Month: May 2021

GLOBAL
FENews UK. Initial teacher training providers have done everything within their gift to offer support and guidance through this difficult time   The support providers have given to trainees has been recognised as going ‘above and beyond’, and something we have directly witnessed with our members over the past 14 months. We are equally delighted that our experiences of providers finding innovative ways to support trainees during an unprecedented period of time has been clearly identified by the research team.

Lancaster Guardian. Teacher training supports unique ‘place-based’ curriculum inspired by Eden Project North plans for Morecambe   Environmental and Experiential Learning route to becoming a trained teacher has been designed in collaboration with school, college, university and education partners in the north west that are supporting the new Morecambe Bay Curriculum, created and developed by Prof Robert Barratt, of Lancaster University.

The Star. 600 to attend holiday teacher-training programme   “The holiday teacher training programme is open not only to temporary teachers at Chinese vernacular schools but also those at national schools. We made the arrangements after considering the number of teachers and subjects they will be taking before announcing it, ” Dr Mah said on Tuesday.

UNESCO Policy Paper. Don’t look away: no place for exclusion of LGBTI students.  Even when laws, policies and curricula are in place, governments have to invest in teacher preparation. Teachers and other school staff need awareness, information and classroom management skills to address violence and resolve exclusion problems constructively in classrooms (UNESCO et al., 2018). They may also need training to understand the different realities of LGBTI people, as well as time and space to develop a critical understanding of their own beliefs, assumptions, prejudices and behaviours, which can sustain division rather than promote inclusion.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. AACTE Releases Toolkit to Help the Nation’s Schools Reopen   … encouraging them to use ESSER funds to staff classrooms with teacher candidates.  These funds provide a unique opportunity for school districts and educator preparation programs to address the teacher pipeline.  As the U.S. Department of Education’s noted in its COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs, ARP ESSER funds can be used to staff classrooms with teacher candidates, thereby providing them with practical experience while helping alleviate the challenges teachers are encountering with the transition back to in person teaching.

Century Foundation. The Post-Pandemic Pathway to Anti-Racist Education: Building a Coalition Across Progressive, Multicultural, Culturally Responsive, and Ethnic Studies Advocates [by TC Prof. A.S. Wells & doctoral candidate D. Cordova-Cobo] …districts need to focus on diversifying their teaching force through community-based “grow your own” programs that encourage students of color who attend their schools to go on to college, major in education, and return to their home school district to teach with their knowledge of, and high expectations for, the students who live there. 

Chalkbeat.
1) Here’s how Tennessee plans to spend $491 million of federal stimulus funds on education   The department also will prioritize classroom resources, teacher training, and programs to prepare more candidates for the teaching profession… $21 million to grow Tennessee’s educator ranks, including grow-your-own initiatives in which districts and teacher training programs partner to provide innovative, no-cost ways to enter the teaching profession.
2) Tennessee raises teacher base pay to $38,000   Tennessee teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no teaching experience will be paid an annual minimum of $38,000 beginning with the new school year, a $2,000 increase over the last two years…. minimum pay will also go up by $2,000 for teachers with advanced degrees and additional years of experience.

EdWeek. Critical Race Theory Puts Educators at Center of a Frustrating Cultural Fight Once Again   In 2020, then-President Donald Trump made a foray into the dispute during his re-election campaign, when he disparaged the focus on racism and bias in social studies classes as “left-wing indoctrination.” And his push for “patriotic education” and against training in racism and bias has influenced lawmakers’ actions this year.

Future Ed. Why Can’t We Teach Students to Higher Standards in Public Education?   Standards have failed to raise achievement because they haven’t been implemented. And why have standards not been implemented? First, we’re asking teachers to become experts in reading and interpreting standards, going out and identifying curriculum materials to align with those standards, and then implementing those materials in the classroom. And almost on its face, this isn’t a way that you could get standards to be implemented in any kind of consistent way.

Hechinger Report. Black teachers ground down by racial battle fatigue after a year like no other: Black teachers were already leaving the profession in high numbers before a pandemic and the nation’s upheaval over racism made their job harder   Andrea Lewis, associate professor and chair of the education department at Spelman College in Atlanta, hasn’t seen evidence of racial battle fatigue deterring teacher candidates on her campus… But even if teacher preparation programs keep turning out new Black teachers, the greater challenge is keeping those teachers in the field, experts and teachers themselves say. 

