Month: January 2019

GLOBAL
Education International.  Today’s Priority – The future of Finland’s education policy  Despite a tight budget, some positive reforms have been achieved in the country. For instance, the personnel’s structure in early childhood education was reformed to ensure that more university-educated teachers will be working at day-care centres.

Gov.UK. Secretary of State opens Education World Forum 2019.  Every year, my Department receives in the region of 100 visits from overseas governments and organisations. Last year this included teachers from Hungary and Japan interested in our policy reforms to improve initial teacher training and continuing professional development.

Uudistuva opettajankoulutus.  Con­fe­rence 7.2.2019 for teacher education development: Towards Sustainable Research and Pedagogies in Teacher Education [University of Helsinki]

 

UNITED STATES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. AACTE 71st Annual Meeting schedule [Louisville, KY Feb. 22-24]

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. CAEP Names Three New Members to Board of Directors These new members, including Dr. Christopher Brown II, Dr. Paul Katnik, and Dr. Judy Hackett, assumed their duties on January 1.

EdSource. Required tests roadblock for many aspiring California teachers  Commission on teacher credentialing could eliminate some tests, offer alternatives to others.

EducationDive. Creative approaches needed to desegregate schools  In a 2016 study, authors Amy Stuart Wells, Lauren Fox, and Diana Cordova-Cobo of Teachers College Columbia noted that “the benefits of school diversity run in all directions… researchers have documented that students’ exposure to other students who are different from themselves and the novel ideas and challenges that such exposure brings leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving.”

EdWeek.
1) 4 Reasons Educators Use Research and 4 Reasons They Don’t
2) Many Large City Pre-K Programs Fail to Meet Quality Benchmarks, Study Finds   When it comes to teacher pay and training, the study found that city programs still have a ways to go to meet NIEER benchmarks. Only 63 percent require lead teachers to have a bachelor’s degree with specialized training in teaching young children, and only 15 percent require that all teaching staff receive ongoing professional development.
3) Is Geography Destiny? The Debate Over Boosting K-12 Quality   In states like New Jersey and Massachusetts, policymakers… have worked to see that the additional money is equitable and goes toward important classroom resources, such as a strong curriculum and a well-trained teacher, said Linda Darling-Hammond, the president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, a nonprofit research group that focuses on teacher quality and early learning.

Hechinger Report. How to build an engineer: Start young  There are also several single-city pilot programs offered by colleges. One, from Purdue University in Indiana, trains elementary school teachers to teach science using engineering design principles. American University and Johns Hopkins University work together on another to offer a program at nine high-poverty schools…

Inside Higher Education.
1) Reducing Implicit Bias in Teaching   Implicit bias is also a problem in schools and universities. It impacts even the most thoughtful teachers, influencing which of their students get to participate and how.
2) Rethinking State Authorization, Again: The U.S. Department of Education is contemplating going back to the drawing board on complex rules governing authority to operate online programs in multiple states.  The institutions must also … disclose to students studying professions that require state licensure, such as nursing or teaching, whether an online program qualifies them to practice their chosen profession where they live.

National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR). The National Center for Teacher Residencies announced today that it has received $750,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch and expand four teacher residencies in California.

NEA Today. What Happens When Teachers Leave Mid-Year?   Redding and Henry also found that preparation through an alternative pathway also made teachers much more likely to leave the profession during and after the school year. Those educators who attended traditional, in-state teacher preparation programs, on the other hand, were more likely to transfer to another school but less likely to leave the classroom altogether.

NYT. Empathy and Resilience, Responsibility and Self-Care: Resources for Social and Emotional Learning From The New York Times

San Francisco Chronicle.  Teachers striking to end policies that gut public institutions A new dynamic is unfolding. As fewer young people enroll in teacher-training programs, the ones who do understand what they are getting into: a commitment not only to the traditional ideals of public education, but to the activist political work necessary in these times to make it happen.

The D.C. Line. By 2023 all DC early childhood teachers will need a degree But will they actually learn anything?   We know almost nothing about the quality of teacher preparation programs where child care teachers actually earn degrees. In fact, not only is research largely silent on the quality of early childhood teacher preparation, but there is very little data on what early educators even learn in these programs. 

University of New Hampshire. Teacher Residency for Rural Education (TRRE) TRRE is an innovative teacher preparation program including graduate coursework, a community internship, and a full year residency in a rural school with a mentor teacher. 

