Month: July 2020

GLOBAL
NYTimes. Years After 43 Mexican Students Vanished, a Victim’s Remains Are Found   The students were undergraduates at a teachers’ college in the town of Ayotzinapa in the southern state of Guerrero. The night they disappeared — Sept. 26, 2014 — they were in the process of commandeering buses to carry their peers to a demonstration in Mexico City, a time-honored tradition among students at their college

TESOL International Association. Online Teacher Education Resources in ELT: Blogs, Vlogs, and Podcasts

World Education Blog. How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting contract teachers in sub-Saharan Africa Contract teachers receive a salary for the work they perform but do not receive the benefits that apply under public sector norms and standards, such as annual leave, pension or health insurance…Due to the teacher shortage, contract teachers have long been used to fill gaps in government schools, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the school-age population has grown faster than countries’ capacity to train teachers.

UNITED STATES
Association of Teacher Educators.  2020 ATE Summer Online Conference [August 9-11]

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
1) 2020 Advisory Committee Nominations   Nominate yourself or a colleague by August 7, 2020.
2) Developing Teachers as Critical Thinkers and Learners   … showcasing the work of educators, who have integrated teacher training via virtual reality (VR) simulation into their respective programs or are studying the various aspects of this modality. [mini-series: July 28, Aug. 4, Aug. 11]

Education Week. How to Balance In-Person and Remote Instruction   6. Do not spend too much time lecturing. Particularly for teachers who aren’t trained in delivering individualized instruction remotely, classroom time should be devoted to interacting with students, asking them questions, and constructing active experiences. 

New York Times. The Japanese-American Sculptor Who, Despite Persecution, Made Her Mark   One of her teachers handed her a catalog for the Art Institute of Chicago. She couldn’t afford it and instead chose the Milwaukee State Teachers College… During her third year of study, with the modest aim of becoming an art teacher, Asawa was told her race was a liability — as a Japanese-American, she would not be able to graduate with a teaching certificate, and without that, she would be unable to be hired as a teacher. 

Texas Tribune. As school reopenings falter, some Texas parents hire private teachers. Others can only afford to cross their fingers.  A whole new industry is springing up around the learning pod trend, with new organizations offering to connect pods of families with teachers or tutors. The Texas Learning Pod, for example, started by a University of Texas at Austin student, links families with college students, offering packages that range from $20 to $55 per hour depending on the number of children and grade levels. 

The Atlantic. When Teaching Is a Form of Protest: If educators want to respond to racism, they can start in their own classrooms. (by TC Prof. C. Emdin)  In the fall of 2001, armed with an undergraduate science degree and a rushed teaching credential, I stood in front of a sea of Black and brown middle-school students in the Bronx and announced that I was their teacher….Teachers need feedback from their students, who can see what teachers have been trained to ignore in their blind pursuit of a calm, quiet classroom.

The Teacher Education Podcast. #13: Building the Best STEM Educators with Dr. Anni Reinking

U.S. News. Tennessee State Using Grant for Special Ed Teachers Course   At least 70 teachers are scheduled to take an online course at Tennessee State University this fall to receive their special education endorsement as the school uses a $375,000 grant to help fill the need for more teachers in the field.

Washington Post.
1) The case for treating teachers around the world as essential front-line workers    Schools also need to have plans in place for future closures, and, to accomplish this, governments would do well to continue to invest in distance learning and in training teachers to use technologies that allow remote instruction.
2) The huge problem with education ‘pandemic pods’ suddenly popping up   The emails follow a common template: “I’m reaching out to see if you know of any recent early education graduates of Yale (with experience in teaching gifted children) in need of a position for the fall.” The mother, or in some cases the personal assistant, asks to be matched to a Yale student or recent graduate who can home-school her child this fall.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents.
1) July 24 meeting cancelled, rescheduled for July 31
2) Statement From Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown   “The Board and I thank Interim Commissioner Tahoe for her leadership during this unprecedented time.” …The Board continues its search to find a permanent Commissioner and expects to appoint an Acting Commissioner before Ms. Tahoe departs on Aug. 13.

