Month: January 2022

GLOBAL
The Standard (Kenya). Rethink new entry qualification for primary education teachers   Prospective teachers must now have a mean grade C in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination. Further, they should have a C plain in English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, and in any of the humanities. Previously, the minimum entry requirement was simply a C. The upgrading of the Certificate of Primary to diploma in primary teacher education may have created the need to also upgrade the threshold to the diploma programme.

The Star (Bangladesh). British Council’s training programme of primary teachers end with graduation ceremony   The graduation ceremony of the second group of primary teachers under the Training of Master Trainers in English (TMTE) project was held today at Primary Teacher’s Training Institutes in Dhaka, Gazipur, Sherpur, Jashore, Barishal, and Gopalganj… These teachers are the second group of Bangladeshi primary teachers, who started their 14-week professional development journey on October 24, 2021.

UNESCO. 2022 National SDG 4 Benchmarks: Fulfilling Our Neglected Commitment   …national benchmarks on a selected set of seven SDG 4 indicators: early childhood education attendance; out-of-school rates; completion rates; gender gaps in completion rates; minimum proficiency rates in reading and mathematics; trained teachers; and public education expenditure.  

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) APSU Now Offers First Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teaching in the Country   …the Tennessee Department of Education announced it has pioneered a new way to develop teacher pipelines, and is the first state to be approved by the U.S. Department of Labor to establish a permanent Grow Your Own model, with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin Peay State University’s Teacher Residency program becoming the first registered apprenticeship program for teaching in the country. 
2) GSoLEN and AACTE Webinar On Teaching Diverse Learners – Session 2 [Feb. 9, noon EST]

AAQEP. Workshops: AAQEP offers a workshop curriculum that engages members and the broader field in professional learning related to quality assurance and improvement. Each of the four workshops runs online on a regular basis and in person by request on campuses

American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA).   National Educator Shortage Summit  The National Educator Shortage Summit is an interactive event that convenes focused groups of PK-12 and higher education stakeholders to address the challenges of the national shortage of educators and the educator pipeline to share ways to replicate practices via a national strategy. [Feb. 7-8, Kissimmee, FL]

Chalkbeat.
1) Amid soaring mental health needs, Newark schools ramp up services with help from partners   Graduate students are helping fill the need for more school psychologists in Newark. Each week, trainees in the school psychology program at Fairleigh Dickinson University provide counseling to students at four Newark schools…The program’s purpose is twofold: Expand the district’s capacity to support students who have experienced trauma, and create a pipeline of incoming school psychologists trained to work in high-needs schools.
2) Indiana Teacher of the Year sparks creativity with after-school robotics   How did you decide to switch careers to become a teacher?   I received an email asking for people with degrees or careers in STEM fields to transition to teaching through the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship. Purdue’s program was called STEM Goes Rural.
3) Students who were part of Tennessee pre-K program continue to trail peers who weren’t, study shows   Tennessee also requires that each pre-K classroom be capped at 20 students and staffed by a state-licensed teacher endorsed for early childhood education. The teachers are paid at public school teacher rates, and each room must also have an educational assistant.

InsideHigherEd. When Education Programs Bite the Dust: Oklahoma City University is closing two of its education programs amid declining enrollment—and projected teacher shortages.   With enrollments dwindling, Oklahoma City University is phasing out its early childhood and elementary teacher preparation programs. Just three students remain in the combined programs.

LPI. Educator Learning to Enact the Science of Learning and Development   This report synthesizes research on how to support educators in developing those capacities both in preservice and in-service contexts. It addresses both the “what” of teacher and leader preparation—the content educators need to learn about children and how to support their development and learning—and the “how”—the strategies for educator learning that can produce deep understanding; useful skills; and the capacity to reflect, learn, and continue to improve.

National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE). Cohen and Mikaelian on Privatization Here, There, and Everywhere   …highlights anticompetitive behavior on the part of some charter schools, such as requiring teachers to sign non-disclosure agreements to keep teaching strategies and lesson plans in-house. In these types of environments, the lines between serving students and enhancing a school’s market position are blurred. 

