20 Dec2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.
OCR Enters Resolution Agreement with Virginia’s Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) Regarding the use of Restraint and Seclusion
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) in Virginia entered into a resolution agreement regarding the use of restraint and seclusion and the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. OCR identified concerns that SECEP may have denied FAPE to students with disabilities when it did not reevaluate students after multiple incidents of restraint and seclusion and when students missed significant instructional time.
13 Dec2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.
OCR Enters Resolution Agreement with (California) Davis Joint Unified School District
This week, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Davis Joint Unified School District in California has entered into a resolution agreement to ensure that its restraint and seclusion policies and practices do not deny students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
06 Dec2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.
Office of Civil Rights Comes to Agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) Over Students with Disabilities Receiving Services
On Wednesday, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced they have come to an agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools after the district failed to provide thousands of students with disabilities with the services required under law during the pandemic. “I am relieved that the more than 25,000 students with disabilities in Fairfax County will now receive services federal law promises to them, even during a pandemic, to ensure their equal access to education,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement.
The OCR investigation found that during the pandemic, Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest school district in Virginia, reduced its special education instruction and “inaccurately informed staff that the school division was not required to provide compensatory education to students with disabilities who did not receive a [free appropriate public education] during the COVID-19 pandemic because the school division was not at fault.”
28 Nov2022
By American Educational Research Association
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has released the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers, edited by Conra D. Gist and Travis J. Bristol.
A first of its kind, the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers addresses key issues and obstacles in ethnoracial diversity across the life course of teachers’ careers, such as recruitment and retention, professional development, and the role of minority-serving institutions.
21 Nov2022
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.
It has been a busy week in Washington with Members returning after the mid-term elections and the new freshman class of Members arriving on the Hill for orientation. Speaker Pelosi made the momentous decision to step down from Democratic leadership. Speaker Pelosi is a historic figure, having become, at the time, the most powerful elected woman in U.S. history when she assumed the Speakership in 2007. The decision to step back from leadership paves the way for a new generation of Democrats to rise in the ranks; Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Vice Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) are viewed as the heirs apparent to the “big three” — House Democratic Leader, House Democratic Whip, and Democratic Caucus Chair. In remarks to her colleagues on the House floor, Speaker Pelosi recalled the first time she saw the Capitol, saying “I will never forget the first time I saw the Capitol.[…]The Capitol is a temple of our Democracy, of our Constitution, of our highest ideals[…] Indeed, American Democracy is majestic — but it is fragile.” Thank you Madam Speaker, for your years of dedicated service to the Republic.
21 Nov2022
By Kaitlyn Brennan
The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.
Florida Judge Blocks “Stop-WOKE” Act for Colleges
A federal judge on Thursday halted a key piece of the “Stop-WOKE” Act, blocking state officials from enforcing what U.S Chief District Judge Mark Walker called a “positively dystopian” policy that restricts how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities.
21 Nov2022
By Kansas City Teacher Residency
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has given away nearly $2 billion over the last 7 months, and a Kansas City nonprofit just became the latest recipient of her generosity. Kansas City Teacher Residency (KCTR) is pleased to announce the acceptance of a $5 million donation. This award will be utilized to support KCTR’s ongoing work and secure the organization’s future for the long term. These funds will allow KCTR to recruit, cultivate, and retain more diverse teachers in the communities we are serving and in turn provide equitable classrooms for all students.
21 Nov2022
By UNI College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences
This article was originally published by Inside UNI.
The United States Department of Education has awarded two University of Northern Iowa professors a $1.48 million grant to launch a new project to improve English as a second language (ESL) instruction for both pre-service and in-service teachers.
Aliza Fones and Carmen Durham, both assistant professors of TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages)/applied linguistics, were awarded the grant to carry out Project UNITED (University of Northern Iowa Teacher Education for Diverse Learners).
Project UNITED will provide research-based ESL teacher preparation and professional development to current and future teachers.
21 Nov2022
By Savannah Peat
This article was originally published by the University of New Mexico Newsroom.
A large part of the next wave of Indigenous school principals will come from The University of New Mexico.
There’s a growing group of dedicated learners aiming for that goal, in the Promoting Our Leadership, Learning, and Empowering Nations (POLLEN) program housed in the College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS).
This immersive, licensure program began in 2016 to put teachers on a direct pathway to higher leadership in Indigenous or Native-serving schools. It has since received roughly $750,000 in grant funding to secure the future of principals and learners.
01 Nov2022
By Brandi Palmer
AACTE is launching “75 Days/75 Ways,” a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of ways to support changes that ensure every student has a highly trained and qualified teacher in their classroom and equitable education is available for all learners.
31 Oct2022
By Brandi Palmer
AACTE thought leaders have spoken about issues ranging from solutions to the teacher shortage to the impact of censorship on education over the past month.
As a result, AACTE has been cited in stories about colleges innovating ways to fill teacher jobs, reinvigorating interest among students in the teaching profession, and celebrating the next generation of teachers.
31 Oct2022
By University of San Diego Media Relations Office
The School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) at the University of San Diego has received a $1.5 million grant from the San Diego Foundation to develop and launch the Black InGenius Initiative (BiGI)– a college access and early literacy program for Black students within the San Diego region.
Sixty rising sixth graders will be selected for BiGI every year starting in fall 2023. USD will provide students with consistent academic support delivered by SOLES students and faculty trained in neurodivergent teaching, which is the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in different ways, therefore there is no one “right” way of thinking, learning or behaving.
25 Oct2022
By Lynn M. Gangone
With the onset of a new academic year, AACTE is optimistic about the future of the profession as there has been positive movement in policies and legislation that addresses the challenges educators and educator preparation programs face. However, to maintain forward momentum, we must continue to advocate at the local, state, and federal levels.
As an education leader, your voice matters. That’s why I am asking you to participate in AACTE’s
75 Days | 75 Ways to Advocate for Education campaign. Developed to mark AACTE’s 75th anniversary, the movement centers around raising national awareness of ways to advocate for change that ensures every student has a highly trained and qualified teacher in their classroom and equitable education is available for all learners.
18 Oct2022
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.
While Congress is on an extended recess leading into the mid-term elections, work behind the scenes continues. Washington Update typically breaks with Congress, but you can expect to see updates coming to your inbox leading up to the mid-terms.
11 Oct2022
By Alexander Cuenca
In 2021, Indiana joined the Consortium for Research Based and Equitable Assessments (CREA), an initiative by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education to examine state-level certification assessment scores and their impact on promoting a diverse educator workforce. Our state team consisted of faculty from Indiana University’s School of Education, representatives from the Indiana Department of Education, and school district administrators from Indiana’s public schools. Together, we looked at our state-level data on entrance and content area licensure exams and reached the same conclusion many have reached for decades in Indiana and across the United States: significant pass rate gaps between white and Black teacher candidates.
