Month: September 2022

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Sept. 26 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Border Mail (AUS). Teaching our teachers to solve a puzzling education conundrum   Unfortunately, university-based teacher trainers have proven unwilling or unable to improve its quality… Unlike many teacher workforce issues, the quality of teacher education at universities is a federal government responsibility. The government needs to send more direct signals – even punitively pulling funding – that ITE providers must give teachers adequate training in evidence-based explicit instruction methods.

Daily Times. Learning from Finland Model   They are not required to prepare students for standardized testing, giving them more flexibility to teach students the lessons they deem appropriate. Similarly, becoming a teacher in Finland is a quite competitive process, with nearly 7% of applicants accepted to the country’s top teaching program. 

UNESCO. Celebrations of World Teachers’ Day 2022 [5-7 Oct.]

UNITED STATES
AACTE. 75th Annual Meeting Innovation through Inspiration: Remembering the Past to Revolutionize the Future Save 15% by December 31 [Feb. 24-26, Indianapolis, IN]

Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education (AILACTE). CFP: 2023 National Conference February 23-24, 2023 Indianapolis, IN [deadline Dec. 5, 2022]

Chalkbeat.
1) ‘I don’t think it’s fair’: Newark charter school community wants answers over inequities   Teachers also spoke out about wages and asked board members to release a pay scale and pay information for certified and uncertified teachers. 
2) Study: Teacher licensing exams shrink Indiana’s pool of Black, Hispanic teachers   … according to a new report from Indiana University. The study found that Black and Hispanic prospective teachers scored up to 52 percentage points lower than their white peers on portions of the test, known as Praxis, further shrinking the pool of nonwhite educators that enter the profession even as the K-12 student population grows more diverse.
3) With COVID aid, schools try something new: giving students jobs   When the Houston school district launched a peer tutoring initiative with iEducate, a local nonprofit, officials there specifically targeted students interested in education… It gives tutors “an opportunity to build those relationships with our scholars, to help with that learning loss from COVID in our schools,” said Joseph Williams, a district administrator who oversees the tutoring initiative. “It also gives them that experience to see what teaching is about, and hopefully build a pipeline of future teachers.”

EdWeek.
1) 6 Ways to Solve the Teacher Shortage With Federal Stimulus Money   4. Tuition and certification benefits. … school districts generally don’t pay for teachers to pursue a graduate degree or even cover the cost of taking the initial certification exam… Some school districts are already making moves on this front.
2) 25 Reasons to Get Excited About Teaching   The profession offers a host of opportunities
3) They Recruited 100,000 STEM Teachers. Now They’re Setting Their Sights Even Higher   The group 100Kin10 was formed in 2011 in response to former President Barack Obama’s call for adding 100,000 more STEM teachers to the nation’s classroom in 10 years… In November 2021, the group announced it had surpassed its goal by recruiting and training more than 108,000 STEM teachers… Now, 100Kin10 is setting a new goal—and rebranding. Now known as Beyond100K, the group aims to both prepare and retain 150,000 STEM teachers in schools with the greatest shortages. The recruitment efforts will increasingly be focused on Black, Latinx, and Native American teachers. 
4) Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff  [October 27 2:00 to 6:00 PM EDT]

Florida Education Association. Solving Florida’s teacher and staff shortage   Long-term, starting with the next legislative session lawmakers can:.. * Boost teacher education. Support Florida’s colleges and universities as they enhance and grow their teacher education programs. * Provide financial support for college students who major in education and become teachers. * Help high school graduates become teachers. Develop and support programs that encourage them to enter the profession. * Eliminate fees for teacher certification and renewal for all teachers.

Hechinger Report. Black and white teachers from HBCUs are better math instructors, study finds   … what mattered was where a teacher went to college. Both Black and white teachers trained at an historically black college or university (HBCU) helped Black students do better in math. Almost one out of 10 teachers in North Carolina graduated from an HBCU. Though not a large number, a quarter of these HBCU-trained teachers were white. During a year that a Black elementary school student had one of these HBCU-trained teachers, his or her math scores were higher. 

InsideHigherEd. A Show of Solidarity   Faculty members back a K-12 teacher who distributed a list of terms about race and gender to high school students. Some say more of this kind of allyship is needed as public education faces divisive concepts and book bans amid teacher shortages.

KETV Omaha. New $38 million state-of-the-art Teachers College at UNL officially opens   The University of Nebraska Lincoln officially unveiled the new home for its Teachers College at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. The new $38 million state-of-the-art facility comes as the state and the country desperately needs qualified teachers.

National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). OECD Education at a Glance 2022: Implications for the U.S. [Oct. 3, 12pm ET]

New Jersey Monitor. Bill barring controversial teaching test gets conditional veto from governor: Governor Murphy wants lawmakers to require teaching candidates complete a different assessment   The governor’s action, if approved by the Legislature, would still remove the requirement for teachers to complete the controversial edTPA — the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment, administered to would-be teachers since 2009 — but under his conditional veto, the unpopular test would be replaced with broader assessments run by educator preparation programs meant to gauge performance in the classroom.

New York Times. How U.S. Textbooks Helped Instill White Supremacy: A new history by Donald Yacovone examines the racist ideas that endured for generations in educational materials.   Universities, too, have had a shameful influence over the K-12 history curriculum. Harvard was the seat of the eugenics movement, whose pseudoscience was approvingly cited in teachers’ journals and textbooks. Columbia gave birth to the “Dunning school” of Civil War history…

NorthJersey.com. ‘Victory for all future educators’: NJ does away with teacher certification test — sort of   The Murphy administration said the educative Teacher Performance Assessment, or edTPA, would no longer be required in New Jersey, but it must be replaced by a similar test to be used to certify graduates. Murphy issued a conditional veto Thursday to bill S896, which shifts the burden of certifying teachers from the state’s shoulders to the colleges that train them. 