NBC2. Estero couple sentenced for stealing content from Florida teacher certification exams   According to court documents, the Jaspers, who were both certified Florida teachers stole content and conspired with others to steal content from the Florida Teacher Certification Exams and Florida Education Leadership Exam. Prosecutors said they included the stolen content from both exams in their company’s test preparation material and services. It was sold through their business, NavaEd, LLC for personal profit.

NEA News. Meet The Educators Whose Student Debt Has Been Forgiven   NEA members have fought hard for fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. With the new PSLF waiver, announced in October, many are finally seeing relief. In the three months since Education Secretary Miguel Cardona introduced a temporary waiver to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, roughly 38,000 borrowers have received $2.4 billion in student debt forgiveness.

NYTimes.
1) Back to School, but Still Learning Online: Federal stimulus dollars are dedicated to helping students recover from virtual schooling. Many districts are spending some of that money on virtual tutoring.   …research has shown to be most effective: a paid, trained tutor who has a consistent personal relationship with a student; sessions during the school day, so that students do not skip lessons; and at least three sessions per week.
2) The Fight for Substitute Teachers: Schools deploy creative measures to staff classrooms.   At least two states, Missouri and Oregon, removed their degree requirements for would-be hires, to try to attract more substitutes. In Kansas, the education board got rid of the college degree requirement for substitutes for the remainder of the school year. In Salem, Ohio, anyone who passes a background check can temporarily become a licensed substitute teacher. In New Mexico, the governor is now a licensed substitute teacher.

The Atlantic. America Is Desperate for Substitute Teachers   About half of all school-board members and administrators surveyed by EdWeek Research Center in December 2019 and January 2020 said their districts don’t offer subs any professional development. In the districts that do, only 11 percent of respondents said they offer classroom-management training, and only 8 percent cover effective teaching strategies.

U.S. Dept. of Education. Secretary Cardona Lays Out Vision for Education in America   Investing in, recruiting, and supporting the professional development of a diverse educator workforce, including special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and bilingual educators so education jobs are ones that people from all backgrounds want to pursue…

WashingtonPost. Youngkin summons higher education leaders to help promote his plan for ‘lab school’ partnerships   Under current law, only colleges or universities with teacher education programs are permitted to create lab schools with localities. Youngkin’s office said there are currently no such schools in Virginia.

NEW YORK STATE
Written Testimony of Commissioner Dr. Betty A. Rosa, New York State Education Department. Joint Legislative Elementary and Secondary Education Budget Hearing- January 26, 2022    …the Executive Budget proposes creating a temporary professional permit allowing applicants to be employed as teachers… This proposal would also create a new type of certificate, which adds another layer of complication to the certification process and will surely lead to increased questions from applicants…increase the workload of the Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) staff and take them away from other activities…In 2021, OTI staff disapproved over 29,100 teacher certification applications, as these applicants did not meet certification requirements.

NYSED. State Education Department Proposes Changes to Teacher Certification Requirements to Reduce Barriers to Certification While Maintaining Rigorous Standards: edTPA Requirement Would be Replaced with a Teacher Performance Assessment in New York State-Registe…   Public comment on the proposal will be accepted through February 28, 2022 via [email protected](link sends e-mail. ) It is anticipated the proposed amendment will be presented to the Board of Regents for adoption at the April 2022 meeting.

NYS Register. Proposed Rule Making: General Education Core in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirements   Proposed Amendment to Sections 52.21 and 80-3.7 to remove the General Education Core in the Liberal Arts and Sciences requirement for registered teacher preparation programs and the Individual Evaluation Pathway to teacher certification. Data, views or arguments may be submitted through Feb. 28, 2022 to: Petra Maxwell, NYS Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-2238, email: [email protected]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) Building a teacher pipeline: A Brooklyn high school’s new program hopes to train tomorrow’s educators   The goal is to eventually have the students graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in education that will enable them to be paraprofessionals while they also attend Brooklyn College to work toward their teaching credentials.
2) NYC to open new school for students with dyslexia, Banks says   The group has been in continuous talks with the education department and has been working to line up partners to help provide teacher training…

GLOBAL
National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). How Estonia is Addressing Its Teacher Shortage   The reforms are stretching from the classroom to teacher education: preparation programs are piloting “learn on the job” training programs and focusing on how to use digital tools to enhance learning and personalize education for students; and teacher education students are increasingly assuming new roles to support classroom teachers as they learn from them. 