LPI. Inequitable Opportunity to Learn: Access to Advanced Mathematics and Science Courses   Key Policy Strategies for Increasing Student Access to Advanced Courses… *3. Support service scholarships, loan forgiveness programs, and teacher residency programs that cover the cost of tuition and living expenses for teacher candidates who prepare and commit to serving in high-need schools in high-need fields, such as advanced mathematics and science, and who gain full licensure in their assigned teaching area that permits the teaching of advanced courses.

NYTimes. I Left Teaching. Others May Too if They Aren’t Paid What’s Right.  Research collected by the Center for American Progress found that “the teacher labor market is responsive to changes in pay just like other occupations and that “changes in pay can affect not only teacher attrition, but also the pool of candidates choosing to enroll in teacher preparation programs.”

Scalawag. To the other 98%: Lessons from the nation’s Black male educators: What the next generation of Black male educators is learning from Black men in education today.   In contrast to many Southern school boards and predominantly white institutions, historically Black colleges and universities are addressing head-on the issues of pandemic safety and racial representation—and are training the next generation of Black educators in the process… Dr. Gilbert founded MCEE at Morehouse College, the nation’s only HBCU for men, in 2019. Her hope is to develop a talented pipeline of Black practitioners, innovators, policymakers, leaders, and researchers who are equipped to improve educational outcomes in underserved communities and increase the number of Black men in the field.

The Atlantic. What’s Missing From the Discourse About Anti-racist Teaching: Black educators have always known that their students are living in an anti-Black world and that their teaching must be set against the very order of that world.   Black teaching, at its best and as I experienced it, included knowledge handed down from past generations. I was recently reminded of this by two news articles in the span of two days. One was an obituary for Irene West, the first Black teacher in California’s Elk Grove school system, a graduate of Fisk University, and the mother of the intellectual giant Cornel West. Her work always exceeded the classroom, carrying over to the many Black community institutions to which she belonged and that she helped sustain…

The74.
1) A Problem for Math Teachers: Solving the Dilemma of Learning Lost to a Year of Zoom   Danilsa Fernandez [TC MA ’11 Math Ed] teaches middle- and high school algebra at City College Academy of the Arts in New York City. Dubbed a master teacher by the non-profit Math for America, a New York City-based group that supports educators and improves retention, she stayed on task for much of the school year until a pandemic-related closure in mid-March. But even after her students returned, she had reason to revisit concepts she’d taught before: The transition back to in-person learning allowed her to see more of her students’ work, which reflected their inability to master key concepts.
2) How One State Is Using Education College Students to Plug an Ongoing Teacher Shortage   The pilot program, dubbed NextGen Educators, is a partnership between the Connecticut State Department of Education and Central Connecticut State University. It’s already active in Bristol, where 18 education students are working as apprentice teachers in elementary school classrooms. Three additional school districts are in line to participate if the program is expanded.

U.S. Dept. of Education. Frequently Asked Questions: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Programs   D. Using ESSER and GEER Funds to Support Educators and Other School Staff  * Supporting partnerships with educator preparation programs to expand opportunities for extensive clinical experience to teaching candidates, including leveraging candidates to provide additional support to students and address the impact of lost instructional time as students return to in- person instruction…

NEW YORK STATE
NYSATE/NYACTE. 2021 Annual Fall Conference: An ONLINE Progressive Conference.  [CFP extended to June 15]

New York State Legislature. Senate Bill S5666: passed Senate, referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee.   Increases the percentage of students from any incoming class who can be exempted from the admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs from no more than fifteen percent to fifty percent.

NEW YORK CITY
AAQEP. The Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation awards full accreditation to the Bank Street College of Education Teacher and Leadership Preparation Programs  [April 2021 – June 2028]

Teachers College. An Rx for Post-Pandemic Schools: Test less, center students, promote an anti-racist education, urges a Century Foundation report written by TC’s Amy Stuart Wells and Diana Cordova-Cobo   …a central argument that the authors make is that teachers cannot be student-centered and focused on the social and emotional needs of students if they are not taking into account issues of race and culture and how they affect students’ school experiences.