Register-Herald. New approach to coding unlocks student potential   A West Virginia University instructional design expert is looking to break the code of the traditional elementary school classroom… Kale’s crusade to make coding a common tool for classroom engagement as early as kindergarten will focus first on the teachers in training at WVU’s elementary education teacher education program.

The74. Traditional University Teacher Ed Programs Face Enrollment Declines, Staff Cuts   As higher ed enrollment lags, colleges try to make teacher preparation more enticing, sustainable to ward off local shortages

U.S. Dept. of Education. U.S. Department of Education Awards Over $60 Million to Strengthen the Teacher Pipeline, Increase Educator Leadership, and Support Quality Teaching and Learning to Further Address Teacher Shortage   New investments under the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program, include 22 new three-year grants totaling more than $60 million, bringing the Biden-Harris Administration’s additional support for teachers through Fiscal Year 2022 grant competitions to more than $285 million.

Washington Post. Staffing shortages continue to plague schools, data shows   …approaches like Florida’s — offering jobs to veterans without college degrees. Arizona is allowing college students to instruct children.

Yidan Prize. Welcoming our 2022 Yidan Prize laureates   Dr Linda Darling-Hammond, 2022 Yidan Prize for Education Research; Professor Yongxin Zhu, 2022 Yidan Prize for Education Development

NEW YORK STATE
NYACTE-NYSATE. 2022 Conference: Seeking Solidarity: Preparing Educators in and for Challenging Times [October 27-28, Gideon Putnam Resort, Saratoga Springs]

NYSED. Webinar: NYSED PLAN Pilot Webinar with Linda Darling-Hammond Topic: What is Performance-Based Learning & Assessment? [Tuesday, October 4th at 3:00 PM ET]

NYSED Board of Regents. Meeting agenda: October 3 & 4, 2022
Higher Education Subcommittee
* Proposed Amendment … Relating to the Student Teaching Requirements for Registered Teacher Preparation Programs and Through the Individual Evaluation Pathway to Certification
* Proposed Amendment … Relating to the Definition of “Prospective School Employee”
* Proposed Amendment …Relating to the Deferment of the Declaration of a Major by Matriculated Students for State Financial Aid Purposes

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. “Educator of the Year” for TC Student William ‘Billy’ Green: The New York State honor recognizes the high school chemistry teacher and TC doctoral student’s ability to engage his pupils   His passion for education and commitment to inclusion is recognized throughout the TC community. “One thing that immediately stands out to me when I think about Billy is the enormous amount of passion he brings to the classroom space,” shares Felicia Mensah, Professor of Science Education and Green’s academic advisor. “He’s very dedicated to his craft as a teacher and it shows.”

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Sept. 19 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
MOFET Institute. The Eighth International Conference on Teacher Education: Passion and Professionalism in Teacher Education[June 26-27, 2023 | Tel Aviv]

Washington Post. Mexico arrests Army general in students’ disappearance   Gen. José Rodríguez Pérez is accused of involvement in the deaths of the 43 teachers’ college students who went missing in Ayotzinapa 2014, a crime that shocked the country.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) WEBINAR: Internationalizing Education in Teacher Preparation [Oct. 6 3:00pm ET]
2) WEBINAR: Translating Learning Sciences Research for the Classroom [Mon. Sept. 26 2:00pm ET]

Chalkbeat.
1) A Philadelphia high school first: Black men teaching all freshman core subjects   the Center for Black Educator Development, which aims to get more Black students interested in teaching through the Black Teacher Pipeline Project. The project’s first fellowships were awarded in February to four Black men. The center’s founder, Philadelphia educator Sharif El-Mekki, aims to bring 21,000 Black students into the teaching pipeline over the next 12 years in 10 communities across the country, including the Philadelphia-Camden area. While teaching may not have been the four MLK teachers’ first choice, they all said they now view it as a calling.
2) State finds Denver violated the rights of Black boys with disabilities   They include that the district: …Failed to ensure that all affective needs programs had sufficient teachers with the proper certifications and licenses. A program for students with severe needs had to transition to virtual learning for several months last year because of a lack of teachers.

CNN. ‘It’s all behind us now.’ 1,700 migrant children see hope in nation’s largest school system   Already facing massive budget cuts, declining enrollments and teacher shortages, school administrations are now looking to recruit certified bilingual teachers and other support staff to deal with the influx of Spanish-speaking children from migrant families. 

EdWeek.
1) The Case for Curriculum: Why Some States Are Prioritizing It With COVID Relief Funds   a couple of IMPD network states have set their tutoring programs apart with a special feature: They’re curriculum-aligned. That means that tutors get trained in using the same materials that districts are using in their core classes, so that tutors are prepared to help students with course-specific questions…In Arkansas, for example, tutors are required to take training in specific math and reading curricula.
2) Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff [October 27 2:00 to 6:00 PM EDT]
3) What Teachers of Color Say Will Actually Work to Diversify the Profession   Teachers of color overwhelmingly chose financial incentives and relief as a strategy to boost enrollment in teacher preparation… “Teachers of color are not folks who are coming in with generational wealth,” Vilson said, adding that many Black and Latinx teachers he knows give money back to their families. More student loan forgiveness would provide relief, he said.

Hechinger Report. Waiting for the traveling teacher: Remote rural schools need more hands-on help   In Colorado, for instance, there were about 380 open positions for educators in rural schools at the start of the 2021-2022 school year… many were staffed by people who do not have traditional training or are not considered qualified to work in the subject area they are teaching.  

Kevin Kumashiro. 12th Conference On Education And Justice  [6-8 October 2022 Online]

KVOE. EMPORIA STATE: Dismissals of 33 faculty and staff come when ESU Foundation is seeking funds so students can experience ‘outstanding and supportive professors’   Terminations come as part of Emporia State’s plan, approved by the Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday, to realign and re-emphasize certain programs including nursing, business, education, information management and library science — while eliminating other programs not in that “strike zone.” 

