22 Mar2022
By AACTE
Today, AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) releases the second edition of Colleges of Education: A National Portrait. In addition to updating information on colleges of education and their leaders, faculty, and students, this edition features a special analysis on the contributions of community colleges to educator preparation.
This update of AACTE’s signature report offers a comprehensive picture of the nation’s schools, colleges, and departments of education: the work that they do, the people who do that work, and the students they serve. The report describes the key trends and challenges in meeting the nation’s need for highly skilled educators.
Colleges and universities can benchmark their programs against peers, gain innovative ideas to grow and diversify enrollment through community college partnerships, and describe to stakeholders the challenges confronting educator preparation.
21 Mar2022
By Michael Rose
The House of Representatives and Senate both recently passed resolutions condemning threats of violence against historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Over the past several months, numerous bomb threats have been called in to HBCUs causing the colleges to cancel classes; disrupting campus environments; and increasing anxiety of students, faculty, and staff. At least 18 HBCUs received bomb threats on February 1, 2022, the first day of Black History Month. Unfortunately, to date no one individual or group has been found responsible for these reprehensible acts.
As the resolutions (H.Con.Res. 70/S.Res.534) note, HBCUs were established in response to discriminatory practices that excluded Black Americans from pursuing an education in the United States and they educate and produce a significant share of the nation’s Black leaders and innovators.
15 Mar2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Omnibus Spending Bill. The FY22 bill includes increases for education, but not nearly at the level that was originally requested by the Biden Administration. Considerable work lies ahead to secure a robust federal investment to support rebuilding and diversifying the special educator and specialized instructional personnel pipeline.
15 Mar2022
By Nicole Dunn
You may have heard the term “intersectionality” a lot lately, a term coined by Kimberlee Crenshaw in 1989 to describe how systems of oppression overlap to create distinct experiences for people with multiple identity categories. Those familiar with Crenshaw’s work know that the term was once used academically purely to shape legal conversations about racial and social injustice in systems, most notably policing. Now, “intersectionality” is part of the national lexicon, being used in the forefront of the country’s debates around racial and social injustice in the last few years; however, that should not dissuade educators from looking at their work through this lens.
For educators, intersectionality is used to frame the experiences of historical and current figures who have multiple identities when they teach. For example, during Women’s History Month, it’s important for educators to consider how the experiences of women of color, queer and trans women, women with disabilities, women with different body types, and multi-lingual women differ, and then represent them as such in their curriculum. Educators can build this intersectional teaching muscle by having conversations about their diverse experiences with one another and, as teachers, share research and resources that elevate the truth of women with intersectional identities in our schools. This is why, on International Women’s Day, we asked several of our members and staff to answer the question:
Why is integrating women’s history through an intersectional lens important to you and your work in education?
08 Mar2022
By Nicole Dunn
AACTE launches it celebration of 2022 Women’s History Month on International Women’s Day with a blog on the “herstory” of women leaders in education preparation. To help AACTE celebrate women leaders in the profession, please nominate a women-identified leader in educator preparation whom you would like us to recognize in Ed Prep Matters before the month ends.
The term “herstory” was coined in 1970 by Robin Morgan, editor of Sisterhood is Powerful, An Anthology of Writings from the Women’s Liberation Movement. It is used today to acknowledge the way in which women have been left out of our historical narratives. Most schools teach history through the lens of America’s default norms: white, cisgendered, and male. AACTE is committed to supporting its membership with their efforts to prepare candidates to equitably represent intersectional female narratives across disciplines.
08 Mar2022
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
AACTE will soon release the second edition of its signature report, Colleges of Education: A National Portrait. In addition to updating information on colleges of education and their leaders, faculty, and students, this edition features a special analysis on the contributions that community colleges make to educator preparation. Topics to be covered will include:
- Scope of educator preparation in the U.S.
- Trends in undergraduate and graduate degrees conferred in education
- Demographics of leaders and faculty
- Student demographics
- Contributions of community colleges to educator preparation
22 Feb2022
By Anthony Pittman and Anthony Broughton
This post is part of AACTE’s Black History Month 2022 Blog series.
Claflin University is pleased to have been invited by AACTE to help celebrate Black History Month. Founded in 1869, primarily to educate freed slaves, Claflin was the first historically Black college/University (HBCU) in South Carolina to open its doors to all people – regardless of race, class, gender, and/or any of the other social constructs that have been divisive across many components of society. For over 150 years, Claflin has remained committed to her mission, one in which diversity and inclusion are central to the development of visionary leaders and scholars in their chosen fields of study. At Claflin, our belief is that our graduates will make their marks on the world by leading innovative changes in various industries and professions across the globe.
Claflin University is located in the small city of Orangeburg, South Carolina and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and approved by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church. Among her numerous accolades, Claflin is ranked the #1 HBCU in the state, and for its 11th consecutive year, the University is in U.S. News & World Report’s “Top 10 of the Nation’s Best HBCUs.” As the oldest HBCU in the state of South Carolina, Claflin University’s commitment to teacher eucation has been consistently strong since its founding. She has produced teachers, principals, superintendents, and numerous other educational professionals who have made significant contributions to the myriad classrooms and other educational contexts within the state of SC and indeed across the United States and the world at large.