 

NEW YORK STATE
Board of Regents and Clinical Practice Work Group. Student Teaching Requirements for Teacher Certification and the Registration of Teacher Preparation Programs Public comment period open until Feb. 24.  Comments should be sent to: Allison Armour-Garb, NYS Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-1385, email:[email protected]

New York Daily News. N.Y.’s new teacher evaluation legislation runs a risk: It could take us right back into high-stakes testing territory [OpEd by TC Prof. A. Pallas]  Most existing SLOs approved by the State Education Department are based on third-party standardized assessments. If the only assessments approved by the Commissioner are just different standardized tests, they argue, the law simply substitutes one evil for another.

 

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) MBAs wanted: Success Academy looks to woo business leaders for a fast-track principal program   … fellows will also participate in a “specialized track” of Success Academy’s own teacher training program to learn about instruction and teacher preparation… Eric Nadelstern said hiring leaders from other industries can work, but isn’t always the best strategy. “It’s useful for somebody to have spent time in a school to be a good principal,” he said, noting the Teachers College program required three years of classroom experience…
2)New York City gets a gold medal for pre-K quality and access, new report finds   New York fell short on two measures: teacher training and education requirements for classroom assistants

Gotham Gazette. A Strategy That’s Working in New York School Turnaround[by TC Prof. P. Wohlstetter]  Our research team from Teachers College at Columbia University examined the implementation of a train-the-trainer model called Strategic Inquiry that was introduced in Renewal Schools…

GLOBAL
Center for Innovation in Teacher Education & Development (CITED). An Introduction to Design-Based Implementation Research: A CITED Workshop [29 May, Kings College, London]

East Anglian Daily Times. “It was my dream to teach, but the reality was a nightmare”   In the past year, SCITT had 70 trainees for secondary education… every teacher who is trained by SCITT gets a job, 100%, which must count for something. It is a commendation of their training – as well as an indication that teachers are sorely needed. We also know that most train in the area where they live and so local recruitment often means more teachers in local schools.

New York Times. Yalitza Aparicio of ‘Roma’ and the Politics of Stardom in Mexico: The film’s star was on her way to being a teacher when she landed the role.  To prepare for filming, Cuarón asked Aparicio and García to improvise scenes. He was amazed at how quickly they began playing Cleo and Adela — not replicating a conversation they might have had after class at teachers college.

 

UNITED STATES
5 Eyewitness News. St. Paul Public Schools program meant to get more teachers, more diversity in classrooms   Residents in the program co-teach in a district school for a year – all while working on their master’s degree and obtaining their teaching license over 15 months. The program has incentives. It pays for books, it pays a $21,000 stipend and it offers a reduced tuition rate at the University of St. Thomas. 

ABC 7 News. Bay Area schools facing teacher crisis as LA teachers go on strike   Silicon Valley companies are recruiting teachers with degrees in math and science, taking them out of the classroom. “Anyone with a degree is valuable and most teachers have multiple degrees,” said VP of the Jefferson Union High School District Board Kalimah Salahuddin.

Association of Teacher Educators.   Registration – Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA [Feb. 16-20]

Chalkbeat. Tennesseans hope their new education commissioner can get testing right   Huffman and Schwinn share a Teach for America background – much to the chagrin of some. Schwinn launched her education career through the alternative teacher training programs in Baltimore. Huffman was a frequently divisive leader who left after three years of clashing with teacher groups, superintendents, and state lawmakers over policies ranging from teacher licensing and evaluations to charter schools and academic standards.

Education Week. 1) How to Redefine ‘Good’ in Education [by Prof. A. S. Wells] In our research and the professional development at Teachers College, Columbia University, we are learning about the process by which racial, ethnic, and economic segregation is reproduced and legitimized by a hierarchical understanding of different races and cultures in our society. This racial hierarchy, which is often vehemently denied by many who perpetuate it, fosters implicit racial biases that shape the choices of educators, parents, and home buyers. 2) Is It Time to Kill Annual Testing?  Educators must be equipped to recognize the features of high-quality classroom assignments, whether garnered from highly rated instructional programs, district curriculum, or teacher-created tasks. When such assignments are the norm, educators will also have the kind of meaningful formative assessments our students deserve. 3) National Teacher of the Year Set to Join House Education Committee   Among other things, she campaigned on providing teachers with more resources, more career training, and making college more affordable. 

Forbes. These 5 Trends Will Dominate STEM + Education In 2019   We are heartened by supports for emergency-credentialed teachers to become fully certified and customized tools to help teacher-prep programs and school districts deal with STEM teacher deficits. It is noteworthy that California and Pennsylvania are doubling down on teacher residencies, intensive programs where aspiring teachers prioritize hands-on, practical learning in K-12 classrooms, guided by master teachers.

