27 Mar2017
By Christopher Koch
The following text is reposted with permission from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
My colleagues and I were pleased to attend the AACTE Annual Meeting. It was an opportunity to meet with, and listen to, many of you. Thank you for sharing your support, questions, and guidance with us.
We compiled answers to recurring questions we received during those conversations. We encourage you to share these answers with your teams and colleagues.
27 Mar2017
By Tim Finklea
It’s not just AACTE that needs your expertise as a volunteer (and we do – see our current call for volunteers!). The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is also looking for volunteers for various roles in the agency’s work. The CAEP applications are open now through April 1.
Please note that the CAEP call for service seeks a diverse population of educators, not only faculty from accredited programs; read more about the varied perspectives sought here. You can help represent the voice of educator preparation by applying for one of the following roles (links will open a PDF position description):
14 Mar2017
By Sharon Robinson
The colleges and universities that prepare our nation’s educators are deeply committed to program quality, innovation, and accountability, and important progress is under way in each of these areas at the institutional, state, and national levels. While our priorities are unchanged by the presence or absence of federal regulations, the regulations that were voted down by Congress last week would have impeded this progress by redirecting already-tight resources to create an onerous new reporting and rating system for teacher preparation programs. Now, thanks to the robust advocacy efforts of the field, our professional commitments can proceed unhampered by burdensome mandates and prescriptive-yet-unproven methods.
Absent these regulations, educator preparation providers (EPPs) participate in numerous public reporting and quality assurance systems. Both EPPs and states are required by Title II of the Higher Education Act to submit annual reports to the U.S. Department of Education, and states must report at-risk and low-performing programs. Programs also must meet state review standards, and several states have developed data dashboards that display information for all providers to help the public compare program quality. A plurality of EPPs also undergo national examination through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation – a professional peer-review process using standards that are developed by the field and based on research.
10 Mar2017
By Kristin McCabe
Are you preparing for a CAEP accreditation visit? Wondering how to apply evidence from your candidates’ performance assessments to make sure your program prepares them for key practices? Or perhaps you’re looking for new ideas for recruiting and supporting a more diverse candidate pool? Find the guidance you need at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop!
In just over 6 weeks, AACTE will bring expert facilitators and a selection of workshop sessions to Fort Worth, Texas, April 24-26. We’ve just posted a detailed schedule with descriptions of session choices to help you plan your time effectively (download the PDF here).
08 Mar2017
By Aaron Goldstein
During its meeting March 1, AACTE’s Board of Directors chose officers for the coming year to serve with new Board Chair Renée Middleton (see press release).
Effective now through next February, the AACTE Executive Committee includes the following leaders:
21 Feb2017
By Kristin McCabe
How can you unleash the power of teacher leaders to connect preservice and in-service educators … to enhance clinical partnerships between educator preparation providers and PK-12 schools … and to inform the quality of programs and practice across the continuum of teacher development? Join with peers from your region at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop to construct solutions collaboratively to these and other compelling issues around performance assessment, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.
These workshops will be offered in three regions this year: Fort Worth, Texas (April 24-26); Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 10-12), and Seattle, Washington (November 9-11). At each event, over two half days and one full day, participants will engage in interactive plenary sessions, select from a variety of topics available in break-out blocks, have dedicated time to work in teams and consult with facilitators, and enjoy networking receptions to wrap up each day. See the chart below for an overview of the draft program for the Fort Worth workshop (and visit our website for specific dates and times).
30 Jan2017
By Kristin McCabe
Are you looking for assistance in preparing your programs for accreditation or state review? Or maybe you’re in need of guidance on refining your internal quality assurance system, or using performance assessments with your teacher candidates, or just making sense of all the data and other evidence you’re collecting?
AACTE is ready to help you with these and other needs. In fact, you have several options to choose from just this semester, with more being rolled out later in 2017. Whether you prefer to take a convenient online course, hire a trained consultant, or bring your colleagues together for hand-on, facilitated planning, we aim to provide the support you need.
27 Jan2017
By Christine Tambini and Sara Hiller
A preliminary schedule of sessions is now available for AACTE’s regional Quality Support Workshop in Texas. From April 24 through 26, you can engage in your choice of facilitated workshop sessions, plan with your team, take part in roundtable discussions, and connect with peers at the Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown Hotel.
Whether you are an accreditation or assessment coordinator, clinical faculty member, dean or department chair, or even a state agency official, this workshop will offer you valuable resources and custom support for your quality assurance challenges. During the four 90-minute main session blocks, you’ll choose from topics covering both broad and specific aspects of performance measurement, approaches to preparing for accreditation, diversity and equity concerns, program improvement, and more.
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:
10 Jan2017
By Jerrica Thurman
How do you do continuous improvement? Are you looking to make better use of data to move your program forward? Is your institution working toward accreditation or other quality assurance targets?
AACTE’s new Quality Support Workshops provide a forum for educators to address these questions and develop viable solutions with guidance from expert facilitators. These regional events were developed in response to the needs of the field and offer opportunities to share resources and build actionable strategies for program assessment, accreditation, and continuous improvement goals.
This year, AACTE will bring these workshops to three regions: Fort Worth, Texas, April 24-26; Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 10-12; and Seattle, Washington, November 9-11.
03 Jan2017
By Meghan Everette
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
It has taken approximately $500 and 7 months to convince my new home state that I’m a worthy teacher candidate – even though I have two master’s degrees and 11 years of classroom experience, am a National Teacher Fellow, and was a state elementary teacher of the year. It will take an additional 3 years and 36 credit hours of graduate work, at my expense, to retain my position in my new state. It’s a good thing that I’m committed to a career in education, because the process of moving states presents repeated opportunities to step away from the field.
15 Dec2016
By Sharon Robinson
I am excited to announce AACTE’s plans to enhance the online professional seminars offered through our Quality Support Center. Thanks to a new partnership with FutureLearn, a global leader in online learning, our short courses on quality assurance topics will relaunch in 2017 with clearer presentations, better graphics, and a broader peer community.
AACTE originally developed the series of six courses in 2015 in response to your request for affordable and widely accessible training on how to use data wisely, build evidence for state and national program reviews, and address other quality concerns. Hundreds of you have already taken at least one of these courses, and your enthusiasm and valuable feedback informed our decision to ramp up the offerings. In short, we are engaging in our own continuous improvement!
08 Nov2016
By Renée A. Middleton
The AACTE Board of Directors this fall approved a revision of the AACTE Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation, a document originally drafted in 2006 to state the Association’s aspirational views regarding national accreditation.
The revision was spearheaded by the Board’s subcommittee formed to engage with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The Board felt it was important to reaffirm our core values with respect to what we see as essential elements to any process of accreditation.
24 Oct2016
By Angela Maynard Sewall
Please join me November 3, 3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT, for a free webinar, Effective Tools to Support School Leader Licensure and Professional Development: Mentoring, Modeling, and Support.
In several states, collaborative work among school districts, universities, and state agencies is supporting the development and deployment of new standards for school leaders’ preparation and practice. Hear from several participants in these partnerships about the instruments and other supports they’ve produced.
24 Oct2016
By Linda McKee
Registration is now open for AACTE’s first Quality Support Workshop, to be held April 24-26 in Fort Worth, Texas. Bring your team for 2 days of hands-on, expert-facilitated learning and planning around performance assessment, continuous improvement, and quality assurance.
The event is the first in a new series of regional workshops announced last month, offered through the AACTE Quality Support Center. A core component of AACTE’s mission is to support institutions’ continuous improvement efforts. With learning outcomes focused on topics of national or local interest, these workshops will provide accessible, targeted support for teams of faculty and staff.
