21 Oct2024
By Anna Flanders
This article was originally published on the University of Northern Iowa’s website and is reprinted with permission.
Photo credit: Sheri Miller
The seven teachers that comprise the third-grade team in the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District in Vinton, Iowa, all share a special bond. Not only do they connect as educators in the same community, but they all can trace their roots back to the top producer of teachers in the state: the University of Northern Iowa. They share the same foundation through UNI Teacher Education — and a special affinity for donning UNI gear on Panther Fridays.
“I think there is a sense of pride and respect for one another,” said Shelley Haisman, a 1995 graduate. “When you meet a teacher who has graduated from UNI, there is a sense that you know they are going to do a great job because they have been well trained.”
26 Feb2024
By U.S. Department of Education
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released four new resources today with information for students, parents and families, and schools addressing the civil rights of students with disabilities, as well as a data snapshot about education access for students with disabilities drawn from OCR’s 2020-21 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).
OCR issued these new resources to inform students with disabilities, and their families and schools, about their legal rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities by institutions that accept federal financial assistance, which includes almost all public schools and public and private institutions of higher education.
“We issued these new resources to give students, including those with asthma, diabetes, food allergies, and GERD, as well as their families and schools, important tools to understand when and how they are protected by federal disability rights laws,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon.
08 Jan2024
By Deborah Boyd
This blog article is part of the Global Education Faculty PLC Professional Development Series, sponsored by the Longview Foundation. The writing series aims to elevate the perspectives of international scholars, including teacher educators, graduate students, and alike, to offer insights into how Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) can integrate intercultural understanding within their programs. AACTE members interested in participating in the series should contact Brooke Evans at mailto:bevans@aacte.org.
Faculty members often help candidates build intercultural understandings during individual courses. Still, embedding this into already packed teacher/leader preparation at a programmatic level can be a challenge. Those of us in educator preparation programs (EPPs) can agree with Andreas Schleicher, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) director for education and skills, who says, “It takes deliberate and systematic efforts to create the global competence through which we can share experiences, ideas, and innovation with others, and increase our radius of trust to other countries and cultures.”
Programmatic global competence requires intentional planning, consistent implementation, and thoughtful reflection to ensure candidates see these understandings as integral to teaching and leading. While every college develops these skills differently, in this blog I detail some of the ways our college works to integrate intercultural understanding, depending on the level (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, graduate) and the program (teacher or leader).
12 Dec2023
By Tyler Pointer
AACTE’s Senior Advisor Jacqueline King, Ph.D., was recently featured in The EdSurge Podcast where she discussed enrollment trends in teacher education programs across the United States with host Jeffrey R. Young.
The episode, entitled “The Growing Push to Recruit New Teachers,” goes in-depth on recruitment efforts from schools of education and how some of those efforts focus on further diversifying the profession.
The episode is available to listen to on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and other major streaming platforms.
26 Oct2023
Spurring Advancements in Education Technology, Georgia State Partnership Benefits Students and Educators Around the World
By Georgia State University
Imagine an app at a child’s fingertips that uses insights about how they learn to help them solve a tricky math problem or a learning platform that can help upskill workers for the new economy. These are just two of the ideas that could soon be a reality thanks to a transformative undertaking known as the Tools Competition.
The competition was started in 2020 by The Learning Agency at the height of the COVID-19 epidemic as educators switched to emergency, online education. It brings together technologists, researchers, and educators from around the world to develop innovative learning solutions. Since its first cycle, the competition has named 80 winning ideas from 35 countries.
Georgia State University is a partner in the initiative which just launched — through November 10 — its latest search for candidates to design and develop cutting-edge, creative ideas to propel education technology further.
23 Oct2023
By Vorhees University
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Voorhees University a $26.7 million grant to serve more than 850 teachers and nearly 11,000 students.
Voorhees’ Center of Excellence for Educator Preparation and Innovation is receiving a new Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program grant to improve student achievement in Fairfield County School District and Georgetown County School District.
The REAP: Rewarding Educator Achievement and Performance grant aims to improve the quality of education, elevate educator effectiveness, raise student achievement, and increase equity in learning.
05 Jul2023
By AACTE
The Supreme Court’s recent decision to deny student loan debt relief to as many as 40 million low- and middle-income Americans will have many adverse personal, economic, and social consequences. One of those consequences will be to exacerbate the nation’s shortage of PK-12 educators. By making it less affordable to become or remain a teacher, principal, or other education professional, this decision will impede our ability to build the diverse, highly qualified educator workforce that our nation’s children need and deserve.
