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Oregon Expands Career Readiness with $7.6 Million Investment in Hands-On Learning for 74 Schools

Seventy-four Oregon high schools — serving more than 36,000 students — have secured career readiness grants totaling $7.629 million, Oregon Department of Education Director Charlene Williams and Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson announced today.    

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Revitalization Grant funds from the State of Oregon will serve diverse communities around the state, with programs focused on advanced manufacturing, agricultural science, business, computer science, construction, cosmetology, engineering, firefighting, health sciences, hospitality, media, and natural resources. 

University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools Partnership Boosts Restorative Practices for Students of All Ages 

If you ever needed a perfect example of how the University of New Mexico directly feeds into the community, you don’t need to look further than the College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS).

The new Restorative Practice Partnership between COEHS, the District Teacher Residency Program (DTRP), and Garfield Middle School is creating a fundamental pipeline of restorative practices from children, to future teachers, and to the classroom. 

“Our partnership with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is underscored by experiences like this for our Teacher Residents,” DTRP Director and COEHS Professor Marjori Krebs said. “By providing opportunities for our future teachers and future principals to learn the power of Restorative Practices from the Garfield Middle School students and teachers provides them with an excellent foundation for leading their own classrooms and schools.”  

Administration Announces $25M in Grant Awards to Advance Career Connected High Schools

The Biden-Harris Administration today is announcing 19 new grant awards totaling $25 million through the first-ever Perkins Innovation and Modernization, Career Connected High Schools (CCHS) grant program. 

This investment, issued by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), builds the capacity of education and workforce systems to partner with business and industry, to develop new high-quality career-connected high school programs for more students. Grantees will leverage four evidence-based strategies, or “keys,” to help students in unlocking career success including: providing postsecondary education and career guidance; increasing access to dual or concurrent enrollment programs; increasing work-based learning opportunities; and providing industry-recognized credentials. 

New Documentary Serves as Powerful Tool for Changing Practice

Join XQ’s Featured Session, Disrupting Conventional Assumptions About High School Learning, on Saturday, February 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. This panel discussion is about “The First Class”—a powerful new documentary about a Memphis high school that highlights the role of educators in transforming teaching and learning. 

We at XQ are honored to participate in AACTE’s 2024 Annual Meeting, “Ascending New Heights: Propelling the Profession into the Future.” This year’s theme perfectly captures our mission to rethink the high school experience to fully prepare all students for whatever the future holds with more engaging, authentic teaching. 

Our conversations with AACTE and its members reveal a deep, shared vision for high school teaching and learning where adolescents are engaged, motivated, and empowered to develop the knowledge, skills, and attributes they need to thrive in our complex and rapidly changing world. In this shared vision, learning connects academic content to the real world and fosters opportunities for students to become makers, creators, critical thinkers, and problem-solvers. Good high school teachers remain crucial to this vision — and we also need to rethink how we prepare our educators so they can provide these experiences to their students.

In Iowa: DOE Announces $1.7 Million in Grants to Support High Schoolers in Earning Industry-Recognized Credentials

The Iowa Department of Education today announced that $1.7 million in competitive grants are available to Iowa school districts to align secondary career and technical education programs with industry-recognized credentials. The new Credentials to Careers grant will support high schoolers earning credentials with labor market value. 

“By expanding opportunities to attain an industry-recognized credential in high school, the Credentials to Careers grant helps connect the classroom to the workforce,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “Students earning portable, stackable credentials will be ready to succeed in high-wage and public-good careers, changing lives and strengthening communities.” 

Industry-recognized credentials are certifications, credentials, or licenses that are vetted by employers and endorsed by a nationally recognized trade association or organization in a particular industry. Credentials are available across many career pathways, including those in health sciences, information technology, construction, manufacturing, child development, culinary, and business. 

Most Public Schools Face Challenges in Hiring Teachers, Other Personnel Entering the 2023-2024 Academic Year

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released the latest round of findings from the School Pulse Panel (SPP). These SPP data examine teaching and non-teacher staffing, technology/digital literacy, and community partnerships as reported by school leaders in U.S. public schools.

Key Findings

Staffing for 2023-2024 School Year

  • Forty-five percent of U.S. public schools report feeling that they are understaffed entering the 2023-2024 school year, a decrease from the 53 % of schools who felt understaffed entering the last school year (2022-2023).
    • For public schools that report feeling understaffed, 67 % of schools that have classroom aides report feeling understaffed in this area. Sixty-three percent that offer special education services report feeling understaffed in this area.
    • Outside of the classroom, public schools report feeling understaffed with their transportation staff (61 %) and mental health professionals (49 %).

