Co-Teaching Coast-to-Coast: Virtual Conversations and Co-Teaching Engagement Awards

By Michelle Damiani

The AACTE Co-Teaching in Clinical Practice Topical Action Group (TAG) recently wrapped up two exciting initiatives focused on bringing teacher preparation faculty together with administrators and teachers in schools across the country. A recurring theme coming from our TAG activities emphasizes the need for systemic change, something that will most effectively occur with collaboration across institutions and school-university partners.

Teacher preparation institutional partnerships with local school districts where co-teaching is valued seem to be increasing expertise for clinical interns, practitioners, and the higher education teacher preparation faculty involved.

Thomas More School of Education Launches First Dyslexia Institute

By Lyna Kelley

Photo by Justin Merriman

A truly one-of-a-kind initiative, Thomas More University’s School of Education launches the commonwealth’s first Dyslexia Institute. The institute supports students and the greater community through sharing resources that are intentionally designed to promote awareness and create change by highlighting the dyslexic profile. Fully understanding the impact of dyslexia enables parents, teachers, and employers to ensure dyslexic children and adults have the support needed to thrive. Programming through the institute includes assessment clinics, teacher training, direct family support, and more.

“Thomas More is the first university in the commonwealth to have a dyslexia-specific resource for our students and our community,” explains Kayla Steltenkamp, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Education. Steltenkamp is a renowned expert in the field of literacy and dyslexia and leads the new initiative. “The Thomas More University Dyslexia Institute is a preeminent source in Kentucky to disseminate the latest research, share practical resources with the community, and to transform the instruction and intervention for all dyslexic children and adults,” adds Steltenkamp.

Funding Available for Holmes Doctoral Students in Early Childhood and Special Education

By Nicole Dunn

Last month, AACTE announced its new partnership with the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center on Equity (ECIPC-E), a national center federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs to assist states in building comprehensive systems of personnel development to improve outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families. 

As part of this partnership, AACTE will recruit, mentor, and support a cohort of 12 Holmes scholars in early childhood special education doctoral degree programs.

Holmes Program Receives Funding to Support Future Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education Faculty and Leaders

By Weade James

AACTE is excited to announce a new partnership with the Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Center on Equity (ECIPCE), a national center federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs to assist states in building comprehensive systems of personnel development to improve outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families. ECIPCE has awarded AACTE a 5-year sub-award to support a cohort of 12 Holmes Scholars pursuing doctorates in early childhood and early childhood special education.

More early childhood leaders and practitioners with the requisite skills and knowledge are required to meet the needs of children aged birth – 5 years old.  This partnership will directly address this issue, in part, by providing targeted mentorship, professional development, and financial support to doctoral students of color pursuing a Ph.D. or an Ed.D. in early childhood and early childhood special education.

UNM Special Education Department Celebrates Program Milestone

Ten years and 55 graduates later, UNM is responding to a critical need for Board Certified Behavior Analysts.

By Savannah Peat

Copeland teaches class for ABA certificate.

This article was originally published by The University of New Mexico Newsroom. 

UNM’s Department of Special Education, in the College of Education & Human Sciences (COEHS) is filling a critical need in New Mexico.

Now with its 55th graduate, the Graduate Certificate Program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)  is creating Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) for the state. It’s a proper milestone for a program which just hit its 10th anniversary.

“It makes me feel really excited. Depending on which statistics you’re looking at, we have been identified as a state where sometimes there are no behavioral health providers in an entire county, so for us to have prepared these individuals who are now providing this critical service for children and families just really warms my heart,” Special Education Department Professor Susan Copeland said.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are responsible for teaching, instruction and behavioral support to individuals with developmental disabilities. While many focus on autism spectrum disorder, the field covers children and adults who have intellectual disabilities or emotional behavior disturbances.

Senate HELP Committee Members Release Bills on College Affordability and Student Debt

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Following the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which raises the debt ceiling and limits federal funding for the next two years, Members of Congress, their staff, and education advocates alike have shifted their focus towards an FY 2024 spending bill. House Appropriations Committee chair Kay Granger (R-TX) announced on Monday that the Committee will continue to produce FY 2024 funding bills with new funding capped at the FY 2022 level, which is $119 billion below the FY 2024 discretionary level set in law by the debt limit deal. The level for the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is $60 billion or 29% below its FY 2023 level of $207 billion in discretionary funding. Your voices and advocacy efforts will be critical as we move toward an FY2024 spending bill.

House Education and Workforce Committee to Hold First Hearing

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Nearly a month into the 118^th Congress, Democratic and Republican leadership are finalizing committee and subcommittee assignments. Senate Democrats announced committee assignments last week — including a few changes. In the Senate HELP and Appropriations committees, the changes from the last Congress are as follows: Senate Appropriations Committee —Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has retired, and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) is now on the Committee. Senator Peters priorities include affordable higher education, student loan debt relief, funding for STEAM research, career technical education, and apprenticeship programs. Senate HELP Committee Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is no longer on the Committee, and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has joined the HELP Committee. Republicans in the Senate have not yet finalized committee and subcommittee assignments. In the House, Republicans and Democrats have finalized rosters for all Appropriations subcommittees. Additionally, the final roster of all House Education and the Workforce Committee members has been finalized and can be found here.

