Explore Vegas at the AACTE Annual Meeting

By Jerrica Thurman

The AACTE 68th Annual Meeting will take you to The Mirage Hotel, conveniently located on the Vegas Strip in the center of the city’s attractions. You won’t have to travel far to experience the area’s rich offerings, as The Mirage provides a full menu of restaurant options and headlining entertainment.

From fine dining to casual, you’ll discover a range of flavors to satisfy your appetite at The Mirage. Choose the perfect restaurant for you from these diverse venues:

Major Forums Announced for AACTE 2016; Early Bird Registration Closes Oct. 14

By Jerrica Thurman

Only 1 day is left to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration rate for AACTE’s 68th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada! This special offer expires October 14 at midnight EDT.

At the Annual Meeting, you’ll gain access to cutting-edge research and initiatives for “meeting the demands of professional practice” in educator preparation. Experience some of the most popular offerings of the conference in our six major forums for 2016.

Survey Invitation: What Do Education Deans Believe?

By William Henk, Shelley B. Wepner, Sharon Lovell and Steven A. Melnick

Very little is known about education deans’ perceptions of what they think is important for their actual, effective performance on the job. To address this knowledge gap, we invite deans to participate in a national survey, which we are conducting with AACTE’s support, that will tap education deans’ beliefs about their essential ways of thinking, being, and acting.

But first, here is some more background. In short, effective leadership of a school, college, or department of education (SCDE) is vital in light of both internal and external forces that provide significant challenges for these academic units. For instance, in the realm of teacher preparation, education deans and directors must articulate their role as leaders of change in the field. This charge includes determining ways to provide concrete evidence of how their programs broaden and deepen the learning and mastery of their teacher and leadership candidates, and also the learning that takes place in the classrooms of their graduates.

Pedro Noguera to Speak at AACTE Annual Meeting

By Jerrica Thurman

Be inspired at the AACTE 68th Annual Meeting by Pedro Noguera, one of the nation’s most important voices on the state of education today. Noguera will speak at the Welcoming Session, to be held Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

An expert on school reform, diversity, and the achievement gap, Noguera is a powerful, articulate, and far-reaching advocate for a strong and vibrant public education system. He is Distinguished Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles. Previously, he served as Peter I. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University and as executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.

Don’t Miss Out on AACTE in Vegas—Everyone Will BE THERE

By Jerrica Thurman

The AACTE 68th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas will provide a forum for you to engage in meaningful deliberation, share the latest research and best practices, and become better equipped to drive change in your field. Each year, thousands of educators come from around the country to discuss their challenges, discover new strategies, and join the nationwide conversation on the future of the profession. Don’t be left out of the largest gathering of educator preparation professionals—everyone will BE THERE!

Four Weeks Left to Apply for AACTE Awards

By Lucy Berrier

Just 4 weeks remain before the deadline to submit entries for the 2016 AACTE Awards! Nominate your own program for one of our three Best Practice Awards, or enter an admired colleague in the running for a Professional Achievement Award. All entries must be received through AACTE’s online submission site by midnight EDT on Friday, October 9.

You Said Vegas, We Listened! BE THERE for AACTE 2016

By Jerrica Thurman

Why hold the AACTE 68th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas? A recent AACTE member survey ranked Las Vegas as a top city to convene the nation’s largest conference for educator preparation. So by popular demand, we’re heading to Nevada in February 2016!

BE THERE to connect with your peers from across the country and get solutions for your toughest challenges as we discuss “Meeting the Demands of Professional Practice.” You’ll delve into best practices in educator preparation research, policy, and programs with leaders in the field. From the major forums and concurrent sessions to the Speaker Spotlight Session and the Job and Information Fair, you’ll become empowered to build a stronger teaching workforce, institution, and community.

Be There in Vegas: Affordability, Convenience for AACTE’s 68th Annual Meeting

By Jerrica Thurman

AACTE’s 2016 Annual Meeting will be held February 23-25 in Las Vegas—an affordable location where you get the best value for your travel dollar! With over 900 inbound and outbound flights per day and nonstop service from more than 130 U.S. and international cities, Las Vegas is easy on your time as well as your budget.

Few other cities are able to boast the wide array of dining options available in Las Vegas, from all-you-can-eat buffets to some of the finest restaurants in the world—with options for every culinary taste. In addition, the close proximity of Las Vegas hotels nearly eliminates the need for transportation, as attendees can walk to many destinations. When transportation is required, however, Las Vegas supplies myriad options including bus, taxi, shuttles, and the country’s first automated monorail.

