Month: June 2023

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of June 26 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
American Association of College for Teacher Education (AACTE). San Diego State Prepares Cohort of Globally Competent Teacher Candidates   Our cohort, called Generation Global, is driven by a framework… which we created based on our years of teaching in secondary schools and our experience as cohort leaders. In the one year we work with teacher candidates, we aim to help them develop as critical, community-responsive, globally-minded, curriculum-makers… Our teacher candidates are trained in global competence as defined by the California Global Education Project (CGEP)…   

Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL). How best to support Kenyan higher education institutions  Teacher education is a vital domain of higher education. It plays an important role in the preparation of innovative, tech-savvy, 21st century teachers and subsequently in the overall competitiveness of any country’s education system. As the main implementers of the curriculum, teachers play an enormous and indispensable role in maintaining effective and efficient education systems that promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, as stipulated in Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). 

Longview Foundation. Internationalizing Teacher Preparation   Teacher Preparation for the Global Age: The Imperative for Change, highlights promising practices identified during this meeting and subsequent discussions and suggests a framework for internationalizing the education of all pre–service teachers and increasing the number of world language teachers, especially in less commonly taught languages.

United Nations. United Nations Establishes Teaching Profession High-Level Panel to Build on Outcomes of Transforming Education Summit   The High-level Panel will build on the discussion on this topic held at the Transforming Education Summit and clarify the role of teachers in education transformation.  They will offer recommendations to ensure that every learner has a professionally trained, qualified and well-supported teacher who can flourish in a transformed education system.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) ISTE Announces First AI Explorations Program for Educator Prep Faculty   The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a nonprofit focusing on accelerating innovation in education, announced the first cohort of fellows for its AI Exploration for Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs). The AI Explorations for EPPs Fellowship marks the first of its kind in higher education offerings. This year’s recipients were selected to participate in an eight-month learning and development opportunity. 
2) WKU Hosts First Teacher Apprenticeship Summit   On June 22, 2023, over 120 individuals from Kentucky school districts, community colleges, universities, and government agencies gathered on WKU’s campus to discuss teacher apprentice programs and how they can be implemented to create a pipeline of educators returning to teach in their home districts. 

AOL. All the States With the Fewest Ways To Forgive Your Student Loans   Mississippi: Its only forgiveness option is the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment program, which helps new traditional route teachers repay their undergraduate student loans. Mississippi was rated the worst state for paying off student debt.

Chalkbeat.
1) 9 big ideas to bolster the teaching profession and boost student learning   Turn the first year in the classroom into an apprenticeship… Provide teachers with a strong curriculum… Ease the teacher certification bureaucracy… Prioritize recruiting and retaining teachers of color…
2) Illinois gives a first look at a literacy plan for schools. Here are four things to know.   The draft literacy plan suggests that teacher preparation programs should help prospective teachers learn about the science behind reading, understand national and state standards for reading, find ways to help students learn how to read, and use assessments to find where students are struggling to read.
3) The teaching profession is facing a post-pandemic crisis   Since 2006, the number of people earning a teaching license has plummeted — from over 320,000 to 215,000, according to an analysis of federal data by Kraft and Melissa Arnold Lyon, a professor at University at Albany. A separate analysis showed that the number of people training to become teachers has fallen from a peak of 700,000 in 2009 to just over 400,000 in 2020.

Columbia Spectator. ‘Something profound is at stake’: Bollinger reacts to Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling   Twenty-one years ago, as he was stepping into his role as University President, Lee Bollinger was named the defendant in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that ultimately upheld the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions practices in higher education. Now, on Bollinger’s penultimate day in the presidency, the court deemed race-conscious admissions unconstitutional in a 6-3 ruling against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a 6-2 ruling against Harvard College.

Deans for Impact. New Impact Academy cohort represents 25 states, reaches 15,000 teacher-candidates annually  “For the eighth year in a row, we welcome a diverse group of outstanding leaders to Impact Academy who are steadfast in their commitment to ensuring all PK-12 students access well-prepared teachers,” says Valerie Sakimura, executive director of DFI. 

Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Education Department Announces Grants for Initiatives to Support Native Students   The money will be for programs to support … the first-ever Native American Teacher Retention Initiative competition to help address the shortage of Native American educators ($2.75 million)… Cardona added that the Biden-Harris administration “is committed to addressing teacher shortages and growing and retaining a pipeline of educators who can meet the needs of Native students and provide instruction that’s grounded in appreciation for and understanding of their unique Tribal histories, traditions, languages, treaties, and cultures.”

EdSurge. This Radically Simple Solution Helps Students Feel Like They Belong in School   If anyone knows the importance of belonging, it’s Columbia University instructor Marcelle Mentor, who grew up as a Black child under apartheid in South Africa. Mentor is now part of the faculty at the university’s Teachers College, where one of her research areas is education equity.  She says it all comes down to the basic human need to feel cared for and to be part of a community. 

