16 Mar2015
By Amanda Bush
The discussion about developing and integrating high-quality teacher performance assessments across the continuum of teacher preparation was the highlight of several sessions offered at AACTE’s recent Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
An audience poll during the AACTE Town Hall Meeting illustrated that most of us work in states that either have policies regarding performance assessments in place or are considering implementing such policies in the near future. It’s no wonder, then, that related sessions were well attended.
16 Mar2015
By Amanda Bush and Christine DeGregory
If any of these statements sound familiar, chances are good that you were at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta! Here are the top phrases we heard during the conference:
10 Mar2015
By Christine DeGregory
One of the things I appreciate most about conferences is how the small groups of teacher educator voices residing within our home institutions can join together with others to create an impressively large chorus—one whose collective power can provide needed volume and attention to important issues.
At the AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta, I was encouraged to have my quiet voice as a future teacher educator amplified, thanks to the company of so many colleagues who share my passion about creating a developmental continuum that recognizes, values, and utilizes the expertise of classroom teachers in preservice teacher preparation and induction.
10 Mar2015
By Donna Sacco
Throughout the AACTE Annual Meeting sessions in Atlanta, I was reminded of the lesson from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. The imperative of ample, authentic practice as a foundation for professional mastery resonated across several conference presentations.
03 Mar2015
By Matthew Wales
Now through May 29, AACTE is accepting session proposals for the 68th Annual Meeting, to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 23-25, 2016. We also invite applications by May 15 from AACTE member faculty to review proposals.
The conference theme is “Meeting the Demands of Professional Practice: Tough Questions, Tough Choices,” conceptualized as follows in the call for proposals.
24 Feb2015
By Lucy Berrier
At this year’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta, AACTE is proud to partner with a local organization, Arts for Learning, to give back to the surrounding community. Look for the designated table beside the AACTE Resource Center outside the Conference Community Center.
Arts for Learning at the Woodruff Arts Center aims “to transform the lives and learning of young people through the arts.” It is an affiliate of Young Audiences, Inc., the nation’s largest source for arts-in-education services, and reaches preschool through high school students. According to its web site, the organization’s “performances, workshops, and residencies encompass a wide variety of art forms, genres, and cultural traditions in the visual, performing, literary, and media arts.” Arts for Learning serves more than 200,000 PK-12 students annually in hundreds of schools across Georgia, with targeted supports for classroom teachers to implement arts-integrated instructional strategies, particularly those focused on literacy.
19 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has selected Pamela Grossman, dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, to receive the 2015 AACTE Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Welcoming Session, Friday, February 27, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The Pomeroy Award, named for longtime AACTE Executive Director Edward C. Pomeroy, recognizes distinguished service either to the educator preparation community or to the development and promotion of outstanding practices in educator preparation at the collegiate, state, or national level.
19 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has selected special education scholars Mary Brownell and Paul Sindelar of the University of Florida to receive the 2015 AACTE David G. Imig Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session, Sunday, March 1, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The Imig Award, named for AACTE President 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.
19 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has selected Kansas State University’s College of Education to receive the 2015 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Welcoming Session, Friday, February 27, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
A model for global diversity education throughout the institution, K-State will be honored in particular for its Teaching English as a Second Language “Go Teacher” program, an award-winning, multifaceted program of professional education for practicing Ecuadorian teachers.
19 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE’s Committee on Global Diversity has selected Texas Christian University’s College of Education to receive the 2015 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Multicultural Education and Diversity. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session, Sunday, March 1, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The university’s robust Early Childhood Through Grade 6 Program (EC-6) is the particular target of AACTE’s award, with a focus on diversity broadly conceived. Students in this program–who predominantly come from middle-high socioeconomic, monolingual backgrounds and initially expect to teach in schools with similar demographics–develop knowledge, skills, and values to effectively work in high-need settings by serving as a bridge between home and school while academically challenging all children for success.
18 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has chosen Nel Noddings’ book Education and Democracy in the 21st Century to receive the 2015 AACTE Outstanding Book Award. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Welcoming Session, Friday, February 27, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Published by Teachers College Press, the book thoughtfully brings John Dewey’s work into the current era, exploring the relationship between schooling and civic polity in the age of “disruptions” in education.
18 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE will honor authors Kavita Kapadia Matsko of the University of Chicago and Karen Hammerness of the American Museum of Natural History with the 2015 AACTE Outstanding Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) Article Award for their article “Unpacking the ‘Urban’ in Urban Teacher Education: Making a Case for Context-Specific Preparation,” published in the March/April 2014 issue of the journal. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Welcoming Session, Friday, February 27, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
18 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has chosen David Stroupe, assistant professor of science education at Michigan State University, to receive the 2015 AACTE Outstanding Dissertation Award for his study "Students Drive Where I Go Next": Ambitious Practice, Beginning Teacher Learning, and Classroom Epistemic Communities. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session, Sunday, March 1, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
17 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
In just 10 days, AACTE will be kicking off its 67th Annual Meeting. If you’re planning to join us at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis February 27-March 1, you have a new tool at your disposal: an online program book.
This program book provides an eye-catching traditional layout for the conference events and makes it easy to browse sessions, presenters, and the exhibitor list. Remember, AACTE is “going green” for 2015, so the program book won’t be printed this year.
10 Feb2015
By Jerrica Thurman
AACTE is pleased to announce a new speaker for the 67th Annual Meeting Welcoming Session. A. Lin Goodwin of Teachers College, Columbia University, will join Marc Tucker of the National Center on Education and the Economy at this kick-off general session, Friday, February 27, at noon.
Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University, originally scheduled to speak at the session with Tucker, is no longer able to attend the conference.
Goodwin brings her extensive experience in international education reform to this keynote duet for a thought-provoking discussion of economic imperatives and successful systems of educator preparation around the world.