Ottawa Citizen. Teacher candidates win ‘huge victory’ over province’s mandatory math test for educators: The test has 50 mathematics content questions and 21 questions about math pedagogy. The applicant has to score 70 per cent on both parts to pass.   A mandatory math test for those who want to become certified teachers is unconstitutional, an Ontario court has decided.

Times of India. 15 teacher training colleges in Odisha to come under higher education department.    According to the government resolution, all movable and immovable properties of the training colleges, including all accessories, stocks and stores, will come under the administrative control of the higher education department. All teaching staff of the training colleges who belong to Odisha Education Service cadre of higher education department shall be reverted from school and mass education department to the higher education department.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Members Only: Attend Educating for American Democracy Professional Development  3 day, 6 presentation seminar January 25-27

Chalkbeat.
1) Illinois school staffing shortages could persist for years, a new report finds   The state board is working with 24 colleges and universities throughout the state to recruit and retain teachers or color. The state board is also looking for ways to get more teachers of color to pass the state’s licensure exams and has invested money into early career teacher mentoring programs.
2) I’m a first-year teacher subbing all day and getting my degree at night. The burnout is real: My teacher training program is more draining — and deflating — than it needs to be. Here’s why.   I am very grateful to have the opportunity to learn how to teach in a classroom environment — without hands-on experience, I would never learn how to manage classroom behaviors like bullying, death threats, or backflips (I wish I were kidding). But the advice from the readings about effective pedagogy is rarely reflected in the way these courses are designed or taught.
3) ‘Whitewashing history’: Indiana teachers fear anti-CRT bill threatens lessons   Educators have professional training to lead students through necessary and painful discussions… if I were a young teacher at the beginning or middle of my career, the moment parents had the authority to question, berate, and barrage me for the way I was teaching and questioning what I was teaching, I would have to look for a new career or profession,” Orzechowicz said.

EdWeek. Schools Are Desperate for Substitutes and Getting Creative   Some states, including Kansas and Oregon have relaxed requirements for substitute teaching certification, allowing candidates with a high school diploma to apply…Some schools have also made more deliberate efforts to work with nearby teacher-preparation programs to build their substitute pools…

Forbes. Tennessee’s Pioneering Teacher Apprenticeship Program   … just established a permanent program allowing teachers to gain a license through an apprenticeship rather than a costly education degree. This new “Grow Your Own” model provides a sorely needed alternative to existing K-12 licensure systems, under which training the average teacher costs about $25,000 and requires 1,500 hours.

Hechinger Report. ‘Disruption is a huge catalyst for accelerating innovation. But it’s not a given’: A Q&A with Richard Culatta, chief executive officer of the International Society for Technology in Education   I know teachers have so much on their plates, and I know that there are lots of stresses, but until we take it seriously and put as much attention towards preparing teachers to use technology effectively, we’re gonna continue to have this sort of mediocre digital learning experience, at a time when we actually need digital tools more than we ever have before to help students in a year where there’s been a lot of interruptions in their learning.

Mississippi Dept. of Education. MDE awarding more than $9.8M in grants to five Mississippi universities to enroll more potential teachers in elementary and secondary education graduate degree programs   The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), through its Mississippi Teacher Residency (MTR) program, is awarding $9,886,468 in grants to five universities in the state to cover tuition and expenses for up to 240 individuals seeking a graduate degree in elementary and secondary education. The MDE is using American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to cover the grants.  

MSN. This Is the Most Unusually Popular College Degree in Ohio   According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the most concentrated degree in Ohio relative to the U.S. as a whole is teacher education. Adults in the state are about three times more likely to have a degree in the field than the typical American adult. An estimated 0.64% of adults in the state have a teacher education degree compared to 0.23% of adults nationwide.

New York Times. Some states in the U.S. are taking desperate measures to avoid closing schools.   Under New Mexico’s initiative, National Guard members and state workers must become licensed as substitute teachers or child care workers and fulfill the usual requirements for substitute teachers, such as background checks and a teaching workshop.

University of Wyoming. UW Professor Elected President of Association for Science Teacher Education   University of Wyoming Professor Andrea Burrows has been elected to serve as president of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) in 2023. The organization is a leading voice in conversations about science teacher education research, policy and practice.

