22 Jun2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
AACTE is excited to announce a new opportunity for members to pilot the PlanWise™ tool, a Chrome Extension developed by ETS and focused on delivering formative assessment practices and strategies. The PlanWise™ tool meets teachers where they are in a number of ways, including by providing suggestions for formative assessment strategies to teachers and teacher candidates while they are lesson planning in Google Docs. After an initial pilot with K-12 teachers, there is increased interest in expanding use of the PlanWise™ tool to teacher candidates. Many novice teachers in the initial pilot valued the utility of the tool in identifying a variety of new formative assessment strategies and indicated that the strategies increased their use of formative assessment with students.
17 Jun2021
By James Loy
Ed Prep Matters features the “AACTE Teacher Stories,” series to spotlight the experiences of K-12 educators who are attending or are alumni of AACTE member institutions. AACTE invites preservice and in-service school teachers to reflect on how they are applying the practices, frameworks, and strategies they acquired during their educator preparation program (EPP) studies to assure student success. Email stories to knorfleet@aacte.org.
In this article, Miami University’s James Loy profiles Alli Huff, an alumna of the university’s teacher education program, who shares how she applied concepts like “inverting the curriculum” that propelled students to become co-curriculum creators. Huff was introduced to the student-centered approach by her teacher preparation program educators. The article originally appeared on the University of Miami website and is reprinted with permission.
14 Jun2021
By Linda Minor
Why wait to submit your application for the 2022 AACTE Awards? Avoid the stress of a last-minute rush and submit your entry early. AACTE Awards can be either self-nominated or nominated by a third party. To submit your nomination, visit AACTE’s online submission site.
Winning entries will be selected by AACTE’s Programmatic Advisory Committees and recognized formally at the 2022 Annual Meeting, March 4-6, in New Orleans, LA.
This is the 26th year AACTE’s awards program has been recognizing member institutions’ exemplary programs as well as individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to education preparation. For an overview of the 2021 award winners, see this press release.
08 Jun2021
By Diana Fingal
It’s not enough for educators to know how to use technology; they have to understand the pedagogical principals underpinning the tools so that tech is used effectively and gives students agency over their learning.
For example, technology should not merely be a replacement for nontech tools. An electronic whiteboard is merely an expensive chalkboard if teachers use it only to project lessons and homework assignments. But technology can transform learning when it is used in a way that allows students to collaborate with peers and experts across great distances, gather and analyze large data sets, and use creation tools to make art that can be critiqued by an engaged audience.
27 May2021
By Mandi Jo John
How can we train teachers to elicit student thinking in ways that position students as sense-makers without being able to place them directly in the field?
The newest episode of Mursion’s Education Roundtable Series will dive into Oakland University’s account of how its math and social studies training program is implementing mixed reality simulations to replace and/or augment field experiences during the global coronavirus pandemic.
On June 8, Sue Wiley will be joined by Dawn Woods, Linda Doornbos, and Cynthia Carver from Oakland University in Rochester, MI. to present their findings. During the Roundtable, the team will discuss emerging themes from their research, such as how simulations supported the development of justice-oriented high-leverage practices within their teacher education program.
The Education Roundtable: The Argument for Mixed Reality Simulations in Teacher Preparation, will include a live simulation demo, as well as a Q&A session where attendees can ask questions about their findings as well as funding, vouchers, and more.
Register now for this free Roundtable.
24 May2021
By Meghan Grenda
AACTE and GoReact recently announced a partnership that grants members additional access to video assessment tools. GoReact provides colleges and universities with interactive tools to facilitate video observation, coaching, and assessment for teacher educators everywhere. The software provides live and remote observation and assessment via simple, interactive tools, where candidates receive individualized feedback.
Through the partnership, all AACTE members receive complimentary usage of GoReact’s video assessment platform.
- If you are not yet a GoReact user, your AACTE membership grants you free access until July 31, 2021.
- If you are an existing GoReact user, your AACTE membership grants you expanded access until July 31, 2021.
10 May2021
By Mark J. Hofer, Teresa Foulger, Kevin J. Graziano, John K. Lee, Denise Schmidt-Crawford and David Slykhuis
AACTE is partnering with the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) to provide AACTE members with a reduced rate for the Teacher Educator Technology Competencies (TETC) professional development modules. Learn more about the series of self-paced online courses from the TETC research team.
Looking back, it seems as if we have been on an almost impossible journey. In response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we faced the closure of campuses and an abrupt and extraordinarily difficult transition to remote teaching and learning. Given the relational and experiential nature of teaching, remote learning has been particularly difficult for teacher preparation programs. We found it extraordinarily difficult to replace the modeling and mentoring that our pre-service teachers needed using remote experiences. Working from home and balancing various responsibilities including caring for loved ones and supporting our own children’s learning only added to the challenge. Undoubtedly, this has been one of the most challenging times many of us have ever experienced.
And yet, despite all this, there have been some bright spots. Faculty have explored new ways of guiding learning, developed a range of new skills with educational technologies, and were reminded of the value and importance of deep human connection in teaching and learning (Ferdig et al., 2020). Some faculty have even reported that they are planning to carry over aspects of remote teaching when they transition back to the “normalcy” in our schools and classrooms; whatever that will be (also, see these hopeful posts on the AACTE blog, Clausen, et al, 2021; Hyler, 2020; Slykhuis, 2020).
