19 Mar2024
By Weade James
The AACTE Topical Action Group (TAG) on Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation has rebranded and is seeking new members. The new TAG on Educator Preparation in Partnership with Families and Communities is intended to be more inclusive of family-school partnerships and seeks to build and sustain a collaborative network of educators who are committed to redefining systems of educator preparation wherein the principles of reflection, connection, collaboration, and co-leadership alongside families and communities are elevated as essential to a field which seeks an equitable experience for all learners. The TAG will create a space for the sharing of innovative and best practices and will foster opportunities for members to collaborate on research, curate resources, and work toward the promotion of policies and strategies to improve programs of educator preparation within the universal contexts of love and justice.
01 Aug2023
By AACTE
AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., CAE, represented the association alongside state and national leaders to unveil the National Guideline Standards (NGS) for K-12 Teaching Apprenticeships released today at a briefing hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor.
Federal, state, and local workforce and education leaders gathered to set a benchmark for high-quality teaching apprenticeship programs in August 2022. This initiative, launched by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, tasked leaders to develop comprehensive guidelines for high-quality educator apprenticeships. One year later, at today’s event, the Department of Labor announced the approval of the NGS, the culmination of an effort led by the Pathways Alliance through a working group co-chaired by Jacqueline King, Ph.D., of AACTE and representatives from Deans for Impact and National Center for Grow Your Own. These guidelines are a framework for states creating a registered apprenticeship program for K-12 teachers, outlining the requirements and responsibilities apprenticeship programs must fulfill.
29 May2023
By Tony Pals and Marla Koenigsknecht
Leslie T. Fenwick, dean emerita of the Howard University School of Education, where she is a professor of educational policy and leadership, and dean in residence at AACTE, has been selected by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) to present the 2023 Brown Lecture in Education Research. This public lecture will take place on Thursday, October 19, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. ET, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
Fenwick is a nationally known scholar with deep expertise in public policy, educational equity, and leadership and leadership studies. She is author of the award-winning book Jim Crow’s Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership (Harvard Education Press), which was released in 2022 and has been referenced by The New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post, Politico, and Education Week. Fenwick is also a section editor of the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (AERA) and a contributor to the bestselling book The Last Word: The Best Commentary and Controversy in American Education (Education Week Press).
27 Mar2023
By Kari Vogelgesang
Are you interested in advocating and bolstering social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health (SEBMH) content and practice in your teacher education program? As the director of professional development for the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health at the University of Iowa, I invite teacher education professionals to join AACTE’s newly-formed SEBMH Topical Action Group (TAG).
31 Aug2022
Strengthening the Teaching Profession Through Public and Private Sector Actions
By AACTE
AACTE met with the Biden-Harris Administration today to discuss the nationwide school staffing shortages.
“It was an honor to have AACTE at the table with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other key decision makers, such as the Secretaries of Education and Labor,” said AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D. “There are solutions to this crisis, and I am confident that in working together we will accelerate our work to recruit and retain highly-qualified and diverse teachers. Education is an exciting and worthwhile profession, and I believe that today’s conversations, alongside members of the talent industry, will take us far as we lead collaborative and solutions-based work. To have this spotlight today on the education profession from the White House elevates the importance of teachers and education in the U.S.”
06 Aug2018
By Kristin McCabe
Members of the Education Deans for Justice and Equity Steering Committee
This week, AACTE President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone will meet with deans from across the country at the Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE) meeting hosted by AACTE member institution University of Colorado Boulder, August 8-9.
EDJE is a nationwide alliance of education deans that advances equity and justice in education by speaking and acting collectively and in solidarity with communities regarding policies, reform proposals, and public debates. Participants come from public and independent colleges of education around the country, most of which are AACTE member institutions.
21 Dec2017
By Rodrick Lucero
Educators from the Clark County School District speak at the Summit on Nevada Education, held December 4 in Las Vegas. (Photo: UNLV College of Education)
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the third annual Summit on Nevada Education hosted by the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). I was invited to attend the gathering by Dean Kim Metcalf, a member of the AACTE Board of Directors, and was delighted to witness the excitement of participants who shared and discussed their work to improve education across the state.
As I entered the student union on the UNLV campus, I followed the laughter and energy to find the ballroom. The excitement and synergy was palpable among attendees as they gathered, grabbed coffee, and greeted one another. The introductions began, and I was impressed with the numerous video greetings from Nevada senators and representatives as well as from Governor Brian Sandoval. These dignitaries were teeming with pride over the collaborative efforts under way to elevate education in Nevada. They recognized the ongoing work and articulated future directions for preparing teachers with the “next, best practices.”
11 Sep2017
By Aaron Goldstein
Last month, AACTE staff hosted an exhibit at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. We also invited leaders of the local AACTE state chapter, the Massachusetts Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE), to join us in the exhibit booth to share their work with attendees. Over 5,000 state legislators, state legislative staff, and trade association representatives attended the conference.