GLOBAL
Ethical Schools.  “Critical analysis: not just for students”  [interview with S. Abrams of TC] … claims that teachers in the United States teach nearly twice as much as teachers in countries like Japan and Finland. First of all, it makes countries like Finland and Japan irrelevant. Because what legislator in her right mind is going to consider hiring twice the number of teachers? Okay. You can’t do that. And setting aside that it’s just wrong, it makes these countries irrelevant as models for teaching. 

Global Competence in Teacher Education. May 2021 Newsletter-Issue 1   In a shrinking world where we increasingly face shared challenges such as climate change, the integration of newly arrived peoples through the migration crisis, the rise in nationalism, and preparing youth for life in a digitally interconnected global society where they face uncertain futures, acquiring Global Competence is increasingly important.

Haaga-Helia. Haaga-Helia’s new teacher students represent 17 different nationalities   Each year, a new group of international students starts in the Vocational Teacher Education program. This year, Haaga-Helia’s 23 new teaching students represent 17 different nationalities. Students are from countries such as Brazil, India, the United States, Spain, Ghana and also Finland, including one from the Åland Islands.

Radio New Zealand. Government bankrolls pay rises for early childhood teachers   The Educational Institute, which represented some early childhood teachers, said some earned as much as $17,000 less than kindergarten teachers with the same qualifications and experience.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Prepared to Teach and WestEd Release Three New Reports on Financially Sustainable Teacher Preparation   Prepared to Teach and WestEd have partnered on the Sustainability Project, a series of reports and interactive tools to support high-quality, financially sustainable teacher preparation. Three reports are being released this week through that project. 

Chalkbeat.
1) Colorado’s largest teacher prep program wins full state approval after literacy overhaul   … the University of Northern Colorado won kudos Wednesday for making changes to two majors within its teacher preparation program… The state began cracking down on teacher preparation programs, specifically their approach to reading instruction, in 2018 as part of a broader push by lawmakers, state education officials, and parents of students with dyslexia to get more Colorado children reading at grade level. 
2) States want to prevent schools from telling the truth about racism in America. Here’s what educators can do about it.   Thankfully, there are some things that district leaders can do. First, they must really invest in their professional development programs — ones that teach about historical truths surrounding white supremacy and racism and ones that teach educators how to apply this knowledge to their content area and the grade levels they teach. Second, district leaders must identify teachers willing to teach — or willing to learn how to teach — these necessary truths to students in all content areas…
3) The struggle to close reading gaps in a pandemic year is real. Just ask Chicago parents: The crucial process of learning to read was made even more complicated this year by remote learning and wide-ranging inconsistency in how Chicago schools teach readin.   As teachers are assessing students, anxious parents are doing the same, but often without tools, support or, at times, their children’s cooperation. “Our parents have basically become student teachers,” said first-grade teacher L’Rae Robinson. “Their kids may be learning to read, but they are also learning to teach.”

CITED. May Conversation with Dr. Danny Martinez “Black and Brown Youth Languaging in Solidarity: Implications for Teacher Learning” [May 26 4pm]

Citizen Ed. After 23 Years Cleaning Schools, This Georgia Custodian Earned His Teaching Degree   Bailey, a 23-year veteran custodian at Hightower Elementary School, has spent the last four years attending Georgia State University… Now, with his newly minted teaching degree in hand, Bailey’s on the job hunt to become a physical education teacher. He’s got quite a reference in his current school’s principal. 

EdWeek.
1) Full-Time Virtual Schools: Still Growing, Still Struggling, Still Resisting Oversight   The new laws are mostly “emergency stop-gaps,” said education professor Luis A. Huerta of Teachers College Columbia University. Most of the bills focused on strategies like providing emergency internet access, or adjusting bureaucratic mandates around issues like counting student attendance and evaluating teachers.
2) Remote Learning Is Changing Schools. Teacher-Preparation Programs Have to Adjust.  The most recent available data, published in the academic Journal of Online Learning Research in 2016, suggests that fewer than 5 percent of the nation’s teacher-training programs offer field experience in online learning environments. And while the U.S. Department of Education has encouraged teacher-prep programs to infuse an emphasis on “active” technology use across their curricula, there’s been little indication to date of systemic change.
3) What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?   The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies… CRT also has ties to other intellectual currents, including the work of sociologists and literary theorists who studied links between political power, social organization, and language. And its ideas have since informed other fields, like the humanities, the social sciences, and teacher education.

Hechinger Report. Twenty-six studies point to more play for young children: Play has the potential to reduce inequality, report finds   More importantly… is that teachers are trained to facilitate free play and guided play opportunities. “Play is often defined as recreation…not serious or practical”… Instead, many schools are focused on academic skills and standardized assessments

LPI. Brown at 67: Segregation, Resegregation, and the Promise of Federal Policy   With the aid of historic federal investment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, states and districts can also play a role by investing these new funds in ways that promote equity and integration, such as creating magnet schools or supporting the retention and training of diverse educators.

NEPC. Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2021. [TC Prof. L Huerta co-author]  It is recommended that policymakers:…*Require high-quality curricula, aligned with applicable state and district standards, and monitor changes to digital content; *Define certification training and relevant teacher licensure requirements specific to teaching responsibilities in virtual schools, and require research-based professional development to promote effective online teaching…

NYTimes. Explore 100 Years of Immigration History With The Times Archive In this lesson, students will use the New York Times archive to learn about immigration laws from 1882 to 1986. Then they will make connections to today.   Note to Teacher: Some of the articles use racist or outdated language and depictions of people. Please read the articles selected to ensure that they are appropriate for your class.

Washington Post. How America failed students with disabilities during the pandemic   …schools almost never have enough special-education teachers. The federal government says the national shortage is at 8 percent, but it’s more acute than that in some states… The lack of trained special-education teachers have led many districts to hire people who aren’t credentialed in the field. In California… only about 38 percent of new special-education teachers were credentialed. “As a result, students with disabilities who often have the greatest needs are frequently taught by the least qualified teachers,”

NEW YORK STATE
NYSATE-NYACTE. 2021 Conference: Educational Innovation for Equity and Excellence October 2021 [CFP deadline June 1st]

NYSED.
1) Decision No. 17,983 Appeal of B.W. from action of Richard A. Carranza as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education and Yeshiva Mesivta Arugath Habosem regarding substantial equivalence.   Petitioner specifically asserts that the student has not received instruction in any secular subjects; that YMAH offers students in grades four through seven less than 1.5 hours per day of secular education; that YMAH’s teachers do not possess appropriate education and/or qualifications to teach secular subjects…
2) State Education Department Seeks Public Input in Developing New York’s American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Plan   Soliciting and incorporating public input into a state’s ARP ESSER plan is required by USDE and NYSED will be required to describe how meaningful consultation was engaged upon and input incorporated from the following stakeholders: *students; *families; *teachers; *principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff…

Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching (PSPB).
1) February meeting minutes
2) March meeting minutes

NEW YORK CITY
NYDailyNews. Advocates urge NYC Education Dept. to revamp approach to teaching reading in wake of pandemic   City educators also come in with varying levels of training on how to teach reading from their teacher preparation programs, advocates say… DOE chief academic officer Linda Chen acknowledged in a City Council budget hearing Wednesday the agency “has always seriously considered” updating its literacy curriculum, “but are now able to actually resource it.”

Spectrum New NY1. Teacher pipeline programs to expand after pandemic cuts   The Teaching Fellows program was one of several teacher recruitment efforts that saw massive budget cuts last year, due to the pandemic. But thanks to an influx of stimulus cash, the city is now restoring the funding. There will be 900 new teaching fellows this fall – up from just 75 from last year.

Teachers College. Teaching Residents at Teachers College 2012-2021 Production List. 20 peer-reviewed publications, 57 global conference presentations and counting…

GLOBAL
Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE). One-Day Online Conference: Teaching Languages Post-Covidly, 28 May. [CFP deadline 17 May]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). WEBINAR. Developing literacy skills in a digital world: New findings from PISA [26 May]

UNITED STATES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).  Nevada Special Education Teacher Named 2021 National Teacher of the Year   AACTE congratulates 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey and AACTE member Institution The University of Arizona (UArizona) for preparing her for a distinguished teaching career. Urtubey holds a bachelor of arts in bilingual elementary education and a master’s degree in special bilingual education from UArizona.

Association For Advancing Quality In Educator Preparation (AAQEP). Achieved formal status of an accrediting organization in relation to recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Associated Press (AP). Oklahoma governor signs ban on teaching critical race theory   The measure would also prevent colleges and universities from requiring students to undergo training on gender or sexual diversity. The bill takes effect on July 1.