Education Week.
1) 7 Strategies to Prepare Educators to Teach With AI   In a June 27 panel discussion at the International Society for Technology in Education conference, ISTE’s AI in Education Preparation Program fellows shared seven strategies that teacher preparation programs, and even school districts, can use to prepare all educators to teach with and about artificial intelligence: …
2) Can Classroom Simulators Help Teachers Improve Instruction?   We use it with our undergraduate students, pre-service teachers. When you do your clinical teaching with the class or when you go observe students, you don’t necessarily see every kind of student you can see: ADHD, spectrum disorder, and ELL so that you can experience what kind of strategies might work. 
3) Student-Teachers’ Reliance on Classroom Tech for Fun Hurts Learning   The researchers examined how well the ISTE standards for educators and for students were scaffolded throughout the undergraduate college of education program, as well as how preservice teachers were implementing those standards, by analyzing 240 syllabi and 132 student-teacher work samples. The study found that while student-teachers were being taught how to use digital tools to create personalized learning experiences and to maximize student learning, they were not transferring those skills effectively into their classroom teaching experiences.
4) TikTok Teacher Prep: Preservice Teachers Are Getting Inspiration From the Platform   … allows preservice teachers to see a strategy in action, in a short, easily digestible format. That’s a contrast from how preservice teachers usually learn in their preparation programs. For instance, a teacher educator might explain an approach for differentiating instruction and “could give examples all day, but until [preservice teachers] see it, they’re not going to really comprehend it,” said McKoy, whose research is scheduled to be presented at the International Society for Technology in Education’s annual conference this week.

Hechinger Report. The school psychologist pipeline is broken. Can new federal money fix it?   Other recipients of the federal grants are trying different approaches. In Texas, a “grow your own” program is paying teachers to pursue degrees in counseling; in Wisconsin, a new virtual master’s program is reaching Native students on reservations located hours from a college campus.

InsideHigherEd.
1) Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Debt-Relief Plan: The 6-to-3 decision stops the Biden administration from moving forward with plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for eligible Americans.
2) Supreme Court Rejects Affirmative Action: Justices deem admissions programs at both Harvard and UNC Chapel Hill to be unconstitutional.

New York Times.
1) Five Ways College Admissions Could Change: The Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision could upend how students apply to college, and how they are judged. Here’s how.   The personal essay becomes more important. Fewer schools will require SATs and ACTs. Preferences for the wealthy could end. A new measure of merit: adversity indexes. Colleges will go deep into recruiting.
2) Supreme Court Rejects Biden’s Debt Forgiveness Plan   The proposed debt cancellation of more than $400 billion would have been one of the most expensive executive actions in U.S. history and affects tens of millions of borrowers.

Tribune-Star. Resident teachers: Program helps develop pipeline of well-prepared future educators   A total of $1,020,000 has been awarded to place and train 68 resident teachers within participating school corporations. Those districts are developing a pipeline of well-prepared future educators all across Indiana, said Chris Lowery, Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Office of Higher Education. Educator Preparation Newsletter, June 2023

New York State Senate. Senate Bill S2140B 2023-2024 Legislative Session   Directs the commissioner of education to issue guidance to school districts for developing programs to attract underrepresented candidates into the teaching profession. Passed Senate; returned to Assembly

NEW YORK CITY
Amsterdam News. Officials announce mindful breathing practices for all NYC public Schools   The DOE’s Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Preparation Program is the first Yoga Alliance-approved yoga and mindfulness program in a public school system nationwide… The Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Preparation Program is building the capacity of school staff to integrate yoga and mindfulness into DOE public schools…

Chalkbeat. Salary disparity: Teachers, directors in NYC’s free pre-K program push for more money   The brewing battle comes four years after the city boosted teacher pay in community-based programs to match their public-school counterparts, eventually including non-unionized employees, in what was heralded as a huge achievement. Pay grew to $61,070 by 2021 for teachers with bachelor’s degrees and $68,652 for those with master’s degrees…

City University of New York (CUNY).  Online Associate Degrees: Bilingual Childhood Education, Childhood Education, Secondary Education for Social Studies, Secondary Education Concentration

Teachers College.
1) Anna Neumann Named as Recipient of the Edward S. Evenden Professorship of Education   Neumann said, “I am deeply honored to be appointed to the Edward S. Evenden Professorship, given its core emphasis on teaching and on teachers who seek to support and advance students’ and their own learning and growth across the span of their lives.  The award holds special meaning for me in light of my lifetime work at a place that is, in fact, called Teachers College.”
2) Reimagine Resilience Workshop receive 6 CTLEs or 0.6 CEUs FREE [via Zoom Wednesday, June 28th 3pm-6pm EST]
3) TC TAKE ACTION: What to Know About Your Student Loans Right Now [Webinar, Jul 18 2:00 PM]

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of June 19 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Association for Teacher Education in Europe. ATEE 2023 Annual Conference & Pre-conference workshop [27-30th August, Budapest]

Barron’s. Hungarian Teachers Rally Against ‘Revenge’ Education Law   Several thousand Hungarian teachers and students rallied Friday in Budapest against a draft education reform bill they say punishes teachers for protesting for better pay and working conditions… Hungary is in the grip of a chronic teacher shortage, with few young people joining the profession and around half of teachers aged over 50.

The Witness (South Africa). Stop sex pest teachers: Teacher training should have courses against sexual misconduct.   A cautionary course warning against the practice of sexual misconduct between teachers and pupils should be added to the university teaching course curriculum. This is the suggestion from the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB), in response to the growing number of teachers who are being suspended for this behaviour in schools.

UNITED STATES
Chalkbeat.
1) Chicago parents, advocates call for transparency in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s school board picks  …a state investigation found Chicago Public Schools did not fully train staff on use of restraint and seclusion, which put students with disabilities particularly at risk. An April letter from the Illinois State Board of Education outlined violations, including untrained staff using outlawed methods of restraint.
2) Indiana has new requirements for teaching reading. Will teachers be prepared to meet them?   As part of a broader push to improve literacy rates in Indiana, the state is requiring teacher preparation programs to use curriculums based in the science of reading by 2024. If they don’t, they risk losing the right to describe themselves as “accredited” programs. 
3) The ‘Tennessee 3’ created a historic teachable moment. Will schools be allowed to teach it?   Educators have complained that the law and the state’s rules for enforcing the statute aren’t clear about exactly what teachings cross the line. But teachers found in violation could have their licenses suspended or revoked…

Daily Signal. CAUGHT: Top Education Publisher Deletes ‘Woke’ Evidence After Release of Heritage Foundation Report   After Heritage Foundation scholar Jonathan Butcher began looking into the racially and sexually charged practices of publishing and education behemoth Pearson, links and videos started to disappear from the corporation’s website and YouTube channel… Teacher licensing also flows largely through Pearson. A teacher assessment program called edTPA, which determines whether an individual qualifies for a teaching license, is required by over 600 universities in over 40 states… Pearson’s commitment to “embed anti-racism” in everything its organization does affects far more than a few classroom students. These policies govern who gets hired in 40 different federal agencies and which teacher-education students get to graduate from their universities.

EducationWeek.
1) Juneteenth: How and Why It Should Be Taught in K-12 Schools   And while it’s observed at a time when most K-12 schools are out on summer break, there is a value in teaching about the holiday and its legacy year-round, says Sonya Douglass, a professor of education leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. Douglass is also the founding director of the university’s Black Education Research Collective, which is developing a Black studies curriculum for preK-12 schools in New York City.
2) Mississippi Students Surged in Reading Over the Last Decade. Here’s How Schools Got Them There   The state now provides to all K-3 general ed teachers and K-8 special education teachers a yearlong, master’s level professional development course grounded in the science of reading, explained Wynn. “It’s very intense, but we needed it in order to move our students, in order to grow our teachers,” said Wynn. “They were not leaving their teacher-prep programs prepared.” 
3) Sex Education’s Shortcomings Leave Students ‘in the Dark’   In general, teachers don’t have enough training on how to deliver comprehensive sex education, Gelperin said. But another, more immediate challenge is that sex education is caught up in political and cultural debates, she said.
4) Targeting Training to Just a Few Teachers Could Help Cut Racial Discipline Gap in Half   Differences showed up by licensing, too. “Teachers who have credentials in special education and English learners are less likely to be top referrers, probably because they got more training about how to manage student behavior when they got credentials,” Liu said.

Hechinger Reports. The best way to teach might depend on the subject   Researchers find that math students learn best through individual practice while English students thrive in groups

InsideHigherEd. DeSantis Cuts Higher Ed Funding; New College Gets a Boost   Florida governor Ron DeSantis will cut $120 million of higher education funding from the state budget—nearly a quarter of the half-billion dollars in funding requests he rejected through line-item vetoes last week. Many of the projects and programs cut centered on workforce development in crucial areas of the state economy… 

National Association for Music Education (NAfME). A Blueprint for Strengthening the Music Teacher Profession   This document is a report of the Music Teacher Profession Initiative’s work concerning music teacher educators’ perceptions of barriers to and through the profession, as well as mitigations to those barriers. The project was undertaken with the perspective of widening the path to the profession by cultivating and strengthening more inclusive and equitable processes in recruiting, teaching, and nurturing a robust music teacher workforce.

NYTimes. Authors and Students Sue Over Florida Law Driving Book Bans   The legislation originally applied to students in kindergarten through third grade, but a new law extending the restrictions from prekindergarten through 8th grade passed last month. The complaint described the law as “vague and overbroad,” and says its penalties are overly stringent: Educators who knowingly violate it could lose their teaching license.

Richmond Times-Dispatch. E-teacher training backed in Virginia  Those pursuing a teaching career in Virginia will soon be able to bypass the high cost and years-long commitment of earning an education degree from a university, and instead earn their credentials through an online program. The Youngkin administration touts a new partnership with iteach, a for-profit company offering online teacher training, as a way to help curb Virginia’s sizable teacher shortage. 

The74.
1) As Feds Invest in New Bilingual Teachers, State Licensing Hurdles Must Go   The U.S. Department of Education recently announced over $18 million in Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program grants to support the training of more racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse teachers… Florida International University is using its $1.5 million grant to train, certify and place more than 100 bilingual teachers. Importantly, its program will include cohorts of Spanish-English bilingual teacher candidates and Haitian Creole-English bilingual teacher candidates. The University of Texas-El Paso is using its grant to recruit Latino teachers to work in bilingual settings. 
2) Georgia Panel Votes to Cleanse Teacher Lesson Plans as School Culture Wars Rage   Georgia Professional Standards Commission votes to rewrite Georgia’s teacher training rules to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion

Virginia Commonwealth Univ.  VCU School of Education earns $1.6M in federal funding to address teacher shortage   U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia have announced $1,599,645 in federal funding through the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program to address teacher shortages by supporting the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education’s RTR teacher residency program. The funding will help recruit and support more teacher candidates from diverse backgrounds and provide them with the skills to teach in high-need schools, including those in Richmond Public Schools. 

