Posts Tagged ‘STEM’

Conceptual Analysis: What Coaching Activities Actually Improve Instruction?

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Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the 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 “Focusing on Teacher Learning Opportunities to Identify Potentially Productive Coaching Activities,” by Lynsey K. Gibbons of Boston University (MA) and Paul Cobb of Vanderbilt University (TN). The article, which appears in the September/October issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:

AACTE Tech Committee Joins Fall Summit, Plans Preconference Symposium for #AACTE18

group photo of aacte committee on innovation and technology
Members of AACTE’s Committee on Innovation and Technology at the 2017 National Technology Leadership Summit in Washington, DC

AACTE and its Committee on Innovation and Technology (I&T) are committed to being a leading voice in the preparation of educators to integrate technology within teaching and learning. The latest examples of this commitment include active participation in the 2017 National Technology Leadership Summit (NTLS) and plans for a preconference symposium at the 2018 AACTE Annual Meeting.

AACTE hosted the 18th annual NTLS September 28-29 at the Association’s headquarters building in Washington, DC. AACTE President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone welcomed NTLS attendees, acknowledging the importance of the work to be done during the summit. Six members of the I&T committee attended the event, including Chair Arlene Borthwick (National Louis University, IL), Jon Clausen (Ball State University, IN), Elizabeth Finsness (Minnesota State University-Mankato), Charles Hodges (Georgia Southern University), Lara Luetkehans (Indiana University of Pennsylvania), and Guy Trainin (University of Nebraska-Lincoln).

Study Suggests Early Childhood Teacher Candidates Need More Support to Create Mathematical Modeling Problems

Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with the 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 – justlog in with your AACTE profile here.

This interview features insights from the article “An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Capacity to Create Mathematical Modeling Problems for Children,” by Catherine Paolucci of the State University of New York at New Paltz and Helena Wessels of Stellenbosch University (South Africa). The article, which appears in the May/June issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:

UNC Greensboro Celebrates Continued Funding for Tech-Focused TQP Work

In 2014, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) received a federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant for a proposal called Transforming Teaching through Technology (TTtT), winning Year 1 funding of nearly $1.7 million, renewable for up to 5 years. Now, as the partners move into their fourth year of grant-funded collaboration, I asked Principal Investigator and Project Director Christina O’Connor for an update on their work and what it takes to secure continued funding from the U.S. Department of Education year after year.

The partnership among UNCG, Guilford County Schools, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools aims to prepare 300 teacher candidates per year with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to incorporate technology to promote academic learning for all students. The idea is to produce teachers who can embed technology and hands-on, problem-based instruction across all content areas. By approaching this work through partnerships, O’Connor noted, the strategies and lessons benefit not only preservice teachers but also the school-based educators and UNCG faculty.

Podcast Interview Explores Implications of New Science Standards for Preparing Teachers

What does strong preservice preparation look like for teaching the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? This question is explored in an article published in the May/June 2017 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, an issue that also includes several other articles on the topic of the implications for teacher preparation of the Common Core and other new PK-12 learning standards.

A recent podcast interview for the JTE Insider blog provides insights from Mark Windschitl of the University of Washington and David Stroupe of Michigan State University, authors of the article “The Three-Story Challenge: Implications of the Next Generation Science Standards for Teacher Preparation.” JTE Graduate Assistant Bernadette Castillo conducted the interview.

How Teacher Education Can Elevate Teacher Quality: Highlights From Sept./Oct. JTE

Have you read the September/October 2017 issue of the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) yet? It is now available online and hitting desks around the country. See what Volume 68 Number 4 has to offer!

  • In this month’s editorial, “How Teacher Education Can Elevate Teacher Quality: Evidence From Research,” members of the JTE editorial team at Michigan State University highlight the issue’s four articles. Robert E. Floden, Gail Richmond, Corey Drake, and Emery Petchauer note the papers’ findings and the significance of their topics to various stakeholders in teacher preparation.

Collaboration and Compromise: The Key to Good Policy Making

The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

The Legislative Long Session in North Carolina this year was, in many ways, a productive one for education, generating a number of consequential bills that became law.  Included in the slate was the reintroduction of the Teaching Fellows program, thanks to a collaborative effort led by Senator Chad Barefoot and the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (NCACTE).

JTE Author Interview: Boosting Vocabulary Instruction in the Inclusive Middle School Science Classroom

Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the following interview with one author 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 “Effects of a Multimedia Professional Development Package on Inclusive Science Teachers’ Vocabulary Instruction,” by Michael J. Kennedy, Wendy J. Rodgers, John Elwood Romig, John Wills Lloyd, and Mary T. Brownell. The article, which appears in the March/April issue of JTE, is summarized in the following abstract:

Vocabulary knowledge is vital for students’ success in school and beyond. However, students with disabilities and others who consistently score below their peers on various measures of vocabulary knowledge have difficulties in secondary-level content area courses. Because many students with disabilities are now educated primarily in general education classrooms, their teachers report needing more professional development on instructional strategies to support this population. Using a multiple-baseline design, we tested the efficacy of a multimedia, multicomponent professional development package in which middle school science teachers in inclusive classrooms promoted science vocabulary knowledge. The professional development package improved the quality of the teachers’ use of evidence-based vocabulary practices and increased the amount of time they spent explicitly teaching vocabulary in their classes.