Chalkbeat.
1) Chicago plans to disband its largest turnaround school network   Chicago Public Schools says it plans to dismantle its largest turnaround school network, the Academy for Urban School Leadership…The school district said Wednesday it will continue a separate agreement with the nonprofit for a teacher residency and training program that helps prepare new college graduates and career changers for jobs in public schools. That program dates back to the early 2000s.
2) ‘Teaching the truth’: Tennessee educators respond to proposed limits on teaching about racism   Instead of broadening our world view this legislation narrows it. It also goes against the education commissioner’s demand that each county have a diverse teaching staff. How will this come across to teachers of color or those that are contemplating entering the profession?”

Education Week.
1) Mentors Matter for New Teachers. Advice on What Works and Doesn’t   After completing both an accelerated teacher licensure and master’s degree program, and a 10-week student teaching experience, Femrite landed a job in the Minneapolis public school system teaching special education… “Coming out of traditional college, trying to bridge the gap from theories learned in the classroom to applying them, my mentor teacher was able to really help me,” said Femrite…
2) Why Other Countries Keep Outperforming Us in Education (and How to Catch Up): Money from the American Rescue Plan could be our last best chance to build the school system we need   The Common Core State Standards failed because teachers were being judged against student performance on tests that did not measure what the teachers were supposed to teach, there were no curriculum materials available to support what the students were supposed to learn, the teachers had never been taught to teach what their students were supposed to learn, the way students progressed through the grades had not been redesigned against the targets specified by the standards…

NYTimes. Teach About Inequality With These 28 New York Times Graphs: Graphs about income, education, health care and the pandemic can help students think critically about stubborn and growing inequalities in American society.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents.
1) Proposed Amendment to Sections 52.21 and 80-2.9 and Subpart 80-4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Creation of the Bilingual Education Extension, Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension, and Registration Requirements
2) Proposed Amendment to Sections 52.21, 60.6, 61.19, 80-1.2, 80-3.7, 100.1, 100.2, 100.4, 100.5, 100.6, 100.7, 100.19 and 151-1.3 and the addition of Section 80-5.27 to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Addressing the COVID-19 Cri  The Department proposes to revise the proposed addition of section 80-5.27 of the Commissioner’s regulations to extend the validity period of the Emergency COVID-19 certificate from one year to two years in response to continued limited test center seat availability for certification exams. The one-year Emergency COVID-19 certificate extension would replace the option to renew the certificate for one year, which required candidates to obtain recommendations from school personnel
3) Update on the edTPA Passing Scores for New York State  The Department plans to extend the current edTPA passing scores from December 31, 2021 through December 31, 2022.

NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives. Emergency COVID-19 Certificate. Update (May 13, 2021): The validity period of the Emergency COVID-19 certificate has been extended from one year to two years in response to limited test center availability for certification exams during the pandemic… The Emergency COVID-19 certificate application deadline continues to be September 1, 2021.

NYTimes. State and city universities in N.Y. will require vaccinations once the shots have full approval.   The State University of New York and the City University of New York plan to require that all students attending in-person instruction in the fall be fully vaccinated against Covid-19…the requirement would be contingent on the federal government granting full approval to the vaccines now in use. 

The Daily Gazette. Board of Regents call on school districts to acknowledge racism in America   The policy statement outlines a series of areas district-level policies should aim to address: establishing a district diversity, equity and inclusion committee; examining and updating curriculum, teacher practice and training, and how students are sorted and grouped; engaging family and community members, and; improving workforce diversity.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. Hitting Racism Where It Lives Now: In their new book, Detra Price-Dennis and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz take on technology in education   Teachers must be “prepared and skilled to talk about the material, social, emotional, cognitive, economic, and political manifestations that stem from structural racism in the classroom,” Price-Dennis and Sealey-Ruiz write, and also able to “move beyond their own biases to reimagine the work that is required of them to develop their racial literacy.”

GLOBAL
ATEE-EDITE-ELTE CONFERENCE.  11 June, 2021. Doctoral students and early stage researchers will come together in order to summarise and present their research findings, problems, dilemmas and to engage with an international audience, in dialogue with well-known researchers, keynote speakers, school practitioners and the public audience. [Abstracts due 15 May]

Gov.UK. Languages in outstanding primary schools   In cases where a specialist teacher visits the school, class teachers practised what has been taught during the week in between languages lessons. In schools where a teacher in school was responsible for organisation and delivery of the languages curriculum, they sometimes used bought packages, recorded sound files and organised good subject-specific continuous professional development; upskilling and supporting staff was seen as essential. In those situations where native speakers lead the subject, they received training linked to understanding and teaching their native language, which was pivotal.

Sydney Morning Herald. Teacher training review key to arresting declining academic results: Tudge   The review, which Mr Tudge will launch on Thursday, will be chaired by former Department of Education secretary Lisa Paul. It will look at how to attract talented people into the profession and best prepare them to become effective teachers.

The Print. Where are the gutsy girls of Indian science? They could help us against next pandemic   Teachers may themselves need to be further trained to instil a scientific temper in students, and particularly to stimulate an interest in science among girls. Teacher-training institutes could focus more closely on these elements as they build the capacity of early- and mid-career teachers.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE Applauds President Biden’s $9 Billion Proposal to Address the Teacher Shortage Specifically, his plan calls for:
*Doubling the annual amount of TEACH grants from $4,000 to $8,000 per year
*$2.8 billion for year-long, paid teacher residency programs and Grow Your Own programs
*$400 million for teacher preparation at minority-serving institutions (MSIs)
*$900 million for the preparation of new special educators
*$1.6 billion for educators to obtain additional certifications in high-demand fields such as special education and bilingual education
*$2 billion to support the development of teachers as leaders and high-quality mentorship programs for new teachers and teachers of color
2) Our Democracy Depends on Teachers   Student learning begins with the quality of the education and training that teachers themselves receive in many of our universities and colleges. Our public education system needs to be revamped to better support teachers’ education, knowledge, and skills. State and federal authorities must focus on improving teaching and making that the cardinal element of school reform…

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).  2021 National Teacher of The Year   Juliana Urtubey is the 2020-2021 Nevada State Teacher of the Year. She is the first Latinx Nevada State Teacher of the Year since at least 1992. Ms. Urtubey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bilingual Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in special bilingual education from the University of Arizona. Ms. Urtubey is a National Board-Certified Teacher (Exceptional Needs Specialist, Early Childhood and Young Adults). 

Chalkbeat.
1) Colorado got $119 million in early childhood funding from the second federal stimulus bill. Here’s where it’s going.   Workforce expansion — $12 million over two years: This pot of money is intended to bring 2,700 new certified child care and preschool educators into the field. It will provide free community college courses to prospective child care workers and free online classes for educators interested in becoming child care directors. It can also be used for scholarships, loan forgiveness, and bonuses. 
2) Does Biden’s plan for a $15 minimum wage for child care workers go far enough?   In addition to the $15 minimum wage, Biden’s proposal calls for early childhood workers with comparable qualifications to kindergarten teachers — typically at least a bachelor’s degree — to earn commensurate pay. Places such as New York City already have such pay parity efforts, but many workers struggle to take advantage of them because it’s hard to earn the necessary credentials while working full time for little money.
3) Tennessee legislature approves ban on teaching critical race theory in schools   Among concepts that teachers will not be able to discuss: that one race bears responsibility for the past actions against another; the United States is fundamentally racist; and a person is inherently privileged or oppressive due to their race.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Considering the Impact of COVID-19 on Teacher Education: What Really Matters   To prepare all our candidates to be culturally responsive educators and change agents, we must deeply examine the content and clinical experiences our programs provide

Education Week.
1) Juliana Urtubey, an Elementary Special Educator, Is the 2021 National Teacher of the Year   Urtubey told Education Week that being a special education teacher has given her greater insight into the importance of family engagement and has shaped her teaching philosophy…  Urtubey said she wants more accessible bilingual education, and is hopeful the Biden administration will give teachers a seat at the table when it comes to policymaking… She also said she wants to use her platform as National Teacher of the Year to advocate for creative ways to recruit and retain teachers of color.
2) Science of Reading Advocates Have a Messaging Problem: The reading wars are back. Opaque language isn’t helping   Once we get past the logjams, wars, ad hoc recriminations, and so forth, we can make sure anyone teaching our kids to read has, understands, and can use the best knowledge and tools available. For that to happen, we must stop getting distracted and mystifying others with opaque language. It’s just not helpful.