Student loan debt plays a significant role in shaping the education workforce. Concern about compensation—including being able to repay student loans—is the most commonly cited factor dissuading young people from choosing teaching as a career. AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) has documented that, because teachers earn less than other college-educated workers, even comparatively modest levels of student loan debt are difficult to afford. This problem is particularly acute for students of color, and so these students are far less likely to choose education as a career compared with better compensated fields such as business or healthcare. Moreover, current educators who were counting on debt relief will now be forced to leave education for better paying jobs and those who had hoped to advance in their careers by pursuing graduate education will be unable to do so.
07 Mar2023
By Kaitlyn Brennan
In February, the House Education and Workforce Committee held their first hearing: “American Education in Crisis.” During the chairwoman’s opening remarks, Virginia Foxx (R-NC) expressed her support for H.R.5 , more commonly referred to as “The Parent Bill of Rights.” The legislation was first introduced in the 117th Congress and would require K-12 school districts receiving federal funding to publicly post their curriculum and annually provide parents with a list of books in the school library, a breakdown of school expenditures, the ability to opt their child out of all data collection, and more. As anticipated, on Wednesday, House Republicans reintroduced the bill.
10 Jan2023
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.
Just before the holiday break, Members of Congress completed their final task as the 117th Congress — passing the FY2023 omnibus spending package. The bill provides a $3.2 billion increase over the FY2022 level of funding provided to the Department of Education, with several significant increases in programmatic funding to address the educator workforce.
10 Jan2023
By Michael Rose
The Biden-Harris Administration today announced a new proposal to reduce the cost of federal student loan payments, especially for low- and middle-income borrowers.
While AACTE is generally supportive of the proposal, which according to a fact sheet will make college more affordable for perspective educators, additional steps must be taken to address the nationwide shortage of highly qualified, diverse teachers in our classrooms. AACTE looks forward to working with the Administration, Congress and state officials to develop and implement policies that achieve these goals.
03 Jan2023
By Texas State University College of Education
Texas State University’s teacher education program has been selected as a Raising Texas Teachers partner, a 10-year, $50 million statewide teacher workforce initiative supported by the Charles Butt Foundation.
“This recognition speaks to our university’s historic roots as a teacher’s college up to our role today in graduating more teachers fully prepared for the classroom than any other university in Texas,” said Michael O’Malley, dean of the College of Education at Texas State. “Working with the Charles Butt Foundation has been a transformative partnership for our teacher education program that benefits not only our students, but the children they will educate throughout their careers.”
Texas State joins 15 universities currently participating in partner teacher programs across the state.
06 Dec2022
By Michael Rose
Recently, the U.S. Department of Education issued a reminder that TEACH Grants are available to those who are interested in pursuing a career in education.
The TEACH Grant Program, which was created approximately 15 years ago, provides grants of up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching. A TEACH Grant-eligible program is a program of study that is designed to prepare you to teach as a highly qualified teacher in a high-need field and that leads to a bachelor’s or master’s degree or is a post-baccalaureate program. A two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree is considered a program that leads to a bachelor’s degree.
06 Dec2022
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.
The countdown is on for Congress to pass a fiscal year (FY) 2023 package before the 117th Congress ends at the end of this month. As you will recall, the government is currently operating on a continuing resolution. Essentially what this means is the government is operating on last fiscal year’s funding levels through December 16. At that time, a budget or another continuing resolution must pass or the government will shut down. While its widely reported that the four corners have not yet agreed on top line numbers, many believe a budget will pass before the 118th Congress begins, even if that means working up to Christmas Eve. Stay tuned!
29 Nov2022
By Martin Walls
This article was originally published by Syracuse University News.
Syracuse University’s relationship with its close neighbor, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has been a long and fruitful one. After all, SUNY-ESF was founded as a unit of SU in 1911, and today the two universities share resources, their professors collaborate, and students mingle across the two campuses, take classes together, join cross-campus organizations, and—sometimes—graduate from one college and into the other.
That last scenario is certainly the case for six SUNY-ESF graduates who, in summer 2022, enrolled in the School of Education’s (SOE) 13-month master’s degree program in science education (Grades 7-12).
04 Nov2022
By Michael Staton
This article was originally published by Clemson News and is reprinted with permission.
Catherine Griffith serves as a clinical associate professor of special education in the Department of Education and Human Development at Clemson University. She coordinates the Master of Education program in Special Education with emphases in academic and behavioral interventions and teaches coursework on individuals with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders, intensive academic interventions, and applied behavior analysis.
