22 Aug2017
By Lynn M. Gangone
The AACTE Quality Support Workshop this month was an inspirational model of improvement in action. During my 3 days in Minneapolis, I witnessed a profound commitment among participants to ensure high levels of quality in their programs. Understanding standards and evidence more deeply, using data more strategically, and creating more effective quality assurance systems were some of the topics covered.
Dedication to continuous improvement is shared by AACTE’s members and the Association itself. To that end, the AACTE team is focusing the first part of this new academic year on an extensive review of the organization’s operations and programs, facilitated by an experienced consulting firm with assistance from a staff steering committee (see this recent article by Vice President Rod Lucero). In addition, an Association-wide member survey launches in September, and we’re counting on your participation to inform our work going forward. AACTE is always looking to improve and meet the changing needs of the membership.
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:
18 Jul2017
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 authors 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 “Capturing the Complex, Situated, and Active Nature of Teaching Through Inquiry-Oriented Standards for Teaching” by Claire Sinnema, Frauke Meyer, and Graeme Aitken of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The article, which appears in the January/February 2017 issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:
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?
20 Jun2017
By Mary Curran
Have you ever wondered what it takes to develop a teacher education program that prepares teachers to teach for global competence? Or how your own educator preparation unit is progressing in its efforts to internationalize?
If you are a dean/director of teacher education, you can take a survey this summer to find out. AACTE’s Internationalizing Teacher Education Topical Action Group (TAG), Global Teacher Education Inc. (GTEI), and the Longview Foundation have combined resources to create a self-reflection tool that will help teacher education deans and directors assess their own colleges’ internationalization efforts.
15 Jun2017
By Kristin McCabe
Data, data everywhere – so now what do you do? When you are awash in student test scores, survey responses, or research results, how do you determine what they mean – and what actions to take as a result?
For a concise and engaging introduction to data sources, uses, and improvement processes, try AACTE’s online professional seminar Using Data to Improve Student Outcomes, opening July 17 for a 3-week run on the FutureLearn social-learning platform. It requires only 3 hours per week and costs nothing! (Or you may choose to upgrade your enrollment, for a fee, to participate in tests, obtain a completion certificate, and gain unlimited access to course materials in the future. A completion certificate is required if you plan to become an AACTE consultant.)
01 May2017
By Sharon Brennan
The author and her collaborators presented a free AACTE webinar last month, “Building Teachers’ Cultural and Global Awareness to ‘Reach and Teach’ All Students”; the webinar recording and slides are available here. See also her earlier blogs on this topic, “Preparing Teachers to ‘Reach and Teach’ All Students” and “The Nature of Cultural and Global Learning: Key Concepts for Teacher Preparation.” The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The University of Kentucky has been working to transform education programs to better prepare teachers for the diversity of their future classrooms. But we are hardly alone – educator preparation programs, state agencies, accrediting bodies, and others are all directing energy and support toward ensuring the education workforce is prepared to reach and teach all students.
21 Mar2017
By Amanda Lester
In conjunction with the 69th Annual Meeting, AACTE hosted a daylong workshop March 1 titled “Strengthening Leadership Through Communities of Professional Learning Educational Leadership Preconference,” sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. The event was attended by higher education leaders from across the nation, who shared model strategies and identified priorities and actions needed to strengthen principal preparation across local contexts.
The agenda featured two interactive segments, both of which explored ways to renew principal preparation programs through collaborative action.
10 Mar2017
By Kristin McCabe
Are you preparing for a CAEP accreditation visit? Wondering how to apply evidence from your candidates’ performance assessments to make sure your program prepares them for key practices? Or perhaps you’re looking for new ideas for recruiting and supporting a more diverse candidate pool? Find the guidance you need at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop!
In just over 6 weeks, AACTE will bring expert facilitators and a selection of workshop sessions to Fort Worth, Texas, April 24-26. We’ve just posted a detailed schedule with descriptions of session choices to help you plan your time effectively (download the PDF here).
21 Feb2017
By Kristin McCabe
How can you unleash the power of teacher leaders to connect preservice and in-service educators … to enhance clinical partnerships between educator preparation providers and PK-12 schools … and to inform the quality of programs and practice across the continuum of teacher development? Join with peers from your region at an AACTE Quality Support Workshop to construct solutions collaboratively to these and other compelling issues around performance assessment, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.
These workshops will be offered in three regions this year: Fort Worth, Texas (April 24-26); Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 10-12), and Seattle, Washington (November 9-11). At each event, over two half days and one full day, participants will engage in interactive plenary sessions, select from a variety of topics available in break-out blocks, have dedicated time to work in teams and consult with facilitators, and enjoy networking receptions to wrap up each day. See the chart below for an overview of the draft program for the Fort Worth workshop (and visit our website for specific dates and times).
02 Feb2017
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE’s Committee on Innovation and Technology has selected the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University to receive the 2017 AACTE Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology. The award will be presented during the Speaker Spotlight Session on Saturday, March 4, at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida.
About 5 years ago, the college eliminated its stand-alone educational technology course and instead began infusing the tech content into methods courses. Because of the college’s large size, this undertaking required massive support and commitment among dozens of faculty and administrators. Their infusion initiative was based on a vision to prepare students to teach and learn with technology, achieved through four components:
17 Jan2017
By Rodrick Lucero
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement is offering free mentoring services for educator preparation programs to help design, implement, and improve teacher and principal development initiatives. State education agencies, school districts, and other organizations that are actively working to improve teacher and principal preparation or development are also encouraged to participate.
The services will be provided by nonprofit organizations that have received federal Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grants and that are experienced in implementing educator preparation and professional development initiatives.
15 Dec2016
By Sharon Robinson
I am excited to announce AACTE’s plans to enhance the online professional seminars offered through our Quality Support Center. Thanks to a new partnership with FutureLearn, a global leader in online learning, our short courses on quality assurance topics will relaunch in 2017 with clearer presentations, better graphics, and a broader peer community.
AACTE originally developed the series of six courses in 2015 in response to your request for affordable and widely accessible training on how to use data wisely, build evidence for state and national program reviews, and address other quality concerns. Hundreds of you have already taken at least one of these courses, and your enthusiasm and valuable feedback informed our decision to ramp up the offerings. In short, we are engaging in our own continuous improvement!
17 Nov2016
By Jill A. Perry
Left to right: Stephen Pape, Jimmie Walker (award winner), and Camille Bryant of Johns Hopkins University
The 18th convening of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) took place October 24-26 on the campus of Augusta University (GA). Faculty members from 80 member colleges and schools of education explored the program theme “Inquiry as Practice: Understanding the Research Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Scholarly Practitioners Need to Improve Problems of Practice.”
Rick Mintrop of the University of California-Berkeley challenged the group to consider design-based inquiry as a potential signature pedagogy for preparing professional practitioners. “We should spend design energy only on ‘wicked problems’ for which there is no current conventional solution,” he urged.
24 Oct2016
By Linda McKee
Registration is now open for AACTE’s first Quality Support Workshop, to be held April 24-26 in Fort Worth, Texas. Bring your team for 2 days of hands-on, expert-facilitated learning and planning around performance assessment, continuous improvement, and quality assurance.
The event is the first in a new series of regional workshops announced last month, offered through the AACTE Quality Support Center. A core component of AACTE’s mission is to support institutions’ continuous improvement efforts. With learning outcomes focused on topics of national or local interest, these workshops will provide accessible, targeted support for teams of faculty and staff.
