GLOBAL
Jersey Evening Post. Government misses secondary school teacher training target Data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows there were 37,069 new entrants to initial teacher training (ITT) this year (2021-22) compared with 40,377 last year (2020-21) – a fall of 8%. The figures show that only 82% of the overall target for secondary subject trainees was reached this year, down from 103% in 2020-21 and 83% in 2019-20.
Mirage News. Growing teacher shortages and NSW could miss out on thousands of teachers A confidential government document warns NSW has a large and growing shortage of teachers and says the state could miss out on more than 3,000 teachers unless a drop of almost 30% in the number of people studying to become a teacher is reversed.
National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE). Should France Establish Charter Schools? …since 1959, France has funded education at private schools—which are primarily Catholic—through a system called sous contrat (“under contract”), whereby the government covers about 90 percent of tuition, and schools, in turn, must hire only state-certified teachers and follow the national curriculum…
Teacher Task Force. This radio program in Uganda is inspiring teachers to take risks and try new ideas STiR worked closely with senior officials within the country’s Ministry of Education and … The sessions were based on simple but effective evidence-based teaching strategies to help all teachers progress and improve their practice. Each lesson was accompanied by a one-page document or infographic shared over WhatsApp to reinforce the content.
US Dept. of Education International Affairs Office. International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2021 (ISTP21) Based on the success of the first ISTP in 2011, the event became an annual event hosted by different countries each year. Subsequent host countries have included the United States (which hosted again in 2012); the Netherlands (2013), New Zealand (2014), Canada (2015), Germany (2016), the United Kingdom (2017), Portugal (2018), Finland (2019), and Spain (2020). OECD and Education International have continued to co-host each year.
UNITED STATES
AACTE. In Memoriam: Dean Corrigan Corrigan, who served as AACTE president from 1981-82, passed away on November 7 at his home in Middlebury, VT. He was 91 years old …received his doctorate degree in education from (Teachers College EdD ‘61) Columbia University” [Dissertation: “Attitude changes of student teachers”. Gottesman Library: LB2157.A3 C67 1961]
BuzzFeed News. “This Is Blackface”: White Actors Are Playing Black Characters In Virtual Reality Diversity Training: Mursion tells big corporate clients that its VR simulations will help teach racial sensitivity. But the actors playing its Black characters are often white. Mursion was not created to provide diversity and inclusion training. It began as a K–12 teacher training tool, enabling teachers to practice lesson plans on avatar children before going into a live classroom.
InsideHigherEd.
1) A Road Map for a Compassionate Classroom: It’s the environment where students reap the most educational and social-emotional benefits Ultimately, effective teaching and compassionate teaching are synergistically linked, and it is in a compassionate classroom where students reap the greatest educational and social-emotional benefits.
2) Higher Education’s Brave New World To reflect on Levine’s career is to confront a welter of contradictions. He’s a former president of Teachers College, who is perhaps best known for his damning critiques of schools of education, which he derided for their low admissions, academic, and graduation standards, faculty out of touch with practice, limited interaction with K12 schools, and a sizable gap between the theories that they teach and the actual challenges that classroom teachers face… a 13-year tenure as president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (now the Institute for Citizens & Scholars). There, he launched initiatives to transform STEM teacher preparation programs, recruit teachers with strong STEM backgrounds to work in high-needs schools…
NEAToday. The Making of the Student Debt Crisis, Explained The federal student loan program was created in the 1970s so that all Americans could go to college. Those good intentions have had some less-than-good consequences, as student debt has grown astronomically.
New York Times. In Minneapolis Schools, White Families Are Asked to Help Do the Integrating. … research by the Black Education Research Collective at Teachers College, Columbia University, which surveyed hundreds of Black families and educators nationally this year. “Integration never comes up,” said the group’s founding director, Sonya Douglass Horsford. Instead, she said, Black families often express other priorities: “I want my child to be safe. I don’t want them to be harassed. I don’t want them to be discriminated against. I’d like the curriculum to reflect them.”
Omaha World-Herald. Bellevue University combats Nebraska teacher shortage BU is the newest secondary education program in the state, having just received its full certification in March 2021. Currently, BU only offers the secondary education track, but this will not be the case for much longer. “One of the things that we’re doing right now is we’re adding an elementary ed and a special ed endorsement area, because those are the top two shortage areas in the state right now,” Alford said. Alford said in her 40 years of teaching she has not seen a shortage in elementary education quite like it is now.
Tristate Homepage. Lawmaker pushes to eliminate some teacher tests in Illinois An Illinois state lawmaker is looking at eliminating a test teachers take to get their license. State Representative Sue Scherer, a former teacher, is targeting the edTPA test. She says it’s redundant because it just makes prospective teachers take all of the hard work they did during residencies and student teaching and make them replicate it during a high stress test.
Washington Post. The principal is cleaning the bathroom: Schools reel with staff shortages. The Los Angeles Unified School District is hiring students in teacher-preparation programs who will soon graduate, district officials said.
NEW YORK STATE
InsideHigherEd. Calls Mount for SUNY Chancellor’s Removal: Jim Malatras has repeatedly faced criticism for his work with the Cuomo administration. Old text messages that show him mocking a former Cuomo aide have prompted demands for his ouster.
New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education. Educator Preparation Newsletter November 2021
Board of Regents November Items
* Certification. The Department presented an overview of certification and plans for a comprehensive review of certification in response to teacher shortages across New York State.
* Admission Requirements for Graduate-Level Teacher and Educational Leader Programs. Governor Hochul signed two bills that changed these admission requirements effective November 15, 2021
Times Union. Schenectady schools partners with colleges to diversify teaching staff “The goal is to take students who are interested in education and becoming teachers from Schenectady High School and feed them into SUNY Schenectady to then Cazenovia College, and then Clarkson, and then ultimately hopefully bring them back into our workforce to work with our future scholars,” said Soler. “The powerful thing here is that we’re taking it from the beginning all the way through to the end and working with our partners.”
NEW YORK CITY
Class Size Matters. Time is running out on the class size bill — & how you can help! 41 of 49 City Council members plus the United Federation of Teachers have endorsed the bill. Please send a letter TODAY to Council Speaker Corey Johnson by clicking here— demanding that he schedule a vote for the class size reduction bill, Int 2347.
Gothamist. City Faces Largest-Ever Lawsuit Payout To NYC Teachers Affected By “Discriminatory” Certification Tests A massive decades-long lawsuit against New York City over the use of two teaching certification tests is winding to a conclusion, with nearly $660 million and pension benefits in damages awarded to plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit claiming the tests were discriminatory against Black and Latino teachers and prevented them from achieving full seniority, pay and benefits.
NY Daily News. Ex-NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg pledges $750 million for charter schools The money will go toward expanding existing charter schools, incubating new ones, upgrading facilities and providing teacher and administrator training, he said.
Pix11. Parents, teachers call for NYC Council to vote for smaller class sizes at schools It would require the city purchasing or leasing new educational space or adding access to buildings as well as hiring about 13,000 new teachers. The City Council could vote on the bill in December.
Teachers College.
1) Diversifying City Classrooms with the Teacher Opportunity Corps: The TC program recently received renewed state funding to support educators from underrepresented backgrounds in pursuing NYC public school careers Teacher Opportunity Corps is a State Education Department initiative that in September renewed its commitment to TC with a $812,500 grant across five years. “This grant allows us to offer 25 eligible TC students tuition support, seminars with top faculty, professional development opportunities, and internship experiences in local schools,” said Katie Ledwell, Associate Director for Specialized School-Based Support Services in the Office of Teacher Education… “TC is grateful for our partnership with the New York State Education Department, which supports us in meeting our deep and longstanding goal of preparing outstanding teachers of color for work in New York City public schools,” said Aimee Katembo, Director of the Office of Teacher Education.
2 ) The Success of Blue’s Clues Runs Straight Through TC Alumna Angela Santomero: Creator of the hit children’s television show rooted in her studies of developmental psychology, Santomero discusses building a phenomenon as the program celebrates its 25th year “The idea that we could put educational and curriculum development into a television show and make it a hit – that was the dream,” says Santomero.