National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). WEBINAR: Education at a Glance 2022: Implications for the U.S.[Oct. 3 12:00 ET]

Philadelphia Enquirer.  Pa. waived the basic skills requirement for educators. Will it work to attract more teachers?   At least for the next three years, Pa. students will no longer have to pass the so-called basic skills tests in reading, math and writing, or meet the requirement through an alternative.

Prairie View A&M Univ. Sande to Increase Educator Diversity in Texas with $300K Award from Texas Tech -TEA and US Prep   The teacher population in Texas does not reflect its student population. Beverly Sande, Ph.D., plans to change that statistic with $300,000 in funding from Texas Tech University–Texas Education Agency in collaboration with the University-School Partnerships for the Renewal of Educator Preparation (US PREP) National Center. The award will position Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) to lead innovative efforts to increase diversity among the number of teachers.

TeenVogue. Why Is There a Teacher Shortage in the US? Here’s What’s Causing it and What it Means for Students   And it appears there are fewer people studying to become teachers. Data from the Learning Policy Institute found that enrollment in teacher preparation programs went down one-third between 2010 and 2018. “There isn’t a pipeline of people coming into the profession that will fill all the vacancies that exist now,” Domenech says. Long-term structural solutions would likely help entice people to enter the field.

Washington Post. How an aspiring math teacher created go-to advice for prop betting   Smaluck… has a degree in math and stats and a masters in education, but he struggled to land his preferred job after graduation amid a teacher glut in parts of Canada… “I’m going to go back to it,” Smaluck said. “Once this props journey is done, I’m circling back to teaching kids math. There’s no question; it’s my lifetime journey.”

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. NYC shelves $202 million plan to create a universal curriculum   Some educators — and the city’s teachers union — have argued that a universal curriculum would help give teachers access to quality materials without having to search for them. It could also allow for better-coordinated teacher training, as more teachers would be using a common set of materials, experts said.

NYDailyNews. How to solve the yeshiva problem: It’ll take much more than state regulations   Some parents I work with have told me that their children have to assist their own teachers when they try to read in English. I once watched an English teacher chanting the alphabet with his third-grade class — and incorrectly identifying the vowel sounds… Another lamented that she never had a teacher who had a college degree… ensure that yeshiva students have access to college-educated teachers with expertise in both content and pedagogy. 

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Sept. 12 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
AP News. Teacher shortages grow worrisome in Poland and Hungary   “Young people aren’t coming into the profession, and very few of those who earn a teaching certificate from high school or university go on to teach,” said Nagy. “Even if they do, most of them leave within two years.”

School News Australia. Short versus long-term solutions to the teaching shortage crisis   Following the roundtable meeting on August 12 between the federal Education Minister Jason Clare and his state and territory counterparts, a national action plan will be drawn up by December.

The New Arab. Algeria recruits 5,000 new English language teachers for primary schools in shift from French   The new teachers, hired during a recruitment drive this summer, would receive training from next week to prepare them for the upcoming academic year… Algeria, a former French colony, has been stepping away from the use of French at its institutions. Algeria’s culture ministry saidearlier this year that Arabic would replace French as its official language.

United Nations. Transforming Education Summit [United Nations, New York, 16, 17 & 19 September 2022]

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Borrowers Can Refinance Federal Student Loans to Benefit from PSLF   …to qualify, borrowers have to refinance their loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan by October 31, 2022.  AACTE recently participated in a webinar sponsored by the Department of Education, which explains the temporary changes to the PSLF program that will allow more federal borrowers to have their loans eliminated. 
2) Call for Proposals Open: AACTE 75th Annual Meeting  [deadline Oct. 1 , 2022]
3) Registration is Now Open: AACTE’s 75th Annual Meeting [Indianapolis, February 24 – 26]

Chalkbeat.
1) Federal grant to help CU Denver expand teacher residency program   The University of Colorado Denver will use about $7 million in federal grants over the next five years to expand a teacher preparation model to rural communities across the state…The money from the U.S. Department of Education is part of $25 million five-year Teacher Quality Partnership program grants meant to help recruit, prepare, develop, and retain a strong, effective, and diverse teacher workforce. 
2) Two new Chicago efforts to cultivate more diverse teachers land federal grants   The district credited Teach Chicago Tomorrow, among other efforts, with increasing the portion of new teacher hires who are Black or Latino to roughly half of all new educators this school year… Chicago’s new Pre-Service Teaching Equity Project, or P-STEP — the CPS program receiving a roughly $1.1 million Teacher Quality Partnership grant — aims to ensure schools work more closely with faculty at local college teacher preparation programs to support student teachers.

Education Week.
1) Districts Steer Federal Teacher-Quality Funding Into Recruitment, Retention    The Education Department also announced 22 awards, totaling $24.8 million, through the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program, the only federal program that directly funds teacher preparation programs at universities, states, and nonprofits. This year, the department expressed interest in applicants with “grow your own” programs, which work to bring new educators into the profession by recruiting members of the community.
2) Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff FREE EVENT [Thursday, October 27, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET (11 a.m. – 3 p.m. PT)]

Hechinger Report. Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard: There’s little evidence of a mass exodus of teachers, but school districts flush with federal money are struggling to hire in a tight labor market   The number of unfilled vacancies has led some states and school systems to ease credential requirements, in order to expand the pool of applicants. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters last week that creative approaches are needed to bring in more teachers, such as retired educators, but schools must not lower standards.

