06 May2024
Article 2 of Exploring Leadership Diversity in Educator Preparation Programs: An Asian/American Perspective
By Rachel Endo and Nicholas Hartlep
The “Exploring Leadership Diversity in Educator Preparation Programs: An Asian/American Perspective” series is a multi-article study that aims to share the discoveries of a yearlong study that Nicholas D. Hartlep, Ph.D., and Rachel Endo, Ph.D., undertook during the 2023–2024 academic year. Their qualitative study explored the experiences of current and former Asian/American Education Preparation Program (EPP) leaders via surveys and interviews. The first two articles of this series will set the stage for continuation.
In this article, the authors highlight current demographic trends of PK-12 teachers/students and higher education faculty/students. The authors argue that there is a democratic imperative that educator preparation programs (EPPs) diversify their leadership.
06 May2024
Article 1 of Exploring Leadership Diversity in Educator Preparation Programs: An Asian/American Perspective
By Rachel Endo and Nicholas Hartlep
Introduction
The “Exploring Leadership Diversity in Educator Preparation Programs: An Asian/American Perspective” series is a multi-article study that aims to share the discoveries of a yearlong study that Nicholas D. Hartlep, Ph.D., and Rachel Endo, Ph.D., undertook during the 2023–2024 academic year. Their qualitative study explored the experiences of current and former Asian/American Education Preparation Program (EPP) leaders via surveys and interviews. The first two articles of this series will set the stage for continuation.
In this article, the authors introduce themselves and their leadership perspectives as Asian/Americans. This thought leadership series is being sponsored by AACTE and focuses on Asian/American Leaders of educator preparation programs (EPPs).
02 May2024
By Anne Tapp Jaksa
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education continues to reshape teaching and learning landscapes. Our commitment to understanding this transformation is exemplified through our ongoing research, focused on the perceptions and experiences of PK-12 and post-secondary educators with AI tools. As AI’s influence grows, it is crucial to gather and analyze insights from those at the forefront of educational innovation — our pre-service and in-service educators and school administrators.
In a recent study, a majority of educational stakeholders expressed favorable views toward AI tools (Impact Research, 2023b). Yet, detailed understanding of how these tools are being utilized and their impacts remains limited. Surveys tailored to capture the nuanced experiences and perceptions of undergraduate and graduate students within educator preparation programs (EPPs) will explore these dynamics further, providing a comparative analysis with high school students’ AI engagement (Schiel, Bobek, & Schnieders, 2023).
01 May2024
By U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced at the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) Attaining College Excellence and Equity Summit the release of a Request for Information (RFI) to develop a new Postsecondary Student Success Recognition Program that will uplift institutions of higher education that support all students to complete affordable credentials of value that prepare them for success. Members of the public will have 30 days to submit suggestions to the Department about this new annual recognition program.
“Imagine a world where schools with the most Pell Grant recipients are ranked highest in U.S. News and World Report, where ‘prestige’ is defined by preparing graduates well to enter the workforce and lead fulfilling lives and careers—sometimes right in their own communities. Imagine universities raising the bar for access and equity becoming household names. This award seeks to make that world possible,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona today in his remarks. “Instead of giving schools high marks for the number of students they turn down, we want to recognize schools doing the most to lift students up.”
23 Apr2024
How Does Your Preparation Program Compare?
By Teresa Foulger
AACTE has long emphasized the need for a more robust integration of technology in teacher preparation programs. This vision involves a shift beyond mere coursework on educational technology to a comprehensive, program-wide infusion of technology, helping candidates graduate from programs as technologically proficient teachers. How does your preparation program compare to the literature on technology infusion?
The Vision of Technology Infusion
QR Code to Survey
Technology Infusion represents a holistic strategy to empower preservice teachers with high-level proficiency with the digital tools necessary for PK-12 students to engage in modern-day learning experiences. This approach ensures that candidates benefit from continuous, developmentally appropriate exposure to technology’s potential to be seamlessly addressed throughout their training – including methods courses and clinical experiences. By sharing the responsibility of teaching the technology integration curriculum, faculty members and PK-12 mentors can support the necessary teaching, modeling, and support for candidates’ growth in teaching with technology across faculty members and PK12 mentor teachers, theoretical foundations for technology integration, effective teaching practices, and policy that is essential for candidates to develop self-efficacy for teaching with technology as they graduate.