NYSED.
1) State Education Department Announces Third Class of My Brother’s Keeper Fellows   …since 2016, NYSED awarded $12 million in Teacher Opportunity Corps II (TOC II) Grants to increase the participation rate of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals in teaching careers. 
2) Teacher Opportunity Corps II (TOC II) Virtual Summit [June 10 video archives] The purpose of  TOC II  is to increase the rate of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals in teaching careers. TOC II programs incorporate strategies for teacher retention and best practice, such as mentors for new teachers and differentiated instructional techniques.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. In financial crisis, NYC cut $707M from its education budget. These programs will feel the effects.   Other cuts include: *$4 million to pause the Teaching Fellows program, which trains and helps place future teachers.

The74. Report: Deck Stacked Against Young Children of Color, but Leaders Can ‘Seize This Moment’ to Improve Equity   Amy Stuart Wells, a sociologist and desegregation researcher at Teachers College… Implicit bias training, which many districts have pledged to implement since the protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, can be “one-off things,” especially if teachers think the training doesn’t apply to them, she said. “We get people to reimagine. What are the things you take for granted that maybe you should question?”

GLOBAL
AllAfrica. South Africa: Children With Disabilities Must Be Part of Nation Building   The vice-chancellor said that UCT would continue their work in the field through an accredited research unit, Including Disability Education in Africa (IDEA). This will provide in-depth analysis of TEDI’s data on teacher empowerment, disability inclusion, and the overall landscape of teacher education to support disability inclusion.

Education Cannot Wait. Education Cannot Wait Interviews Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of International Development   Ensuring that teachers are well-trained and equipped to instruct children who have or are living through a crisis; that curricula and learning materials reflect relevant cultural realities and do not perpetuate negative gender norms…

Global Partnership for Education. Global Partnership for Education provides US$130 million to support education in Guinea, Niger and Somalia   The Federal Government of Somalia will receive US$9.2 million to increase access to quality preschool education, including in existing Quranic schools, build or renovate 700 classrooms to welcome out-of-school children, including those with disabilities, train head teachers, review the curriculum to improve learning outcomes, and conduct annual exams for Grade 8 students. 

UNITED STATES
Education Week. Future Teachers Mistake Black Students as ‘Angry’ More Than White Students, Study Shows   In this study, researchers studied 178 prospective teachers who were enrolled in education programs at three southeastern universities. Most of the future teachers in the study were white women, which is in line with the national teaching force. 

Hechinger Report.
1) TEACHER VOICE: ‘Before teaching Algebra 2, I was an EMT, a Starbucks barista and a real estate agent. I learned to treat people with compassion’    To address these issues, our education system must equip teachers with the tools they need to teach young people how to ask for help through social-emotional support. Unfortunately, many teacher-training programs don’t offer these kinds of skills. I completed my bachelor’s degree last year, and never once did I have any kind of professional development that addressed social-emotional learning.
2) TEACHER VOICE: Reimagine schools?: Three priorities for schools as they make plans to reopen: personhood, relationships and equity
 We must widen our starting points [By E. Shieh TC EdM ’10, EdD ‘20]   In my school, many of my students with special needs and my emergent bilingual students struggled mightily with remote learning’s extraordinary challenges. So, too, did students who suffered depression from long hours spent alone at home, as well as the trauma of sickness and death. We need to be ready to say, more than we ever have before, how we are prepared to serve these students better. 

InsideHigherEd. Government Rescinds International Student Policy: The decision to abandon a directive that would have prevented international students from taking all their coursework online came in response to a lawsuit from Harvard and MIT.

NYTimes. Most Big School Districts Aren’t Ready to Reopen. Here’s Why: All but two of the nation’s 10 largest districts exceed a key public health threshold, according to a New York Times analysis.   But fully staffing the Broward school system to maintain social distancing between students and staff members would require at least $230 million in new funding, Mr. Runcie said, because of the need to hire thousands of additional teachers to reduce class sizes to an average of 14 students.

