Registration Now Open for AACTE’s 2020 Washington Week

By Linda Minor

Registration is now open for AACTE’s virtual 2020 Washington Week! Connect with peers from across the country for the premier national advocacy event for educator preparation. Take advantage of the reduced event rates and encourage your colleagues and students to join policy leaders in impacting our profession.

Registration rates are as follows:

Register for AACTE’s Washington Week today! Learn more about the affordable rates and other event details at www.aacte.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and join the conversation using #AACTEWW20.

Do you have questions or need assistance? Please email events@aacte.org.

Tips for Successful Submissions to the AACTE #DEIHandbook

By Jacqueline Rodriguez

AACTE wants to celebrate your successful strategies to diversify the profession and professionally develop your faculty and staff. We plan to share members’ strategies in a handbook focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This handbook will be distributed to congressional leaders and their staff during Washington Week 2020. The handbook will also be located on the AACTE website for our members to share their successes with one another.

Now that you’ve read about the Handbook, you’re likely planning your submission. We want to support you every step of the way. Below are a few tips for a successful submission to the DEI Handbook.

Bring Your Voice to AACTE’s Virtual Washington Week

By Linda Minor

Your voice is needed at the AACTE 2020 Washington Week! Convene virtually with policy leaders, education partners, and colleagues from across the country during interactive sessions addressing current issues facing the profession. With a focus on activism and advocacy, AACTE will elevate the innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies of its members. You can participate in the call for member strategies to address DEI by August 14.

This year’s schedule of events covers provocative topics you won’t want to miss!

Holmes Advanced Policy Course: September 2-3
Experienced Holmes Scholars will explore advocacy strategies and current policies that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in education. This course is limited to 20 participants. Complete the course application to request your spot by August 14. 

Call for Stories: Share Your Strategies to Address DEI

By Jacqueline Rodriguez

AACTE’s annual Washington Week is going virtual and we are excited to expand the advocacy campaign from a week to a month! This September will be filled with advocacy events that are sure to engage Members of Congress and their staff. Given the national climate, AACTE would like to elevate your invaluable work in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the midst of the many challenges we are all facing in 2020.

At this year’s Day on the Hill event, we will provide our Members of Congress with a “handbook” comprised of collected strategies by our members, describing their successes at their educator preparation programs (EPPs) in pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Connect with Peers at the Virtual AACTE 2020 Washington Week

By Linda Minor

Join AACTE at its inaugural, virtual 2020 Washington Week this September. You will be able to connect with peers from around the nation under the event’s theme Your Voice Matters. Whether you’re joining the State Leaders Institute, Holmes Policy Institute or Advanced Policy Course, and/or Day on the Hill, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn, work, and advocate together!

Here’s what past attendees had to say about the events:

Announcing AACTE’s Inaugural Virtual Conference: 2020 Washington Week

By Linda Minor

After careful consideration, AACTE has decided to transform the 2020 Washington Week conference into its inaugural virtual event. The in-person meeting has been canceled due to our concern about the health, well-being, and safety of our attendees and the coronavirus-related meeting and travel restrictions. We are excited to bring a virtual conference that will center on the same education and connections attendees experience at AACTE face-to-face meetings—from the comfort of your home. Take a moment to review the questions and answers we’ve prepared to acquaint you with this year’s Washington Week conference.

Get Discounts on Washington Week Events

By Linda Minor

Registration is open for AACTE’s 2020 Washington Week, to be held September 8-11 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, VA. Please note the discounted registration rates based on the following:

• Register for the State Leaders Institute and you will receive a 12% discount on the Day on the Hill rate.
• Register for the Holmes Institute and you will receive a complimentary registration for Day on the Hill.
• Register to attend Day on the Hill and receive a 12% discount on State Leaders Institute.

Registration Now Open for Washington Week and Leadership Academy

By Linda Minor

AACTE takes the health and safety of our attendees and participants at our events seriously, so we have postponed our regularly scheduled summer events to later in the year. Washington Week will now take place September 8-11 and Leadership Academy is now scheduled for October 3-7.  We will take every precaution to create a safe environment while onsite. As this is an evolving situation, we will continue to monitor new developments concerning COVID-19 and will update the meeting status as needed.

Please note that due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the coronavirus, AACTE will not charge a cancellation fee if you decide to not attend an in-person event based on concerns around your health or travel.  Please continue to visit aacte.org for the latest information.

WASHINGTON WEEK:  September 8-11

AACTE Adjusts Events in Response to COVID-19

AACTE Responds to COVID19

By Linda Minor

At AACTE, we continue to monitor the rapidly changing situation related to the spread of COVID-19. We understand that concerns for health, safety, and the impact on meeting attendance, among other issues, are affecting our members. 

Keeping this in mind, AACTE has made the decision to move its  June meetings to later in the year:

Washington Week will now take place September 8 – 11.  The location remains the same: Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel.  Check aacte.org for the revised schedule of events. 

Leadership Academy has been rescheduled to October 3 – 8.  The location remains the same: Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel. Visit the aacte.org for the revised schedule of events. 

AACTE is committed to maintaining all appropriate sanitary, health, and safety measures, and encourages attendees to follow guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. 

