GLOBAL
EURACTIV. Teaching history for civic engagement – A toolkit to debunk fake news in history classes To evaluate the effectiveness of these learning-activities, and the complete toolkit, a teacher training course will be designed so that teachers can implement the activities in their own classrooms… Researchers from Europe (Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, England, Ireland and Sweden) are participating in this design, and researchers from Canada and the US are participating as expert reviewers.
Free Press Journal. Bhopal: Nat’l seminar on teacher education begins at Central Sanskrit University A two-day national seminar on teacher education in the context of Indian knowledge system began at Central Sanskrit University in Bhopal campus on Wednesday. The seminar is being organised in both online and offline modes. The chief guest of day one of the seminar was the former head of the Department of Education at Rajasthan Sanskrit University, Prof Gopinath Sharma, who in his address talked about the gurukuls of ancient India.
Schools Week [UK]. ‘It’s everyone’s worst nightmare’: Schools hit by teacher training crisis: Four in ten teacher trainers report more difficulty in placing recruits as schools struggle to mentor trainees Schools are offering part-time courses, approaching former soldiers and sponsoring sports teams to promote the profession, as more than three-quarters say trainee teacher applications are down on last year. More than two fifths (43 per cent) of members who took part in a National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers’ (NASBTT) survey also reported more difficulty in placing recruits, the result of schools struggling to mentor teachers as staff shortages worsen and workloads increase.
UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE Partners on Brief Examining Crucial Role of EPPs in Expanding Apprenticeships In a new brief, Take a Seat at the Table — authored by AIR’s Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, CEEDAR Center, and AACTE — experts share the importance of why input from educator preparation programs (EPPs) is essential in creating these programs.
2) The Science of Reading: Recommendations on the Preparation of Teachers to Deliver Effective Reading Instruction [Webinar: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. E.T.]
Chalkbeat. Texan Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds to lead Tenn. education department as Penny Schwinn exits In conjunction with her appointment, she will be actively working toward her Tennessee teaching license… Reynolds graduated in 1987 with a political science degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, before embarking on nearly three decades of policy and legislative work in education at the state and federal levels.
Education Week.
1) Florida Pays Teachers $3K For Completing Civics Training. How It Compares to Other States The first 20,000 K-12 Florida teachers to successfully complete a new state-run civics professional development course, qualify for a $3,000 stipend. The Civics Seal of Excellence online course, launched this January and led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, marks what some experts call an unprecedented investment in civics education at the state level. It comes at a time of renewed national interest in the subject after states disinvested in civics and social studies in the 1990s and 2000s.
2) How Teachers Can Help Students With Dyslexia: What Our Readers Say Commenters pointed to better teacher training on working with dyslexic students as a foundation to support them.
3) Teachers Need More Than Just Pay Raises, Secretary Cardona Says We’re not like other countries in terms of showing respect for the profession, making sure it’s a competitive salary, providing pathways into the profession. We’re not leading the world there.
4) What Is Math ‘Fact Fluency,’ and How Does It Develop? In a recent Education Week survey of about 300 math educators, most agreed that it’s “essential” for students to have fact fluency in order to work on higher-order, conceptual math problems… “When you don’t know 6×8, and you’re doing an algebra problem with multiplication, you have to take the time and attention to add 8 and 8 and 8 and 8 and 8 and 8,” said Robert Siegler, a professor of psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. “And, ultimately, you can’t regenerate these forever, as the math gets more complicated.”
Gothamist. In NJ, progressives mobilize against ‘right-wing extremism’ on sex ed, LGBTQ school policies Dell’Angelo is the founder of the Urban Education Program – focused on recruiting and training teachers who are equity-literate… NJEA’s Spiller, a former Wayne high school teacher, said he’s also seen a “steady decline” in teachers joining the profession over the last 10 years, and that tension at the school board level isn’t helping public schools hire more teachers.
Language Magazine. Indiana Proposes SoR Requirement: Indiana lawmakers are throwing support behind a bill to require Science of Reading (SoR) curricula in all the state’s schools Recent proposals have culminated in House Bill 1558, authored by Rep. Jake Teshka, R-South Bend, which creates its own definition of the Science of Reading in state law and requires schools to adopt such curriculum. It also creates a Science of Reading grant fund and includes teacher preparation and licensing requirements for the approach.
Liberty Sentinel. Artificial Intelligence to Replace Teachers: Bill Gates Another AI “education” scheme touted in the media is the Gates-funded Khan Academy’s “Khanmigo project.” Described as a “virtual teacher” and powered by GPT-4, the program supposedly helps students learn math, science, writing, and other subjects without the need for human teachers.
NEA News.
1) NEA Recommends President Joe Biden as Democratic Nominee for Re-election With the Biden administration’s support, if a state follows the teacher apprenticeship program guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s guidelines and register their programs, they can receive funding from Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I. These teacher apprenticeship programs serve as training programs for new teachers. Unlike most existing programs, aspiring educators earn a living wage while gaining essential skills for the future.
