28 Oct2022
By Elizabeth Bradley
Virtual reality has a number of applications for pedagogy and teacher training; simulation training in these much-needed areas may add an essential component to the field of teacher education (Tondeur, Pareja-Roblin, van Braak, Voogt, & Prestridge, 2017). Computer simulations can provide guided practice for a variety of situations that pre-service teachers wouldn’t frequently experience during their teacher education studies (Mason, Jeon, Blair, & Glomb, 2011; Mason, 2011). Simulations can help pre-service teachers develop the skills that it takes to properly run a classroom without the high-stakes risk of causing harm to actual students (Matsuda, 2005).
There are numerous benefits to game-based learning, including improved learner motivation and engagement, constructive knowledge frameworks, exploratory and independent learning and, at times, higher achievement outcomes over traditional pedagogy (Boyle et al., 2016; Cheong, Flippou, & France, 2015; Peterson, 2019). Simulations can allow pre-service teachers to see their students from a different perspective, gain insight into the best ways to manage their future classroom, and understand the direct consequences of their actions in the classroom (Ferry et al., 2004). Including simulations in pre-service teaching coursework has demonstrated an increase in the confidence and effectiveness of first year teachers (Englebert, 2010).
11 Oct2022
By Weade James
AACTE will host its annual Holmes Program Research and Dissertation Retreat in Boca Raton, FL on November 9 – 10. The event, co-sponsored by the PNC Foundation and Florida Atlantic University, is AACTE’s annual flagship event to advance research and scholarship of graduate students of color who are pursuing doctorate degrees in education.
04 Oct2022
By AACTE
AACTE is currently accepting entries for the 2023 awards. The AACTE Awards Program recognizes excellence in both member institutions and individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of educator preparation.
For most of the awards, programs and individuals can be either self-nominated or nominated by a third party. The deadline to apply is October 31, 2022. Learn more about the 2023 AACTE Awards, eligibility and criteria.
13 Sep2022
By Beth Kubitskey
For 30 years, I have been involved in teaching and teacher education as a graduate student, lecturer, professional development facilitator, teacher, professor, and administrator. Most of that time I was part of the university system. I worked for years at one of the oldest teacher preparation programs in the country (Eastern Michigan University) and now at an institution that offers a non-profit higher education alternative route certification (University of Michigan – Flint, although it is a 30+ credit master’s program). I wondered if my experience prejudiced my view on for-profit alternative route programs (alt. routes). Was my negative visceral reaction to “why can’t getting your teaching certificate be like getting a real estate license?” justified? With enrollment in traditional higher education teacher preparations falling 47% from 2010-2020 and enrollment in for-profit alternative routes up 140%, am I just reacting to the threat?
The webinar presented by AACTE: “The Growth and Impact of Alternative Certification: Findings from Two Studies” confirmed my concerns. Texas, the first state to approve non-higher education alt-routes, prepares more teachers than any other state in the country, and as of 2018-19, had 41 for-profit alt route programs that accounted for 68% of all enrollments in teacher education programs in the state. As such, Texas was used as the site of a two-components study on for-profit alternative route certification programs.
12 Sep2022
By Learning First Alliance
On September 1st, 2022, the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics released the mathematics and reading results of 9-year-olds from the 2022 NAEP long-term trend assessment. The following summary is from NAEP’s Highlights report:
In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a special administration of the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) reading and mathematics assessments for age 9 students to examine student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020. This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics.
25 Aug2022
By PDK International
The 54th annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools finds record-high ratings for local public schools — but record low support among parents for their children becoming teachers. Only 37% of respondents say they would want a child of theirs to become a public school teacher in their community. This is the lowest level of support the profession has seen since 1969, when support for teaching as a career choice peaked at 75%.
Overall, 54% of adults give an A or B grade to the public schools in their community, the highest percentage in PDK Polls since 1974, up 10 points since the question was last asked in 2019.
07 Jul2022
By Lucas Held and Lauren Pescatore
As state leaders continue to weigh the best use of federal funding to improve education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a major new research report by the Learning Policy Institute and The Wallace Foundation underscores the importance of federal, state, and district policies that foster the availability and quality of principal preparation and professional development programs. The research finds that the preparation and professional development a school principal receives not only shapes their efficacy as a leader, but are also associated with positive outcomes for teachers and students.
30 Jun2022
By Natalie Khairallah
Educators in the United States and Japan are invited to register for the Japan-U.S. Teacher Education Consortium’s 32nd conference, JUSTEC 2022, which will take place September 23 – 25. This year’s three-day conference is supported by AACTE; the U.S. Embassy, Tokyo; and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. It will draw its focus on the theme, “Collaborative Teacher Education in the United States and Japan in the Era of Uncertainties.” Register by August 15 to reserve your spot.