U.S. Dept. of Education. Biden-Harris Administration Takes Actions to Support Students’ Basic Needs and Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 at Colleges and Universities   The American Rescue Plan provided nearly $40 billion for colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). The American Rescue Plan has made historic investments in many of our nation’s historic or under-resourced institutions that educate students whose communities were most acutely affected by the pandemic.

Wall Street Journal. Schools Struggle to Find Substitute Teachers as Omicron Surges: Facing shortage of subs, schools look to other employees, churches and parent groups in search for teachers   Hoping to ease the substitute crunch, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed an order Tuesday making it easier for retired teachers to fill in … Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to allow school secretaries and others to work as subs. The Kansas State Board of Education on Wednesday passed a measure allowing anyone 18 or older with a high school diploma to get an emergency substitute license, provided they pass a background check and have an employment commitment. The measure temporarily waives a rule that applicants must have at least 60 semester credit hours from an accredited college or university.

WSPA News (SC). Gov. McMaster plans to fund lower student-to-teacher ratios, higher salaries for teachers   “School districts will receive the funds necessary to support an average ratio of 11.7 students per teacher, with an average salary of $66,524 including benefits,” said Governor McMaster… “We applaud the governor in his commitment to do that, but the devil is in the details,” Schumacher said. “How are you going to do that when we’re seeing a really big decrease in the number of teachers that are coming out of our teacher education programs in South Carolina?”

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Hochul proposes $2.1 billion increase for NY schools, extension of NYC mayoral control   Hochul wants to spend $31.3 billion on school districts next fiscal year — about $2.1 billion more than what they currently receive from the state. That’s largely driven by a $1.6 billion increase in Foundation Aid, which districts can use most flexibly, including to hire more teachers… In her State of the State address, Hochul described multiple proposals to recruit more teachers to combat a shortage, including speeding up the certification process, creating a new teacher residency program…

NYSED. Statement from Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., the Board of Regents and State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa on Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget Proposal   We are grateful that the executive budget proposes to rebuild New York’s teacher workforce, make college more accessible for underserved students, and expand the pathways to good-paying careers. Additionally, the proposed investments in higher education will help to rebuild the state’s workforce.

Stony Brook University News. Physics Department Earns Top Honors for Teacher Preparation Program   The Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences was once again entered into The 5+ Club, the highest award available for teacher preparation from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a joint project of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). This impressive recognition is due to the Department’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that graduated five or more qualified physics teachers during the 2020-2021 academic year, one of only nine institutions recognized in the nation. 

Times Union. Help build the teachers children rightly deserve   Traditional teacher education programs should partner with school districts, and support Hochul’s vision for an Empire State Teacher Residency Program. Elite boarding schools in the United States run highly effective teacher residency programs. They take promising students without a background in education and they slowly transition these students into full-time teaching. This is a model that we can use in the state, and it is exciting to see Hochul proposing a program like it.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. A Legacy in Community Building: Upon retirement, Nancy Streim looks back at a career of fostering TC’s local ties  “University-sponsored schools many times are about establishing hubs for teacher education and teacher professional development,” Streim explained. “Susan and I came at it with a different point of view – to establish the schools our neighbors wanted and then embed teacher preparation and development…”

GLOBAL
Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE).
1) CFP: ATEE Spring Conference 2022 Teacher Education and Practice: Foresight and Hindsight; 25-27 May [submission deadline 31 January]
2) Winter Conference: Teaching and Learning for an Inclusive, Interconnected World. [Sestri Levante, Italy 20-22 April]

EtornoInteligente. PM Holness Announces Comprehensive Review of Tvet System   Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a comprehensive review of the organisation and output of Jamaica’s technical and vocational education training system following receipt of the Education Transformation Commission’s report… “The way we train our teachers and the way our teachers teach in the school will have to move from one in which the teacher stands and delivers, and the students passively receive. We have scores of recommendations about the teaching profession, about teacher training and teaching itself, as well as curriculum and assessment as we move towards the realisation of or incorporation of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education,” Professor Patterson outlined.