Kansas Reflector. Professors frustrated by Emporia State University plans to eliminate tenured faculty and programs   The issue that “sticks in the craw” of liberal arts and sciences faculty, Michael Smith said, is their role in supporting ESU’s renowned teaching college…“I can’t train history teachers without a history program. Period,” he said. “I can’t train government teachers without a political science program…”

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English–Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces [by Drs. D. Price-Dennis & Y. Sealey-Ruiz]

New Jersey Monitor.
1) Legislature’s return creates bill signing deadlines for Governor Murphy   One Senate bill Murphy must consider by next week would ban the state Board of Education from requiring teaching candidates to complete a test, including the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), to obtain their teaching certificates. 
2) Teacher-student diversity gap widens in New Jersey   Beginning around 2013, officials adopted several policies that were intended to improve teacher quality — but instead created barriers that barred some from the profession…They raised the grade point average students need, to 3.0, both to get into and to graduate from a college teacher education program. They also expanded how many standardized tests would-be teachers must pass to prove proficiency. One such performance assessment, called the edPTA[sic], has only been required since 2017… 

NYTimes. Censorship Is the Refuge of the Weak   The state of Oklahoma seeking to revoke the teaching certificate of an English teacher who shared a QR code that directed students to the Brooklyn Public Library’s online collection of banned books.

U. S. Dept. of Education U.S. Department of Education Awards Nearly $25 Million to Recruit, Prepare, Develop and Support a Strong and Diverse Educator Workforce for our Nation’s Schools This year’s investment includes 22 new five-year grants…The TQP program funds teacher preparation programs in high-need communities at colleges and universities for the undergraduate, “fifth-year” level, and for teaching residency programs for individuals new to teaching with strong academic and professional backgrounds. 

U.S. News & World Report. 2023 U.S. News Best Colleges   2023 Best Education Schools

Washington Post.
1) U.S. News college rankings draw new complaints and competitors: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona criticizes rankings based on prestige as ‘a joke’
2) Wanted: Teachers. No training necessary.   States desperate to fill teaching jobs have relaxed job requirements. Public officials are openly challenging the idea that a degree in education should be a prerequisite for getting into the classroom and are aiming to undo long-standing license rules. Some states now permit people to teach without finishing college in certain cases, and many increasingly rely on substitutes…

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Meet New York’s teacher of the year: A Harlem chemistry teacher   Green became interested in education during childhood, much of which he spent living in poverty, while navigating homeless shelters or squatting in abandoned buildings… Green soon realized he wanted to teach, and he returned to the city, going to work at a school on Rikers Island.

Gothamist. New York approves new private school regulations as yeshivas face mounting scrutiny   The new regulations now require teachers to demonstrate competence in the subjects they’re teaching and update requirements for instructional time in core subjects like math and social studies.

NYSED 2023 Teacher of the Year.   State Education Department Announces Manhattan High School Chemistry Teacher Named 2023 New York State Teacher of the Year   William “Billy” Green will serve as an ambassador for teachers across the state and as the New York State nominee for National Teacher of the Year. Green is a high school chemistry teacher at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in the New York City Department of Education’s (NYCDOE) Geographic District #6 in Manhattan [and Science Education PhD student at Teachers College]

NYSED Board of Regents. September meeting
PROPOSALS
*P-12 Education Committee.
1) Proposed Amendment … Relating to Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) Staffing Qualifications   the Department proposes to permit agencies to employ an on-site education director who possesses a bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education, provided that such individual develops a written plan to obtain a certification valid for service in the early childhood grades within five years of the date such individual begins employment as a site director.
2) Proposed Amendment … Relating to Remote Instruction and its Delivery under Emergency Conditions   Finally, the Department proposes additions to section 100.1 of the Commissioner’s regulations to define the term “remote instruction.” This definition identifies various ways in which remote instruction may be delivered—but which must include, in all situations, regular and substantive teacher-student interaction with an appropriately certified (or, for charter schools, qualified) teacher.
* Higher Education Committee. Proposed…Relating to the Degree and Experience Requirements for College Professors for the Transitional G Certificate and Through the Individual Evaluation Pathway to Certification   Therefore, the Department proposes to expand the P-12 teaching pool through the following three flexibilities:…

CONSENT AGENDA
*P-12 Education Committee.
1) Addition… Relating to Substantially Equivalent Instruction for Nonpublic School Students   As used in this Part: (a) Competent teacher means instructional staff employed by the school who demonstrate the appropriate knowledge, skill, and dispositions to provide substantially equivalent instruction. A competent teacher need not be certified.
* Higher Education Committee
1) Extending Flexibilities for Incidental and Substitute Teaching   The Department now proposes to extend these flexibilities for incidental teaching and substitute teaching again to the 2022-2023 school year. This proposal enables school districts to address their continuing teacher shortages by providing them with flexibility in making teaching assignments
2) Establishing the Literacy (All Grades) Certificate   the Department revised the required college-supervised practica in registered programs leading to the proposed Literacy (All Grades) certificate to be at least 50 clock hours in teaching literacy to students across the grade range of the student developmental levels of the certificate, including pre-kindergarten through grade 4 and grades 5 through 12… Additionally, the Department revised the date after which it would no longer register programs leading to the current Literacy (Birth-Grade 6) or Literacy (Grades 5- 12) certificates to be on or after October 1, 2022
3) Establishing the Students with Disabilities (All Grades) Certificate, Revising the Registration Requirements for Students with Disabilities (Birth-Grade 2) Programs, and Revising the Requirements for the Extension and Limited Extension to Teach Certain Su…   For institutions that currently have registered SWD (Grades 1-6) and SWD (Grades 7-12) programs, the programs would no longer be registered with the Department on or after September 1, 2029… Candidates who begin a proposed SWD (All Grades) program prior to the fall 2023 semester would complete field experiences and student teaching experiences across the age/grade range of the student developmental level of the certificate… The Department proposes to … allow SWD (All Grades) programs to lead to such extension and to reduce the number of semester hours required in the subject area of the extension from 18 to 12…

NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives.
1) New Literacy (All Grades) Certificate Created.  At its September 2022 meeting, the New York State Board of Regents voted to establish the Literacy (All Grades) certificate effective September 28, 2022. The new certificate permits individuals to teach literacy in pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 in New York State public schools.
2) New Students With Disabilities (All Grades) Certificate Created.  At its September 2022 meeting, the New York State Board of Regents voted to establish the Students with Disabilities (All Grades) certificate effective September 28, 2022. The new certificate permits individuals to teach students with disabilities in pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 in New York State public schools…

NEW YORK CITY
NY Daily News. New York Board of Regents unanimously passes rules aimed at regulating ultra-Orthodox yeshivas   “The state’s confirmation that it intends to dictate the curriculum and faculty at private and parochial schools is deeply disappointing and we oppose it,” said Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools, a group that advocates for yeshivas.

NYTimes.
1) In Hasidic Enclaves, Failing Private Schools Flush With Public Money   Often, English teachers cannot speak the language fluently themselves. Many earn as little as $15 an hour. Some have been hired off Craigslist or ads on lamp posts…Yeshivas that provide secular education now mostly hire only Hasidic men as teachers, regardless of whether they know English. One former student said he once had a secular teacher who doubled as the school cook… Many young men said their English teachers spoke to them only in Yiddish.
2) New State Rules Offer Road Map for Regulating Private Hasidic Schools: The State Board of Regents on Tuesday enacted regulations aimed at holding New York private schools to minimum academic standards.   The New York State Board of Regents on Tuesday voted for the first time to require private schools to prove they are teaching English, math and other basic subjects or risk losing government funding.

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Sept. 5 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Independent Online (South Africa). 4IR dream for Africa will collapse unless teachers are appreciated and better paid   One of the targets around education in the UN Sustainable Development Goals implores governments to “make teaching an attractive, first-choice profession with continuing training and development by improving teachers’ professional status, working conditions and support”. Throughout Africa, evidence of this is not visible.

SchoolsWeekUK. The week in education: How it all changed for schools   It means two of the main architects of teacher training reforms, Gribbell and Bickford Smith, are leaving at a critical time, with fears the ITT review will lead to a deficit of teacher training places, and gloomy predictions about recruitment over the next few years.

The Telegraph. How Elizabeth II’s early years shaped the future Queen   In the autumn of 1933, Elizabeth’s education was entrusted to a recent graduate of a Scottish teacher training establishment, Marion Crawford, a serious young woman with a bent for history and patchy knowledge of mathematics, which Queen Mary considered unnecessary for a girl in Elizabeth’s position who would not be expected to manage her own household accounts. 

WomenofChina. Xi Replies to Letter from Students in Teacher Training Program at Beijing Normal University   Xi… said he was pleased to learn that the students, through classroom study and teaching practices during the first year of school, had gained more knowledge, broadened their horizons, and strengthened their commitment to teaching and educating people at the grassroots level… In 2021, the country launched a program to train about 10,000 teachers each year at normal universities for primary and secondary schools in 832 counties in the central and western regions. 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE Participates in White House Discussion on School Staffing Shortage: Strengthening the Teaching Profession Through Public and Private Sector Actions   “It was an honor to have AACTE at the table with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other key decision makers, such as the Secretaries of Education and Labor,” said AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D… “To have this spotlight today on the education profession from the White House elevates the importance of teachers and education in the U.S.”
2) AACTE President Keynotes at Congress of Latin American University Deans   AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., delivered the opening Keynote of the First Congress of the Network of Deans and Deans of Education of Latin American Universities (Redecanedu) in Santiago, Chile, on Sept. 1… Gangone’s keynote entitled “Preserving Teaching as a Respected Profession: A Cautionary Tale from the U.S.,”

Apprenticeship.gov. National Apprenticeship Week How Can Registered Apprenticeship Address Teacher Workforce Challenges and Shortages? [Week Nov. 14-20]

Chalkbeat.
1) Indiana announces $111 million for phonics-focused reading instruction   The bulk of the total money — $85 million — comes from the Lilly Endowment, an Indianapolis-based philanthropic foundation, and will go toward training current and future teachers on phonics-focused literacy instruction.
2) Michigan’s child care crisis is worse than policymakers have estimated   But the agency, known as LARA, has found more than 9,000 child care staff vacancies across the state and is now letting some facilities apply for rule exemptions to hire younger staff who are finishing required coursework and are awaiting final certifications. 
3) State orders CU Denver to fix reading courses in teacher prep program   The University of Colorado Denver must change how it trains future teachers on reading instruction before it can earn full state approval for four majors in the university’s teacher preparation program. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the State Board of Education granted partial approval to the university’s elementary education, special education, early childhood education, and reading teacher programs. 

DCist. Federal Court Upholds D.C.’s New Requirements That Child Care Workers Get College Degrees   A four-year legal battle over D.C.’s new requirements that many child care workers get a college degree has seemingly come to an end… Under the new rules, directors of child care centers will need a bachelor’s degree in early education, teachers will need an associate’s degree in early education, and assistant teachers and caregivers in home-based daycares will need a Child Development Associate’s credential.

EdWeek.
1) Grants Aim to Support Alaska Native Students’ Education, Well-Being   …the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Native Alaska preservation nonprofit in Juneau, received $8.8 million in four separate grants for projects that will create culturally responsive STEAM education for middle school students, “indigenize and transform” teacher and administration preparation programs, expand dual language pathways for the Tlingit culture and language…
2) When Did Equity Become a ‘Trigger’ Word?   … the law didn’t fundamentally change the fact that we continue to fail to give students a “fair playing field”… Low-income students continue to get more underprepared and out-of-field teachers… And we can take steps to make sure students are taught by well-prepared teachers who are ready to deliver that curriculum.

Hechinger Report.
1) Can apprenticeships help alleviate teacher shortages?   In January, Tennessee announced that it was expanding its “grow your own programs” to recruit and train teachers by developing the new apprenticeship model, which connects school districts and educator preparation programs. Tennessee’s department of education launched this program with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin-Peay State University, making it the first registered teaching apprenticeship program in the country. 
2) Some childcare workers can get their college loans forgiven — but many are blocked   The federal Department of Education allows child care providers to participate in its Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, but only if they work in a nonprofit or federally run child care center, like Head Start, for 10 years… Nearly 1 in 5 child care workers have student loan debt, according to a Stanford University survey of 802 providers across the United States. 

Mountain Times. A standardized test is keeping potential teachers out of the workforce, Vermont to make it optional   To become a licensed teacher in Vermont — in any grade or subject area — applicants must receive a passing grade on the Praxis Core test… Proposed changes in state rules would allow applicants to “demonstrate competency with basic skills through a method determined by the Standards Board.” Relevant coursework, or certain grades could be substituted.

NYTimes. How to Use The Learning Network   Since 1998, The Learning Network has been helping people teach and learn with The New York Times. Here’s how to use our features.

NEA News.
1) Poll: Without Better Pay, Teaching Isn’t Viable Career   The national PDK Poll finds support for public schools is strong, but parents don’t want kids to become teachers without better pay and working conditions.
2) Student Debt Cancellation, PSLF & More: What Educators Need to Know   Once again: The PSLF waiver expires on October 31. It’s vital for educators to apply before the waiver expires. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t gotten to 120 payments yet. If you have old payments, late payments, payments on ineligible federal student loans, or payments made on non-income driven plans… you need to apply.

NY Education Report. UMBA: If Murphy Is Serious About Addressing Our Teacher Shortage, He’ll Eliminate This Test    As New Jersey lawmakers, we owe it to every young professional to search for the unnecessary edTPA-like barriers to other careers and stamp them out like they’re a pervasive species of Spotted Lantern Fly.

TIME. Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read   So far this year, five states have passed laws that require training for teachers in phonics-based reading techniques, adding to the 13 that passed such laws last year. And in May, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that elementary schools in the biggest district in the country would be required to adopt a phonics-based reading program.

Washington Post.
1) New York will force Orthodox Jewish schools to meet education standards   The regulations require the instruction be offered in math, science, English language arts and social studies, by a competent teacher and in English. Students with limited English skills must be provided instructional programs.
2) The most-regretted (and lowest-paying) college majors   The annual Fed’s Survey of Household Economics and Decision making also asks if folks regret the specific school they went to. Those in vocational programs are most likely to regret their school, while education majors are least likely.
3) Trust in teachers is plunging amid a culture war in education   The growing distrust of teachers is also leading to greater scrutiny of teacher education programs. In Florida, DeSantis alleges they are churning out educators who encourage children to do things like switch gender identities without telling their parents… Will Flanders, one of the authors, said blame for parental mistrust of teachers must be laid at the feet of education schools: “Across the country these notions are being taught in schools where the local ideologies don’t match these concepts, [and] that’s why we’re seeing these discussions and these angry parents.” But Hill, the Harvard professor who also serves as co-chair of the university’s teacher education program, disagreed with this depiction of what teacher training looks like and is meant to do.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents. September 2022 Meeting
* P-12 Education Committee.
1) Proposed Addition … Relating to Substantially Equivalent Instruction for Nonpublic School Students    Competent teacher means instructional staff employed by the school who demonstrate the appropriate knowledge, skill, and dispositions to provide substantially equivalent instruction. A competent teacher need not be certified… English is the language of instruction…
2) Proposed Amendment … Relating to Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) Staffing Qualifications   Thus, the proposed rule requires that staff of eligible agencies collaborating with the district to provide Pre-K services have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a teaching license or certificate valid for services in the childhood grades. If such staff lack these qualifications, the district must obtain a waiver from the Department as a condition of their employment.
* Higher Education Committee. Proposed Amendment…Relating to the Degree and Experience Requirements for College Professors for the Transitional G Certificate and Through the Individual Evaluation Pathway to Certification   Therefore, the Department proposes to expand the P-12 teaching pool through the following three flexibilities:…

The Buffalo News. UB Teacher Residency Program is ‘future of teacher education’   …the program allows anyone with a qualifying bachelor’s degree to spend a year of intensive training to be a teacher, including co-teaching and being mentored by a veteran teacher in a Buffalo public school classroom for the full school year. The program assists residents with an $18,000 stipend and requires they commit to three years of teaching in city schools afterward.

NEW YORK CITY
ABC 7. One-on-one with NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks   “We’ve engaged in a partnership with the Dominican Republic, where they are sending a number of their teachers to come and work with us here,” Banks said. “Many of will serve as bilingual teachers. And they couldn’t come at a more important time, as we are dealing with so many students who are coming in as asylum seekers.”

Chalkbeat.
1) After months of suspense, Hochul signs NYC class size bill into law   One Manhattan principal who spoke on condition of anonymity to offer a frank opinion of the bill said he worries that his school doesn’t have space to accommodate smaller classes nor guaranteed funding to hire enough teachers to staff smaller classes. 
2) Eric Adams touts NYC’s literacy efforts in school year kickoff   At P.S. 161, the pilot will include a second and third grade classroom staffed by teachers who have received intensive training to reach struggling readers

Gothamist. Gov. Kathy Hochul signs NYC class-size cap with one-year delay   But Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against the measure, arguing that it would cost the city millions of dollars to hire more teachers and secure more classroom space to account for smaller class sizes. He called on Hochul and state lawmakers to come up with funding to implement the change.

