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…”