European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). Education in a Changing World: The impact of global realities on the prospects and experiences of educational research 2020 ECER Yerevan [in-person 23-26 August] & ECER Plus [online 1-10 September]

UNITED STATES
EdPrep Lab. Webinar: Second Annual Virtual Policy Summit Addressing Teacher Shortages: Investing in a Strong Educator Workforce   At this virtual summit, join Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, and a distinguished panel of teacher preparation policy and practice experts who will discuss approaches to teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention that are effective, sustainable, and ultimately foster equity for the nation’s students. [Jan. 25, 1:30pm]

EdWeek.
1) Data Science Is the Future. Let’s Start Teaching It: The subject needs to be part of rigorous math prep leading to college and careers   The District of Columbia school system is partnering with American University to offer teacher training at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Stanford Graduate School of Education’s teacher education program (known as STEP) is launching a new preservice teacher education course on teaching high school data science that is responsive to multiple disciplines. 
2) Ind. Teachers Push Back Against Bill That Would Let Parents Vet School Curricula  Paul Farmer, a teacher in the Monroe County Community School Corporation, noted that the bill’s language requiring educators to separately post all classroom curricula online for parents — including lesson plans, worksheets, presentations and other materials — would be an additional workload for already stressed teachers. “Is this really going to decrease the number of teachers that go into education? The answer is yes, it will, because it’s going to scare them … because you can’t do it all,” Farmer said.
3) Teachers Deliver Less to Students of Color, Study Finds. Is Bias the Reason?   Specialized training, the diversification of the teacher workforce, and an overhaul of teacher preparation programs need to happen together, Cherng said, in part due to his study finding that teachers of color were not exempt from subscribing to anti-Black biases about their students. Cherng notes that teachers are often trained to teach in a way that ends up aligning with racial bias and teachers of color, in particular, are not trained to draw on their identities and backgrounds as assets for working with students of color.

Herald News. UMD program can help meet demand for Portuguese teachers   UMass Dartmouth Portuguese language faculty are hoping the growing demand for qualified teachers to teach Portuguese language and immersion programs around the nation will shine a spotlight on a one-of-a-kind program being offered at the university.

Lansing State Journal. Can MSU students solve Lansing’s substitute teacher shortage?   In a new partnership, MSU College of Education graduates will fulfill their student teaching requirements as paid substitutes in Lansing schools. Students selected for the residency will substitute teach once a week and be guaranteed a job once they’re certified. They also must participate in community engagement activities and live in the City of Lansing.

Learning Policy Institute (LPI).  Tackling Teacher Shortages: What Can States and Districts Do?   An especially important strategy for some of these districts—one that has proven critical during the pandemic—was the creation of teacher residency programs. In these programs, school districts and teacher preparation programs partner to provide residents with a yearlong apprenticeship under the guidance of an expert mentor teacher while residents complete tightly integrated coursework… comprehensive preparation is key to teacher retention and effectiveness, and that making teacher preparation affordable is essential to recruiting and retaining qualified teachers, especially for candidates of color, who face greater debt burdens and economic barriers to entry.

Missoulian. Board of Public Education discusses new teacher licensing system, annual report   Staff with the Office of Public Instruction provided an update on the new educator licensure system as well as the annual teacher licensure report to the Montana Board of Public Education… issued 1,646 new licenses and 62% of those were for standard teaching licenses, which means the educator has completed an accredited teacher preparation program with a bachelor’s degree… initial licenses have increased this year by almost 400 licenses…

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Pay increases and other non-obscure strategies to address the substitute teacher shortage   In most of these instances, the relaxation of education requirements consisted of only a moderate reduction in the number of college credits (or equivalent) required to qualify as a substitute teacher. Perhaps the biggest declines in education requirements have happened at the state level. Both Missouri and Kansas previously required a minimum of 60 college credits for substitutes, but now require only a high school diploma. 

New York Times. Teaching and Learning About Martin Luther King Jr. With The New York Times: How do you celebrate and teach the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., both on the holiday that celebrates his birth, and all year long?

Tennessee Dept. of Education. Tennessee Pioneers Permanent Program to Become a Teacher for Free, First State to Sponsor Registered Teacher Occupation Apprenticeship   Apprenticeship programs are high-quality, industry-driven, work-based learning pathways that provide individuals with hands-on work experience while earning a wage that increases during the progression of the program. The Teacher Occupation Apprenticeship will provide a national model and permanent Grow Your Own pathway for Tennesseans to become teachers for free and obtain high-quality jobs in their own communities.