InsideHigherEd. Two-Year Institutions, Four-Year Degrees: Community colleges in Arizona can now offer four-year programs, providing more affordable and streamlined pathways to bachelor’s degrees.   Maricopa Community College District…is considering offering baccalaureate programs in areas such as police and fire science, information technology, respiratory therapy, and teacher education at a low cost to students…And while universities offer teacher education, they aren’t graduating enough students to meet demand, so offering those degrees won’t encroach on public universities’ offerings.

National Education Policy Center (NEPC). Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2021   It is recommended that policymakers:…* Define certification training and relevant teacher licensure requirements specific to teaching responsibilities in virtual schools, and require research-based professional development to promote effective online teaching… Given that all states require most online teachers-of-record be certified, the emphasis on certification in hiring teachers for virtual schools suggests there may be too few certified teachers applying, which may be forcing virtual school administrators to focus more on basic qualifications than on other criteria likely related to teacher quality and effectiveness…

NEA News.
1) Meet Miguel Cardona, the New U.S. Secretary of Education: Cardona answers educators’ questions at an NEA-hosted virtual town hall.   Cardona stated that he will focus on … creating equitable access to college and career programs; and making higher education affordable.
2) Retired Teachers Still Struggling with Student Debt: Twenty-something educators aren’t the only ones saddled with student loans. Many retired educators have been paying back their student loans for decades.   …  the astronomical cost of higher education, even public higher education, forces many Americans to reap a lifetime of debt…  NEA has called on the Biden administration to cancel the debt of any public-service worker who has served their community for at least 10 years.

NYTimes. Meet the Man Now at the Center of the Debate Over Student Debt   Mr. Cordray will inherit a plethora of other problems at the Education Department, including extensive errors and obstacles in the department’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which is intended to forgive the debts of teachers, military members, nonprofit workers and others in public-service careers.

Partnership for the Future of Learning. Teaching Profession Playbook: Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession Chapters incl. Effective Recruitment Strategies, High-Retention and Culturally Responsive Preparation, Effective Retention Strategies…

Politico. Does your child’s teacher know how to teach?   Nearly a decade ago, in a case known as Renee v. Duncan, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the practice of disproportionately placing uncertified teachers, teachers in training or teacher interns in classrooms serving poor and minority students is “discriminatory” and “does harm.” Further, the court indicated that the appellants in the case provided evidence that 41 percent of interns in California taught in the 25 percent of schools with the highest concentration of students of color. 

TODAY. She started out as the school custodian. Years later, she’s its most beloved teacher   Wanda Smith persevered through college while working two jobs and raising a family to become a teacher at the same elementary school where she was once a custodian and bus monitor.

Washington Post. As schools expand racial equity work, conservatives see a new threat in critical race theory   Many school systems were already working to incorporate diversity and racial equity themes into their policies and curriculum, but the effort spread after the police murder of George Floyd last May and the worldwide protests that followed.. The work underway in schools takes a wide variety of forms. Officials are adding the perspectives and experiences of people of color to curriculum, challenging teachers to examine their biases, and reviewing policies on discipline…

Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board. ANNOUNCEMENT: In April 2021, the Washington Legislature approved state law, 2SHB 1028, eliminating the edTPA as a state requirement for teacher certification. [Signed by Governor Inslee Wed. May 5]

NEW YORK STATE
CICU. Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities Announces Lola Brabham as New President 

NYSATE/NYACTE. CFP Fall 2021 Conference Oct. 13 OR 21 [deadline June 1st]

NEW YORK CITY
NY Daily News. NYC expands teacher hiring programs after pandemic cuts.  All in all, about 1,250 new teachers are expected to enter the city teaching force next fall through “pipeline” programs, up from 500 last year. Another 800 are expected to join the teaching force in the 2022-2023 school year.

Teachers College. The Long Road Home: Carolyn Swen’s family fled war-torn Liberia. Using her TC degree, she wants to start a school back on the continent   She spent the next two years working for the Peace Corps in two Ethiopian villages, teaching high school English, community development, and sexual and reproductive health…. her master’s integrative project focused on a topic close to home: “Perception of the Teaching and Learning Process During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Teachers College, Columbia University.”