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.