22 Apr2024
By Valerie Hill-Jackson
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) is seeking proposals for a special issue on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Volume 76, issue three. Generative AI is an artificial intelligence model that can create new content, mimicking certain styles or patterns in existing data. While AI has been part of the educational landscape for an extended period, generative AI is a relative newcomer. As a consumer product, generative AI broke into the mainstream with the release of Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) in November 2022. Since then, educators have been grappling with its implications for learning in K-12 and, as a result, in teacher education.
Advancing the conversation and the knowledge base around generative AI in education aligns with AACTE’s position to advance the quality of Educator preparation and enhance the educational experience for all students.
15 Apr2024
By Laurel White
The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education has announced a $2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation to measure the process and outcomes of equity-centered leadership in schools.
The funding will support the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning–Mapping Equity Indicators (CALL-MEI) project, co-led by UW-Madison Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis professors Rich Halverson and Christopher Saldaña and Columbia University Teachers College professor Alex Bowers. The two-year project aims to develop new equity indicators, evidence models, and data tools. To that end, researchers will work with eight school districts across the country and identify public datasets that can serve as evidence for equity indicators and develop visualization tools for district and school leaders to track the progress of equity-related leadership efforts.
02 Apr2024
By Lauren Wong
My name is Lauren Wong and I am from WestEd, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization engaged in educational technical support and research across the country. We are partnered with the National Center for Learning Disabilities, one of the nation’s leading organizations advancing the lives of individuals with learning disabilities through policy, innovation, practice, and outreach. We are working together to learn about the experiences, opinions, and perspectives of educators who teach students with learning disabilities.
We are surveying K-12 educators who teach students with learning disabilities. Your participation in this survey will help us understand your experiences teaching students with learning disabilities, the needs you have related to professional development and access to resources, and your school’s climate. All information shared will be kept secure and will be de-identified to protect your privacy and confidentiality. Results from this survey will be used to guide NCLD’s efforts in outreach, policy, and advocacy.
26 Feb2024
Data Shows Positive Trends in Teacher Preparation
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
Since 2018, I have documented key trends in educator preparation in a series of reports for AACTE. Members can access these reports at aacte.org/resources/research-reports-and-briefs.
In these reports, I’ve shared a lot of negative information about declining participation in educator preparation during the 2010s. So, when the U.S. Department released new data on the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years — the height of the COVID pandemic — I held my breath.
I am so pleased to report that — in two new data updates released at the AACTE Annual Meeting last week — I have good news to share about several key indicators including the following:
- Enrollment in IHE-based teacher preparation programs leading to initial licensure
- Completions of these teacher preparation programs
- Degrees and certificates awarded in the field of education
28 Nov2023
By Advance Illinois
Illinois’ much-publicized teacher shortage crisis actually showed signs of stability and even improvement during the exceptionally challenging COVID-19 pandemic period, a new report from education policy expert Advance Illinois has found. Still, despite encouraging progress, there is much work ahead to ensure there are high-quality, diverse educators in Illinois classrooms and some concerning trends to overcome, the report finds.
At a launch event in October featuring key policy leaders in education, Advance Illinois released its latest in-depth report on one of the most significant challenges facing Illinois public schools: finding more qualified, well-prepared, and diverse teachers and leaders to guide students in every school.
The new report, The State of Our Educator Pipeline 2023: Strengths, Opportunities, and the Early Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, is the follow-up to the group’s 2022 report The State We’re In, an early examination of the impact of the pandemic on Illinois’ education system.
14 Nov2023
By Tyler Pointer
PEN America’s new report, America’s Censored Classrooms 2023: Lawmakers Shift Strategies as Resistance Rises, written by program director Jeremy C. Young and research consultant Jeffrey Adam Sachs has now been published, highlighting the progress of educational gag orders as a result of state legislative sessions in 2023.