Using NICs to Engage More Minority Males in STEM Learning

A member of the North Carolina A&T State University team shares its work during the May event at Morgan State University.
Abiodun Fasoro of Central State University discusses his campus’ minority male STEM program during the Verizon Innovative Learning Showcase.

Last month, I had the privilege of participating in the Building a Networked Improvement Community Around Engaging Minority Males in STEM Workshop at Morgan State University. The workshop focused on advancing the work of the Early STEM Engagement for Minority Males (eSEM) Initiative, a network of 16 minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

Led by Morgan State and in partnership with Verizon Innovative Learning Programs, SRI Education, the National CARES Mentoring Network, and local school districts, eSEM is a growing collaborative seeking to address STEM achievement challenges and improve outcomes for middle school minority male students through the development of a Networked Improvement Community (NIC). The initiative is supported through grants from the National Science Foundation and includes the following universities:

Dwayne Cormier Named April Scholar of the Month

Congratulations to April Holmes Scholar of the Month Dwayne Cormier!

Cormier is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University, studying curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on curriculum and supervision. His research interests include how culture and context influence engagement in educational settings, as well as the impact of memes on the thoughts and ideals of citizens.

A military veteran and former executive director of a nonprofit organization that changed the lives of young people through the game of golf, Cormier recognized the need to aid students of color in the education system and vowed to make an impact in the classroom through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Over the years, his experiences in and outside of the classroom have given him insight on the inequities facing students, preservice and in-service teachers, and administration in educational organizations.

Help Your Graduating Seniors Land a 2017-2018 Teaching Job

The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.

As the seniors in your college of education gear up for graduation, encourage them to check out the free resources offered through Education Week’s TopSchoolJobs website:

JTE Author Interview: How Preservice Teachers Learn to Plan Intellectually Challenging Tasks

Have you seen the JTE Insider blog managed by the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) editorial team? Check out the latest author interview below.

This interview features insights from the JTE article “Preservice Teachers’ Learning to Plan Intellectually Challenging Tasks,” by Hosun Kang, assistant professor of education at University of California, Irvine. The article appears in the January/February 2017 issue of JTE.

The article’s abstract reads in part, “This study explores how and under which conditions preservice secondary science teachers (PSTs) engage in effective planning practices that incorporate intellectually challenging tasks into lessons. Drawing upon a situative perspective on learning, eight PSTs’ trajectories of participation in communities of practice are examined with a focus on planning throughout student teaching. […] The analyses show that instructional tasks observed at the beginning of lessons link to the ways in which PSTs engage in the three interrelated processes of (a) framing instructional goals, (b) constructing a lesson scenario, and (c) addressing problems of practice.”

James Hiebert to Win Lindsey Award for Distinguished Research

AACTE’s Committee on Professional Preparation and Accountability has selected James Hiebert, Robert J. Barkley Professor in the University of Delaware School of Education, to receive the 2017 AACTE Margaret B. Lindsey Award for Distinguished Research in Teacher Education. The award will be presented at the 69th AACTE Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session, Saturday, March 4, at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.

“Dr. Hiebert has invested a major portion of his scholarship in the process of improving teacher preparation,” said Carol Vukelich, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, University of Delaware. “He is recognized as an important scholar who has moved the field of mathematics education forward in significant ways. His work provides a model for how education faculty can design programs that have a positive impact not only on teacher education candidates’ learning but also on the learning of their students when they begin teaching. This is exactly the kind of work our field needs.”

San Francisco State University, Partners Innovate to Address Teacher Shortage

California, like many states in the nation, faces a critical shortage of teachers. As California recovers from the Great Recession, teacher hiring needs have steadily increased from a recent low of 10,360 in 2011-2012 to 21,482 in 2015-2016. During the same period, the number of new credentials issued has decreased to a low of fewer than 14,000 candidates in the 2014-2015 school year. This reduction in productivity is reflective of the downward trend in enrollment in teacher preparation programs.


Nov. 15 Webinar to Feature Clinical Preparation for Elementary Science, Math Teaching

Please join me Tuesday, November 15, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST for the third webinar in this year’s AACTE clinical practice series, “Advancing Science and Math Teaching in Diverse Elementary Classrooms: A Clinical Practice Model at San Francisco State University.”

Presenters Judith Munter, dean of the Graduate College of Education, and Stephanie Sisk-Hilton, associate professor of elementary education, will discuss the clinical preparation model at San Francisco State University (SFSU) centered around ensuring elementary education candidates and practicing elementary educators in their partner schools are highly prepared to teach science and math to an increasingly diverse population.