Washington Post.
1) How to teach in these troubled times: A trauma expert’s advice for educators   But, as we approach fall and the transition back to school, in whatever forms that takes, teachers who do not share students’ racial identities and the trauma of racism — white teachers like me — must commit to anti-racism so we can bring awareness, advocacy and the keenest compassion to supporting students.
2) School in a coffee shop? A different approach to teaching and learning during the pandemic. University of Georgia professor Stephanie Jones takes the idea of unconventional learning settings even further … a professor in the department of Educational Theory and Practice. She is a former elementary school teacher and has worked in teacher education for 20 years…

Yahoo News. Maintaining the Teacher Pipeline During a Public Health Crisis and Beyond: Scaffolding teacher prep with student avatars, virtual classrooms and live coaching.  The Danielson Group and Mursion joined forces to support teacher preparation programs and school leaders in preparing teachers to lead engaging, student-focused learning experiences …

NEW YORK STATE
NYSBA. So Much More Than a Teachable Moment [by B. Rosa, Chancellor, New York State Board of Regents]  …the Regents and I have for so long worked to make the teaching of civics and civic engagement an integral part of what is taught in New York’s schools. It is particularly important for our schools to take on this role now – because we have an administration in Washington now that is fomenting a hateful culture war designed to pull us down and drive us apart, rather than lift us up and draw us together.

NYSED.
1) State Education Department Issues Guidance to Reopen New York State Schools   As schools and school districts create their plans for the 2020-21 school year, they must ensure that all teachers, school and district leaders and pupil personnel service professionals hold a valid and appro­priate certificate for their assignment; can continue to utilize incidental teaching when determining how to staff their classrooms; can employ substitute teachers to address staffing needs for the allowable amount of days given their qualifications and teaching assignment; should work with educator prepara­tion programs to identify appropriate ways in which student teachers can support classroom instruction…
2) Shortened Semester Flexibility for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 Semesters  At its July 13, 2020 meeting, the NYS Board of Regents approved an amendment to Section 145-2.1(a)(i) and (ii) of the Commissioner’s Regulations to permit NYS colleges and universities to shorten the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters from a minimum of 15 weeks to no less than 12 weeks without impacting a student’s eligibility for NYS financial aid.

NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives. Emergency COVID-19 Certificate   The Emergency COVID-19 certificate is available for candidates who are seeking one of the following certificates that require exam(s): Initial or Professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, Initial or Professional certificate in the educational leadership service (School Building Leader, School District Leader, School District Business Leader), Initial Reissuance, Teaching Assistant certificate, School Administrator and Supervisor (SAS) Provisional Renewal, Supplementary certificate, Transitional A certificate through the Option B pathway, Transitional B certificate, Transitional C certificate, or Transitional D certificate.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. This award-winning NYC music teacher had her students making podcasts during the pandemic   One day, I was sent to a neighborhood school to do a short demo lesson for first-graders… At the end of that lesson, the teacher and the paraprofessional grabbed me and informed me that her young boy was not usually as engaged as he was with me, and he really loved my lesson. They thought I was going to make a “wonderful music teacher.” That little boy has never left my heart! From that day forward, dropping the music ed major was no longer an option for me.

Teachers College.
1) Re-Imagining: The Arts in a Time of Reckoning [by TC Prof. J. Burton]   Perhaps, if we are willing to look, we will also find a way to prepare teachers to traverse disciplinary boundaries, confront the unique and complex challenges of our time, and infuse their pedagogy with bold and imaginative practices that respect and deepen the natural inclinations of human minds.
2) Telling Young People Better Stories About Themselves: At TC’s Reimagining Education Institute, Lisa Delpit demands narratives that ‘uncover students’ brilliance’    “We have to create better relationships between students and teachers,” she said. “The students have to feel they belong to the school club. And we have to help the teachers show students they are welcome, celebrated and a vital component of every school day in every school classroom.”