The report finds that, while the threat of gag orders has not diminished this year, the form and structure of such laws have changed dramatically. According to the report, more gag orders became law this year than in 2022, though fewer were introduced.
In PK-12, there was a major shift away from critical race theory (CRT) bans toward “Don’t Say Gay” bills, many of them as a result of Florida’s law last year. These bills attempted to censor any mention of gender, sexuality, or identity in the classroom, including extending some bans all the way through grade 12. In higher education, there was a shift away from classroom restrictions and toward limits on university governance processes that protect academic freedom. Diversity and inclusion bans, curricula, general education courses, accreditation agencies, and even university mission statements were censored, particularly in Florida, and Texas, and a bill still under consideration in Ohio.
13 Nov2023
By Christi Mathis
This article was originally published by Southern Illinois University.
Split-second decisions frequently determine the outcome of a game, a medical procedure, a military battle, or a law enforcement situation. Scott Boatright, a doctoral candidate at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is conducting research to see if people can train with simulation and extended reality to make judgments more quickly and effectively. His work has already garnered national recognition along with a $10,000 scholarship from the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA).
Boatright, of Tampa, Florida, has been working on the project in the School of Education’s Organizational Learning, Innovation and Development (OLID) program with Peter Fadde, OLID professor of learning systems design and technology.
“The goal is to systemize and speed up the training and learning experience,” Fadde said. “We asked ourselves, how we could take the seemingly intuitive decision-making process used by experts and capture their methodology and expertise and train others to use it faster and faster.”
Boatright said getting to work on this innovative research using video-occlusion technology, a form of virtual reality, with Fadde and other SIU faculty is what drew him to SIU.
“I developed a keen interest in applying my classroom knowledge to the real world. Specifically, the application of innovative training methods and technologies, such as extended reality, to improve human performance in dynamic, high-pressure environments,” Boatright said.
24 Oct2023
By Tyler Pointer
A new report by Data Quality Campaign (DQC) shows data legislation in various states that have passed into law could positively affect student performance.
In 2023, state legislators introduced 269 bills in 44 states and Washington D.C. that address data across education and the workforce, 72 of which became laws. The Education and Workforce Data Legislation Review by DQC spotlights the bills introduced and laws enacted in 2023 addressing data governance, as well as other recommendations for states to support data access through improved statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs).
18 Oct2023
By Christina Claiborne and Matthew Truwit
The first year of teaching is like a masterclass in adaptability and multitasking; teachers learn to balance daily teaching performance with the backstage work of grading, lesson planning, and learning to navigate the policies and practices of their new workplace. Student teaching experiences serve as the bridge connecting the pedagogical theories teachers acquire in teacher preparation programs to the dynamic, frequently turbulent, reality of the classroom. EdResearch for Action has released a research synthesis brief that explores how district leaders and education preparation providers can leverage evidence-based practices to chart a path toward ensuring novice teachers are at their most ready when they enter the classroom.
The brief, titled “Increasing Teacher Preparedness Through Effective Student Teaching,” weaves together findings drawn from over 75 research studies to identify what barriers to better student teaching experiences exist, in addition to what practices are truly effective and what practices fall short. What follows is a short summary of the brief’s findings.
20 Sep2023
By Michelle Valladares
A recent report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) evaluates more than half of the elementary teacher preparation programs in the United States, to gauge their effectiveness in reading instruction. A review by the National Education Policy Center finds, however, that the report lacks the rigor necessary to adequately inform policy or practice.
Paul Thomas of Furman University reviewed Teacher Prep Review: Strengthening Elementary Reading Instruction, and found it to repeat the patterns made in previous NCTQ advocacy reports, including cherry-picked citations, a failure to distinguish between scientific and non-scientific evidence, and misrepresentation and exaggeration of the research base.
The report claims to identify how well candidates are prepared to teach elementary reading based on NCTQ’s Reading Foundations standards for scientifically based reading practices. The evaluation, drawn simply from analyzing course syllabi and materials, concludes that “[only] 25% of programs adequately address all five core components of reading instruction.” Further, it outlines model programs and recommended actions for teacher preparation programs, state leaders, school districts, advocates, teachers, and parents.