Washington Post. Schools are facing dire staff shortages. Some are asking parents to step in.   At Hays Consolidated Independent School District, just south of Austin, parents are now considered qualified to fill in for absent teachers without the 30 college hours usually required, district spokesman Tim Savoy said in a statement. A flier posted on the district’s Facebook page says its schools are hiring “certified and eligible noncertified” substitute teachers.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED News & Notes.
*In an effort to streamline New York’s pathways to teaching, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) proposed last month to modify teacher certification requirements to reduce barriers to certification while maintaining rigorous standards. The proposed changes would eliminate the requirement for teacher candidates to pass the edTPA and replace it with a teacher performance assessment taken during a candidate’s student teaching or similar clinical experience in a New York State-registered teacher preparation program. Public comment on the proposal will be accepted through February 28, 2022 via [email protected].
*At its January meeting, the Board of Regents adopted two additional proposed regulatory amendments to streamline teacher certification requirements. The first proposed amendment relates to assessment requirements in school district leader, school district building leader, and Transitional D programs. Public comment on this proposed amendment will begin on January 26, 2022.
*The second proposed amendment relates to the exam requirement for the reissuance of an Initial certificate. Public comment on this proposed amendment will begin on January 26, 2022.
*Statement from Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., the Board of Regents, and State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa on Governor Hochul’s State of the State Address… The Governor’s proposal to address teacher shortages by providing incentives to enter the teaching profession, leveraging our state’s institutions of higher education to expand teacher recruitment, and making higher education more affordable are the steps necessary to build upon the Department’s efforts to grow and sustain a diverse and qualified teacher workforce.

NYSED Board of Regents. January Meeting
* Higher Education Proposed Amendments
1) Proposed Amendment… Relating to the Assessment Requirements for School District Leader (SDL) and School District Business Leader (SDBL) Program Completion, the Institutional Recommendation for Professional SDL and SDBL Certification, and the Institutional…
2) Proposed Amendment …Relating to the Requirements for the Reissuance of an Initial Certificate
* Higher Education Consent Agenda
1) Proposed Amendment … Relating to Removing References to Regional Accreditation
2) Proposed Amendment … Relating to the Definition of “University

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College.
1) Leading for Educational Equity in New York: The Case for Emancipatory Leadership  TC Prof. Sonya Douglass Horsford, in conversation with NYCDOE Chancellor Banks and NYSED Board of Regents Chancellor Young. REGISTRATION NOW OPEN [Thurs. Jan. 27 5:30pm]
2) Teaching for Writing Improvement  provides teachers and other educators with information about how to teach writing to elementary, middle and high school students who do not have full proficiency in writing. Participants receive 20 Clock Hours and 20 CTLEs [March 31- April 24, 2022]
3) Virtual Seminar: The Pandemic as a Portal to New Futures in Education  Please join Bank Street College, Teachers College, and Erikson Institute for a 90-minute special event featuring educators and parents who contributed articles to Bank Street Occasional Paper Series #46, “The Pandemic as a Portal: On Transformative Ruptures and Possible Futures for Education.”  This issue, which was guest-edited by Mariana Souto-Manning, President, Erikson Institute launched in October to examine how inequities in schooling and education have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic… [Jan. 21 5-6:30 pm]

GLOBAL
Daily Mirror. Teacher Training College of Fine Arts Moves to convert historic institute to a school   Sri Lanka Art Educationists Association has written to the Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardene and State Minister Susil Premajayantha saying that a video was released to the public containing a proposal that the Teacher Training College of Fine Arts be converted to a school due to lack of teachers in the school.   This is the only Teachers Training College of Fine Arts in the country at present.

Hindustan Times. Security agency warned of ‘grave threat’ prior to PM Modi’s Ferozepur rally   The report predicted demonstrations organised by members of Elementary Teacher Training-Teacher Eligibility Test (ETT/TET) pass Teachers Union and Sikh Radical organizations.

National Indigenous Times (AUS). National Early Childhood Strategy announced for First Nations children   Acting Minister for Education and Youth, Stuart Robert, commented that this pilot will improve quality and increase access to training and development for Indigenous educators.