2) Teacher Salaries Not Keeping Up With Inflation, NEA Report Finds According to NEA Teacher Salary Benchmark Report, the average top teacher salary is $77,931. Getting to that level typically requires 25 to 30 years of professional teaching experience, a PhD, or 15 to 30 graduate credit hours beyond a master’s degree.
3) ‘Unpaid student teaching is inequitable’ Student teachers are working full-time in a school and attending classes, with minimal time to work a second job to pay the bills. Student teachers are not merely making enough – they are living in a financial deficit. Those who can afford to not work during student teaching are more likely to gain licensure, solely because of their socioeconomic status. Additionally, aspiring educators of color are disproportionately affected by unpaid student teaching. To address the educator shortage, we must compensate student teachers for their dedicated work.
New York Times. The Mind-Expanding Value of Arts Education: As funding for arts education declines worldwide, experts ponder what students — and the world at large — are losing in the process. …research into the decrease in spending by public schools in arts education points to everything from the lack of trained teachers in the arts — partly because those educators are worried about their own job security — to the challenges of teaching arts remotely in the early days of the Covid pandemic.
Roanoke Times. Grant supports fostering STEM teachers via collaboration among Longwood University, community colleges Educators at three area institutions of higher education, in a new strategy to counter the teacher shortage, successfully applied for a National Science Foundation grant to train future STEM teachers… In five years, if the program works as intended, it will produce 20 newly minted STEM educators teaching grades six through 12.
Washington Post.
1) He missed graduation during WWII. Now 101, he’ll walk with Class of ’23. He had begun studying music education at his hometown school, Iowa’s Cornell College, with dreams of becoming a music instructor… While Taylor had completed the requirements for his degree by his final semester, he wouldn’t be able to attend his graduation ceremony in May 1943… Taylor earned a master’s degree in music education from Drake University in the mid-1950s. He later became a music instructor for elementary, middle and high schools — a profession he continued when he moved to La Mesa, Calif., in 1959…
2) The impact of Alabama governor’s ouster of early childhood education chief After being criticized for forcing Cooper to resign, Ivey defended her decision to reporters, saying, “The teacher resource book that I looked at had all those references to different kind of lifestyles and equity and this and that and the other,” Ivey told reporters Thursday. “That’s not teaching English. That’s not teaching writing. That’s not teaching reading. We need to focus on the basics, y’all, and get this right.”
3) Va. teaching jobs at risk as state manages delays in issuing licenses Virginia public school teachers waiting for teaching licenses from the state education department could be at risk of losing their jobs if the department, which is months behind in processing applications, doesn’t grant their licenses in time… Applicants who come to teaching from a more traditional route, such as graduating from a teacher preparation program, or those who already have a license from another state typically experience shorter wait times.
NEW YORK STATE
InsideHigherEd. N.Y. Higher Ed Leaders Celebrate ‘Transformational’ Budget Under the budget for fiscal year 2024, SUNY will receive $163 million more than the current cycle, and the state has made a two-year commitment to further increases…CUNY will receive a $132.8 million increase in operating support over FY23. That includes $50 million in additional one-time funding for the system’s 11 senior colleges and seven community colleges…
Spectrum News. New York State United Teachers elects Melinda Person as new president She has a New York state teaching certification in childhood education.
NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Lack of librarians hurt students, NYC educators say The education department offers a “Teacher 2 Librarian” program, which partners with universities to help licensed teachers earn a master’s degree in library and information science and become state certified to work as a school librarian. There are 18 new candidates preparing to join the program, according to an education department spokesperson…
New York Post. NYC’s new school class-size law could be foiled by ‘loopholes,’ educators say The exemptions cover: lack of space, “over-enrolled” programs, a shortage of licensed teachers, and schools in “severe economic distress.”… Currently, the DOE cites licensed teacher shortages in middle- and high-school English, math, the sciences, and Spanish, as well as bilingual and special-ed.
Teachers College.
1) Lessons From the Soccer Field to the Classroom: TC alumna Shani Nakhid-Schuster scores goals as a pro-soccer player and as an educator During her earlier years studying sociology at Brooklyn College, Nakhid-Schuster recalls being hooked after taking just one course… Inspired by the need for change, she continued to Teachers College, pursuing her master’s in Sociology and Education… Today, Nakhid-Schuster teaches middle school students at the Brooklyn Green School…
2) Reimagine Resilience Workshop Registration Educators play a vital role in preventing hate and violence by youth. How can classroom practices cultivate deeper relationships and make students feel supported while creating a sense of belonging to their school? 6 CTLEs or 0.6 CEUs. Partial credit will not be given. [Thurs, May 18th, 2023 5pm -8pm EST OR Saturday, May 20th, 2023 1pm-4pm EST]
