for the profession and information about federal regulations influencing the field. What does not go unnoticed is the need and priority of work at the state level. The state level ACTEs provide a space for influencing state policies that ultimately guide the profession. AACTE values these essential contributions, and recognizes the value of this work as also informing advocacy going forward. A third, and critical, addition to this professional triumvirate is AACTE’s Advisory Council of State Representatives (ACSR) community, which serves as a collaborative network of State chapters. ACSR provides a place to share common issues, goals, events, white papers, advocacy tips, etc. at the regional level during monthly meetings. This serves each state well as our shared goal is to serve our students, pre- and in-service teachers and leaders, which is tertiary to our desire to prepare quality teachers and leaders for today’s and tomorrow’s P-12 children. Here we share a brief snippet of some of the contributions of ACSR.

Ohio’s Work to Support Children from Marginalized Groups

By Ward Cummings

The Ohio Deans Compact on Exceptional Children has a mission to act collectively in support of improved learning and results for all children, but especially those from marginalized groups. Compact serves as a forum for shared learning and collective action. Due to its efforts, critical connections have been made within and outside the state through representation from key stakeholder groups, including the members of Ohio Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and AACTE.

The 30-member organization meets quarterly and is comprised of leaders from the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE). Compact members participate on one of four standing committees (Dissemination, Impact Evaluation, Low Incidence, Policy). Institutions that are awarded incentive grants through the Compact participate in a facilitated community of practice (CoP), which serves as a peer-to-peer network for representatives from public and private institutions.

Connect with Colleagues and Share Best Practices on AACTE Connect360

By Meghan Grenda

Does Your Child’s Teacher Know How to Teach?

By Leslie T. Fenwick

Illustration by Paige Vickers

This opinion article by AACTE Dean in Residence Leslie T. Fenwick was published in Politico and is reprinted with permission.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated harmful educational inequalities in the preK-12 public education system. The nation’s poorest students, Black and Latino students, and our disabled students have been the most negatively impacted by school closings necessitated by the pandemic. Black students in high poverty schools have been especially hard hit because of the racialized, historic, and ongoing disinvestment in the education of Black children and youth.

Deadline Extended for Nominations to AACTE Board and Advisory Committees

By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.

Have you considered volunteering for a leadership position in AACTE? Whether you volunteer to lend your talent and expertise to one of AACTE’s programmatic advisory committees or seek a position on the Board of Directors, now is a great time to step forward. Educator preparation is an essential element of our nation’s recovery from the pandemic, and AACTE is at the center of national efforts to ensure that all students receive the expert instruction and support they need and deserve.

The nomination deadline has been extended so more AACTE members can take advantage of this fantastic professional opportunity. Nominations are now due by May 28 to serve on the AACTE Board of Directors or on of the following programmatic advisory committees:

Get a Sneak Peek into AACTE’s 2021 Virtual Leadership Academy

By Jerrica Thurman

AACTE is excited to announce its virtual Leadership Academy Series will be offered again this year as three sessions spread across August and October 2021 and January 2022. Designed for education leaders navigating the challenges of the current global environment, the series will augment your leadership skills during these unprecedented times. In a special introductory course, you can get a sneak peek into this year’s Academy Series.

Educator Preparation and Technology: Taking Stock and Looking Forward

By Mark J. Hofer, Teresa Foulger, Kevin J. Graziano, John K. Lee, Denise Schmidt-Crawford and David Slykhuis

AACTE is partnering with the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) to provide AACTE members with a reduced rate for the Teacher Educator Technology Competencies (TETC) professional development modules. Learn more about the series of self-paced online courses from the TETC research team.

Looking back, it seems as if we have been on an almost impossible journey. In response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we faced the closure of campuses and an abrupt and extraordinarily difficult transition to remote teaching and learning. Given the relational and experiential nature of teaching, remote learning has been particularly difficult for teacher preparation programs. We found it extraordinarily difficult to replace the modeling and mentoring that our pre-service teachers needed using remote experiences. Working from home and balancing various responsibilities including caring for loved ones and supporting our own children’s learning only added to the challenge. Undoubtedly, this has been one of the most challenging times many of us have ever experienced.

And yet, despite all this, there have been some bright spots. Faculty have explored new ways of guiding learning, developed a range of new skills with educational technologies, and were reminded of the value and importance of deep human connection in teaching and learning (Ferdig et al., 2020). Some faculty have even reported that they are planning to carry over aspects of remote teaching when they transition back to the “normalcy” in our schools and classrooms; whatever that will be (also, see these hopeful posts on the AACTE blog, Clausen, et al, 2021; Hyler, 2020; Slykhuis, 2020).