Teachers College.
1) From TC Way and Back Again: Profoundly influenced by her own education at TC, music education scholar and TC alumna Cathy Benedict (Ed.D. ’04, M.Ed. ’96) returns to the College to pay it forward   When Cathy Benedict first came to Teachers College to earn her master’s degree, she embraced a still uncommon approach to music education: leveraging a Curriculum & Teaching lens to forge new ground in how music teachers can best challenge and aid their students.
2) Meet Our Latest Faculty Granted Tenure and Full Professorships   Lori Custodero, Professor of Music Education, connects students to music in the context of human development, classroom learning, community and the rubric of family. She is currently compiling reflections from music teachers to develop a foundational understanding of musical instruction within the framework of pedagogy and practice. 
3) Welcoming New Faculty to TC Way: Joining our academic community with robust expertise and scholarship across disciplines in education…   Bettina Love, the William F. Russell Professor in the Foundations of Education, joins the Curriculum & Teaching program…Patrick Schmidt, Professor of Music & Music Education, has published extensively in the areas of critical pedagogy, urban music education and policy studies…Tran Nguyen Templeton (Ed.D. ’18, Curriculum & Teaching), Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, explores how childhoods are impacted by larger social practices through the ways young children present, negotiate and configure their identities through photography…

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Aug. 29 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
British Columbia Gov News. B.C. expands early childhood education dual-credit programs for high school students   More students in grades 11 and 12 will be able to earn both high school and post-secondary credits toward careers in early childhood education with the introduction of 30 new dual-credit programs at school districts throughout B.C.

Global News. Dene teacher education program gets $250K from Saskatchewan government    The government is contributing up to $255,000 to the First Nations University of Canada for its Dene teacher education program aimed at educating Saskatchewan students in their first language.

International Task Force on Teachers. Teachers need training and support, not just an internet connection, to deliver quality distance education   …traditional teacher training programmes do not necessarily adequately cover digital and related pedagogical skills in initial teacher training… Initial and in-service teacher education must therefore be re-imagined including these skills and technologies.

New York Times. Mexico Arrests Top Prosecutor in Case of Missing Students and Issues 80 Warrants   The arrest of the former attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, outside his home in Mexico City on Friday afternoon sent shock waves across the country. The Mexican prosecutor’s office said he was charged with “forced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice” in the case of the students, young men from a teachers’ college in the rural town of Ayotzinapa.

UNITED STATES
Bank Street College. Towards a National Definition of Teacher Residencies   The Pathways Alliance has developed this definition of teacher residencies to help clarify the field’s use of the term. Our intention with this document is to support local partnership discussions about residency design and improvements and to provide state, regional, and federal leaders with a condensed yet thorough definition…

Bloomberg (Opinion) Merit Pay Is the Solution to Teacher Shortages: To attract better candidates, districts should give teachers what they’re worth.   Rather than dwelling on degrees or other credentials, districts should try to focus more on ability — in part by revamping how teachers are evaluated and paid. Linking teachers’ compensation to their performance would help to raise academic standards, encourage new teachers to pursue professional development, and draw more skilled workers to the profession. 

Brookings. Are we at a crisis point with the public teacher workforce? Education scholars share their perspectives   High rates of underprepared teachers in a district decrease student achievement and, since they are more than twice as likely to leave the profession as fully prepared novices, exacerbate teacher turnover. Teacher turnover also harms student achievement, perpetuates unequal opportunities to learn, impacts teacher effectiveness, erodes the profession’s appeal, and drains district resources. 

Chronicle of Higher Education. The Shrinking of Higher Ed: In the past, colleges grew their way out of enrollment crises. This time looks different.   The decades following World War II saw an energetic expansion of higher education: Teacher-training schools became full-fledged colleges, community colleges sprang up… Governors in Maryland and Colorado have told state agencies to drop four-year-degree requirements in hiring for state jobs. Under a new law in Arizona, public-school teachers no longer need to have earned a degree, just be enrolled in college.

Education Week.
1) Here’s How the White House Is Tackling Teacher Shortages   The Biden administration has unveiled a three-point plan to address teacher shortages: partner with recruitment firms to find new potential applicants, subsidize other prospective teachers’ training, and pay them more so they’ll stay
2) How Teachers Can Build Productive Relationships With Families   Despite the positive impact strong parent–teacher communication has on student success, teachers-in-training and early-career teachers are not often getting formal instruction or advice on the critical subject.
3) Most Parents Don’t Want Their Kids to Become Teachers, Poll Finds: But American Adults Express High Levels of Trust in Local Schools and Teachers   “There’s a big concern in these numbers about the future of the teaching profession,” said Teresa Preston, director of publications at PDK International…  respondents had a variety of reasons for why they wouldn’t want to see their children become teachers. Nearly 30 percent cited poor pay and benefits; 26 percent said it was because of the difficulties, demands, and stress of the job; 23 percent cited a lack of respect; and 21 percent chose other reasons.

InsideHigherEd.
1) A Market Solution to Teacher Shortages Raises Alarms: For-profit “alternate route” teacher-preparation programs are gaining popularity. Some say they’re key to ending teacher shortages; others fear quality and retention will suffer.   According to a 2021 study by the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education, teachers who completed university-based teacher-prep programs had a 24 percent higher retention rate than those who went through alternate-route programs. Alternative teacher-certification programs, unlike colleges of education, don’t need to be accredited to operate; states set their own standards and determine which organizations to approve. 
2) Teacher Education Programs Desperately Seek Students  Education colleges and teacher preparation programs are creating new incentives to lure students, hoping to reverse years of enrollment declines and fill classroom vacancies.

New York Times.
1) How Bad Is the Teacher Shortage? Depends Where You Live …nearly four-fifths of teaching positions… in Arizona schools had to be covered in less-than-ideal ways — by support staff, for example, or teachers in training… Brent Maddin, who leads the Next Education Workforce initiative for teachers at Arizona State University. “If we’re serious about recruiting people into the profession, and retaining people in the profession, in addition to things like compensation we need to be focused on the working conditions,”
2) School Is for Everyone (Guest Essay)   An essential part of Mann’s vision was that public schools should be for everyone, and that children of different class backgrounds should learn together. He pushed to draw wealthier students away from private schools, establish “normal schools” to train teachers (primarily women), have the state take over charitable schools and increase taxes to pay for it all.
3) Twelve public school teachers joined Times Opinion to discuss the state of education today.   Teaching is a second career for me. And I’ve never had a job where so many people think they could do your job better than you without any training.