UNITED STATES
Associated Press. American Indian College Fund Launches $2.25 Million Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi Native Teacher Education Program   The American Indian College Fund is launching a two-and-a-half-year Native teacher education program at tribal colleges and universities serving Native communities across the country to support teacher recruitment, development, and retention. Funding for the program is provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

EdPrep Lab. Second Annual Virtual Policy Summit Addressing Teacher Shortages: Investing in a Strong Educator Workforce [Jan 25, 2022 01:30 PM]

EdWeek. The 2022 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. TC faculty incl: J. Brooks-Gunn, S. Cohodes, C. Emdin, J. Henig, S. Horsford, H. Levin. A. Pallas. J. Scott-Clayton, Y. Sealey-Ruiz, A. S. Wells

Forbes. 7 Ways Our Intuition Can Mislead Us About Learning   1. Children don’t need systematic instruction in phonics. Evidence shows that many or even most kids do need this kind of instruction to become fluent “decoders” of written text—and fluent decoding is key to comprehension. But those who train reading teachers have generally resisted the evidence, and teachers’ intuition about what’s working can be misleading… It would certainly help if teacher-training programs disseminated accurate information, as a handful are now beginning to do.

Hechinger Report. Why we could soon lose even more Black Teachers: America has long had a teacher diversity problem, and the strains of the last two years are poised to make it worse   A year and a half ago, officials in Mississippi temporarily waived many of the licensure exam requirements for new teachers, as well as test score requirements for students entering teacher preparation programs… Between 2018 and 2020, the number of people of color entering educator preparation programs jumped by more than 500 percent. (The growth in the number of white candidates was about 44 percent.)

The Daily News (Longview, WA). Lower Columbia College opens applications for new groups of four-year degree students   The Teacher Education program is for people seeking endorsements in elementary education, which is kindergarten through eighth grade; or early childhood education, which is preschool through third grade. There also is an option for people who want to work with young children in early care and education settings but who do not want teaching certification.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York Gov. Hochul offers first look at education priorities   Hochul is proposing to speed up the teacher certification process and incentivize more people to become educators… allow teachers, counselors, social workers, and other positions with shortages to immediately begin working without waiting through the education department’s approval process… Hochul also wants to add more staffers to the department’s certification office to speed up what she described as a “lengthy” approval process. It currently takes about 16 weeks, according to the department’s website… To get more teachers into the pipeline, Hochul has proposed a new state teaching residency program. It would provide matching funding to local school districts so they can create two-year programs for graduate-level teacher candidates, who would be eligible for either reduced or free tuition at SUNY, CUNY, or partnering private colleges.

Governor Kathy Hochul. New York State of the State. Section VII: Rebuild New York’s School System and Reimagine Higher Education *Provide Incentives to Attract More Teachers and School Workers… *Accelerate the Teacher Certification Process… Create at State Teacher Residency Program… *Fund New Cohorts of the Master Teacher Program… *Upskill Teacher Support Workers to Earn Their Certifications [see p. 169ff]

NYSED Office of Higher Education December Newsletter
*Board Of Regents December Items
1) Teacher performance assessment. The Department proposed a regulatory amendment that would modify the teacher performance assessment requirement by eliminating the edTPA requirement for certification…
2) General Core in Liberal Arts and Science Requirement. The Department proposed a regulatory amendment that would remove the general education core in LAS requirement for registered teacher preparation programs…
3) Teacher Certification Study. Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands REL staff presented key findings from a study on New York State teacher shortages and certification to the Board of Regents.
4) School Counselor Bilingual Education Extension. The Board of Regents adopted a regulatory amendment that creates the Bilingual Education extension and Supplementary Bilingual Education extension for the new Initial and Professional School Counselor certificates that will begin to be issued on February 2, 2023.
* Fingerprinting Fee Decrease

NEW YORK CITY
InsideHigherEd. Touro System Will Build New Times Square Campus   Touro, a nonprofit institution of higher and professional education under Jewish auspices, will house the College of Pharmacy, New York School of Career & Applied Studies, Graduate School of Business, Graduate School of Education…. Touro said it plans to move into the new space in January 2023.

Teachers College Center for Educational Equity. Civic Education: Essential for Sustaining U.S. Democracy Webinar [Jan 21, 2022 11:00 AM]