Washington Post.
1) D.C. kids will get new menstrual health education next year, a first in the country   Officials will need to make sure educators feel equipped to teach these standards and make the content interesting for all students regardless of whether they menstruate — including boys, nonbinary and trans students. 
2) D.C. Schools adopts new social studies standards for first time since 2006   Officials will now spend the next two years training educators and developing the curriculum that will introduce these social studies standards to classrooms.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York wants to revamp how schools are evaluated. Here’s what could change for now.   “They’re doing a decent job of balancing what’s of interest in the state and the federal ESSA requirements, and incorporating all the instability and uncertainty that came with the slowdown of testing during the pandemic,” said Aaron Pallas, a professor at Teachers College and an expert in testing.

City & State. The 2023 Power of Diversity: Pride 100 New York’s LGBTQ+ leaders  #81. Adrian Hale Regent, State Board of Regents  In March, Hale was elected by the state Legislature as a member of the state Board of Regents, overseeing education policy across the state.

NEW YORK CITY
NYTimes.
1) A Brooklyn School Pioneers New Ways to Teach Children With Disabilities: At P.S. 15 in Red Hook, a unique program for students with intellectual disabilities could serve as a model for other New York City schools.  Srikala Naraian, a professor at Teachers College who studies special education, called the approach a “wonderfully unique” departure from the traditional view that “only some kids can be included.” “Instead, it starts with ‘Who’s been most overlooked in our school system?’” she said.
2) Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?   In the early 2000s, my children attended a lovely, diverse, progressive public elementary school in Brooklyn. The methods of reading instruction associated with Columbia University’s Teachers College were in full bloom there. Students were encouraged to think of themselves as writers and readers… There were parent-attended “publishing parties” when writing projects were completed… One of the main projects of American education over the past half-century and more has been to unwind the legacy of oppression that denied so many people full access to the benefits of learning. My children’s classrooms embodied a central ideal of this project: to institutionalize the sense of freedom that Douglass had gained through struggle and opposition.

SI Live. Coalition tasked with developing Black studies curriculum in NYC schools says program will launch this fall   According to the coalition, the curriculum will serve as a national model, and it said it hopes that the innovative programming will be adopted by schools throughout New York State. The core partners charged with developing and launching the curriculum in collaboration with the DOE are: the United Way of New York City; the Black Education Research Collective; the Eagle Academy Foundation; the Association of Black Educators of New York; Black Edfluencers United; the City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.

Teachers College.
1) Dance Education Program Graduates First Students: Dancing and blazing trails, the first doctoral grads from TC’s young program cross their latest stage   Bashaw said other students in the TC program are taking leadership roles in far-flung states such as Arizona and California. “We see how fortunate these states are going to be to have these transformational leaders who know a lot about K-12 dance education and dance teacher preparation, and who are going to be movers and shakers.” 
2) Reimagining Education: Teaching, Learning and Leading for a Racially Just Society   earn Professional Development credits in CEUs, Clock Hours, or CTLEs for NY state [July 10 – 13, 2023]

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of June 12 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
NEA News. Global ESPs United to Increase Respect and Wages: Education Support Professionals (ESPs) from around the world gathered at Education International’s World ESP Conference to raise awareness, status and pay.   …the need for more training and professional development, was shared by each of the participating countries, including those from Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, central and south America, Europe, and New Zealand… EI’s Declaration of Rights and Status of Education Support Personnel, but also calls upon governments to:… *Invest in sufficient numbers of trained and qualified education support personnel that have quality working conditions, salaries that enable a life with dignity, and quality career pathways; * Provide education support personnel with quality …

The Conversation. How should we teach climate change in schools? It starts with ‘turbo charging’ teacher education   The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has done a review of research on climate change education in schools around the world… Here we outline three areas needing urgent attention: the emotional and psychological effects of learning about climate change, the school curriculum and the education of teachers.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE Congratulates Board Chair Monika Williams Shealey on Being Named Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University   Monika Williams Shealey, chair of the AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) Board of Directors, has been appointed dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University.
2) AACTE Partners with the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards®   AACTE is excited to announce a new partnership with the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, Inc. (‘NBPTS’ or ‘The National Board’) to offer individual and institutional access to ATLAS (Accomplished Teaching, Learning and Schools) at a reduced cost for new subscribers. 

Altoona Mirror. Offering hope for teacher shortage   Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), which includes IUP, is asking the General Assembly for $112 million so our universities can provide more financial aid to education students and a handful of other majors with worker shortages. The investment would save each education student an average of $1,500 a year and students with high needs around $6,500 a year.

CentralIllinois.com. Illinois may extend suspension on teaching certification exam with bill on Pritzker’s desk   Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order in April 2020 that waived the edTPA requirement, but that order expired in May with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic executive orders. A bill that passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly with bipartisan support waives the edTPA requirement for aspiring teachers until the end of August 2025.