The House Focuses on Education Funding for Next Year

By Jane E. West

House Hearings Focus on Education Budget and Students with Disabilities

This blog post is written by AACTE consultant Jane West and is intended to provide updated information. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.  

A congressional hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees education spending on Wednesday focused on President Biden’s FY 2022 education spending proposal. It featured an extended conversation between Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and lawmakers about the importance of having students return to in person learning. “The best equity lever we have is in-person learning, now. Not the fall—now,” Cardona told lawmakers during the hearing. “We need to get our kids back, right away.”

App State Leads Nation in Certified Teachers for 5th Consecutive Year

By Rebekah Saylors

For the fifth consecutive year, Appalachian State University leads the nation for the number of its Reich College of Education (RCOE) alumni who are National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT).

The national certification is based on a rigorous performance-based assessment that typically takes from one to three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers and counselors should know and be able to do.

The university topped the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ list of “Top 50 Alma Maters by Total Number of NBCTs” for 2020, with 2,178 alumni having earned the national credential to date.

AACTE Is Advocating for You

By Michael Rose

Through AACTE’s conferences, meetings, surveys, and even informal conversations, AACTE staff members stay well informed about the successes and challenges of your educator preparation programs (EPPs). The government relations team is particularly attuned to the challenges where the federal government can play an important role in contributing to solutions and is in regular touch with members of congress and their staffers. AACTE provides input into legislative proposals, offering feedback as to why a provision may or may not be effective and providing information from you about current trends—including  the impact of the transition to remote teaching because of COVID-19, ongoing racial injustice, declining enrollment in EPPs, the cost of college, and financial challenges future educators will face.

AACTE is an amplifying voice between you, members who are doing the important work in the field, and policy makers, who need to understand what is happening in the field to offer sound policy recommendations. Recently, President Biden announced the American Families Plan, which includes an unprecedented $9 billion to help address our nation’s teacher shortage.  The plan calls for, among other things, doubling the annual amount of TEACH grants from $4,000 to $8,000 per year; $2.8 billion for year-long, paid teacher residency programs and Grow Your Own programs; $400 million for teacher preparation at minority-serving institutions (MSIs); $900 million for the preparation of new special educators; $1.6 billion for educators to obtain additional certifications in high-demand fields such as special education and bilingual education; and $2 billion to support the development of teachers as leaders and high-quality mentorship programs for new teachers and teachers of color.

Nevada Special Education Teacher Named 2021 National Teacher of the Year

By Jasmine Estes

AACTE congratulates 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey and AACTE member Institution The University of Arizona (UArizona) for preparing her for a distinguished teaching career. Urtubey holds a bachelor of arts in bilingual elementary education and a master’s degree in special bilingual education from UArizona.

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) today announced that Juliana Urtubey, an elementary school special education teacher, is the 2021 National Teacher of the Year.

Urtubey, an educator for 11 years, teaches at Kermit R. Booker, Sr. Innovative Elementary School in Las Vegas, where she serves as a co-teacher in pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade special education settings and as an instructional strategist developing supports to meet students’ differing academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.

Known as “Ms. Earth” for her efforts to beautify schools and unify the community through murals and gardens, Urtubey has helped raise funds for garden programs at two Las Vegas schools. In one program, the garden was tended to by the student “Garden Gnomies” club and offered opportunities for innovative student learning and intergenerational learning and connections to the wider community.

A Reflection: The Value of Teachers and Their Impact on Children and Communities

By Kimberly White Smith

Growing up, my primary school housed students from first to eighth grade and served mostly students of color. Prior to the pandemic, I attended a celebration for the retirement of Mrs. P, my eighth-grade teacher. The room was packed; filled with people of various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. I heard families speaking Spanish, Tagalog, Italian, and English. Mrs. P was a teacher for 45 years and taught generations of children within families. As I looked around the room I witnessed tears, joy, and laughter. Then one by one individuals stood and told their own story of how Mrs. P. touched their lives and the lives of their families. I listened intently and felt the power of the stories being shared. In that moment, I experienced such awe in the woman who inspired me to go into the profession of education and pride in my connection to her and the ministry of teaching.

AACTE Launches Holmes Program Summer Learning Series

By Weade James

To support the academic, professional and personal growth of Holmes Program participants, AACTE will offer a learning series this summer to Holmes doctoral and master’s students at participating institutions. The sessions offered in the upcoming series will be led by diverse and accomplished leaders in the field. All sessions will build on prior professional development that have been offered to the Holmes Program participants and will address their unique needs as graduate students of color who are pursuing degrees in education.

The session details, descriptions, and links to register are below.