27 Apr2015
By Mark Ginsberg
Renée Middleton and I recently (April 14) wrote a blog post updating readers on AACTE’s work related to a resolution passed in February by the AACTE Board of Directors in regard to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This resolution reaffirmed our association’s commitment to CAEP and also cited concerns that have been raised by many AACTE members. Our blog provided a context for the work that AACTE seeks to undertake in collaboration with the leadership of CAEP, which AACTE supports as a single unified accrediting system for our field.
20 Apr2015
By Jerrica Thurman
Do you think educator preparation programs are out of touch with today’s PK-12 schools? See what Ohio’s teacher educators are doing to engage with their partners in this video for AACTE’s Debunking Myths campaign. See how you can participate in the campaign here.
In early March, 60 representatives from Ohio public and private higher education institutions converged for Day on the Square to meet with state legislators, including Senate Education Committee Chair Peggy Lehner and House Education Committee Chair Bill Hayes. Conversations centered on current policies, legislation, and the direction of teacher education in Ohio, focused specifically on the theme “Merging Voice and Vision Through P-16 Partnerships.”
17 Apr2015
By Gloriatine Jones
Have you seen the April/May 2015 issue of Educational Horizons from Pi Lambda Theta? It’s a humorous one that makes light of some imagined—and real—classroom challenges.
Thanks to a partnership with Phi Delta Kappa and Pi Lambda Theta, all AACTE members receive free online access to this magazine for future teachers as a benefit of their AACTE membership. Chief Representatives also receive each issue by mail.
13 Apr2015
By Tracy Spesia
Editor’s Note: Tracy Spesia, a nationally trained edTPA scorer, is the recent recipient of an innovation award from the University of Saint Francis for her work on edTPA at the College of Education. According to the university, Spesia’s “creative and successful efforts with the implementation of edTPA have positioned USF as a leader in the state” and have helped enhance “the quality of USF students’ application of theory into practice during their field experiences.” In recognition of her leadership, she was appointed to the Illinois Association for Teacher Education in Private Colleges as the edTPA liaison. Spesia also serves on the executive board of the Illinois Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Click here for information about becoming an edTPA scorer.
This year I became an official edTPA scorer, and it is one of the most rewarding professional experiences I have had since I started working in the area of teacher preparation.
06 Apr2015
By Sharon Robinson
News Flash! The interest of students and their opportunity to learn is not better or even well served by a strategy of constant and high demand of inexperienced teachers. Retention matters, not just to teachers but, most critically, to students.
Recent studies showing that teacher effectiveness continues to develop over time reinforce this imperative to do right by our students. First, in a working paper completed last year for the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research, researchers at Duke University found that middle school teachers’ effect on student test scores as well as attendance rates improves over at least several years. A subsequent study out of Brown University found improvement in teacher effectiveness is indeed steepest in the early years in the classroom but continues for many more years, challenging the common perception that teacher quality is a fixed characteristic after just a couple of years of experience.
26 Mar2015
AACTE Breakfast Was Forum for Discussion
By Linda McKee
Nearly 300 educators from around the country packed a February 28 breakfast session at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta to get updates and ask questions about edTPA. The conversation addressed questions about regional scoring, the line between helping students and coaching them on their edTPA portfolios, and other issues.
First, though, teacher educators were congratulated for their role in edTPA’s progress. They also were reminded that for edTPA to be a meaningful assessment for educator preparation programs and teacher candidates, it must be about more than compliance.
25 Mar2015
By Nicole Merino
A Conversation With Harriet “Niki” Fayne, Dean of Education at Lehman College
Harriet “Niki” Fayne, dean of education at Lehman College (City University of New York) in the Bronx, isn’t about to say that edTPA was easy for her faculty and students, or that it is the final answer for teacher preparation. But she does say this: edTPA moves the profession in the direction of strengthening the skills of beginning teachers.
17 Mar2015
By Mark LaCelle-Peterson
Representatives from AACTE and member institutions joined thousands of other educators convening in Washington, DC, last weekend at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ star-studded second annual Teaching & Learning conference.
AACTE President/CEO Sharon P. Robinson spoke at a plenary session on preparing novice teachers, joining a panel that also included Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford University, CA) and Terry Holliday (Kentucky commissioner of education), moderated by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
17 Mar2015
By Gloriatine Jones
Have you seen the February/March 2015 issue of Educational Horizons from Pi Lambda Theta?
Thanks to a partnership with Phi Delta Kappa and Pi Lambda Theta, all AACTE members receive free online access to this magazine for future teachers as a benefit of their AACTE membership. Chief Representatives also receive each issue by mail.
Here are some highlights from the current issue to share with your students:
06 Mar2015
By Kristin McCabe
Have you created PK-12 lessons aligned with new college- and career-ready standards? Achieve, Inc. wants you to share them—and is offering cash prizes for the best units of study submitted this spring.
The Achieve initiative known as EQuiP (Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products) is collecting instructional units to support the Common Core State Standards in English language arts (ELA)/literacy and math. Units rated exemplary by peer reviewers will win $1,500.
02 Mar2015
By Trish Parrish
AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability would like to encourage AACTE members to respond to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Call for Service. The online application for the CAEP “Volunteer Corps” is open through March 20.
Volunteers may apply to serve as reviewers at different levels or on CAEP’s governance bodies. The call seeks a diverse population of volunteers, not only faculty from programs holding CAEP accreditation. But it is important for teacher educators to be represented in CAEP, and this can be achieved if you volunteer!
17 Feb2015
By Tim Finklea
Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 National Teacher of the Year
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has announced that 2010 National Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling will be a keynote speaker for the 2015 Spring CAEP Conference in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the conference, which takes place April 9-10, is Preparing Effective, Classroom-Ready Teachers: An Evidence-Based Approach.
In 2010, Wessling took a short break from her post teaching English at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa, to come to the White House to be named National Teacher of the Year. Wessling, a National Board Certified Teacher, has since leveraged this title to give her students and peers a voice.
10 Feb2015
By Omar Davis and Jacob Easley II
Are you a doctoral student seeking a tenure-track position? Or maybe you have a faculty post but would like guidance navigating the promotion and tenure process? Plan to attend a Tenure Academy in Chicago, April 15-16, being held as a preconference event of the American Educational Research Association annual meeting.
Presented by the National Association of Holmes Scholars Alumni (NAHSA), this second annual event will provide the latest strategies for navigating the tenure and promotion process.
29 Jan2015
By Zachary VanHouten
On Tuesday, January 27, the American Federation of Teachers and Howard University (DC) convened a panel at the National Press Club to discuss the potential impact of the proposed federal teacher preparation regulations on minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and their teacher pipelines. AACTE President/CEO Sharon P. Robinson was among the panelists who shared their concerns and urged the U.S. Department of Education to withdraw the regulations.
26 Jan2015
By Lucy Berrier
On January 14, the Council of Chief State School Officers announced four finalists for the 2015 national teacher of the year. The finalists are state teachers of the year from Alabama, Hawaii, Indiana, and Texas.