Chalkbeat.
1) Colorado teacher prep programs ranked first in nation for reading instruction, report says   The report, released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, praised Colorado for pushing teacher prep programs to improve reading coursework through stricter state oversight. It credited those efforts with moving Colorado from the middle of the pack in the council’s 2020 report to No. 1 in 2023.
2) Many teacher prep programs include debunked methods to teach kids to read, new report finds   Thousands of aspiring teachers are graduating from educator prep programs each year unprepared to teach children how to read… “sobering” findings of a new national report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a nonprofit that uses data to evaluate teacher prep programs. But there is some good news: Several states, like Colorado and Arizona, have made significant strides in recent years in how they train teachers to teach reading, following statewide efforts to boost early literacy.
3) Michigan’s top teacher wants more focus on mental health, learning recovery   How and when did you decide to become a teacher? I was an accounting major going into college. Freshman year, I was involved in a program where I was teaching basic accounting and economic principles to children in the community. I immediately loved the interaction with the children and their eagerness to learn the subject area. After I wrestled with the fact that I would make far less money teaching, switching majors was a no-brainer.
4) New Jersey’s teacher prep programs among the worst for literacy instruction, report says   The National Council on Teacher Quality, known as NCTQ, evaluated nearly 700 teacher preparation programs across the country … The group’s report said that in New Jersey, “no programs adequately teach all five components of reading.” It also said New Jersey is “the worst in the nation for the average number of components of reading its programs adequately address.”

Chronicle. Transitions: Sheryl Long, dean of graduate and professional studies and director of teacher education and graduate studies in education at Salem College, has been named dean of the School of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at Meredith College. Both colleges are in North Carolina.

EdWeek.
1) Teaching Programs Fall Short on Reading Instruction, Review Claims   The review, from the research and policy group the National Council on Teacher Quality, analyzed syllabi, textbooks, and other course materials from 693 teacher-preparation programs across the United States. The results show that many programs have room to improve—both in the knowledge they teach preservice educators, and in the opportunities these future teachers have to practice specific skills related to reading instruction, said Heather Peske, the president of the NCTQ.
2) Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff  Meet 60+ Employers in a Single Day [July 27, 2:00 to 6:00 PM EDT]

InsideHigherEd.
1) House Appropriators Plan Bigger Cuts to Some Federal Agencies   …the planned allocations for subcommittees would focus cuts on the nondefense agencies. For the Labor-HHS-Education bill, that could mean a cut of more than $60 billion from the current fiscal year.
2) New Programs: Business, Elementary Education, Forensic Science, Social Work   Georgetown College, in Kentucky, is starting an online elementary teaching certification program.

Ledger Enquirer. Georgia dropping ‘woke’ words from teacher preparation rules   The Georgia Professional Standards Commission voted unanimously Thursday to delete “woke” words including “equity” and “inclusion” from the state’s teacher preparation rules. Along with “diversity,” a word the commission voted last month to delete from the preparation standards, the changes were requested by the University System of Georgia to clarify expectations for incoming teachers…

Michigan NPR. Bill introduced by the state senate could allow teachers to be paid based on experience rather that student test scores   In 2016, the then republican led state senate voted on six different bills … Passed by a narrow vote, the bills … made teacher’s pay based solely on student performance. The bill punished teachers further making them reapply for their current jobs, allowed for the hiring of non certified teachers, and punished teachers and any other employees for unions or strikes.

The74. Why the ‘Science of Reading’ May be the Next Dyslexia Battleground in California  Second, the experts say, teacher preparation programs don’t train teachers enough in “structured literacy” or “the science of reading,” which focuses heavily on phonemic awareness and phonics — the practice of matching letters to sounds and sounding out words. 

Washington Post.
1) How much do you know about student loans? Take our quiz to find out   How many applicants have had their loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program?
2) Student loan payments will resume in October. Here’s how to prepare.   The Education Department offers several programs that can significantly reduce the amount of money you repay on your loans. Chief among them is Public Service Loan Forgiveness for borrowers employed by the government or certain nonprofit organizations. After 10 years of service and qualifying payment, participants can have the remaining balance on their loans forgiven.
3) Wes Moore appoints Monica Goldson to Maryland State Board of Education   Goldson, who got her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Florida A&M University, steps onto the state board as Maryland students are continuing to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents. June Meetings.
Higher Education Committee
     a) Matters Not Requiring Board Action Proposed Amendment of Section 80-5.23 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Requirements for the Endorsement of a Certificate for Service as a School Counselor [HE (D) 1] – Department staff presented proposed regulatory amendments to revise the requirements for endorsing certificates from another U.S. state or territory or the District of Columbia for school counselor certification and create  a separate pathway that recognizes comparable school counselor education programs from another U.S. state or territory or the District of Columbia for school counselor certification.
     b) Appointments and Reappointments to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching BR (CA) 2
     c) Proposed Amendment of Section 52.21 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Pilot P-20 Partnerships for Principal Preparation Program BR (CA) 4
     d) Proposed Amendment of Section 80-2.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Deadline to Apply and Qualify for the Provisional School Counselor Certificate BR (CA) 5

NEW YORK CITY
NYDailyNews. Students, Council members rally for more arts programs in NYC schools   In a response to Mayor Adams’ proposed budget, Council members demanded roughly $76 million for arts instruction and programming, including tens of millions earmarked to hire certified arts teachers. 