Washington Update: Education Priorities, Parents Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court Arguments

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

This week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is scheduled to deliver a major address at the Department of Education’s Lyndon Baines Johnson building in Washington, D.C.  The speech entitled, “Raise the Bar: Lead the World,” will offer the Secretary the opportunity to lay out the Department’s priorities for 2023 and detail progress made on 2022 initiatives. Afterward, the Secretary will take part in a fireside chat with Executive Director of the National PTA Nathan R. Monell, CAE. The event will be streamed on the Department’s YouTube  page.

Biden-Harris Administration Releases Regulatory Agenda with Renewed Focus on Higher Education

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

Early Saturday, after a historic 5-day, 15 ballot fight- with major concessions made to the so called “never Kevin” holdouts, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) secured his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Many analysts and DC insiders believe that the political theatre surrounding the Speaker vote foreshadows just how difficult it could be to govern in an exceedingly narrow Republican majority. However, in speaking with reporters Speaker McCarthy downplayed concerns, saying: “This is the great part … Because it took this long, now we learned how to govern.” I suppose only time will tell if the Speaker’s projection reigns true.

In the States: A Look at FAPE and Faith-based Schools

By Kaitlyn Brennan

The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.

OCR Enters Resolution Agreement with Virginia’s Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) Regarding the use of Restraint and Seclusion

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) in Virginia entered into a resolution agreement regarding the use of restraint and seclusion and the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. OCR identified concerns that SECEP may have denied FAPE to students with disabilities when it did not reevaluate students after multiple incidents of restraint and seclusion and when students missed significant instructional time.

In the States: Addressing Students with Disabilities Services and Educator Shortage

By Kaitlyn Brennan

The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.

Office of Civil Rights Comes to Agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) Over Students with Disabilities Receiving Services

On Wednesday, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced they have come to an agreement with Fairfax County Public Schools after the district failed to provide thousands of students with disabilities with the services required under law during the pandemic. “I am relieved that the more than 25,000 students with disabilities in Fairfax County will now receive services federal law promises to them, even during a pandemic, to ensure their equal access to education,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement.

The OCR investigation found that during the pandemic, Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest school district in Virginia, reduced its special education instruction and “inaccurately informed staff that the school division was not required to provide compensatory education to students with disabilities who did not receive a [free appropriate public education] during the COVID-19 pandemic because the school division was not at fault.”

Where Do the 118th Congress and Student Debt Relief Stand?

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

It has been a busy week in Washington with Members returning after the mid-term elections and the new freshman class of Members arriving on the Hill for orientation. Speaker Pelosi made the momentous decision to step down from Democratic leadership. Speaker Pelosi is a historic figure, having become, at the time, the most powerful elected woman in U.S. history when she assumed the Speakership in 2007. The decision to step back from leadership paves the way for a new generation of Democrats to rise in the ranks; Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Vice Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) are viewed as the heirs apparent to the “big three” — House Democratic Leader, House Democratic Whip, and Democratic Caucus Chair. In remarks to her colleagues on the House floor, Speaker Pelosi recalled the first time she saw the Capitol, saying “I will never forget the first time I saw the Capitol.[…]The Capitol is a temple of our Democracy, of our Constitution, of our highest ideals[…] Indeed, American Democracy is majestic — but it is fragile.” Thank you Madam Speaker, for your years of dedicated service to the Republic.

Important Work Continues While Congress on Recess

By Kaitlyn Brennan

This weekly Washington Update is intended to keep members informed on Capitol Hill activities impacting the educator preparation community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

We have finally made it to mid-term election week. Congress remains on recess until after the elections, but important work continues. It is my hope that by the end of the week we will have the complete results of the mid-term elections and I will provide an analysis on the makeup of the 118^th Congress in our next Washington Update.

Teaching Innovators: A Spotlight on Special Education at Clemson University

By Michael Staton

This article was originally published by Clemson News and is reprinted with permission.

Catherine Griffith serves as a clinical associate professor of special education in the Department of Education and Human Development at Clemson University. She coordinates the Master of Education program in Special Education with emphases in academic and behavioral interventions and teaches coursework on individuals with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders, intensive academic interventions, and applied behavior analysis.

In the States: A Look at the Southern Region

By Kaitlyn Brennan

The new “In the States” feature by Kaitlyn Brennan is a weekly update to keep members informed on state-level activities impacting the education and educator preparation community.

States and districts around the country continue to scramble to fill teaching positions with fully certified, profession ready educators. A recent analysis from the  Southern Regional Education Board of 2019-20 data in 11 states found roughly 4% of teachers — which could be up to 56,000 educators — were uncertified or teaching with an emergency certification. By 2030, the number of uncertified teachers or those teaching with an emergency certification is expected to balloon. The Southern Regional Education Boards projects that upwards of 16 million K-12 students in the Southern region of the country could be taught by an unprepared or inexperienced teacher. While the pandemic certainly exacerbated the problem, it is not new and has steadily gotten worse over the last decade. For example, in Texas school districts’ reliance on uncertified new hires increased significantly over the last decade. In the 2011-12 school year, fewer than 7% of the state’s new teachers — roughly 1,600 — didn’t have a certification. By last year, about 8,400 of the state’s nearly 43,000 new hires were uncertified.