Inside Higher Ed. Takedown of Online Education   The paper indiscriminately trashes online education, said Fiona Hollands, associate director and senior researcher at the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

New York Times. ‘It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.’ Why Some Boys Can Keep Up With Girls in School.   A study shows the Asian-American gender academic gap starts later, giving educators insight into how to help boys of all races and pointing to the influence of social pressures.

The Atlantic. The Unique Racial Dynamics of the L.A. Teachers’ Strike: The city’s public-school teachers are predominantly people of color—and a plurality of them are Latino, like most of the students they serve.   …both the state and district are actively engaged in diversity-focused teacher-recruitment initiatives—and LAUSD even offers its own accredited teacher-preparation program targeted at people who already live in the community in which they’d teach.

The Post and Courier. South Carolina’s deep teacher shortage got even worse in 2018, school survey shows   The number of new teachers is dwindling — fewer college students are enrolling in South Carolina’s education schools — and the state is struggling to keep new teachers on the job… schools often turn to stopgap measures like hiring foreign teachers on three-year visas.

Valdosta State Univ. [GA]. VSU Ranked Among the Nation’s Best by U.S. News and World Report   Valdosta State University is one of the best colleges and universities in the nation when it comes to distance education… a Master of Arts in Teaching in English to speakers of other languages, foreign language education, health and physical education, special education deaf and hard of hearing education, special education adapted curriculum, or special education general curriculum…

 

NEW YORK STATE
New York State Education Department. January Regents Meetings 1) Consent Agenda: Amendments to Section 80-3.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Initial Certificate Requirements for Individuals Who Have a Graduate Degree and Two Years of Postsecondary Teaching Experience in the Area of the Cer 2) Proposals: a) Proposed Amendments to Section 80-5.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Employment of Substitute Teachers Who Do Not Hold a Valid Teaching Certificate b) Proposed Amendments to Sections 52.21, 57-2, 75.8, 80-1, 80-2, 80-3, 80-5, 80-6, 90.18, 100.2, 100.13, 100.15, 100.17, 100.19, 151-1, 154-2, and 200.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education and 30-1, 30-2, and 30-3 of the Rules of the Board o

• Third, the Department proposes changing the number of CTLE hours that can be claimed for serving as a mentor to a student teacher from 15 hours to 25 hours in each five-year registration period.
• Fourth, the Department proposes changing the number of CTLE hours that can be claimed for serving as a mentor to a first-year teacher from 25 hours to 30 hours in each five-year registration period.
• Fifth, the Department proposes to remove the restriction on claiming CTLE hours for serving as a mentor to a student teacher in instances where the teacher preparation program provides remuneration to the mentor teacher.

3) Presentation: Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education in New York State [Expert committee incl. TC Profs. M. Souto-Manning; A. S. Wells]

Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching. January Meeting Agenda

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. With a Golden Ticket, Doing What He Was Meant to Do   Buckingham and seven other 2018-19 O’Neill Fellows have each received $40,000 in tuition assistance to fund their elementary or secondary teacher education master’s degree programs, leading to initial certification. [Video clip: Celia Oyler, Professor of Education, discussing the impact of TC’s new Abby M. O’Neill Teaching Fellows program]

GLOBAL
European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). CFP [Sep. 3-6, Hamburg]

Hechinger Report (Kakuma, Kenya). Refugee Girls Want to Change the World. Will We Let Them?  About 85 percent of teachers are refugees themselves, most of whom have gone to school at the camp and many of whom begin teaching without any formal training. The only qualification necessary is a high school degree… Teachers for Teachers… The program, which has now reached an estimated 90 percent of primary school teachers in Kakuma…

New York Times. France Debates Where to Teach Arabic: Public School or Local Mosque?   …the public school classes would be of higher quality than religious ones. The Quran-based courses at the mosque, he said, can rely too heavily on memorization rather than allowing students to express themselves. “Our professors have a lot of passion and good will, but they are not trained teachers,” Mr. Benjemaa said. “They didn’t pass national exams.”

Sydney Morning Herald. More Low-performing Australian Students Enter Teaching Programs   A report from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) finds that far more students with Australian Tertiary Admission Rankings (ATAR) in the lowest bands are being admitted into teaching degrees than other fields. Nearly 40 percent of teaching undergraduates scored below 70 on the ATAR, compared to just 25 percent of undergraduates across all university degrees in 2016.