Teachers College. Effective Literacy Instruction Varies Across Different Learners, & Other Expert Insights: Key takeaways from scholars at TC’s nuanced conference on teacher preparation for comprehensive literacy instruction  “we don’t prepare teachers to follow recipes or scripts — rather, we seek to graduate teachers who are thinkers, carefully analyzing who each student is and what their learning needs are,” said Celia Oyler, Vice Dean for Teacher Education,… key takeaways you might have missed from the conference:* Prescriptive “one size fits all” approaches to literacy restrict student growth, and effective literacy instruction is nuanced. * The false, historical dichotomy between literacy instruction methods is dangerous and hinders progress. * For TC instructors, a commitment to social justice principles helps meet the needs of diverse learners. * Teachers need more support from K-12 school leadership… 

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of June 5 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Hechinger Report. Nepal says students have a right to learn in their native languages —but it still isn’t happening: Like the United States, Nepal has a linguistically diverse population, but it struggles to provide education to students who don’t speak Nepali   Despite a provision in the 2015 constitution mandating that all children have the right to education in their first language — as well as a national curriculum plan introduced in 2019 that mandates localized curricula and recommends multilingual instruction to facilitate learning for non-Nepali speakers — all eight municipalities in Banke district have yet to do so. 

UNITED STATES
AACTE. STEM, Early Childhood Programs Expand with New Route to Teacher Certification   Beginning this summer, the University of Kentucky College of Education is expanding options for those who want to change careers to teach in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and early childhood. The Kentucky Professional Education Standards Board’s university-based alternative pathway to certification, known as Option 6, allows qualified teacher candidates to work in a full-time teaching position within a Kentucky school while enrolled in a participating teacher preparation program. 

Chalkbeat.
1) Chicago Public Schools violating state law on use of restraint, timeout in school, state says   Chicago Public Schools has put students — especially those with disabilities — at risk by not training staff on the proper use of physical restraint and timeout as required under state law, a nearly-yearlong investigation by the Illinois State Board of Education has found. Documents obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago show that untrained staff restrained or secluded students for long periods of time, used outlawed methods of restraint, and restrained students who were not a threat to themselves or others. 
2) Could religious charter schools upend American education? A Chalkbeat explainer.   The school’s proposed employee handbook notes: “All employees are expected to adhere to and support the positions and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church in the performance of their duties.” 
3) First religious charter school approved in Oklahoma despite state ban   If it opens as planned, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would offer students an explicitly religious curriculum based on the teachings of the Catholic Church.

EdWeek.
1) Social Studies Groups Are Training Teachers to Navigate ‘Divisive Concepts’ Laws  “It’s objectively true that it’s harder to walk the line of nonpartisanship today than it was 10 or 15 years ago,” said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, about this shift… Teachers shouldn’t have to feel like they’re navigating this landscape without support, said Cuenca. That’s another lesson he tries to impart to his students. Every year, as a class activity, he asks a school administrator to visit his class of future teachers. It’s preparation for a sort of reverse job interview—an opportunity to practice asking school principals the kind of questions that illuminate the culture and environment in different workplaces.
2) The Big Questions Teachers Are Asking Themselves Right Now    …if we want our schools to be a culturally responsive environment and want teachers to use culturally responsive pedagogy in their classrooms, why don’t we make the change in the college and university teacher-preparation programs?…create a task force or committee that consists of students, parents, teachers, and college faculty. This committee would be the ones to actually examine college and university practices and help develop curricula for teacher-preparation programs that reflect real-world applications of culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom and how it can be implemented.

NYTimes. New A.I. Chatbot Tutors Could Upend Student Learning   Based on A.I. models underlying chatbots like ChatGPT, these automated study aids could usher in a profound shift in classroom teaching and learning. 

Washington Post.
1) Biden vetoes GOP-led effort to strike down student loan forgiveness program   Each month of suspended payments has counted toward loan forgiveness for borrowers in public-service jobs, helping many achieve or move closer to debt cancellation.
2) The student loan payment pause will end soon. Here’s what to know: Federal student loan borrowers have not been required to repay their debt since 2020. A provision in the debt ceiling package codified its end.   The Education Department offers several programs that can significantly reduce the amount of money you repay on your loans. Chief among them is Public Service Loan Forgiveness for borrowers employed by the government or certain nonprofit organizations. After 10 years of service and qualifying payment, participants can have the remaining balance on their loans forgiven.

NEW YORK CITY
CityLimits.  It’s Time to Pay Teachers What They Deserve   In areas where there are shortages, uncertified educators fill in the gaps, and students are forced to pick their way through curriculums and textbooks without proper instruction.

Gothamist. New tutoring initiative will combat pandemic learning loss at NYC schools   Quintana said the city’s tutoring program aims to support the Adams administration’s overhaul of literacy instruction, and all tutors will be trained in best practices following the science of reading, including a focus on phonics. “The tutoring is going to be very aligned with the curriculum,” Quintana said.