GLOBAL
GESCI. #COVID19: GESCI Trained Teacher Conducts Online Classes For Students In Tanzania   Mr. Kichumisa is among 400 teachers in Tanzania who have been trained through the African Digital Schools Initiative (ADSI ) which is implemented by GESCI…

International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. Supporting teachers in back-to-school efforts: A toolkit for school leaders   Section IV – Teacher Preparation And Learning

Times Higher Education. Online education: how Hong Kong got ahead of the game   …these initiatives were more demanding on lecturers, and required additional resources and teacher training.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. How Educators Can Turn Grief into Action   Besides, it’s not the job of Black teachers to fix the problems of White Supremacy. The most important thing you can do is prepare yourself to teach in a way that liberates your students.  You should be teaching for abolition.

Charlotte Observer. Cooper signs bills into law on prisoner education, cybersecurity and teaching programs   On HB 1096, Cooper sent out the following statement: “Expanding the Teaching Fellows program will get North Carolina’s brightest students committed to teaching in our state’s classrooms. We should include HBCUs in the expansion to improve diversity at the front of the classroom, which research shows can improve student performance,” 

Chronicle. Andrea Burrows, an associate professor in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Wyoming, has been named associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Education.

EducationNext. The Stubborn Myth of “Learning Styles”   …research shows that in 29 states, government-distributed test-preparation materials on high-stakes certification exams include the debunked theory of “learning styles,” which holds that matching instruction to students’ preferred mode of learning—seeing, listening, or physically engaging in content-aligned activities, for example—is beneficial

EdWeek.
1) NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García Talks Racial Justice, COVID Layoffs, and Leaving Office   The work that is going to be with us forever, at least in my lifetime, is really going to be having people focus on trying to fix public schools… “Let’s make it more competitive to be a teacher, let’s make it harder to be a teacher, let’s make it easier to be a teacher, let’s do it online.” Everybody kept saying, “There are some schools that have so little, how are we going to get them the best teachers?”
2) Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Teachers: Why It Matters, Ways to Do It   Future teachers of color are also being recruited among current K-12 school employees through Grow Your Own (GYO) Educator programs. Criteria for each varies. Some GYO programs, for instance, require participants to have bachelor’s degrees; others don’t. 

Louisville Courier Journal. Kentucky Board of Education names finalists in search for state’s next education chief    Vasquez Heilig came to the top seat at UK’s education school in 2019 after a stint at California State University, Sacramento. He is a “prolific scholar,” co-authoring dozens of reports on topics including racial equity and teacher preparation…

LPI. Connecting K-12 and Higher Education Through the Use of Performance Assessments 3pm July 21 [Webinar registration]

Phys.org. Prospective teachers misperceive Black children as angry   Prospective teachers appear more likely to misperceive Black children as angry than white children, which may undermine the education of Black youth, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

Teaching Tolerance. Teaching Hard History Key Concept Videos

The Atlantic. What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently: They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching.   Anti-racist teachers take black students seriously. They create a curriculum with black students in mind…They seek support from colleagues who are effective teachers for all of their students, including black students…

USC Office of Educational Outreach. Spurring Innovation Through Collaboration in Rural South Carolina.  The state’s first comprehensive, university-based alternative preparation program leverages the power of micro-credentials to promote job-embedded professional learning, provides localized coaching inspired by the Carolina Coaching model developed through the Carolina Teacher Induction Program, and includes graduate credit that can be used toward an advanced degree.

NEW YORK STATE
New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education.  Educator Preparation Newsletter June 2020
* Emergency Covid-19 Certificate.
* Teaching Assistant Certificates
* Fingerprinting Fee Increase
* New York State edTPA Full Refund and Replacement Voucher Information
* New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NTSTCE) Test Development Activities

NEW YORK CITY
Big Education Ape. White Hero Teacher and White Paternalism (#3)  Christopher Emdin teaches at Columbia University Teacher College… I always ask my teachers why do they want to teach and I can tell by their responses how closely the white savior narrative is imbued in who they are or who they want to be. I always say, if you’re coming into a place to save somebody then you’ve already lost because young people don’t need saving. They have brilliance, it’s just on their own terms.

Chalkbeat. Back to school? Any NYC family can opt for full-time remote learning this fall   Individual schools will likely grapple for weeks on what next year will look like. At the same time they will need more teachers to cover smaller classes for in-person learning…