21 Jun2022
By Lesley N. Siegel
Pride flags and gag orders, a Queer as Folk reboot and white supremacists at Pride celebrations, My Two Moms and Me and “Don’t Say Gay”: this whiplash of dissonance is the backdrop against which we as LGBTQ+ teacher educators navigate as scholars in 2022. I was asked to write a post on LGBTQ+ research in teacher education — an exceptionally tall order. One post can hardly encapsulate the complexities, tensions, and exceptionality of current work in the field. Research specific to LGBTQ+ topics in teacher education might be broadly organized into a few categories: the lived experiences of Queer1 persons in teacher education, LGBTQ+ issues in curriculum and instruction within teacher preparation, and policies and practices directly impacting LGBTQ+ persons and issues within the realm of P-12 schools.
10 Jun2022
By Madeline Will
Michael Darmas, a Teach For America instructor, gives his student a high five in this 2011 photo taken at Holmes Elementary School in Miami.
J Pat Carter/AP
This article originally appeared in Ed Week.
Alternative-certification programs have long been thought of as one solution to teacher shortages, but a new analysis shows that the number of candidates completing those programs has declined over the past decade, despite a boom in enrollments and new offerings.
The findings underscore the complex and changing nature of the teacher hiring pipeline: Alternative programs are typically cheaper and faster than traditional teacher-preparation programs based at colleges and universities. They are bringing in new and more diverse talent to the teaching workforce. But as the authors of the new report warn, their candidates don’t always finish, and quality control remains an issue.
08 Jun2022
By AACTE
The Center for American Progress (CAP) and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) today released The Alternative Teacher Certification Sector Outside Higher Education. The report, which builds upon CAP’s 2020 study of this sector, updates and extends the analysis to include more recent student data and a historical look at patterns in the teacher preparation program landscape.
In response to the teacher shortage, some states allow non-traditional models for preparing teachers, including alternative certification programs run by organizations other than colleges and universities. According to the report authors Jacqueline King, senior consultant to AACTE, and Jessica Yin, former policy analyst for the K-12 Education Team at CAP, The Alternative Teacher Certification Sector Outside Higher Education provides information for policymakers, education researchers, and leaders in educator preparation seeking to better understand this sector and identify necessary legislation, regulations, or opportunities for additional research. It tracks enrollment and completion trends in this sector over the last decade, with particular attention to fast-growing programs run by for-profit companies that account for nearly 70 percent of all students enrolled in the sector as of academic year 2018-19.
26 May2022
By James Carskadon
(photo by Megan Bean / © Mississippi State University) Partnership Middle School English class – MSU secondary education major Lauren Threadgill works with a class of seventh grade students as a student intern in the school.
A $2.4 million National Science Foundation grant supports a Mississippi State University-led project that aims better prepare educators for teaching in rural settings.
Mississippi State University is leading a nationwide project with the goal of better preparing educators for teaching in rural settings.
With $2.4 million in support from the National Science Foundation, the project entitled “Investigating STEM Teacher Preparation and Rural Teacher Persistence and Retention” brings together 14 universities to address workforce challenges in school settings, particularly for STEM teachers in rural areas. The project examines how educator preparation programs impact future STEM teachers’ intentions to teach in rural schools, as well as their retention rates at rural schools once they are in the workforce. Studies have shown that in addition to struggling to recruit teachers, rural schools have the highest rates of teacher attrition, with higher attrition rates occurring in the southern U.S. and in schools that serve low-income and minority students.
29 Apr2022
By Nicole Dunn
School leadership is second only to teaching among school-related factors in its impact on student learning, and school leader preparation programs play a key role in facilitating that success. As the leading voice in educator preparation, AACTE has launched a new podcast series, “Revolutionizing School Leadership Through Research”. This new podcast series highlights three cutting-edge research reports from the Wallace Foundation’s Knowledge Center on School Leadership. The three-episode series defines the evolving role and expectations of the principalship, the corresponding preparation required to meet those expectations, and the state policy levers that can be pulled to increase the number of qualified, equitable leaders in that position.
The first episode takes a macro look into the connection between school leadership and school outcomes. AACTE speaks with the lead author, Jason Grissom, of the Wallace commissioned report, How Principals Affect Students and Schools, A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research”, Grissom walks through the major landscape shifts in the past 20 years, with key insights into how preparation programs can be effective, equitable leaders.
04 Apr2022
By Ling Zhang
The Center of Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning (CIDDL) is seeking voices and inputs about innovative use of technology in teacher preparation programs from all AACTE members.
CIDDL is the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)’s funded center focused on increasing the capacity of faculty to use educational technology in special education, early intervention, related services personnel preparation, and leadership personnel preparation programs.
22 Mar2022
By Jacqueline E. King, Ph.D.
The Colleges of Education: A National Portrait is AACTE’s signature report on schools, colleges, and departments of education. The second edition was released today and AACTE is hosting a webinar to review its findings on Monday, March 28 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
This report is a major vehicle for AACTE to tell the story of colleges of education nationwide and for members to situate their own programs in the broader context of the trends that are shaping the profession. Education preparation program faculty are encouraged to use it to communicate with their institution’s leadership, PK-12 partners, and other key cnstituents about the issues, trends, and challenges impacting educator preparation.
This year, in addition to describing the work of colleges of education, the people who do that work, and the students they serve, the National Portrait includes a special analysis on the important contributions that community colleges make to educator preparation.
Join me and my co-author Weadé James on March 28 for this member-only, informative webinar. Register today.