House Republicans Introduce ‘Parent Bill of Rights’ … Again

In February, the House Education and Workforce Committee held their first hearing: “American Education in Crisis.” During the chairwoman’s opening remarks, Virginia Foxx (R-NC)  expressed her support for H.R.5 , more commonly referred to as “The Parent Bill of Rights.” The legislation was first introduced in the 117th Congress and would require K-12 school districts receiving federal funding to publicly post their curriculum and annually provide parents with a list of books in the school library, a breakdown of school expenditures, the ability to opt their child out of all data collection, and more. As anticipated, on Wednesday, House Republicans reintroduced the bill.

AACTE Helps Launch ‘Here for the Kids’ Campaign

There has never been a more critical time to work together to support public education and students’ success. AACTE is joining forces with Learning First Alliance and partners across the country to support a critical effort to help ensure a bright future for our children.

The Here for the Kids campaign brings together families, educators, and community members to shine a light on local public schools and tell the stories of the amazingly positive things happening in classrooms and school buildings nationwide.

New UH Program Transforms STEM Pros into STEM Teachers

$1.2 Million Grant from National Science Foundation Funds Alternative Certification Program

Photo credit: Getty

Some people are born to be teachers, even if early career choices lead them down other paths first. For professionals working in STEM fields, a new University of Houston program offers a fast track to earn a place at the head of a secondary school STEM classroom – and change their own lives in the process.

Applications are currently being accepted for the first cohort of STEMPro, an intensive nine-month alternative teaching certification program and a collaboration between UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and College of Education. The addition of this post-baccalaureate outreach, which focuses on already established professionals, expands the existing teachHOUSTON program, which serves undergraduates seeking teaching certificates. It also supports the UH focus on training quality teachers ready to serve in communities where they are needed most.

NEA and PDK International Announce Expanded Partnership to Inspire the Next Generation of Highly Effective Educators

The National Education Association (NEA) and Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) announced today significant steps to strengthen their partnership to ensure every P-12 student in the Nation has access to a great teacher and opportunities for learning success. This partnership will continue to inspire middle and high school students who reflect the demographics of their communities to serve as the next generation of highly effective educators. Students will have opportunities to explore programs, curricula and additional resources to prepare them for a career in education through Educators Rising, an ongoing project of PDK developed with the support of NEA.

MIT Seeks District Partners for Free Equity Professional Development

Among the many challenges K-12 educators are gearing up for this upcoming academic year, building more equitable, inclusive schools is of utmost priority. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is proposing a new project for the U.S. Department of Education’s Innovation and Research program to implement and test a whole-school program called “Becoming a More Equitable Educator: Mindsets and Practice.”

MIT invites all district school administrators, teachers, and staff to participate in this 12-16 hour online course — and share with any partnering district.

$1.4M Grant for New JMU Upward Bound Program Aims to Help Underrepresented Students Prepare for College

JMU College of Education program will empower first-generation college and at-risk local students to unlock potential

James Madison University’s College of Education will receive $1.4 million over the next five years to help eligible high school students in the Shenandoah Valley overcome social, emotional, and academic barriers to achieve success in education beyond high school.

JMU will receive a total of $1,437,685 to create a JMU Upward Bound Program. The funds will support two programs, one at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg City Public Schools and one at Spotswood High School in Rockingham County Public Schools, supporting a total of approximately 30-35 high school students at each school. 

Future Teachers Begin New Arizona Teach Residency

The Arizona Teacher Residency has accepted its first cohort of 30 future teachers, as well as the 30 supervising teachers who will be working with those teacher residents this next school year.

The Arizona Teacher Residency is a first-of-its-kind graduate program in Arizona modeled after medical residencies to help recruit, prepare, support and retain K-12 teachers, especially those with identities that have been underrepresented in the teaching population. The two-year program provides aspiring teachers with in-classroom experience, a living stipend, a master’s degree and a job at a partnering school district. Residents will receive mentoring and induction from a trained instructional mentor through the Arizona K12 Center in their second year with the support continuing into the third year.

Interactive STEM Camp at MSU offers Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Chance to Learn Physics, Consider College Options

(Photo by Grace Cockrell)

A group of young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder who are interested in science, technology and related fields are getting a new chance to learn about physics and other topics as part of an innovative camp at Mississippi State, which may be the country’s first of its kind.

MSU Assistant Professor of Physics Ben Crider is using a prestigious $600,000 National Science Foundation 2019 Career Grant to advance his nuclear physics research, which includes a highly interactive summer experience for students with autism that was delayed due to COVID-19.