GLOBAL
BBCNews. Covid: Wales’ teacher recruitment improving ‘due to pandemic focus‘ A focus on teaching during the pandemic has lured more people to the job, the Welsh government has claimed. It comes as figures show the target for new trainee teachers was missed for the sixth year running in 2019-20… However, a Welsh government spokesman said: “Current trends suggest the pandemic has helped to highlight the vital role played by teachers and more people are choosing to start teacher training.
tes (Times Educational Supplement).
1) Covid surge in ITT applications ‘could be over’: The average number of daily applications for teacher training courses now back at pre-pandemic levels, analysis shows The Department for Education described a “huge surge” in applications last year as the pandemic took hold, yet the average number of new applicants seeking to join ITT (initial teacher training) courses per day has been at 2018-19 levels for the past two months, according to analysis of data from Ucas (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).
2) Teacher training applications at a ’50 year high’: Numbers applying to go into teaching at a major teacher training provider in the south of England are now at their highest ever level A major initial teacher training provider is reporting that applications this year are at their highest for more than half a century. The University of Sussex says latest figures show a 25 per cent increase in teacher training applications and a 38 per cent increase in course place acceptances compared to the same time last year.
The74. Research from Europe Points to Online Tutoring as a Potent Weapon Against Learning Loss … recruited hundreds of volunteer tutors from undergraduate and graduate programs at three Milan universities, connecting them with online training resources designed by a team of pedagogical experts. Amid the sprint, 530 students were randomly assigned to receive free virtual tutoring sessions of between three and six hours per week, while the rest were observed as a control group…
UNITED STATES
AACTE. Lawmakers Continue to Politicize Teaching About Racism This week Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced a resolution condemning the use of critical race theory in K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs… Dorinda Carter Andrews, professor and chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University’s College of Education penned a response to the pushback on critical race theory, explaining what it is and why it is under attack. Andrews notes, “Teaching young people how to be antiracist should not be seen as an attack on American values. It’s actually working in support of American ideals like inclusion and valuing diverse perspectives.”
EdWeek. I Thought I Understood Parents of Language-Learners. Then I Became One In the classes I teach for preservice teachers on English instruction for speakers of other languages, we cover both instructional strategies to aid English-language learners and communication strategies to reach their parents… When we decided to put our 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son in public schools in Berlin, I suddenly was the one poring over notices sent home with the aid of the dictionary…
Hechinger Report. Pandemic relief money is flowing to class-size reduction but research evidence for it isn’t strong Even if we could hire a new cadre of teachers to lead a larger number of smaller classrooms and train them well to become excellent teachers, the coronavirus relief money would be exhausted by the time the novice teachers had finished learning the ropes. We’d have to fire them just as the teachers were approaching their prime. The coronavirus money is a short-term injection and it should be used for short-term solutions.
LPI. Students Experiencing Homelessness: The Conditions and Outcomes of Homelessness Among California Students Findings: *Schools with high teacher turnover and large proportions of underprepared teachers are associated with lower student achievement… Recommendations *Invest in training that prepares educators and support staff to work with and reengage students experiencing homelessness.
NYTimes.
1) A Fading Coal County Bets on Schools, but There’s One Big Hitch: Hard hit by the decline of mining, a rural area in West Virginia is trying to attract teachers in a comeback effort. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Concord University in Athens, W.Va., the 24-year-old English teacher did something rare among her peers: She returned home to Welch to teach at Mount View High School, from which she graduated in 2014… The initiative, spearheaded by the American Federation of Teachers and now in its 10th year, proposes schools as the foundation for renewing many pockets of small-town America that, like McDowell County, have lost their economic and social underpinning.
2) Scholarly Groups Condemn Laws Limiting Teaching on Race: More than 20 states have introduced legislation restricting lessons on racism and other so-called “divisive concepts.” … signatories include the American Historical Association, the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers and the Association of American Colleges and Universities [American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Educational Research Association, National Council of Teachers of English…] “There is a general consensus among historians of the United States that racism has been central to the evolution of American institutions and American culture,” he said. “But teaching that doesn’t mean that you are teaching students to hate them. It means you are teaching students to understand them.”
The74. Pandemic Learning Loss Is Rooted in the Racial Chasm Between Educators and Students of Color. Only Teacher Diversity and a Strong Black Teacher Pipeline Can Fix It Who better than Black educators to help their white allies whose teacher-prep programs did not train them in how to teach Black and brown children? They weren’t taught Black pedagogy or anti-racism teaching skills. White educators should learn from their Black colleagues.
U.S. Dept. of Education.
1) Public Service Loan Forgiveness Data In April 2021, the PSLF report was redesigned to support the new combined form that was implemented in November 2020. Borrowers now certify their employment, request an updated qualifying payment count, and apply for forgiveness under the PSLF or TEPSLF programs through a single, combined form.
2) Statement by Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education on the U.S. Department of Education Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request …include $412 million… for Teacher Quality Partnerships to address teaching shortages, improve training and supports for teachers, and boost teacher diversity, particularly through investment in teacher residencies and Grow Your Own programs; $340 million… for Special Education Personnel Preparation to ensure that there are adequate numbers of personnel with the skills and knowledge necessary to help children with disabilities succeed educationally…the American Families Plan would make a one-time mandatory investment of $1.6 billion to support additional certifications at no cost for more than 100,000 educators in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, career and technical education, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Washington Post. Professor: Why I teach the much-debated 1619 Project — despite its flaws Among the findings of a study by the Southern Poverty Law Center was that high school seniors struggle with even basic questions about slavery; that teachers are often underprepared to teach the topic; that textbooks provide inadequate information; that slavery is rarely connected to the ideology of White supremacy; and that teaching slavery often focuses on the experience of White people rather than enslaved Africans.
NEW YORK STATE
New York State Legislature. Senate Bill S6600A: Relates to SUNY admission requirements for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs. Bill has now passed both chambers, awaiting delivery to Governor
NEW YORK CITY
Center for Innovation in Teacher Education & Development (CITED). 2021 CITED Conversations. [Wed. June 23 4-5pm]
City College of New York. 168th Commencement Ceremony Of The City College Of New York Matthew Romano, an honors student who’s overcome the stigma of autism to excel academically, is The City College of New York’s Class of 2021 Valedictorian… Romano has been a student teacher since last fall at the Bronx High School of Science, one of the nine specialized high schools in the state. There he co-teaches ninth and 10th grade English classes designed for remote instruction… Previously, Romano served as a teaching fellow in some of the highest-need schools across the Bronx. There, he developed his teaching philosophy centered around curriculum that is rigorous, culturally and socially relevant, and promotes risk-taking.
Washington Post. At 100 years old, Edmund Gordon thinks the key to schooling starts at home This month, Teachers College celebrated his legacy with a conference that explored, in particular, the use — and misuse — of educational assessments… “And the second charge to the industry would be to learn how to build assessments into the teaching and learning transactions in ways that make the assessments more informative of learning behavior and teaching behavior.”
