07 Sep2018
By Jerrica Thurman
The deadline to apply for a 2019 AACTE Best Practice or Professional Achievement Award is quickly approaching. Submit your application by Wednesday, October 10, to recognize your program or colleagues and contribute to “Sustaining and Advancing the Profession” at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky!
Do you have a global and linguistically diverse program like Rutgers University (NJ)? An innovative approach for using robotics technology to facilitate teacher candidates’ critical thinking and problem solving like recent winner Northeastern State University (OK)? Or perhaps a sustainable pathway to advocate for educational equity like recent winner University of Colorado Denver? Any AACTE member institution may apply for a Best Practice Award (unless you’ve won it in the past 3 years) in one of the following three categories:
18 Jun2018
By Kristin McCabe
Applications for the 2019 AACTE awards are now open on AACTE’s online submission site (except the Outstanding Book Award, which closed May 3). Entries for the Outstanding Dissertation Award are due August 20, and all other award submissions are due October 10.
Now in its 23rd year, AACTE’s awards program recognizes member institutions’ exemplary programs as well as individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to education preparation. For an overview of last year’s winners, see this press release.
11 Jun2018
By Donna Wake and Terri Cullen
The authors are members and leaders of the AACTE topical action group called “All Things Accreditation.” The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Members of the All Things Accreditation Topical Action Group (TAG) spent the spring term this year designing and validating a survey that aims to help us better understand how the field is measuring technology integration in teacher education programs and what evidence colleges are using for technology expectations such as those of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). We invite you to participate in the survey at this link by June 29.
29 May2018
By Matthew Wales
In just a few weeks, new and aspiring academic leaders from across the country will gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for AACTE’s annual Leadership Academy. This popular professional development experience provides attendees the opportunity to advance their leadership skills while exploring a wide range of topics including garnering and allocating resources, promoting your unit and program, and managing your personal and professional time.
Even if you have attended AACTE’s Leadership Academy in the past, you might want to consider returning this year, June 24-28, as the program has implemented new, interactive content that will continue to develop your critical skills. (View the full schedule here.)
18 May2018
By JTE Insider
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.
The January/February 2018 issue of JTE contains an article by Mary Beisiegel of Oregon State University, Rebecca Mitchell of Pine Manor College (MA), and Heather C. Hill of Harvard University (MA) titled “The Design of Video-Based Professional Development: An Exploratory Experiment Intended to Identify Effective Features.” The article is summarized in the following abstract:
15 May2018
By Kevin Graziano, Teresa Foulger, Denise Schmidt-Crawford and David Slykhuis
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
The Teacher Educator Technology Competencies (TETCs) have been finalized, thanks to feedback from many of you, and we are excited to invite you to put them to use–and to tell us about them!
The Need for Technology Competencies for Teacher Educators
Last year, we reported to you on our progress developing the TETCs, which aim to address the “digital use gap” among teacher educators and their ability to prepare PK-12 teachers to teach with technology.
24 Apr2018
By Kristin McCabe and Robert Toy-Giles
Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs (center) shares a light moment with AACTE Board Chair Wanda Blanchett (Rutgers University, NJ) and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone during their interview in March.
In a recent radio show recorded at AACTE’s 70th Annual Meeting, Education Talk Radio host Larry Jacobs interviewed several leaders in educator preparation about their work, including AACTE members from Kentucky as well as Board of Directors Chair Wanda Blanchett and President/CEO Lynn M. Gangone.
The first interview of the show focused on work in Kentucky to use technology and create a statewide system for sharing teacher preparation program data and accountability (as presented in a session elsewhere in the conference). The following guests joined the interview:
16 Apr2018
By Kristin McCabe
AACTE members Melissa Burnham and Jafeth Sanchez of the University of Nevada Reno were featured guests on a recent Education Talk Radio show, discussing the “Nevada Leads” principal preparation initiative with their district partner Salwa Jafi. Other guests included AACTE’s Deborah Koolbeck, highlighting current advocacy work in Washington, and Interim Dean Vanessa Anton and Interim Provost Deb Landry of Northeastern State University (OK), who described their award-winning Robotics Academy of Critical Engagement (RACE) program.
The interviews took place in person with host Larry Jacobs at the AACTE 70th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, last month.
01 Feb2018
By Arlene Borthwick
On behalf of the AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology, I am delighted to announce the winner of the 2018 AACTE Best Practice Award for the Innovative Use of Technology: the College of Education at Oklahoma’s Northeastern State University (NSU), for its Robotics Academy of Critical Engagement (RACE) program. Representatives from NSU will receive the award on Saturday, March 3, during the Closing Keynote at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
This annual award celebrates and recognizes the innovative use of educational technologies in a school, college, or department of education in ways that stretch beyond established practice to enable change in teacher education programs.
22 Jan2018
By Arlene Borthwick, Elizabeth S. Finsness, Teresa Foulger, Jo Hoffman, Liz Kolb, Shelly Meyers, Laila Richman and Elizabeth Wilson
Is it time to upgrade your candidates’ tech competency? Please join us for a free half-day symposium before AACTE’s Annual Meeting, organized by the AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology (I&T), to share leadership strategies for better integrating technology in teacher preparation.
06 Dec2017
By Jon Clausen, Guy Trainin and Arlene Borthwick
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).
20 Oct2017
By Jemima Cabedo
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.
10 Oct2017
By Kristin McCabe
The deadline to apply for a 2018 AACTE Best Practice Award or Professional Achievement Award has been extended to Friday, October 20. Act now to win recognition for your program or colleagues and to contribute to “Celebrating Our Professional Identity” at the 2018 Annual Meeting when the awards are given in Baltimore, Maryland!
Award winners are honored during the general sessions at the opening and closing of the conference, providing inspiring bookends to the experience with examples of outstanding achievement and best practice.
02 Oct2017
By Jerrica Thurman
Today, we are excited to unveil the new AACTE Video Wall as a tool to better showcase members’ impact and amplify their voices. Please check it out at videos.aacte.org!
For several years, AACTE has encouraged members to “tell their stories” so local communities and policy makers can learn more about the positive work educator preparation professionals do every day. Storytelling is indeed essential to getting your message out in a way that creates lasting impressions in people’s minds and hearts. AACTE is now integrating storytelling, video and technology to more broadly disseminate member stories.
20 Jun2017
By Amanda Lester
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:
