Month: September 2020

GLOBAL
Daily News. Reinventing the concept of teacher education. What is the teacher development policy in Sri Lanka?… There is an ongoing debate in many parts of the world including European countries whether teacher education must be done by universities or professionals with the expertise in the field of education. Those who argue for the notion that it must be handled by the universities argue that teacher development is more academic and therefore it must be undertaken by the universities whereas others point out that it is the professional teachers in the field who can produce better teachers.

Phys,org. Research concludes that remote learning might not be a bad thing.  Remote and blended approaches to teacher education can be as effective as face-to-face approaches concludes a new study from the University of Birmingham. The new report by Dr. Thomas Perry from the University of Birmingham’s School of Education highlights how in March 2020 many teacher educators were forced to expand their remote learning provision and, in some cases, get to grips with remote teacher education for the first time.

UNESCO.
1) Survey of teachers in pre-primary education (STEPP): lessons from the implementation of the pilot study and field trial of international survey instruments.  Good teacher training and support, recognition and working conditions are proven to have positive impact on their capacity, motivation and practice with young children, and therefore constitute a critical policy issue (UNESCO, 2006; OECD, 2006). As a fundamental condition for guaranteeing quality education (UNESCO, 2016), increasing the supply of qualified teachers at all levels has been designated as one of ten global education targets (SDG target 4.c).
2) Towards inclusion in education: status, trends and challenges: the UNESCO Salamanca Statement 25 years on. Drawing on international research and on good practice related to equity and inclusion in education systems, the guide was developed with the advice and support of a group of international experts, including policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and representatives of various international agencies.
3) Training manual on gender mainstreaming in teacher education in Myanmar.  The manual is designed for the education policy makers and  planners for their better understanding in gender issues and assess how they affects gender inequality in teacher education and trainers.

UNITED STATES
Education Next. The Rise of Dual Credit: More and more students take college classes while still in high school. That is boosting degree attainment but also raising doubts about rigor.    For dual credit to continue to grow, and thrive, states and schools will need to find ways to train more teachers… They’ll also need to tackle the persistent racial, socioeconomic and geographic gaps that undermine the programs’ goals. Simply expanding the programs, without confronting the causes of those gaps, “could actually exacerbate them,” warned John Fink, a senior research associate at the Community College Research Center.

Education Week.
1) Before We Can Have Anti-Racist Classrooms, Teacher Preparation Needs an Overhaul.   I almost quit my teacher-preparation program midway through after observing a lesson in African American history taught by a young white educator in a Philadelphia high school…I was angry—and inspired to become what Bettina Love, a professor at the University of Georgia, calls an “abolitionist teacher.” Abolitionist teaching, Love says, is steeped in community organizing and informed by critical race theory—the understanding that race is a social construct used by white people for their own political and financial gain. 
2) How to Thwart ‘Zoombombing’ in the Remote Classroom: 10 Tips
3) Teachers Can Take on Anti-Racist Teaching. But Not Alone   “If [teachers] do not have a level of consciousness, they’re not going to talk about race because they don’t think it belongs” in the classroom, Sealey-Ruiz said. “Deciding we’re not talking about issues that impact millions of children . . . it’s unfair to the teachers and to the students who they’re teaching.”

NewsStar. Grambling State’s education department recruits Black men to teaching profession.  Grambling State University’s Black Male Teacher Initiative has joined forces with Clemson University’s nationally known Call Me MiSTER® program to aid in the recruiting and development of more Black men into the teaching profession.

WalletHub. 2020’s Best & Worst States for Teachers   Education jobs are among the lowest-paying occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree…

NEW YORK STATE
EdPrepMatters. Clinically Rich Programs in New York: Western New York Teacher Residency at Canisius College Rich.  In the fall of 2018, Canisius College developed the Western New York Teacher Residency Program (WNYTR).  The two-year, graduate level program is designed to prepare skilled teachers who are committed to teaching in Buffalo schools, especially schools with high poverty rates and few resources.

NYSATE/NYACTE.  Webinar: Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz of Teachers College, Columbia University will share anti-racist teaching and teacher education pedagogies [Thursday, October 1^st 4pm].

NYSED. Statement of Interim Commissioner of Education & President of the University of the State of New York, Betty A. Rosa Assembly Committee on Higher Education & Assembly Subcommittee on Tuition Assistance Program   …the Teacher Opportunity Corps or TOC II program aims to increase the pipeline of individuals from historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged populations who seek out teaching careers. This program also bolsters the retention of highly qualified individuals who value equity and reflect the diversity both inside and outside of our classrooms. TOC II serves approximately 550 undergraduate and graduate students through 16 colleges and universities who have partnered with more than 50 districts and/or schools.

