26 May2020
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE congratulates 2020 National Teacher of the Year Tabatha Rosproy and AACTE member institution Fort Hays State University for preparing her for a distinguished teaching career. Rosproy, a 10-year veteran Kansas teacher, is the first early childhood educator to be named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).
Rosproy teaches preschool at Winfield Early Learning Center in Winfield, Kansas, which is housed in a local retirement community and nursing home. Her classroom is an inclusive inter-generational program that provides preschoolers and residents with multiple daily interactions and serves special education and typically developing preschoolers in a full-day setting. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of school buildings across the country, Rosproy served as a co-chair of the educator task force that helped compile Kansas’s continuous learning guidance.
26 May2020
By Monika Jo
Would teachers find professional development via simulated classrooms useful? This was one of three questions that Toni M. Smith, principal researcher, and Rachel Garrett, senior researcher, from the American Institutes for Research (AIR), explored in the Simulated Instruction in Mathematics Professional Development (SIM PD) Study. The following are excerpts from a summary of their research findings and from what they shared at a May 14, 2020 online event hosted by Mursion, whose virtual reality learning platform was used in the study.
Funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, SIM PD is a pilot of an exciting, new PD program being conducted by AIR. SIM PD offers opportunities for teachers in grades 4–7 to (a) learn about questioning strategies and facilitation of student discourse to promote engagement and understanding of math concepts and (b) practice implementing those approaches using a mixed-reality classroom.
They randomly assigned 16 partnering schools to either participate in SIM PD or continue with business-as-usual professional learning during the 2018-19 school year. They collected documentation of SIM PD activities during implementation and video-based observations of math lessons from both groups of teachers.
18 May2020
AACTE Responds to COVID-19
By Monika Jo
As part of our Education Roundtable Series, Mursion will host three leaders for a conversation on the current state of upheaval that is bringing about a transformation in teacher preparation. Join hundreds of your colleagues tomorrow, Tuesday, May 19, 1:00 p.m. ET to engage in conversation with amazing, pioneering women in education. Plus see a simulation of a virtual classroom between a teacher and avatar students. Register to attend (or to receive the link to the recording of the event). Here’s the agenda for the hour:
Jacqueline Rodriguez, assistant vice president for programs and professional learning at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), will speak about the following:
08 May2020
How Virtual Classrooms Can Help Train Preservice Candidates
By Monika Jo
“Currently, under normal times, this would not count in Texas. This may change with pandemic issues,” chimed a participant at a recent Mursion Roundtable webinar. This was not an ordinary Zoom event though. It was a group of educators who gathered to test drive a classroom simulation for “Introducing Content for Middle School.” Messages in the chat were flying. In true teacher form, they were engaged, curious, forthright and funny. Several chat messages started with “I’m here to learn …”
What does it actually mean to train a teacher candidate in a simulated clas sroom? What does that look like? How does it feel? One brave volunteer blurted, “I’m terrified …and excited, but mostly terrified.” For those who have observed a first-time participant jump into a simulation, what follows is quite predictable. The learner starts out very tentative. Within minutes of the student avatars appearing on screen, they’re conversing and chuckling at the students’ responses. Then at their command “pause simulation,” they pop out of the scenario with a sigh and a wow. “That was very realistic,” is the usual description of this new experience.
08 May2020
By Katrina Norfleet
While the coronavirus is prompting cancelation of graduation ceremonies across the nation, AACTE joins the GraduateTogether2020 celebration to honor the more than three million high school seniors in America with the recognition they deserve. AACTE invites members to tune into the one-hour primetime special, GRADUATE TOGETHER: AMERICA HONORS THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2020 , on Saturday, May 16—via television, social media, and streaming platforms—to pay tribute to high school seniors, their extraordinary teachers, and their families.
The primetime special, developed by XQ Institute in partnership with The LeBron James Family Foundation and The Entertainment Industry Foundation, is a rally of all Americans around a message of hope and unity.
The partnering organizations are inviting you to get involved and spread the word about about how students, teachers, and families can get involved;
07 May2020
New Partnership Offers Virtual Reality Classrooms to Advance Learning for Future Teachers
By AACTE
The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the leading voice on educator preparation, and Mursion, the global leader in virtual reality (VR) training, are partnering to offer educators and students world-class experiential learning through simulations. The collaboration provides teacher candidates an opportunity to complete clinical field experiences remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The special offering is available to educator preparation programs (EPPs) across the nation.
During the coronavirus outbreak, EPPs can launch the VR classrooms in just a few days. Through virtual simulations, candidates can practice instructional techniques and access a platform of over 100 videos of classroom instruction. AACTE and Mursion will offer the VR classroom with simulated students at a special discount to support teacher candidates in these unprecedented times.
06 May2020
AACTE Responds to COVID-19
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE and Mursion have partnered to offer educator preparation programs a solution to an acute need caused by the global pandemic. Teacher candidates’ opportunity for face-to-face classroom training has been suspended, which has resulted in a risk for future teachers to not complete their course work. The AACTE and Mursion collaboration provides virtual reality classrooms for teacher candidates to receive experiential learning through simulations. Mursion is rooted in teacher training and has conducted 50,000 simulations. Through the new offer, AACTE members receive a 10% discount to access innovative technology, thanks, in part, to an anonymous donor underwriting a portion of the cost.