Salon (Personal Essay). I’m a teacher educator, and my work has never felt so hopeless   I have found it abundantly necessary to turn to trauma-informed teaching because we, and our future teachers, and their future students, are traumatized and deserve to be heard. Also referred to as social and emotional learning, trauma-informed teaching acknowledges that our students, and their students, and we are people who bring the challenges and trauma of the real world into our classrooms every single day. Which is more than can be said of any current state licensing exam.  

Substack. Dear Teachers You nurture the flames of democracy (by Dan Rather)  Teaching, already an underappreciated profession in this country, is becoming an even less appealing line of work… And we have young idealists with freshly minted teaching certificates wondering whether they can impart their excitement and new ideas into the students before them. 

The74.
1) A ‘National Teacher Shortage’? New Research Reveals Vastly Different Realities Between States & Regions   …three trends are unfolding simultaneously: teacher preparation programs face declining enrollment; respect for and interest in teaching has plummeted; and most districts expanded hiring beyond pre-pandemic numbers with federal relief aid. 
2) ‘Untapped Talent’: TA to BA Teacher Prep Program Scales Six-Fold Amid Shortages   Two years in, fellowship training teaching assistants into lead teachers expands to new cities and “grow-your-own” programs are taking hold nationwide

The White House. FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Public and Private Sector Actions to Strengthen Teaching Profession and Help Schools Fill Vacancies   Paying teachers a livable and competitive wage… Expanding high-quality programs that prepare and support teachers, including registered teacher apprenticeship programs… Public Service Loan Forgiveness Day of Action…

U.S. Dept of Education.
1) Department of Education Makes $8 Million in New Grants Available to Help Colleges Strengthen and Diversify the Teacher Workforce   Named for Augustus F. Hawkins, the first Black politician elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from west of the Mississippi River, the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence (Hawkins) program supports comprehensive, high-quality teacher preparation programs at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).
2) Key Policy Letters Signed by the Education Secretary and Labor Secretary   1. Establish a Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teaching… 2. Increase Collaboration across Workforce and Education Systems… 3. Pay Educators Competitively

Washington Post.
1) Teacher ‘pay penalty’ hits new high: The trend of educators making less money than other college graduates is getting worse  According to the EPI report, the penalty grew to a record high in 2021: to 23.5 percent, meaning that teachers earn that much less than other college graduates… Simply put, teachers are paid less (in weekly wages and total compensation) than their nonteacher college-educated counterparts, and the situation has worsened considerably over time.”
2) Youngkin criticizes trans rules, eases path to becoming a teacher in Va.   The directive also establishes a “teacher occupation apprenticeship” that will let college students in training to be teachers instruct students… requires that state officials come up with legislative proposals that will “reduce red tape associated with teacher licensure.”

WHYY. Gov. Murphy addresses new teacher requirements, bear sightings in N.J.   In June, amid a teacher shortage, the state Legislature unanimously passed a bill that would eliminate a testing requirement for new teachers called “EdTPA.”… “No news on that bill in particular…I haven’t found a lot of folks who like EdTPA,” he said. “But we’re trying to figure out a good landing place to make sure, listen, we’re the number one public education system in America and that begins with the best educators in America.”

WLKY. Bellarmine University awarded $1.45M grant for future math and science teachers   Amid a nationwide teaching shortage, the grant will allow Bellarmine to recruit and prepare highly qualified science and math teachers for Kentucky’s middle and high schools.

WRLN. United Teachers of Dade president chosen as Crist’s running mate   Hernández-Mats attended Miami-Dade public schools before earning a bachelor’s degree at Florida International University… FEA President Andrew Spar said in a prepared statement. “She’s a mom with two kids in our public schools, a teacher focused on students with special needs, and cares deeply about children, families and communities.”

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York schools see a big disconnect between spending and test scores. Why?   New York may also be investing in areas without a clear payoff in student learning. It’s one of the few states that requires all of its teachers to obtain master’s degrees, and districts typically boost pay once they do. But research has found only a tenuous link between master’s degrees and effectiveness in the classroom.

New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education.  August 2022 Educator Preparation Newsletter
* New Director of The Office of College And University Evaluation  We are pleased to announce that Emily Sutherland is the new Director of the Office of College and University Evaluation (OCUE).
* Education Law Section 2-D Guidance for Clinical Experiences In Educator Preparation Programs  In a memo to the field, the New York State Education Department confirms that the placement of a candidate in an educational agency (school, school district, and BOCES) for clinical experience does not require an Education Law section 2-d agreement.
* Alternative Models of Clinical Experiences  Given the current status of the pandemic, the Department does not intend to extend the alternative models of clinical experiences beyond the Summer 2022 term. However, candidates may engage in remote learning with students during their field experiences and student teaching if they are placed in schools that utilize this method of learning, as long as the clinical experiences meet the program requirements and teacher preparation program regulations
* RFP: NYS Americorps Student Support Corps  The New York State Commission on National and Community Service (the Commission) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for AmeriCorps programs that will build a New York State Student Success Corps. The purpose of the Student Success Corps is to address the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on K-12 students in New York State.

NEW YORK CITY
AMNY. New York City parents make plea to Hochul to veto class size bill   However, NYC Mayor Adams – along with parents like Chu – believe that the legislation would cost the Department of Education (DOE) millions of dollars a year to expand classroom space and hire more educators and staff – which is especially challenging with the ongoing national teacher shortage. 

NYDailyNews (Opinion) New York is charting the course on educating dyslexic kids   I’m thrilled that in New York, every teacher will get training related to dyslexia. Teachers aren’t to blame for the state of reading instruction in America. They generally haven’t been given the training or tools they need to help children become great readers, which helps explain why challenges like dyslexia get missed and only one in three U.S. fourth graders is proficient at reading.

Spectrum News. City and union celebrate new teachers Monday   …New York City Teaching Fellows program, which allows fellows to teach while earning their master’s degree and certification.