Teachers College.
1) Leading with Evidence in Schools: Data and Research Literacy   School administrators and educators employed by the New York City Department of Education are eligible for individual discounts of 25%. Participants receive 20 Clock Hours, 20 NYS CTLEs [July 10, 2023 – August 6, 2023 Online Asynchronous Course]
2) Reimagine Resilience Workshop. Educators Earn FREE CEUs/CTLEs [Wednesday, June 28th 3pm-6pm EST]

The74. Due Process, Undue Delays: Families Trapped in NYC’s Decades-Long Special Ed Bottleneck   One outcome, according to Michael Rebell, a professor and the executive director of the Center for Educational Equity at Columbia University’s Teachers College, has been enough demand to fuel the creation of a large number of private schools offering specialized programs for children with disabilities. “Because we have this gargantuan system, for years the department has had problems hiring enough teachers and offering enough programs,” he says.

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of May 29 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Dublin City University. DCU Institute of Education Announces Five New Teacher Fellows   This week, Professor Anne Looney, Executive Dean of the DCU Institute of Education, announced the names of five primary and post-primary teachers who were awarded a two-year fellowship at the university, starting in September 2023. This initiative was developed to benefit the next generation of teachers and further enhance the quality of the teaching profession in Ireland.

New Zimbabwe. Education Reform in Zimbabwe: Empowering Future Generations    The reforms invest in teacher training and support. It enhances instructional skills and pedagogical techniques. It also improves their ability to deliver instructions and gives them more autonomy and flexibility in class and on campus. As a result, it leads to higher job satisfaction.

The Telegraph Online. Delhi University dumps teacher course, set to roll out new one at govt’s behest   Delhi University is set to roll out an integrated graduation-cum-teacher training course at the behest of the government, discontinuing its reputable Bachelor of Elementary Education (BElEd) course, in a move decried by academics as a dilution of teacher education.

UNITED STATES
ABC15. Arizona Teacher Residency program to expand next year   The Arizona Teacher Residency program just wrapped up its first school year with 22 Northern Arizona University students learning real-world classroom experience throughout the year. The expansion continues into the next year as the program received a grant that will allow them to have up to 40 students in residency.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).  North Carolina Governor Declares State of Emergency for Public Education   …concerns presented by the Governor throughout his video address include: * 5,000 teacher vacancies that need to be breached, which is where he said the average pay raises exacerbated the problem… *The “political culture wars” that he said would put “politicians in charge of curriculum-setting, micromanage what teachers can teach, and target LGBTQ+ students.” He mentioned the elimination of some science classes and the restructuring of history curricula.

American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA). 5 Shifts for Addressing the Educators Shortage. PK–12 stakeholders—including federal and state governments, associations and nonprofits, educator preparation programs, and local education agencies—are encouraged to use this paper to accelerate their progress in addressing the educator shortage.

American Educational Research Association (AERA). AERA Selects Leslie T. Fenwick to Deliver 2023 Brown Lecture in Education Research   Fenwick’s widely disseminated policy research monographs and op-ed articles have been cited and published by leading national media outlets, think tanks, and education associations; has delivered more than 100 distinguished lectures and keynotes to national and international audiences; and regularly appears in the media discussing equal educational opportunity, educator workforce diversity, and education policy. 

Brookings Register. Teacher apprenticeship pilot program to launch next fall in South Dakota   The South Dakota Department of Education has made available an application for its new Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway. The department, and its partners, will pilot the program beginning in the 2023-24 school year. The program’s intent is to take successful para-educators, or teacher aides, and help them pursue certification to become fully accredited teachers. Northern State University and Dakota State University will offer the necessary coursework over a two-year period…

Chalkbeat. Indiana’s new ‘science of reading’ law requires districts to adopt research-backed curriculum   The law also requires teachers who teach literacy in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade to receive a literacy endorsement through the state if they receive their teaching license after June 30, 2025. School districts are required to offer extra pay for teachers who have the literacy endorsement. 

EdSurge.
1) A New Feature of Teacher Prep Programs? Compensating Future Educators for Their Time   Like other teacher candidates at Dallas College, apprentices will complete a year-long residency, where they’re working in a classroom at least three days a week. The difference is that apprentices’ employers must commit to incremental wage increases as apprentices inch closer to full teacher certification. This model also comes with the benefit of unlocking additional funding for job training.
2) Readers React to EdSurge Articles About Teachers Leaving the Classroom   A teacher in California: “Teaching is hard and I can’t survive without stress until I finally get my credential, which with the edTPA has been a nightmare. However, teaching kids is my passion. I am devoted and I can’t see myself doing anything else. 

Grand Island Independent (NE). Grand Island educators reflect on repeal of testing requirement for prospective teachers   Last week Gov. Jim Pillen signed off on repealing Rule 92, which required a standardized test for teacher candidates. Some, including Grand Island-area educators, said the test, Praxis, was a barrier… The repeal goes into effect this fall.

Hechinger Reports.
1) Do math drills help children learn?: Timed tests might be a more efficient way to memorize multiplication tables, but even advocates caution that there are many pitfalls   The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics urges teachers to “avoid” timed tests… The Science of Math group concurs that not all timed practice is good…They also say that teachers should never count these tests toward students’ grades; the tests should be low-stakes practice.
2) Inside Florida’s ‘underground lab’ for far-right education policies: In Sarasota County, as school board members battle over book bans, character education, attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals and ‘woke audits,’ students feel like ‘non-consenting lab rats’   Ziegler proposed hiring Vermilion for two consulting projects, one of indefinite duration and expense. They included … undertaking a sweeping “District Improvement Study” to review all the district’s curricula, teacher training programs, union contracts and policies. 
3) Students with disabilities often left out of popular ‘dual-language’ programs: Advocates say it’s both a missed opportunity and discrimination   Hai Son, principal of Mather Elementary School, sees the state ban’s continued impact on the teacher pipeline. A whole generation of bilingual students and young teachers who might have gone into bilingual education never did.

InsideHigherEd. Senate OKs Resolution to Block Loan Forgiveness   The SBPC and the American Federation of Teachers previously found that the student loans of more than 260,000 public servants would be reinstated under the resolution. 

Lansing State Journal. Lansing School District receives nearly $1M for teacher training, certification   The $959,694 grant through a Michigan Department of Education program funded with federal dollars will fund a new “Grow Your Own” program to fill vacancies that have been occupied by long-term substitute teachers.

NEA News. Life as a Contingent Faculty Member: The higher education system depends on the labor of adjuncts, yet these faculty remain underpaid and undervalued.   The higher education system has become increasingly dependent on temporary labor: nearly 70% of U.S. faculty members held a contingent position in fall 2021, up from 47% in 1987.

New York Times.
1) Mississippi Is Offering Lessons for America on Education  Mississippi made the calculated decision to offer high-quality full-day programs, with qualified teachers paid at the same rate as elementary school staff members, rather than offer a second-rate program to more children.
2) The GRE Test Is Cut in Half: Two Hours and Done   Graduate school applicants will take the new version of the standardized test beginning in September, a tacit acknowledgment of its declining relevance in admissions.

Tallahassee Democrat. Former FAMU educator, philanthropist Anne Gayles-Felton celebrating 100th birthday at gala   Throughout the decades that she spent at FAMU, she served in roles that included undergraduate and graduate professor of secondary education and foundations, college supervisor of interns, director of student teaching, curriculum coordinator, and head of the department of secondary education and foundations.

The 74. Girls & Math: Teachers Who Claim Gender Equality Still Show Bias Against Girls   Our study identifies factors that underlie such biases; namely, that biases are stronger among teachers who believe that gender discrimination is not a problem in the United States. Understanding the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and biases can help teacher educators create effective and targeted interventions to remove such biases from classrooms.

WCSJ News. Illinois General Assembly’s Bill Approval to Address Teacher Shortage   Senate Bill 1488, proposed by Bennett, grants a waiver for the edTPA requirement for prospective teachers until August 31, 2025. The legislation also establishes the Teacher Performance Assessment Task Force, charged with studying different teacher evaluation systems and developing a new assessment approach for Illinois teachers. The task force must present its findings no later than August 1, 2024. Having successfully passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, the bill now awaits the Governor’s signature to become law. 

NEW YORK STATE
Buffalo News. Program shows the benefits of relatable reading options for students   The consortium engages with city schools and provides resources for current and future teachers through the year, with an annual conference in September. At last year’s event, the university’s teacher education team announced Reynolds’ booking and launched the project. The consortium provided mini grants to schools to buy sets of books and prepare students in grades 5-8 for their visit to campus.

Chalkbeat. Child care workers could receive up to $3,000 in bonuses, under new state retention program   Veteran certified prekindergarten teachers at community-based organizations can earn just 53% of their counterpart’s salary at a public school’s pre-K program, he said. An assistant teacher could sacrifice more than $235,000 over a 25-year career at a community-based organization.

New York State Education Department, Office of Higher Education. Educator Preparation May 2023 Newsletter
1) Board of Regents May Items  The Board of Regents adopted a regulatory amendment to revise several of the new student teaching requirements * Student Teaching * Substitute Teachers *Incidental Teaching *Reciprocity
2) Distance Education Flexibility Extended  …extending the current distance education flexibility (see previous memo from April 2022) until the end of the 2023-2024 academic year.
3) Reminders For Teacher and School Building Leader Preparation Programs  *Teacher Performance Assessment Submission Process *Special Application for School Building Leader Programs to Show Alignment with the PSELs.

NEW YORK CITY
Bank Street College Prepared to Teach. On July 1, 2023, Prepared To Teach will become an independent national organization!   As we transition, we want to share our gratitude for all our wonderful partners across the country who are the backbone of this movement—and, of course, to Bank Street!

Chalkbeat. NYC’s literacy mandate: Why one reading program is gaining the most traction    Curriculum experts and department insiders pointed to a series of interlocking factors that may have helped Into Reading elbow out the competition. The program is widely perceived as easier for teachers to implement, especially with little time remaining before deploying it in September. Plus, Into Reading has a Spanish version…

Teachers College. Teacher Preparation for Comprehensive Literacy Instruction   TC faculty from eight teacher education programs explore how the tools from educational psychology, special education, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and responsive instruction inform our preparation of teachers and school leaders. [Wednesday June 7 10:00 am–3:00 pm Milbank Chapel 525 West 120th Street NYC]