07 Feb2018
By Matthew Wales
The AACTE Annual Meeting is just 3 weeks away, and in order to maximize your time in Baltimore, you will want to do some advance preparation. With over 250 sessions covering a wide variety of topics of interest, you are guaranteed to find sessions and content that fits your needs. Be sure to check out the AACTE Event Planner, where you can search the Annual Meeting offerings by keywords, topics, conference strands, and other criteria to locate sessions and create your personalized conference itinerary.
One place you most certainly don’t want to miss is the Conference Community Center. Located on the second floor of the Hilton Baltimore, the center is the place for you to connect with colleagues in a dynamic, engaging environment. Conveniently situated in the Key Ballroom Foyer, adjacent to many of AACTE’s Learning Labs, the center offers you a place to take a break and network, while also engaging with our Annual Meeting sponsors in the following booths:
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.
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.
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.
04 Jan2018
By Zachary VanHouten
Today, the Council of Chief State School Officers announced four teachers from New Jersey, Ohio, Washington, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as finalists for the 2018 National Teacher of the Year:
Amy T. Anderson, 2018 New Jersey Teacher of the Year
A high school American Sign Language teacher at Ocean City Public Schools, Anderson received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a master’s degree from Western Maryland College. Learn more
18 Dec2017
By Kristin McCabe
The National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) requests proposals for workshops and other interactive sessions to be presented at its 2018 National Teacher Leadership Conference, July 8-11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Proposals are due by February 5.
The 4-day conference will convene state and national teachers of the year (and finalists from the states) to “engage with national education leaders, administrators, policy makers, the business community, and colleagues to dynamically teach and learn in order to impact students, schools, and the profession.” Themed Teaching Tomorrow’s Leaders, the conference will offer sessions focused on four urgent problems of practice identified through a membership survey by NNSTOY:
08 Dec2017
By Denise Pearson and Amanda Lester
As the nation’s classrooms become more diverse, research has demonstrated that developing a more diverse teaching workforce is imperative to meeting the needs of all students. Efforts are under way across the nation to identify successful strategies for increasing the recruitment and retention of teachers of color, especially men of color, into the education workforce. Organizations including AACTE and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) are among those leading such efforts.
At AACTE, this work includes the Black, Hispanic, and Latino Male Teacher Initiative Networked Improvement Community (NIC), the AACTE Holmes Program, and the Diversified Teaching Workforce: Recruitment and Retention Topical Action Group. Each of these initiatives is focused on increasing educator diversity by identifying and implementing practice that supports degree attainment and teacher certification. The NIC is currently developing a conceptual framework paper to highlight some of these strategies and plans to release the paper at the 2018 AACTE Annual Meeting.
06 Dec2017
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
On Thursday, December 14, AACTE will host a free webinar, supported by The Wallace Foundation, on principal leadership. Please join us from 3:00-4:00 p.m. EST for “Principals as Transformation Leaders: Support for New Leaders.”
Although university support for new school leaders often ends with graduation, novice principals need ongoing professional development and can benefit from continued connections with their preservice preparation programs. The new leaders serving as panelists on this webinar will offer perspectives on their preservice principal preparation and ideas for creating ongoing systems of support. Each panelist is a recent participant in a new leadership institute at Colorado State University, developed in partnership with AACTE and the Wallace Foundation, that convened early-career principals to identify practices and support structures needed for graduates beyond university-based preparation programs. Outcomes from these institute discussions will help guide curriculum reform to better prepare school principals and will also inform universities on how to keep the connection with alumni vibrant and relevant.
17 Nov2017
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
On Thursday, November 30, AACTE will host a free webinar on preparing principals for effective leadership, with support from The Wallace Foundation. Please join us from 3:00-4:00 p.m. EST for Principals as Transformation Leaders: High-Quality Preservice Preparation.
Considering the impact of school leaders on student achievement, principal preparation programs have a huge responsibility to best prepare individuals to lead our nation’s schools. Yet a recent report by the Wallace Foundation, Improving University Principal Preparation Programs: Five Themes From the Field, indicates there is concern that many university-based programs need curricular redesign and stronger connections to school districts. The panelists on this webinar will discuss the need for reform in principal preparation and examples of quality innovations.
03 Nov2017
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
Please join us Thursday, November 9, at 3:00 Eastern for the third free webinar in the series we’ve organized for AACTE on principal leadership, with support from The Wallace Foundation.
Great school culture starts with strong leadership and builds a context for excellence in every area of the school. Fostering open relationships at all levels, principals are at the heart of building and sustaining a healthy school culture. This webinar, Principals as Transformation Leaders: Changing School Cultures, will feature school leaders who have successfully worked to create a positive school culture that promotes learning and acceptance for all.
02 Nov2017
By John F. Snyder
AACTE is partnering with the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) to increase input from educator preparation providers in the organization’s annual teacher supply and demand survey. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The current shortage of educators is no longer a myth. Data from several reports, including the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) Educator Supply and Demand Report 2016-17, show that in numerous certification areas in most areas of the country, there are not enough well-qualified candidates to fill educator vacancies. And even in states where the demand for full-time teachers is not as severe as in other states, there is a critical shortage of substitute teachers.
27 Oct2017
By Jemima Cabedo
In celebration of National Principals Month, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) announced the 2017 Class of National Distinguished Principals and recognized them at an event in Washington, DC, October 12-13. AACTE is proud to congratulate the honorees and to note that nearly all of the principals recognized by the program were prepared at AACTE member institutions.
This year’s distinguished principals completed their preparation at the following AACTE member institutions:
20 Oct2017
By Donna Cooner and Wendy Fothergill
On Thursday, October 26, AACTE will host the second in a series of free webinars we’ve organized on principal leadership, sponsored by the Wallace Foundation. Please join us 3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT for Principals as Transformation Leaders: Serving Urban, Rural, and Alternative Settings.
This webinar will feature school leaders who face unique challenges based on school settings. While we know principals can significantly impact student achievement in all situations, the challenges of a specific environment can require unique skills. Presenters will share aspects of their work, including:
10 Oct2017
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE celebrates National Principals Month this October! The key to student success is a great school, and the key to a great school is a great principal. Please join us in this opportunity to say “thank you” to principals across the nation and to recognize their valuable contributions in your local community.
National Principals Month gives us the chance to honor and reflect on the roles of school leaders and the importance of preparing them well. AACTE members across the country are working to advance principal preparation through a variety of initiatives and partnerships. For example, AACTE member institution Colorado State University will host a 2-day School Leadership Institute this fall to survey new principals about ways to enhance university-based preparation programs and support school leaders in their critical first year on the job. Many other institutions are participating in AACTE’s new Principal Preparation Program Learning Community Topical Action Group, a member-led collaborative exploring issues and promising practice in principal preparation.
06 Oct2017
By Rodrick Lucero and Amanda Lester
We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new AACTE task force to study how to improve the preparation of special education teachers through clinical practice. Growing out of the work of the AACTE Clinical Practice Commission (CPC), the AACTE Special Education Task Force held its inaugural meeting October 1-2 in Washington, DC.
The task force is charged with applying the CPC frameworks for clinical educator preparation to the particular needs of developing special education teachers. During this week’s meeting, the group began outlining the scope of its work, which is supported by a grant from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center. The task force will study areas such as dual licensure and dual preparation models, pipeline strategies around recruitment and retention, interdisciplinary collaboration, and other factors pertinent to this specialized preparation. They ultimately plan to identify models and develop recommendations to amplify promising practices, establish continuous improvement benchmarks, and provide guidance for the field.