World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS). CFP [Sep. 3-6, Amsterdam]

 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE at the Table for Higher Education Negotiated Rulemaking   The full committee will cover issues around accreditation and innovation, and the subcommittees will advise the full committee on the following issues: faith-based entities, distance learning, and TEACH grants.
2) AACTE Response to the Federal School Safety Commission Report   … AACTE is deeply concerned about the Commission’s recommendation that states should reduce barriers to certification for becoming teachers. While the profession develops competency-based preparation programs to support career changers to enter the classroom, there is a necessity to ensure that expeditious programs maintain a high level of quality preparation for its candidates.

Chalkbeat. I’m a Chicago teacher who has watched many Javions fall through the cracks. Here’s what would help.   When I started teaching, I experienced the benefits of a reading specialist myself. I was not prepared to teach reading, as much of my teacher education taught me to become a teacher like the ones I had in high school — ones that assigned texts, held discussions, and gave feedback on essays.

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). A Vision and Guidance for a Diverse and Learner-Ready Teacher Workforce   This report is a call to action by state chiefs, and leaders from educator preparation providers (EPPs), local education agencies (LEAs), legislatures, unions, and civic and community groups.

Education Week.
1) 10 Big Ideas: Special Education is Broken  States need to support teacher-preparation colleges that offer dual-licensure, that are taught by faculty who have successfully worked in inclusive classrooms, and offer meaningful clinical programs. Future educators should learn principles of universal design for learning, differentiated instruction, and co-teaching.
2) A Conversation With U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, an Award-Winning Teacher  “This is a profession and it needs to be treated as such… You have people who have multiple degrees who have gone to college and really prepared and trained to enter teaching as a profession and can’t even afford to take care of their families. And I think that’s unreasonable…”
3) Gates Giving Millions to Train Teachers on ‘High Quality’ Curricula   All grantees, for instance, would have to orient their teacher training around a curriculum with a high rating from EdReports.org, a nonprofit that issues Consumer Reports-style reviews, or on similar tools developed by nonprofit groups like Student Achievement Partners and Achieve.
4) Here’s a look at the first education bills to hit the floor in Colorado   Among the first five bills filed by Senate Democrats, this bill from state Sen. Zenzinger would provide up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness for teachers who take hard-to-fill positions, defined by either geography or content area. As many as 100 teachers a year could benefit from the program.
5) The 2019 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings … ranking the university-based scholars in the U.S. who did the most last year to shape educational practice and policy.  [Incl. 10 TC Profs. H. Levin, J. Henig, C. Emdin, J. Brooks-Gunn, T. Bailey, M. Rebell, A. S. Wells, A. Pallas, J. Scott-Clayton, S. Cohodes]

Inside Higher Ed.
1) ‘Neuromyth’ or Helpful Model?   UVA’s Willingham said more needs to be done to “inoculate future teachers against this idea when they are in teacher preparation programs.” While education psychology textbooks don’t propagate the idea of learning styles, he said, “I would also argue that they’re not doing enough to say, ‘There’s nothing to support this idea.’
2) Overhauling Rules for Higher Ed  The upcoming rule-making process is so expansive that the department has added multiple subcommittees addressing distance learning, TEACH Grants and the role of faith-based institutions. Negotiated rule-making rarely includes more than one subcommittee requiring that kind of narrow expertise.

Mother Jones. This Deep-Red State Decided to Make a Serious Investment in Preschools. It’s Paying Off Big-Time.   And while many states don’t require preschool teachers to have a degree and don’t pay them as much as elementary school teachers get, Alabama hires only credentialed preschool teachers and gives them elementary school salaries.

New York Times. Deconstructing the Wall: Teaching About the Symbolism, Politics and Reality of the U.S.-Mexico Border

WVNews. Superintendent backs possible bonus to boost teacher skills   Paine says there’s an immediate need for certified math teachers. A state Department of Education report found that “non-fully certified” teachers taught 38 percent of public school math courses for grades seven through 11.
NEW YORK STATE
New York State Education Department. Public comment periods:
1) proposed regulatory amendments to student teaching requirements in teacher preparation programs will be open through February 25.
2) proposed regulations to implement New York State’s ESSA plan will run through January 25

 

NEW YORK CITY
Inside Higher Ed. Candidate Withdraws, but CUNY Chancellor Search ‘Nearly Concluded’

New York Times. The Community School Comes of Age [OpEd by D. Kirp]   In a 2018 survey of 3,000 adults, conducted by Columbia University Teachers College, two-thirds agreed that “students cannot develop basic academic skills without community resources, health and community services to students and families.” This isn’t a partisan issue — more than half of self-described conservatives concurred.

Teaching Residents at Teachers College. TR@TC Induction | January, 2019 | New Year Edition