16 Jun2015
By Michelle Kotek
AACTE’s Washington Week kicked off with diverse perspectives, enlightening anecdotes, and compelling conversations at the special conference “Progress and Factors That Contribute to Closing the STEM Achievement Gap,” sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Five presenters joined AACTE leaders on two panels discussing ways to improve learning outcomes of underrepresented populations in the STEM fields.
Hall Davidson, Vasanta Akondy, and Armando Sanchez-Martinez at STEM Conference
The conference began with presenters Armando Sanchez-Martinez, manager of Editorial Santillana in Mexico, and Vasanta Akondy, co-manager of the Verizon Innovative Learning Program (VILP), who together provided a global perspective on innovative solutions to increase access to STEM education in Mexico and India.
Sanchez-Martinez presented a comprehensive look into Mexico’s educational landscape, including a detailed explanation of sociocultural factors that contribute to local achievement gaps and of the current educational movements and solutions to closing the gap. Akondy highlighted the importance of VILP and its efforts to recruit more girls in India into the STEM fields. The aim of this program is to provide a community network of support while focusing on student engagement and providing technological resources to underfunded schools.
16 Jun2015
By Jerrica Thurman
Throughout AACTE’s Washington Week, June 9-11, the theme “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession” permeated each event, motivating attendees to forge and nurture bonds that will strengthen the profession. From the emerging leaders attending the Holmes Scholars Summer Policy Institute to the chapter executives at the State Leaders Institute, and from the STEM conference through Day on the Hill, participants connected with peers, policy makers, and partners around common goals and interests.
09 Jun2015
By Jerrica Thurman
Today, AACTE’s Washington Week kicks off with a full lineup of interactive sessions, discussions, and advocacy around educator preparation. In addition to our traditional advocacy-focused events, we are hosting a special conference this afternoon on closing the student achievement gap in the critical subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, today’s conference will feature a multidisciplinary group of education researchers, practitioners, and scientists who will share their theoretical approaches and successful models for promoting the STEM achievement. The panelists will also discuss how to build collaborative, interdisciplinary partnerships for addressing the U.S. achievement gap in STEM subjects—drawing on international lessons—as well as ways to improve learning outcomes of underrepresented populations in the STEM fields.
28 Apr2015
By Jerrica Thurman
Participants in Day on the Hill join Sharon Robinson during Washington Week
Every year, AACTE’s Washington Week attracts hundreds from around the nation. Read these testimonials from recent participants about the value of attending:
14 Apr2015
By Rodrick Lucero
Join your voice with those of other educator preparation providers at AACTE’s annual Washington Week, to be held in the nation’s capital June 9-11. Under the unifying theme “Diverse Perspectives, Deep Partnerships, One Profession,” this year’s Washington Week will be held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. This is your chance to deliberate with colleagues on provocative issues in the profession, experience interactive sessions with national leaders, and convene with policy officials.
07 Apr2015
By Jerrica Thurman
Kick off the summer with AACTE’s signature June events: Washington Week and the Leadership Academy. Join your colleagues from around the country in Washington, DC, advocating for the profession on Capitol Hill and participating in a special conference on closing the achievement gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; or meet with fellow new deans and administrators in Cincinnati, Ohio, for intensive leadership development and networking. These are two popular summer conferences, so mark your calendar today!
18 Feb2015
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE has chosen David Stroupe, assistant professor of science education at Michigan State University, to receive the 2015 AACTE Outstanding Dissertation Award for his study "Students Drive Where I Go Next": Ambitious Practice, Beginning Teacher Learning, and Classroom Epistemic Communities. The award will be presented at the 67th AACTE Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight Session, Sunday, March 1, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
30 Oct2014
By Gail Bozeman
The National Science Foundation has awarded AACTE $72,820 to support a conference in 2015 on closing the student achievement gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The event will help participants address the following objectives:
- To review current research on the achievement gap in mathematics and science with a focus on school-related variables that adversely affect outcomes from low-income and minority students
- To discuss teacher quality and effective teaching in STEM
- To identify effective strategies and models that promote equity in education and that close the STEM achievement gap
- To build collaborative, interdisciplinary partnerships for addressing the U.S. achievement gap in STEM subjects
30 Sep2014
By Deborah Koolbeck
AACTE is thrilled that the U.S. Department of Education last week announced the awarding of a new round of Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants, the federal government’s only investment in reforming teacher preparation. With grants totaling more than $35 million to 24 partnerships in the first year alone, these awards will assist to recruit, train, and support more than 11,000 educators in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
AACTE is pleased by the administration’s recognition of the value of continued federal investment in higher education-based teacher preparation programs. Many AACTE member institutions have benefited from TQP funding since the program’s inception in 2009, and the new round of grants expands the reach to more institutions and their partner schools.
08 Jul2014
By Zachary VanHouten
The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Zach VanHouten at zvanhouten@aacte.org.
Rutgers University (NJ) is making a big impact on physics education through an innovative program housed in the Graduate School of Education.
01 Jul2014
By Zachary VanHouten
The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Zach VanHouten at zvanhouten@aacte.org.
Over the past few years, Montclair State University has developed a series of programs geared toward increasing the supply of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers. Programs including the Newark-Montclair Urban Teacher Residency (NMUTR) and the Integrative Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (iSTEM) program are contributing to the national initiative “100Kin10,” which seeks to prepare 100,000 new STEM teachers by 2021.
03 Jun2014
By Zachary VanHouten
The Innovations Inventory of AACTE’s Innovation Exchange is an online database highlighting members’ pioneering practices in educator preparation that have shown a positive impact on issues of student learning, preparation program advancement, or educator workforce needs. This blog post is one in a series highlighting entries from the inventory. To request inclusion of your institution’s innovations, contact Jessica Milton at jmilton@aacte.org.
Beginning in 2009, California State University (CSU) Fullerton has enjoyed a partnership with neighboring Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District to support science instruction in the classroom. The partnership has served not only to improve the practice of teacher candidates in science instruction, but also to improve K-5 student achievement in science and content literacy. Throughout their time in the classroom, candidates jointly plan, teach, and reflect on their lessons.
Since the partnership began, student achievement scores have experienced double-digit gains, and teacher candidates report greater confidence in their science pedagogy. Proficiency levels in one school increased from 25% to 44% in just 1 year of partnership work. Candidates’ confidence to engage students in science increased from 77.5% to 97.5%, and the percentage reporting confidence in their content knowledge in science increased from 57.5% to 90.0%.
02 Jun2014
By Aaron Goldstein
Updated to reflect new application deadline.
Applications are now available for a new slate of Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants, the federal government’s only investment in reforming teacher preparation in institutions of higher education. Interested applicants will have to act quickly, though—the deadline for letters of intent is June 27, and full applications are due July 15.
Last week, in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the availability of approximately $35 million in new awards for fiscal year 2014 under the TQP grant program.
10 Mar2014
By Sarah Pinsky
On February 27, the U.S. House subcommittee on elementary and secondary education and the subcommittee on higher education held a hearing titled “Exploring Efforts to Strengthen the Teaching Profession.”
Witnesses included Marcy Singer-Gabella, professor of the Practice of Education at Vanderbilt University (TN), along with two officials from state departments of education and the director of an alternative-route program.