Please note that due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the coronavirus, AACTE will not charge a cancellation fee if you decide not to attend an in-person event based on concerns around your health or travel.

Register Now for AACTE 2020 Washington Week

By Linda Minor

Registration is now open for AACTE’s 2020 Washington Week. This annual event, with participation from AACTE and the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) state chapter leaders, Holmes Scholars, and AACTE members and non-members alike interested in advocating for the profession, will take place in the nation’s capital. This year’s Washington Week will be held May 31 – June 3 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, VA, and on Capitol Hill.

Education Majors School Lawmakers on the Importance of Federal Aid for Teachers

By Leslie-Hull-Ryde

Students and faculty from the University of South Carolina Aiken headed to Washington to meet with legislators and learn about trends in education policy from leaders in the field, all as part of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s annual Washington Week.

“The primary goal of the trip was to collaborate with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and engage with staffs of the South Carolina representatives and senators,” said Tiffany Zorn, a USC Aiken education major.

“This experience permitted us to expound upon particular bills that aid with teacher preparation as well as [champion] the necessity to continue funding the Teach Grant and reevaluate the data gathered within the teaching profession. Without voices to be advocates, our teachers’ stories would never be heard, and no progress would ever truly be made.”

AACTE is considered “the leading voice on educator preparation,” according to its website, which also states that AACTE represents more than 800 postsecondary institutions with educator preparation programs, like USC Aiken.

From Education Intern to Avid Holmes Program Advocate

By Jerrica Thurman and Donna Sacco

AACTE’s Jerrica Thurman first met Donna Sacco in 2015. Sacco was one of three doctoral students from George Mason University (GMU) who worked as an AACTE education intern, assisting in advocating for high-quality preparation programs and with its marketing communications. Thurman was pleasantly surprised when she saw Sacco at AACTE’s 2019 Washington Week with her two Holmes doctoral students from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). It was during her AACTE internship that Sacco learned about the Holmes Program and determined to make a personal contribution to help diversify the teacher workforce by becoming a Holmes advocate. The following summary highlights an interview Thurman had with Sacco about her journey from an intern to a change agent in education. 

What piqued your interest in the issues of teacher diversity as a doctoral student at George Mason University and student intern at AACTE?

Before my doctoral program, I was a special educator with a master’s degree in bilingual special education. For my entire career, my focus has been on culturally and linguistically responsive instructional practices. Part of my drive came from the stories my father told me about the obstacles he experienced in his childhood as the son of Italian immigrants. He was a brilliant man but never went to college. He had one advocate who helped mentor him in appreciating the arts but had no teachers who were advocates, role models, or who understood his background. Once I began researching teacher education, I was surprised to learn that the teaching force is composed of roughly 80% white female teachers. How had I missed that obvious point? I am a white female who was teaching mostly boys of

Day on the Hill: A First-Time Attendee’s Perspective

By Andrew Fox

During Washington Week 2019, I participated in AACTE Day on the Hill and advocated for the education profession for the first time. As a recent graduate of The Citadel’s school counselor program, I was eager to learn what our government is currently doing for the field of education. I also thought about what I could bring to the discussion from different perspectives. My career in education started later than most. After serving four years in the active duty Air Force, I joined the Air Force Reserve and began my master’s in school counseling. This would allow me to share my viewpoint as an educator entering the workforce, as well as a working professional from outside the education world.  

Being a new educator, the first idea I wanted to present was restructuring the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to make it easier and better fit the needs of those in the profession. Most people outside of education do not know that school counselors are required to have a master’s degree, which puts an even greater student loan burden on them. For new educators like me, informing congress that current programs are either broken or do not fit the entire education picture is important. I feel that congress may be overlooking the levels required for the different types of educator preparation.

AACTE: Policy and Advocacy in Action

By Lynn M. Gangone

This month, AACTE members, colleagues, and students converged on our nation’s capital and made their voices heard during AACTE’s Washington Week events. From increasing teacher diversity to a renewed respect for the profession, attendees promoted educator preparation and pushed for their representatives’ support in making education the center of American values. Please take a few minutes to watch the video above (or read the transcript) to receive an update on AACTE’s advocacy efforts on your behalf.

Rest assured, AACTE tackles policy issues not only during our annual advocacy week but also throughout the year to continually move forward our legislative agenda. Stay connected to AACTE for up-to-the-minute information on policies and legislation by visiting aacte.org.

AACTE 2019 Washington Week Video Highlights

By Jerrica Thurman

There was so much buzz in Washington, DC during AACTE’s 2019 Washington Week this month that we had to capture it all in a video! Check out the recap video above to view AACTE members at work for teacher education during our annual advocacy event. Then, be sure to access the variety of online resources that will help let your local elected officials know that “Your Voice Matters.”

• Ed Prep Matters continues to bring you reports from the event. Read what presenters, participants, and staff learned and what related opportunities are available.
• For photos from the event, visit our Facebook album. Feel free to tag yourself and share photos on your own page and check out the Facebook Live videos!
• Look up the hashtag #AACTEWW19 on Twitter and read through several tweets about the event.
• Visit AACTE’s Advocacy Center for the latest resources on federal and state policy issues about teacher preparation.

Plan now to join AACTE next year for the 2020 Washington Week, May 31 – June 3 at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, VA and on Capitol Hill.