30 Jan2018
By Lynn M. Gangone
AACTE is committed to high-quality educator preparation and works continually to assist member institutions in understanding what is necessary to engage in quality assurance processes. A recent decision by the AACTE Board of Directors, described in this blog by AACTE Board Chair Renée A. Middleton, reaffirms the importance of a unified national accreditation system that assures our nation’s teacher candidates are of the highest caliber, and clarifies AACTE’s role in the quality assurance environment. The Board and the AACTE national office team are dedicated to listening to and serving our members, and Dean Middleton’s blog reflects that commitment to member value.
One of the primary roles of educators is to prepare learners to become engaged citizens in a 21st-century democratic society. Today’s educators enter highly diverse schools that reflect the breadth of our nation, and AACTE members are committed to ensuring that their candidates are ready and able to be successful with all of their students. National accreditation requires educator preparation providers to address profession-wide standards of excellence and supplies metrics that support high quality by promoting programmatic reflection and continuous improvement. AACTE members embrace accountability measures that demonstrate their programs’ effectiveness and contribute to program improvement.
30 Jan2018
By Sara Hiller
How do you know your graduates are any good?
What should an institutional assessment system include – and what should it not?
How do you establish faculty buy-in for quality assurance?
These aren’t rhetorical questions, or even cruel riddles! They are real questions to be answered at a half-day preconference workshop on quality assurance, to be held Wednesday, February 28, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., in conjunction with the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
26 Oct2017
By JTE Insider
Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the author of a recent article. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles themselves in the full JTE archives online—just log in with your AACTE profile here.
This interview features insights from the article "Predictive Validity and Impact of CAEP Standard 3.2: Results From One Master’s-Level Teacher Preparation Program," written by Carla Evans of the University of New Hampshire. The article, which appears in the September/October issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:
26 Sep2017
By Lori Piowlski, Elizabeth S. Finsness and Karen Colum
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
At the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU), our strategic vision is to inspire lifelong learning and professional engagement through racial consciousness, social justice, and inclusion within a global context. Our collective energy as a faculty is spent engaging in conversations, professional development, and research to ensure that our instructional approaches foster cultural proficiency in our teacher candidates.
To enhance that collective learning, several MNSU faculty attended the “edTPA and Equity” strand during the August AACTE Quality Support Workshop held in Minneapolis. The sessions, facilitated by teams of local teacher educators and national experts, examined how edTPA constructs address equitable teaching and learning practices and considered how candidates can engage in the assessment as a reflective opportunity to learn about equitable teaching practices.
29 Aug2017
By Erisel Cruz
Have you read the September/October 2017 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) yet? It is now available online and hitting desks around the country. See what Volume 68 Number 4 has to offer!
- In this month’s editorial, “How Teacher Education Can Elevate Teacher Quality: Evidence From Research,” members of the JTE editorial team at Michigan State University highlight the issue’s four articles. Robert E. Floden, Gail Richmond, Corey Drake, and Emery Petchauer note the papers’ findings and the significance of their topics to various stakeholders in teacher preparation.
22 Aug2017
By Michelle Kotek and Sara Hiller
Participants share their stories and engage in scenario planning during a session led by Jacob Easley II (Eastern Connecticut State University) and Valeisha Ellis (Spelman College).
AACTE held its second Quality Support Workshop August 10-12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, convening educator preparation professionals for a highly interactive, expert-facilitated event focused on quality assurance, assessment, accreditation, and more. More than 150 faculty, administrators, assessment and accreditation coordinators, and other educators engaged in the workshop, continuing the momentum established in the inaugural AACTE Quality Support Workshop in Texas last spring.
14 Aug2017
By JTE Insider
Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the author of a recent article. This blog is available to the public, and AACTE members have free access to the articles themselves in the full JTE archives online – just log in with your AACTE profile here.
This interview features insights from the article “Collaborating to Address the Challenge of Academic Language,” by Trace Lahey of York College, City University of New York. The article, which appears in the May/June issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:
Teacher candidates rely on mentors working in their college-based teacher education programs and mentors working in the college’s partner schools to support their development as future teachers as well as their Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) preparations.
11 Aug2017
By Jerrica Thurman
This week, more than 150 attendees are hard at work in Minneapolis, Minnesota, participating in AACTE’s Quality Support Workshop. The diverse group of educators from the Midwest and beyond are engaging in deep-dive sessions enhancing their programs and planning around continuous improvement, assessment, accreditation, and quality assurance.