05 May2021
By Mandi Jo John
Exactly two months to the day after President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 with $125 billion carved out for education, Mursion will host Jacqueline Rodriguez, vice president for research, policy, & advocacy at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), for a candid discussion on the challenges and opportunities ahead. From her unique perspective, Rodriguez will share AACTE’s continuing important work for addressing learning loss, critical societal matters that affect education, and the shortage of teachers that has not abated.
26 Apr2021
By Jerrica Thurman
Time is running out to register for AACTE’s upcoming webinar, “Leaning in and Leading Through Crisis,” on April 29 at 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Join Education Deans Gaëtane Jean-Marie, Kimberly White-Smith, and Marcie Wycoff-Horn in a deeper dive about how to thrive while navigating the COVID-19 and racial and social justice crises, which have impacted institutions across the nation. As equity-minded leaders, these deans will address ways to meet faculty and students’ needs by starting with empathy and ending with action.
23 Apr2021
By Linda Minor
AACTE wants to recognize individuals and institutions for significant contributions to the field of educator preparation. Applications for the 2022 AACTE awards are now open. For most of the awards, programs and individuals can be either self-nominated or nominated by a third party. To submit your nomination, visit AACTE’s online submission site.
In identifying notable programs, practices, activities, writing, and research, these awards encourage all member institutions to strengthen the profession of teacher preparation through innovation, high standards, and leadership.
Entries for the Outstanding Book Award are due May 14 and entries for the Outstanding Dissertation Award are due August 20. The due date for all other award submissions is October 8.
13 Apr2021
By Linda Darling-Hammond and Adam K. Edgerton
This post was originally published on April 5, 2021 by Forbes, and is part of LPI’s Learning in the Time of COVID-19 blog series, which explores strategies and investments to address the current crisis and build long-term systems capacity.
After a year of struggling with distance learning and hybrid models, parents, teachers, and policymakers across the country are concerned about “learning loss” and how to recover from the educational effects of the pandemic. While many of us resist the deficit orientation of learning loss language, these concerns are certainly legitimate: As the crisis began, millions of children, particularly those in low-income communities, lacked access to the computers and connectivity that would make in-person remote learning possible, creating even greater equity gaps than those that already existed.
Furthermore, many low-income communities and communities of color have been especially hard hit by COVID-19, with higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death, as well as greater rates of unemployment and housing and food insecurity. These traumatic events, coupled with the ongoing instances of police shootings of unarmed civilians, have led to a growing and ever more visible divide between the haves and the have-nots, with many students encountering barriers to keeping up in school and others disengaging from school altogether.
12 Apr2021
By Jacqueline Rodriguez
We learned so much from our education deans during the 2021 Annual Meeting that we are hosting a webinar on April 29 to dive deeper into leaning in and leading through the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of systemic racism on campus and within their communities.
Educator preparation leaders, specifically, are managing the twin crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice within and across the nation’s institutions. We can all agree that the shift we experienced in our personal and professional lives as we witnessed horrific tragedies grounded in racism and discrimination continues to rock our schools and communities. As equity-minded leaders, three deans addressed faculty and student needs by starting with empathy and ending with action.
03 Apr2021
By Mandi Jo John
The newest installment of the AACTE and Mursion Education Roundtable series features high school students using virtual reality (VR) to demonstrate their curriculum-building skills for a chance to earn a scholarship. The roundtable discussion, Innovative Training for Everyday Heroes: University of Wyoming on the use of Virtual Practice for the next Generation of Educators, will take place on April 13 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Sue Wiley, business development director for education at Mursion, will host Lindsay Freeman and Colby Gull from the University of Wyoming to discuss the WYTeach Contest. During the session, the group will discuss this innovative project and how the team is using Mursion VR Simulations to recreate the classroom environment and replicate a real-world teaching experience.
18 Mar2021
By Leslie T. Fenwick
Earlier this year, in my role as AACTE’s dean in residence, I had the privilege of interviewing 13 engaged and knowledgeable thought-leaders at influential grant-making and public policy organizations, as well as a cross-section of deans of education at diverse U.S. institutions. These individuals are leaders at Carnegie Foundation of New York, Spencer Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Harvard University, Clark Atlanta University (an HBCU), Kansas State University (a land grant institution), Excelencia in Education, the Washington Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, and the Center for American Progress, among others.
I began the interviews asking these leaders two questions related to AACTE’s new vision which is to collaborate with members and partners to revolutionize education for all learners.
- Is “revolution” the most appropriate term to describe what is needed in our PK-12 education system?
- Is a revolution needed? If so, what do you think it will take to revolutionize education for all PK-12 learners?
16 Mar2021
By Leslie Ekpe
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought immediate changes to the normalcy of pedagogy practiced within the classroom. Because of the changes, educators are tasked with establishing innovative approaches to teaching in making the learning process more engaging. For a variety of factors, technology-enhanced learning (TEL) is critical. It is critical not only because it is the current educational standard but also because it can enhance the way we develop the education system (Carrillo and Flores, 2020). The Applying Technology-Enhanced Teaching Strategies to the New Normal in 2021 and Beyond session at the AACTE 2021 Annual Meeting took a deeper dive into the need for more teacher preparation programs that adopt inclusive approaches to educating at all levels of education.