Registration Now Open for 2016 AACTE Annual Meeting

By Christine Tambini

Registration is now open for AACTE’s 68th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 23-25, 2016. Take advantage of discounted registration by the Early Bird deadline of October 14.

As a profession, educator preparation faces hard questions and tensions that challenge programs’ ability to pursue a common vision of quality. Together, educator preparation providers will tackle these issues as they converge in Las Vegas for AACTE’s 2016 Annual Meeting – the premier event for the profession. Get empowered with proven strategies and unconventional approaches for building a stronger workforce, institution, and community.

Five Tips for Writing a Successful AACTE Annual Meeting Proposal

By Matthew Wales

Last year, AACTE received 560 session proposals for its Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Given the limited number of spaces available for presentations, only 50% of proposals were accepted.

Looking to present at AACTE’s 2016 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas? Want to make your proposal stand out from other proposals received? Here are five tips to help your proposal rise to the top.

Letter to Editor: Prepare Teachers to Adapt to Factors Outside School

By Etta R. Hollins and Rodrick Lucero

The following letter to the editor was published today in Education Week.

There are kids entering urban classrooms every day hungry, sad, tired, and angry. Name an obstacle to learning, and most urban teachers have seen it play out firsthand among their students.

In January, the Horace Mann League of the United States released School Performance in Context: The Iceberg Effect, a report on the “unparalleled levels” of poverty, inequity, and violence faced by U.S. students. Though outside factors such as these are not the reason for increasing gaps in achievement, they’re barriers teachers must understand and address to have an impact on student learning.

The Power of Teacher Professional Communities in Urban Schools

By Etta R. Hollins

Editor’s Note: Professor Hollins inspired attendees of AACTE’s recent Annual Meeting in Atlanta during the Speaker Spotlight Session. (View a video recording of her speech here, and read another version in this Hechinger Report piece, which includes the video she played during her address.) To follow up on her presentation, we invited Hollins to explore her topic in a series of blogs for Ed Prep Matters. This is the final post in the series.

Most teachers in urban schools, as elsewhere, are dedicated professionals who put much effort into their practice and care deeply about the students they teach. Teachers understandably feel frustrated when their students fail to meet expectations for learning outcomes. How they address this frustration, however, makes all the difference for student outcomes—and it is influenced heavily by the ideology developed in their school’s professional community.

Holmes Scholars Share Research, Network in Atlanta

By Omar Davis and Whitney Watkins

AACTE Holmes Scholars connect during the Annual Meeting in Atlanta

More than 60 AACTE Holmes Scholars® participated in the Annual Meeting in Atlanta last month. The commitment of their 15 host institutions, as well as of AACTE, to building a more diverse professional community was on full display in the lively atmosphere and collegial environment at the conference, which offered a platform of reinvigoration for some and the start of an exciting journey for others. One attendee commented that she had not experienced that much energy in quite a while.

At the kick-off session February 27, AACTE’s Rodrick Lucero, vice president for member engagement and support, described the Association’s renewed commitment to the Holmes Scholars Program and emphasized its value and necessity in the field. He highlighted goals for the coming year, which touched on not only recruiting and retaining scholars in academia, but looking closely at the entire continuum of PK-24. Lucero praised the National Association of Holmes Scholars Alumni (NASHA) for its continued support in providing highly sought-after mentoring services for 1st-year and midlevel doctoral students.

USED Offers Insight, Guidance on TQP Grants

By Zachary VanHouten

Attendees of the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting in Atlanta were offered an opportunity to meet with a U.S. Department of Education official to discuss the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants and how they may explore applying for them in the future.

In a concurrent session presentation, Mia Howerton of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement provided attendees with an overview of the TQP grants and what the profile of a successful grantee applicant typically looks like. With the TQP program now in its third grant cycle, Howerton reviewed the successes and challenges of the program and shared its lessons with audience members.

Understanding Urban Communities as Context and Text for Teaching and Learning

By Etta R. Hollins

Editor’s Note: Professor Hollins inspired attendees of AACTE’s recent Annual Meeting in Atlanta during the Speaker Spotlight Session. (View a video recording of her speech here, and read another version in this Hechinger Report piece, which includes the video she played during her address.) To follow up on her presentation, we invited Hollins to explore her topic in a series of blogs for Ed Prep Matters. This is the second post in the series.

Teaching is an interpretive practice that requires knowledge of the community where students grow and develop, and where they are socialized. Students’ initial and ongoing learning happens within a particular community; is framed by the ideologies and practices of the community; is influenced by the experiences, interests, and values shared among members of the community; and is appropriated through the learner’s perception, which is developed within the particular community. The initial learning that happens within a community constitutes the intellectual, psychological, social, and emotional development of the individual person.