Mursion has worked with over 70 educator preparation programs at colleges and universities. Here’s what a few participants had to say about the benefits of virtual reality classrooms:
30 Apr2020
By Katrina Norfleet
AACTE joins the National Education Association (NEA) and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in celebrating excellent teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-8, and National Teacher Day, May 5.
The NEA and National PTA invite you to get involved by thanking a teacher in the following ways:
Thank A Teacher on Social Media
- Simply make a video or take a photo of yourself thanking a teacher who has made a difference in you or your child’s life, or just thank all teachers or supporting our nation’s students each and every day. (You can download this ThankATeacher template to use in your photo.)
- Share your message of appreciation on your favorite social media platform using the hashtag #ThankATeacher
Wear #REDforED on Wednesday, May 6
13 Apr2020
AACTE Responds to COVID-19
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE is proud to partner with The CEEDAR Center to bring you two 30-minute “lunch and learn” webinars on
- licensure and certification requirements
- EPP and district partnerships
We know your time is coveted, so these sessions are tailored to focus on strategies and models of best practice to solve immediate challenges.
The first Lunch and Learn will be hosted on April 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Registration is open to the public. AACTE, the CEEDAR Center, and partners from the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NSADTEC) will share national and state-level information and strategies in response to the current demand. Panelists include the following:
27 Mar2020
AACTE Responds to COVID-19
By Thomas Rodgers
AACTE has joined this coalition to provide support to the nation’s teacher leaders and educators during the coronovavirus pandemic.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), an education nonprofit that works with the education community to accelerate the use of technology to solve tough problems and inspire innovation, today announced the launch of COVID-19 Education Coalition—a diverse group of education organizations focused on curating, creating, and delivering high-quality tools and support for educators as they keep the learning going during extended school closures caused by the global pandemic.
“In this time of uncertainty and rapid change, school system leaders and educators are being inundated with information. This is an effort to cut through the noise, and provide a coordinated response to the urgent need for accurate information, responsive professional learning and contextualized resources,” said Richard Culatta, CEO of ISTE. “We’re coming together with over 50 of education’s trusted associations and nonprofit organizations to help ensure educators have what they need to support students and families.”
13 Feb2020
By Katrina Norfleet
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) recently updated its Supporting Inclusive Schools for the Success of Each Child: A Guide for States on Principal Leadership guide. Developed in collaboration with AACTE and other education partners, this online guide strengthens principals’ capacity to lead inclusive schools to ensure each student has an equitable opportunity to succeed. The updates include additional resources and a new policy to practice section, showcasing the work of the four states—Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio—involved in CCSSO’s Advancing Inclusive Principal Leadership (AIPL) State Initiative, of which AACTE is also a partner. The four states are refining their school leader preparation and development efforts to ensure there is a focus on supporting the academic and social and emotional success of each learner, with an emphasis on those with disabilities.
30 Jan2020
By Katrina Norfleet
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have announced the four finalists for the 2020 National Teacher of the Year, all of whom are graduates of AACTE member institutions:
Chris Dier, 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year, obtained a master of arts in teaching and a master of arts in educational administration from the University of New Orleans. While a Hollyhock Fellow at Stanford University, a program that brings educators together to create more inclusive classrooms, he developed an equity project to legitimize student language. A 10-year teaching veteran, Dier currently teaches world history and AP human geography at Chalmette High where he engages students by bringing aspects of their identity and culture to the forefront of their education. Learn more.
Leila Kubesch, the 2020 Ohio Teacher of the Year, teaches Spanish and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at a high-need middle school. To help empower all youth, she fosters community partnerships, writes grants for innovative learning, and instills a mindset of dreaming big through large-scale service-learning projects. The work of her
17 Jan2020
By Caitlin Wilson
AACTE is excited to work in partnership with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards on several initiatives that contribute to a vision of a coherent career trajectory that supports teachers from initial preparation through teacher leadership opportunities and beyond. The mission of the National Board is to advance the quality of teaching and learning through a voluntary advanced certification. By doing so, the National Board aims to align the teaching profession with other professions such as medicine. Through this collaboration, AACTE, National Board, and other teacher professional organizations seek to elevate the teaching profession and ensure each student is taught by a fully prepared and accomplished teacher.
The work of the National Board, the National Board Standards, and the certification process is founded on five core propositions that describe what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do to effectively support student learning. The five core propositions and National Board Standards are developed and revised by educators based on research and their expertise as practitioners.
16 Jan2020
By Katrina Norfleet
The School Superintendents Association (AASA) announce the four finalists for the 2020 National Superintendent of the Year,® a distinction that honors school system leaders throughout the country for making a positive difference in the lives of the students they serve. The four finalists for the 2020 National Superintendent of the Year® are:
- Gustavo Balderas, Eugene School District 4J, Eugene, Ore.
- Samantha Fuhrey, Newton County School System, Covington, Ga.
- Michael Nagler, Mineola Public Schools, Mineola, N.Y.
- Jeffery Smith, Hampton City Schools, Hampton, Va.
14 Jan2020
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE and partner, Educator Preparation Laboratory (EdPrepLab), an initiative of the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and Bank Street College of Education, will host the second of a series of four webinars, Preparing educators for diverse, equitable, and inclusive classrooms, on January 30.
This collaborative webinar focuses on strategies to increase the preparation of both teachers and leaders. AACTE and EdPrepLab are excited to provide you with an opportunity to learn from and with our dynamic webinar leaders. Four dynamic experts who are advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their practice, research, and daily interactions with teachers, leaders, and community stakeholders will present during the webinar:
