Month: November 2023

GLOBAL
British Educational Research Association (BERA). Initial teacher education: Are we missing something?   Initial teacher education (ITE) has increasingly come under public and political scrutiny in several countries due to a growing focus on competitive international rankings… Furthermore, good teacher preparation is considered essential to stem the rising tide of teacher attrition, a situation that has reached a crisis point in several countries.

Daily Post Nigeria. 40 per cent IGR policy: FG bows to pressure, suspends action  The union lamented that the government was initiating a policy to turn Colleges of Education into revenue-generating centres when the critical stakeholders in the education sector were clamouring for increased funding of teacher education, provision of scholarships and bursaries for education students.

Edugraph (India). National Council for Teacher Education allows maternity and childcare leave to students   The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has allowed students of its approved colleges to avail themselves of maternity and childcare leave during the course of their study… It has relaxed the duration under the norms and standard of all teacher education programmes.

Irish Times. Primary principals warn education system is on ‘verge of breaking’ as teacher supply issues bite: Move to deliver smaller classes may have ‘intensified’ staff shortage problem, Department of Education secretary general says   …hundreds of additional places have been provided in teacher education programmes, while a bursary is being launched next year to ease the financial burden of graduates completing the two-year postgraduate qualification to teach.

UNITED STATES
Chalkbeat. New MSU Denver program aims to train more male educators of color   …a program called Call Me MISTER, which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models and helps train men of color, especially Black men, to become educators. The program began at several South Carolina colleges and universities in 2000, and its goal is to increase the pool of teachers from diverse backgrounds, which has long been a challenge for K-12 education — less than 2% of all teachers nationwide are Black men, for example.

EdWeek. The Surprising Benefits of Gratitude Everyone Should Know About

Hechinger Report. How a disgraced method of diagnosing learning disabilities persists in our nation’s schools: A ‘discrepancy model’ that relies on IQ tests to identify dyslexic students lingers on, despite decades of critique  Many schools feel pressure, both covert and overt, to not identify children with dyslexia because there aren’t enough specialists or teachers trained to work with them.

Honolulu Civic Beat. Teaching Kids To Read In Hawaii Is Going Back To Basics: But some think Hawaii can be doing more to improve literacy at a young age.   The DOE is “certainly concerned” about these results, said Petra Schatz, the comprehensive literacy state development program manager at the Department of Education… The National Council on Teacher Quality has also received backlash regarding its review methods of teacher preparation programs. In 2021, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education said NCTQ placed too much emphasis on colleges’ course catalogs and syllabuses and failed to take into account faculty feedback in its evaluation. 

NYTimes.
1) By the Numbers: How Schools Struggled During the Pandemic   In the 2020-21 year, more than a quarter of schools employed uncertified teachers and 24 percent had no counselors… The pandemic amplified the need for highly qualified teachers and health professionals in schools.
2) How Millions of Borrowers Got $127 Billion in Student Loans Canceled: The Biden administration may have been blocked from canceling debt for tens of millions of borrowers by the Supreme Court, but it has still managed to eliminate billions in education debt.   Public Service Loan Forgiveness Debts canceled: $51 billion for 715,000 borrowers In 2007, Congress passed a law intended to entice more college graduates into public service careers: Those who worked for government agencies or nonprofit organizations would, after 10 years of monthly loan payments, have their remaining federal student loan balance eliminated.

Pearson. edTPA® Community Newsletter November 2023

Philadelphia Tribune. ‘Students need mirror images of themselves’: Philly conference to address Black male teacher shortage   State Sen. Vincent Hughes… sponsored Senate Bill 300, the Educator Pipeline Support Grant Program…Under the proposal, aspiring teachers completing their student-teaching requirement would be awarded $10,000, plus an additional $5,000 for completing their student-teacher experience at a school with staffing shortages. Student mentors would receive a $1,000 stipend, if the legislation passes.

Shore News Network. NJEA Seeking to Eliminate Basic Skills Test for New Jersey Teacher Certification   Prospective teachers in New Jersey must currently pass the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test in Reading, Writing, and Math or present SAT, ACT, or GRE scores in the top third percentile of the year taken. The NJEA argues that this requirement poses an unnecessary barrier to entering the teaching profession. The association urges the public to contact Governor Murphy’s office to support the passing of S1553, a bill aimed at abolishing this testing requirement.

US Dept. of Education.
1) Biden-Harris Administration Launches “Being Bilingual is a Superpower” to Promote Multilingual Education for a Diverse Workforce   The new initiative under the Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) seeks to promote research-based bilingual educational opportunities and language instruction in early learning education settings and beyond… To underscore the need for bilingual and multilingual education, OELA announced last year nearly $120 million in investments to eligible institutions of higher education and public or private entities with relevant experience and capacity to support educators of English learner students. 
2) Biden-Harris Administration Premiers Public Service Announcement Elevating the Teaching Profession   The U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with TEACH.org and One Million Teachers of Color, has launched “Teachers: Leaders Shaping Lives,” a campaign to elevate the teaching profession and promote educator diversity by inspiring more talented people – especially those from underrepresented communities – to become teachers.

US Dept. of Labor. US Department of Labor Kicks Off 9th Annual National Apprenticeship Week   …Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “This week, we commend our partners — in industry associations, labor organizations, education and academia, workforce development, community-based organizations and in federal, state and local governments — for committing to make the long-term investments needed to ensure a pipeline of talent for the good-paying, quality jobs being created across the nation.” 

Washington Post. Top trending misinformation tactics everyone can learn to spot   By teaching students how misinformation is made and why it spreads, and giving them a few basic fact-checking skills, a growing number of people will be able to critically examine viral claims in their feeds and prevent themselves and people they know from being misled.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Here’s how NY Regents exams, high school grad requirements could change   Among its 12 recommendations is a move to further increase the number of assessment options beyond the Regents exams… and enshrining instruction in culturally responsive-sustaining education practices in teacher preparation programs.

Hechinger Report. To solve teacher shortages, let’s open pathways for immigrants so they can become educators and role models: We urgently need new bilingual teachers. Here are some ways to make it happen   … UndocuEdu, produced a report in 2021 titled “The State of Undocumented Educators in New York” that outlines the challenges undocumented educators face navigating teacher education programs. One suggestion in the report is to eliminate testing fees for NYS certification exams for those in financial need. Another recommendation is for policymakers to create municipal or state exceptions so that our city’s schools can hire educators who have training and certification but lack a work permit.
State legislators and advocates in New York are already discussing the creation of municipal work permits for recently arrived asylum-seekers.

NYSED Board of Regents November meetings
Proposed Amendment: Proposed Amendment …Relating to Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Media Arts Course Flexibility for the Individual Arts Assessment Pathway (IAAP) and Career and Technical Education (CTE) Pathways to High School Graduation   Media arts is the only arts discipline that does not have a classroom teacher certification title… The Department proposes to amend section 100.5 of the Commissioner’s regulations to provide local discretion on how to distribute credit for media arts courses within a CTE or IAAP sequence when these courses are taught by a visual arts certified teacher or an appropriately certified CTE teacher… The proposed rule also amends the CTE pathway provision in section 100.5(d)(6) of the Commissioner’s regulations to provide that faculty for approved CTE programs can also have state certification in “special” subjects in addition to appropriate academic and technical subjects. These amendments will permit students pursuing an IAAP or NYSED-approved CTE program to earn either arts or CTE credit for specific media arts courses regardless of whether the teacher is certified as a CTE teacher or a visual arts teacher
Consent Agenda:
1) Amendment… Relating to the Requirements for Certification as a School Counselor through Individual Evaluation   amendment provides two additional options for candidates to satisfy the practicum and internship requirement. The first option would allow a candidate who completed a preparation program leading to Provisional and Permanent School Counselor certification … to be considered as having met the practicum and internship requirement for an Initial School Counselor certificate. The second option would consider the practicum and internship requirement as met for candidates who completed a master’s or higher degree program in school counseling accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) from an institution of higher education (IHE) that is accredited by an institutional accrediting agency…
2) Amendment… Relating to Flexibilities for the Supplementary Certificate and Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension Requirements in Response to the Influx of Recently Arrived and Asylum Seeking Students   the Department proposes to amend the Supplementary certificate requirements to provide flexibility for certified teachers who apply for the Supplementary English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) certificate, and for teachers who hold a valid Initial, Professional, or Permanent ESOL certificate and apply for a Supplementary certificate in another area, between September 12, 2023, and August 31, 2024… also proposes to amend the Supplementary Bilingual Education extension requirements to create flexibility for certified teachers and certified pupil personnel services professionals who apply for such extension between September 12, 2023, and August 31, 2024…

NYSED News.
1) Jeffrey Matteson Appointed State Education Department Senior Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy   Dr. Matteson’s career spans 35 years as an educator, beginning as a social studies teacher and assuming roles as a principal, superintendent, and most recently as District Superintendent of the Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES)… Dr. Matteson holds a… B.A. in Social Studies from SUNY Cortland, and an A.A. in Liberal Arts from SUNY Morrisville.
2) New York State Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures Presents Recommendations    The Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendations are: 10. Require all New York State teacher preparation programs to provide instruction in culturally responsive-sustaining education (CRSE) practices and pedagogy. 11. Require that professional development plans include culturally responsive-sustaining education practices and pedagogy… 

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. NYC’s new algebra curriculum mandate divides educators   Traditionally, high schools and secondary math educators have had wide latitude to select or create their curriculum. For some teachers, especially experienced ones, that freedom can be helpful and spark innovation. Banks, however, argues that as a citywide policy, curricular autonomy has produced mediocre and inequitable results.

City & State NY. ‘Of course’ NYC schools Chancellor David Banks is concerned about the challenge of educating asylum-seeking children   Is there a plan to hire more bilingual or English language learning staff?   … let’s say if you’re a teacher, you’re social studies, but you have an ENL license, in the past, there were no incentives for you to shift your license, because you were starting all over again. Now, the state has essentially said, you can shift your license, not lose your tenure or anything like that. So we’re watching that and seeing how many people are shifting.

Teachers College.
1) Environmental Justice Needs Inclusive Science Education: Recognizing the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities, experts at TC chart a path toward justice through education research and practice  “We are in a really powerful position to make a difference,” says Mahfood, who focuses on curriculum and teacher education. For the scholars who are preparing STEM educators, TC is fostering a generation of teachers who combat their internal biases… Mensah also sees TC as a place to prepare teachers to think about science differently by offering them “a critical lens about the world and about how we teach science” …
2) Here’s How Indigenous Curriculum Can Help Students Thrive   Through her research of urban, Indigenous youth, postdoctoral fellow Rachel Talbert offers insight for educators to facilitate more honest, inclusive social studies curriculum
3) Majority of U.S. Voters Support Inclusive Education and Teacher Agency, TC Poll Shows: Conducted on behalf of the Black Education Research Center, the poll suggests that attacks against education lack broad support.   As the U.S. grapples with waves of book bans and anti-inclusive education policies, a representative poll of 1,000 U.S. voters, conducted by Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies on behalf of the Black Education Research Center (BERC), revealed that an overwhelming majority support teacher agency and inclusive curriculum.

 

GLOBAL
Addis Standard. In-depth: Is Ethiopia’s education system under a serious threat?   …it is crucial to concentrate on improving the teacher training program at the foundational level. “The government is inadvertently creating a problem; it’s like the cobra effect, where the solution itself becomes a problem. It would be more effective to start from the ground up and focus on enhancing teacher training institutions,” added Eskinder.

International Council on Education for Teaching. WEBINAR: Future proofing education systems: learning from the legacy of the Covid-19   Teachers and teacher educators are invited to take part in this webinar that will focus on the impact of the pandemic on learners’ capabilities and teachers’ learning and sense of Self. It will focus on giving Voice to and documenting teachers’ ideas for improving teaching and learning, and support for teachers, in a post pandemic world. [Wed, 15 Nov 13:00 – 16:00 EST; 18:00 – 21:00 GMT]

Tomorrow People Organization. Welcome to 19th Education and Development Conference  EDC2024 covers topics ranging from education technology, teaching and learning, education ethics, curriculum, language and science education as well as case studies from across the globe [March 5th – 7th, 2024 – Bangkok, THAILAND]

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) In California: Teacher Shortage and Opioid Crisis Bills Become Law   Some bills signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom this week impacting K-12 include: * SB 765 (Portantino): Teachers: retired teacher compensation: This law allows California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) members to return to an education position more expeditiously and raises the income cap from 50 percent to 70 percent. * AB 1127 (Reyes): Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program: This bill’s language was incorporated into statute with the Education Trailer Bill (SB 114 [Ch. 48, Stats. 2023]), and it reestablishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, addressing California’s growing need for bilingual teachers in languages such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, and Arabic. 
2) Inspiring Partnerships: Multimillion-Dollar Global Competition Sparks Learning Innovation   Georgia State University is a partner in the initiative which just launched — through November 10… “One of the most exciting things about the Tools Competition is the diversity of teams as well as the diversity of judges, administrators, and researchers who have helped grow the competition,” Shapiro said. “So, the teams, judges, and researchers span academic, industry, and nonprofit sectors, and have expertise ranging from learning analytics, entrepreneurship, teacher education, math education, and computer science.”
3) WEBINAR Shortage to Surplus: 5 Shifts to Address the National Educator Shortage   This white paper moves beyond surface-level responses to examine deeper, systemic issues that contribute to mismatches between educator supply and demand. Five comprehensive shifts are presented in contrast to traditional calls to action. A discussion of each shift contains high-level recommendations, along with examples of actions that different stakeholder groups can take to address the educator shortage. [Nov. 9 2-3pm ET]

American Institutes for Research (AIR) & American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Take a Seat at the Table: The Role of Educator Preparation Programs in Teacher Apprenticeship Program  Educator preparation programs (EPPs) have an opportunity to strengthen existing district partnerships and lead the way in co-designing teacher Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs), including the launch, operation, and continuous improvement of programs. [WEBINAR on YouTube]

Brookings. 3 myths about teacher agency and why they hold back scaling education innovations   Myth 1: Teacher training automatically leads to teacher change A prevalent misconception is that, once trained and with only limited follow-up, educators will automatically translate what they’ve experienced in their training modules into new classroom practices that won’t soon fade or get washed out by the system. However, adult learning, behavior change, and teacher development are complex, iterative processes. 

Chalkbeat.
1) Detroit student who fought for ‘right to literacy’ is still in the fight   This class action lawsuit wasn’t just for current students. It was for the students before us. And the students after that… We need to use this as a precedent to create a student-to-teacher pipeline that is sustainable.  
2) Smaller class sizes in Colorado’s latest draft of universal preschool rules   Training requirements for preschool staff are a bit different in the new draft, with employees only required to have completed four hours of training on some topics next year, down from eight in the previous draft rules. The new draft institutes the 8-hour training requirement in either 2025 or 2026 — either the third or fourth year of the program — depending on the training topic. 

Education Week.
1) Many States Are Limiting How Schools Can Teach About Race. Most Voters Disagree   A strong majority of voters want Black studies curriculum and the history of racism and slavery and its legacy taught in K-12 public schools, according to new polling data from the Black Education Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University… “People really want us to teach the truth, especially the truth in history,” said Sonya Douglass, professor of education leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, and founding director of BERC.
2) Math Teachers and Math Ed. Professors Don’t See Eye to Eye on Best Practices   This insistence on fluency with basic operations… one of the several differences of opinion in ideas about best practices and philosophies of math education that surfaced in recent EdWeek Research Center surveys of both K-12 math teachers and postsecondary educators… When college students enter their student teaching placements, they often hear from mentor teachers that the methods they learned in their education programs won’t actually work in the classroom, said Julie Booth, a professor in Temple University’s College of Education…
3) Need Teachers? This State Is Looking to Its High Schoolers   West Virginia needs more teachers…The Mountain State is in its second year of implementing a grow-your-own program designed to get more high school students on the path toward becoming a teacher. And although it will take a few more years to see results in the teacher pipeline, the state is seeing a lot of interest from teenagers.
4) Teacher Prep Often Treats Classroom Management as an Afterthought: 5 evidence-based ways to improve new teachers’ skills   1. Understand how students’ personal and cultural needs dictate how a classroom is managed (culture). 2. Implement practical instructional methods to develop preservice teachers in classroom management (methods). 3. Identify practical strategies for preservice teachers to create a safe, supportive classroom environment (practice). 4. Create positive teacher-student, student-student, and teacher-parent relationships (relationships). 5. Respond to student misbehavior in an authentic classroom environment (partnerships).
5) Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff  [November 9, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET (11 a.m. – 3 p.m. PT) | FREE EVENT]
6) Why Governors Are Exerting More Control Over Schools   The Buckeye State strips the 19-member State Board of Education…limiting the board to decisions on teacher disciplinary and licensure cases… “In the contemporary era of really intense polarization and partisan polarization, it’s seductive for a governor to tap into something that’s got a lot of energy and enthusiasm from some voters,” like education, said Jeffrey Henig, a political science and education professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. “But it’s also a high-risk proposition.”

Fox News.
1) Georgia lawmaker proposes paying teachers $10K to carry guns in school: ‘Better than no options’   Before teachers could carry a firearm, school systems would have to approve a gun-training program under the bill. In addition, it would be up to local school boards to decide if they want their teachers to participate in the program. 
2) Pittsburgh public schools approve measure to instruct teachers on ‘White supremacy’ in math classes: The Board voted to shell out $50,000 for the ‘antiracist math’ workshops   The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board has voted to hire a consulting group that educates teachers on how to replace “White supremacy culture practices” in math instruction with methods that center on the “wellness of students of color.”

National Center for Grow Your Own. WEBINAR: The Role of State Apprenticeship Agencies with K-12 Teacher Registered Apprenticeships  For states, districts, and educator preparation providers looking to launch registered apprenticeship programs for aspiring K-12 teachers, come and learn from state apprenticeship agency directors. [Nov 16, 2023 02:00 PM Eastern Time]

NPR. This teacher shortage solution has gone viral. But does it work?   Grow Your Own programs have been celebrated as a way to ease teacher shortages, increase retention, make degrees more accessible and diversify an overwhelmingly white workforce. But researchers say there isn’t much data to show that these programs consistently do any of that.

NYTimes. Ohio Lawsuit Punches Back in Battle Over How to Teach Reading: A nonprofit group is trying to stop a new state law requiring “the science of reading,” underscoring how money and ideology influence the national debate.   Reading Recovery is an intervention program aimed at helping first graders in the bottom 20 percent of their class. The nonprofit partners with universities to train teachers and school district leaders in its methods…Ohio State, which is not involved in the lawsuit, said that while the university was home to the training center for school districts, its undergraduate education program does not use Reading Recovery to train its future teachers

Prepared to Teach.  Recruitment Campaign Guidance   This document is a suggestive guide to help inform how to significantly expand teacher candidate pools, with an express focus on increasing the numbers of aspiring teachers who reflect the backgrounds of the students they serve and who are likely to stay in the profession.

The Education Trust. Tool for Representational Balance in Books   … a framework for closely reviewing the books that make up curricular units so they may better understand how people, groups, and topics are represented. We have adapted this tool for general use by anyone, including students, parents, teachers, and community members interested in understanding what representation looks like across materials given to students. 

Washington Post.
1) Home schooling’s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education: A district-by-district look at home schooling’s explosive growth, which a Post analysis finds has far outpaced the rate at private and public schools   Celebrated by home education advocates, the rise has also led critics of weak regulation to sound alarms… Many of America’s new home-schooled children have entered a world where no government official will ever check on what, or how well, they are being taught… “Many of these parents don’t have any understanding of education,” she said. “The price will be very big to us, and to society. But that won’t show up for a few years.”
2) Newest way to woo workers: Child care at airports, schools and poultry plants: Businesses are increasingly taking on the national child-care crisis themselves “We’re losing too many educators in America,” said Caire, chief executive of One City Schools. “So few people are coming into this field as it is. And now we’re losing them at the top and in between because of issues like child care… Micron Technology, a semiconductor company based in Boise, Idaho… building an on-site child-care center near an upcoming manufacturing plant in central New York. But first, the company is investing $500,000 to train care providers and early-childhood teachers in the area. By the time the factory opens in three years, the company hopes to have enough teachers in place to provide child care to 9,000 employees.
3) The Post examined home schooling’s surge in the U.S. Here’s what we found.   Online classes are now used by nearly 60 percent of home-school families… The Post-Schar School poll, conducted this summer, also found that about half of home-school parents saying their children would receive at least some instruction from a teacher or tutor this year…

NEW YORK STATE
Fox News. New York GOP lawmakers accuse state education board of pushing antisemitic material to kids: NYSED has a history of sharing ‘anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist material,’ according to GOP lawmakers   In a letter to Education Department (NYSED) Chancellor Lester Young Jr. and Commissioner Betty Rosa, Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and the GOP delegation from New York called out a video and training materials linked from a government website designed to help educators teach children about the war in Israel following Hamas’ deadly terror attacks.

New York State Association for Teacher Education (NYSATE) & New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NYACTE). Updates from NYSED: Potential Revisions of Teacher Certification Regulations   … information on potential revisions to current teacher certification regulations. These include revisions to certification requirements for teaching assistants, classroom teachers, and school and district leaders and changes to transitional certification titles. [via ZOOM: Nov 8, 2023 10:00 AM in Eastern Time]

NYSED Office of Higher Education. Educator Preparation Newsletter, October 2023
1) Board of Regent Items Office of College and University Evaluation Overview and Update
2) New York State Selected for Hunt Institute’s The Path Forward to Transform Literacy Instruction   … developing a plan for embedding evidence-based reading instructional practices into teacher preparation programs ensuring that all NY State students learn to read.
3) “Something Terrible Happened To Joey” Childhood Trauma Film Screening   Educators can use the Study Guide to think through and discuss difficult issues surrounding trauma.

NYSED Professional Standards and Practices Board. September Meeting Minutes

The New Yorker. The $1.8 Billion Lawsuit Over a Teacher Test: In the nineties, New York began requiring aspiring educators to take an exam. Thousands of people later claimed that the test was racially biased.  …in 1991, a new law went into effect that meant that Wilds-Bethea, along with other teachers across the city, had to pass yet another test: the National Teacher Examination, or N.T.E… In 1993, the state began phasing out the N.T.E. and introduced an alternative exam, the Liberal Arts and Science Test, or LAST… New York has cycled through at least four licensure exams since the late nineteen-eighties, always eventually dropping them. But it’s not clear that any of these changes have actually improved students’ education. 

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College Center for Educational Equity. Preparing for Civic Responsibility in Our Digital Age: Guideposts for Educators to Ensure Media Literacy for Every Student   When we take seriously the notion that a central purpose of schooling is to prepare future generations to exercise their civic responsibilities, then, in a digital world, media literacy must be a high priority in all schools. We provide this media literacy education outcomes framework as a response to that need.

Teachers College Center on History and Education & The New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools. Celebrating Black & Latina Women’s Educational Activism  This new curriculum resource for New York City teachers brings together engaging historical sources with classroom-friendly texts and videos for New York City teachers and their students to learn about how New Yorkers have fought for educational justice and against racism and ableism in our schools.  [Monday, November 13 · 4pm EST Smith Learning Theater, Russell Building, 4th Floor, 525 W 120th Street New York, NY 10027]