NYSED Office of Curriculum and Instruction. Curriculum Bridge.  To help educators best prepare their students for the 2020-2021 school year, we have created documents listing all the Common Core Learning Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) How a staffing crunch months in the making threw NYC’s school reopening plans into chaos    De Blasio pledged Thursday to fill staffing gaps by deploying 4,500 educators — including education department staffers with teaching licenses, substitutes, adjunct professors, and aspiring teachers pursuing education degrees. That number will only get the city through its first phase of reopening, said Mark Cannizzaro, president of the CSA.
2) NYC’s next ‘gargantuan’ school reopening task: hire thousands of new teachers in little over a week.  Starting in August, Education Department officials touted a developing partnership with CUNY to recruit out-of-work adjuncts and graduating education students to fill vacant DOE positions… Mulgrew said only teachers with valid K-12 teaching licenses would be considered for city schools… One reliable teacher hiring pipeline, the New York City Teaching Fellows program — which trains and places nearly 500 new public school teachers each year — axed most of its 2020 class in May amid the city hiring freeze.

GLOBAL
Hindustan Times. A blueprint for teacher recruitment and training   The real impact on teacher training through the National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement/Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching could be carried on in these tough times as teachers were able to modify their lesson plans to conduct classes through digital means — such as Google Meet, Zoom, mobile phone, television, or radio broadcast.

ICET/MESH International Symposium. Teacher Experience and Practices in the time of Covid-19 [8th October 3pm London time; Thursday 15th October 2pm Tokyo time]

Tes [The Times Educational Supplement].
1) Ofsted: All initial teacher training ‘good’ or better  Figures for 2019-20 show all Ofsted teacher training inspections resulted in ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ judgements for the first time
2) Should Rosenshine really be teachers’ definitive guide?   The renowned researcher’s 10 principles have permeated education, from teacher training courses to SLT observations. But although they have come to be seen as the definitive framework for “good teaching”, their context and evidence base are poorly understood…

The Straits Times [Singapore]. More avenues for progression and training for teachers in special education schools.   To get more practical experience, new Sped teachers will also go through a contract teaching stint that will last from six to 12 months, before undergoing a diploma course in special education (DISE) at NIE. Currently, there is no such practice stint for Sped teachers.

UNITED STATES
Chronicle. Martin Smith, an assistant professor of practice and director of the Secondary Teacher Preparation Program at Duke University, has been named dean of academic affairs at the university’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

EdPrepLab. Blog: Educator Preparation During COVID-19: Lessons Learned for Fall.  Depending on the context, candidates continue to work with cooperating teachers, supporting lesson planning and implementation. They’re also taking on new roles such as working with small groups of students through remote settings, bringing knowledge of technology to bear in supporting virtual instruction, and making unique contributions even as they are learning and adapting to the new environment.

EdPrepMatters. Online Teaching Curricula in Ed Prep.  If teacher candidates only experience one course with technology, and it is compartmentalized, then they are not being trained to use technology in context. With the recent challenges of online teaching during the pandemic, many educator preparation programs are now re-evaluating their curricula to integrate technology across the entire program, including courses on online teaching.

Hechinger Report. When schools reopen, we may not have enough teachers: Large numbers of teachers fear returning to the classroom, traditional solutions for filling vacancies are falling short and the pink slips on the horizon may lead to teacher shortages the likes of whi  …many protested that high barriers for entering teacher preparation programs made it harder for states to recruit and train new teachers — especially people of color who are more likely to have graduated from high schools that did not offer challenging opportunities like advanced placement courses, or even have enough certified teachers for the classroom. The lack of strong instruction can derail candidates later as they try to pass exams required for entry to certain teacher prep programs.

NYTimes.
1) A Teacher and Congresswoman Confronts School Reopenings: Representative Jahana Hayes, a former National Teacher of the Year, says that she has many concerns — and that parents need to make their voices heard.   …being an educator is a profession and people train a lifetime to do this, that you have to work hard and practice to get good at it and teaching remotely is a very different skill set.
2) Teaching Resources for Middle School Using The New York Times   Activities and lessons that can be employed by English, social studies, math and science educators, using Times photos, illustrations, graphs, videos, podcasts and articles.
3) The New York Times is available to high school students and teachers across the United States — free.  Free digital access continues through September 1, 2021.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Office of Higher Education. August Newsletter
*New USED Grant Program
*NYSTCE Tests Becoming Operational
*Fingerprinting for International Applicants
*edTPA Webinars
*Transitional B, Transitional C, And Internship Certificate Information

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. NYC’s reopening plans leave behind students who aren’t fluent in English, educators say.  In normal times, English learners receive extra support, depending on their needs, from co-teachers certified to teach English as a new language. These teachers also pull some children out of the classroom to give them extra language support individually or in small groups, but that seems to run counter to city health guidance, which says students should stay in their classrooms as much as possible… The department has offered no clear instructions on how schools without enough certified teachers will provide these services for the students who are fully remote.

New York Times. After 90 Years, Columbia Takes Slave Owner’s Name Off a Dorm: Samuel Bard was George Washington’s doctor and delivered Alexander Hamilton’s first son. He was also a “pretty significant slave owner.”   The move was the second one in recent weeks involving a Columbia-affiliated school shedding a name over racist or other offensive ideas and actions. Teachers College at Columbia University, which has its own board of trustees, voted in July to remove the name of Edward L. Thorndike, who promoted eugenics and sexist and anti-Semitic ideas, from a building there.

Teaching Residents @ Teachers College. Induction and Beyond September 2020 I Beginning of School Year Newsletter