During the event, which runs through Saturday, the interactivity has extended well beyond the conference rooms as attendees share posts on social media, connect at receptions, and pose for photos in the hallways. View sample event posts and photos below, follow along on Twitter at #AACTE_QSW, and stay tuned for a complete event summary next week!
28 Jul2017
By Kristin McCabe
Next month, AACTE’s Quality Support Workshop in Minneapolis will help participants take their programs and practices to the next level with 2 days of hands-on, expert-facilitated sessions. Attendees will interact with leaders from educator preparation programs (EPPs) as well as with researchers, program administrators, and other professionals who will be on hand to guide their progress at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, August 10-12.
Participants can work on assessment data, quality assurance plans, standards and evidence for accreditation, and much more in their choice of over two dozen sessions led by these facilitators:
25 Jul2017
By Sarah Anderson
This report highlights the use of an AACTE State Chapter Support Grant by the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. July 28 is the deadline to apply for this year’s grants. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
With assistance from an AACTE State Chapter Support Grant, the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NDACTE) recently completed collaborative work on a statewide student teacher observation tool (STOT). This tool is the fourth common assessment developed in a major effort to improve the quality of teacher preparation through implementation of a statewide preservice and first-year teacher performance assessment system across public, private, and tribal programs.
25 Jul2017
By Alma Rodríguez
At AACTE’s Quality Support Workshop–South in Fort Worth, Texas, a team from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was among the participants enjoying the facilitated sessions and targeted support for each team. One member of the UTRGV team offered the following testimony about her group’s experience. Take advantage of the next workshop, August 10-12 in Minneapolis, by registering here.
A team of three program coordinators from my college joined me, the associate dean for assessment and accreditation, in attending a recent AACTE Quality Support Workshop in Fort Worth. Attending as a team served to build capacity among the program coordinators for a common understanding of our responsibility as teacher educators to use valid measures of candidate performance that can inform practice and help us improve our programs.
18 Jul2017
By Kristin McCabe
Thanks to several brand-new sessions and revamped activities throughout the original program, next month’s regional AACTE Quality Support Workshop will deliver an even more robust program than its popular predecessor. During the event August 10-12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, participants will choose from two dozen expert-facilitated workshops offered in seven time blocks – with topics such as interpreting candidate assessment data, mapping curricula to competency indicators, preparing evidence for an accreditation visit, recruiting and supporting more diverse candidates, and others.
Many of the sessions from last spring’s southern regional workshop, held in Fort Worth, Texas, will run again in Minneapolis with few changes. Others are bringing in new facilitators or making adjustments to reflect feedback from attendees (the organizers do try to practice what they preach about using data for improvement!).
03 Jul2017
By Christine Tambini
Update: The deadline for hotel reservations and discounted registration has been extended to July 25
AACTE is excited to be hosting the 2017 Midwest regional Quality Support Workshop August 10-12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The summer is a wonderful and exciting time to be visiting the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, so when you are not indoors working on quality assurance, accreditation, and assessment with our jam-packed schedule, there is plenty more to do right outside the hotel doors!
Our host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, is conveniently located on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Nicollet Mall is lined with shopping, cafes, and an array of other sites – see this map of key attractions. If you venture northeast to the Mississippi River, you can enjoy the waterfront and even take a kayak tour, board a river cruise, or rent a bike from any of the Nice Ride stations around the city.
30 Jun2017
By Debbie Rickey
Update: The deadline for hotel reservations and discounted registration has been extended to July 25
As educators, we are taught to look for and then try to help “fix” any need or gap we might find in our students or institutions. That same attention can be found within our organization, where as a member of the AACTE Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability, I know we have worked hard to ask fellow AACTE members about the gaps and needs you are experiencing in your departments and institutions.
We have heard – and keep hearing – that you want more information and training around all things associated with quality assurance and assessment, from rubrics to planning, analyzing data, and even how to help fellow faculty members recognize the need for change. In response, we have helped AACTE develop and provide programs where you can connect and learn from one another. Our committee has held annual preconference workshops on validity and reliability, which many of you have experienced. We’ve also given guidance and assistance with the development of the Association’s online professional seminars, and now we are deeply involved in planning and facilitating the regional Quality Support Workshops. With each of these, our goal has been to help fill you those gaps.
27 Jun2017
By Sara Hiller
Do you have a comprehensive quality assurance system in your school, college, or department of education?
How do you know whether the assessments you use are valid and reliable?