22 Feb2022
Driving the National Conversation to Recruit, Sustain, and Retain Diverse Teaching Candidates
By Amanda Morales
The AACTE Diversified Teacher Workforce Topical Action Group (TAG) will convene Pk-20 practitioners, researchers, and community stakeholders to discuss how to bolster collective efforts to recruit, sustain and retain teachers of color. The preconference event will take place on Thursday, March 3 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Grand Ballroom B, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Across the field of education (PK-20) students, teachers, administrators, teacher educators/professors, and program leaders continue to witness and lament the chronic disparities in representation and lack of ethno-racial and linguistic diversity among teachers (relative to their students) in our nation’s schools. And in the wake of a global pandemic, enduring civil unrest, the impending mass teacher exodus, and calls for racial justice related to systemic anti-Black, anti-Asian and anti-immigrant sentiments within all aspects of society, educational institutions are being forced to engage in introspection with greater magnitude. Teacher preparation programs in particular are feeling increased pressure to recruit, retain and effectively prepare a highly-qualified, racially-literate, and ethno-racially diverse pool of candidates as districts scramble to hire teachers with the content knowledge and pedagogical skills as well as the cultural and linguistic competencies needed to meet the needs of today’s students.
18 Feb2022
By Dawn Williams
This post is part of AACTE’s Black History Month 2022 Blog series.
As we are nearing the end of another Black History Month, this year somehow feels different. On one hand the increased representation of diversity in marketing and corporate settings is promising. On the other hand, the resurgence of attacks on the use of school curriculum that represents diverse lived experiences is troubling. We find ourselves fighting a history of structural racism while also trying to safeguard our health against a global pandemic. However, what has not changed is our steadfast commitment to “balance the scales for the disenfranchised and promote an America that is devoid of inequalities.”
15 Feb2022
By Nicole Dunn
This month, AACTE launched its Racial and Social Justice Hub, a place to learn, grow, inquire, and share resources with one another that address social injustices and advocate for the preparation of profession-ready educators. To help ensure AACTE is meeting the needs of the educator preparation community in advancing racial and social justice work, you are invited to complete a 90-second survey to inform future content – it’s not for you, without you.
08 Feb2022
By Anthony Webster
This post is part of AACTE’s Black History Month 2022 Blog series.
Every February, during Black History Month, we celebrate the countless contributions and achievements of notable Black inventors, educators, lawyers, and politicians from over the years. However, as I reflect, I remember to pay homage to the heroes and sheroes in my life who sacrificed to create a better tomorrow, from the Black teachers who inspired me during my PK-12 journey to the Black professors at my HBCU (Jackson State) who saw my potential and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. Because of them, I knew that getting to this point was possible.
08 Feb2022
By Nicole Dunn and Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE is committed to tackling systematic censorship within our country’s education system, alongside our members and partners, and it does so through an intersectional lens.
As an organization whose mission is to revolutionize education for all learners, AACTE developed the Racial and Social Justice Resource Hub to be a place for members to learn, grow, inquire, and share resources with one another that address social injustices and advocate for the preparation of profession-ready educators.
The Hub includes three sections: Education Censorship, Combating Racism, and LGBTQ+ Rights. Each section offers resources created by AACTE and its members and strategic partners, including articles, webinars and workshops, curriculum tools, and calls for action. Considering the ongoing efforts underway that limit educators’ teaching and discussion of our nation’s history, and other so-called divisive topics, AACTE is encouraging members to engage with the Hub to support your own teaching and scholarship.
01 Feb2022
By Nicole Dunn
Join AACTE in celebrating Black History Month by sharing your favorite resources for teaching Black history at the Ed Prep or PK-12 level. AACTE will compile this shared knowledge as a toolkit for teaching Black history every month of the year. Please take a moment to share your resources.
This post is the first of AACTE’s weekly Black History Month 2022 Blog series to celebrate members’ essential efforts to increase the representation of Black History in America’s schools. As a kickoff to the celebration, AACTE is releasing, for a limited time to the public, a recording of AACTE’s 2021 Annual Meeting Deeper Dive session, The 1619 Project.
Founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Lonnie Bunch, describes the museum as a place that “transcends the boundaries of race and culture that divide us and becomes a lens into a story that unites us all.” That is a powerful statement, and one AACTE and its members strive to emulate as it celebrates Black History, not just this month, but every day as AACTE advocates for curriculum and policies that are representative of the country’s diverse history.
Black History Month began as an effort to increase the representation in history classes of Black people’s contributions to America’s society, culture, and progress as a nation. Its origin lies in the thesis of Carter G. Woodson. According to an adaption of the National Museum of American History’s blog exhibit on Dr. Woodson, he was challenged by his dissertation advisors, who, according to Dr. Woodson, cautioned him time and again not to “undertake research that the Negro had a history.” Woodson knew that education is essential to social change — and AACTE honors that as part of its mission.
27 Jan2022
By Marybeth Gasman
PHOTO CREDIT: VON HARRIS PRODUCTIONS
This article originally appeared in Forbes and is reprinted with permission.
In 2020, vast changes in higher education due to racial justice movements and the impact of Covid-19, resulted in colleges and universities clamoring to respond with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. One aspect of this response came in the form of newly elected African American student body presidents and student leaders. Whereas the majority of these posts had been held by White students for decades, the “interlocking” of COVID-19 and racial justice turmoil prompted Black students to create platforms for change on their campuses, and as a result their classmates elected them to leadership positions.
25 Jan2022
By Margaret Gerry
The current demographics in the United States public school workforce are not representative of all students in American classroom settings. Though American classroom settings continue to grow in diversity, the teaching workforce remains predominantly white, middle class, and female. These racial inequalities in classroom settings may lead to biases, stereotype threats, and a need for more inclusive environments, thereby impacting student experiences in school settings in areas such as grades, disciplinary referrals, and teacher expectations of students. Across the field of education, stakeholders, including AACTE, are attempting to diversify the field in an attempt to improve the ability of our current teaching workforce to support their students who have different experiences from their own. In an era where, in the United States, our classrooms have never been more diverse with students from multiple cultures, socio-economic levels, and students with disabilities, how can we best prepare teachers to support all students in classroom settings?