As I learned from last year’s NCSL Legislative Summit (see my takeaways here), state legislators are eager to receive input from teacher educators. One recurring theme from my conversations with state legislators this year was that they are unfamiliar with the major state policy levers pertaining to educator preparation – accreditation, licensure, and program approval. It was good for AACTE staff and MACTE leaders to interact with attendees from dozens of states, including many members of state legislatures’ education committees.
10 Jul2017
By Aaron Goldstein
On behalf of AACTE, I recently attended the annual National Forum on Education Policy of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), a national organization of state education policy leaders. The more than 550 attendees at the forum included governors, state education chiefs, chairs of state legislatures’ education committees, and higher education executives, many of whom were new to their position. In fact, one of my main takeaways from the conference was the high level of recent turnover in states’ positions for education decision makers – and the associated need for educators to maintain outreach efforts to connect with them.
Over the past 2 years, there has been drastic leadership change for state legislators, chief state school officers, and governors. In 2016, elections were held for 86 of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers and for 6 of the 13 elected chief state school officers. Furthermore, the average tenure of a chief state school officer is approximately 2½ years. In 2017, 36 states will hold elections for their governors, at least 16 of which must be new due to term limits.
20 Jun2017
By Amanda Lester
A member of the North Carolina A&T State University team shares its work during the May event at Morgan State University.
Abiodun Fasoro of Central State University discusses his campus’ minority male STEM program during the Verizon Innovative Learning Showcase.
Last month, I had the privilege of participating in the Building a Networked Improvement Community Around Engaging Minority Males in STEM Workshop at Morgan State University. The workshop focused on advancing the work of the Early STEM Engagement for Minority Males (eSEM) Initiative, a network of 16 minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
Led by Morgan State and in partnership with Verizon Innovative Learning Programs, SRI Education, the National CARES Mentoring Network, and local school districts, eSEM is a growing collaborative seeking to address STEM achievement challenges and improve outcomes for middle school minority male students through the development of a Networked Improvement Community (NIC). The initiative is supported through grants from the National Science Foundation and includes the following universities:
02 May2017
By Rodrick Lucero
I am thrilled to introduce the St. John’s University (NY) School of Education as the next featured institution in the AACTE Research-to-Practice Spotlight series. In this latest focus on exemplary models of clinical practice, we highlight the work of the Residential Internship for St. John’s Educators (RISE) program in Queens, New York. This partnership with surrounding school districts aims to develop the very best teachers for local classrooms, a mission to which both the university and the school district are committed.
The first video in the series is now posted in the Innovation Exchange, introducing the RISE program’s yearlong internships and focusing on the importance of relationship-building and a shared professional community. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing additional videos and blog summaries to highlight what AACTE staff learned during our visit to the St. John’s campus and partner sites.
17 Jan2017
By Mark LaCelle-Peterson
The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification held its annual Ted Andrews Winter Symposium January 4-6 in San Diego, California, convening educators from varied settings around the topic “Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Innovation Through Collaboration.”
The theme of partnership-driven innovation was reinforced through a number of sessions in which AACTE members presented along with colleagues from the PK-12 sector and from state education authorities. I was pleased to address the group on the topic of teacher recruitment policy and practice from providers’ perspective. Other notable sessions on the program included these:
05 Jan2017
By Rodrick Lucero
It is my pleasure to introduce the George Mason University (VA) College of Education and Human Development as the next featured institution in the AACTE Research-to-Practice Spotlight series. Continuing our focus on exemplary models of clinical practice, this series highlights the long-standing professional development school (PDS) partnership cultivated by George Mason and schools in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mason is the state’s largest producer of PK-12 teachers and largest comprehensive research university.
29 Nov2016
By Rodrick Lucero and Tim Finklea
It’s been a busy fall of traveling for the AACTE Member Engagement and Support team as we’ve been visiting campuses to document exemplary clinical partnerships and practices for our online Research-to-Practice Spotlight Series, part of the AACTE Innovation Exchange.
This fall, we’ve been filming at St. John’s University (NY); the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and California State University, Long Beach. We are also busy scheduling visits with State University of New York at Oswego and Butler University (IN) for spring 2017. At each location, we’ve met with deans, professors, teacher candidates, school district principals, teachers, and PK-12 students to see firsthand how a variety of programs are developing and sustaining successful clinical partnerships. The video production company “Ideas That Breathe” has been a valuable partner for filming, editing, and producing a compelling series from each site we visit. Each series is then segmented into episodes for posting on the Innovation Exchange and highlighting in the Ed Prep Matters blog.
16 Aug2016
By Omar Davis
This month, I visited the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) to participate in a kick-off symposium for the new AACTE Holmes Cadets Program starting there. The participating high school students were a dynamic reminder of why AACTE is expanding the Holmes Program: to support historically underrepresented students pursuing careers in education in order to diversify the field, from PK-12 through the professoriate. I was honored to welcome these passionate Holmes Cadets, who are poised to bring a strong Hispanic/Latino contingent to the teaching profession.
