Category: Teacher Education

GLOBAL
Chalkbeat. England is launching a national tutoring program. Could the U.S. follow suit?   The English government has set aside “catch-up” funds for schools, including 350 million pounds — or about $450 million — for a national tutoring program targeted at students from low-income families. That money would fund recent college graduates employed by public schools and also existing tutoring organizations. 

Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE). Six Insights on Teacher Training   All four of the teacher training programmes that our panellists had studied are vast improvements over the typical in-service training model.

UKFIET. Remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 disruption: experiences of ministries of education, teachers and teacher educators   …information derived from 52 school systems and over 9,600 English language teachers and teacher educators in more than 150 different countries.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Back to School Series with ATLAS, ISTE and LPI   This August, join us for a “Back to School” webinar series … we will discuss how to apply what was learned this past spring to the upcoming academic year within higher educator preparation programs.

AACTE/LPI. Preparing educators during COVID-19: Lessons learned and new challenges for Fall 2020 Educator Preparation Laboratory (EdPrepLab) third in a series of four webinars on effective teacher and leader preparation. [Webinar Aug. 26]

Chalkbeat. Pods for all? Some districts and nonprofits are reimagining the remote learning trend    “People are hiring nannies and private tutors and college students to help care and guide their students during this period.”

Education Commission of the United States. Building a Diverse Teacher Workforce.  Efforts to recruit teachers from local communities — efforts known as grow-your-own programs— come in a variety of forms and can be geared toward recruiting both high school and college students…Supporting teacher residency programs is a somewhat less common approach states have taken to increasing the diversity of their pool of teacher candidates… Teacher candidates of color often face disproportionate barriers to entering the teaching profession.

Education Week.
1) Students in Special Education, English-Learners May Go Back to Class First. Here’s Why   Well before the coronavirus closed schools, studies determined that states struggled to develop remote learning policies for students with disabilities and that teachers were often not trained—and sometimes not willing—to use digital resources for English-learners, many of whom lack access to high-speed internet access and computers, laptops, or tablets.
2) Low Pay and High Risk: Being a Substitute Teacher During COVID-19   The national average unemployment rate is just over 10 percent, and some of those workers might be interested in subbing. For instance, she said, someone who was laid off from a STEM career would be a “wonderful candidate” to teach a science or math class.

Hechinger Report. The simple intervention that could lift kids out of ‘Covid slide’: Tutoring is more effective than other measures. But can it be expanded to support the kids who need it most?   A soon-to-be-published study by Slavin shows that teachers-in-training — along with trained, stipend-funded volunteers such as those working through AmeriCorps — are just as good at tutoring as certified educators.

InsideHigherEd. Kamala Harris Has Battled For-Profit Colleges  She also included in a plan on raising teachers’ salaries this spring additional money for HBCUs to address the underrepresentation of teachers of color.

NBC News. Amid a racial reckoning, teachers are reconsidering how history is taught  “There’s a decided push for us to really begin to re-examine our own biases and how we approach things in our classroom,” one educator said.

NYTimes. 60 Talented Educators Join The New York Times Teaching Project [incl. Nicholas Stone, Teachers College MA’14 Teaching of Social Studies]

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. NY Board of Regents taps its own chancellor to become interim education department commissioner

New York State Education Department. Board of Regents Appoints Dr. Betty A. Rosa as Interim Commissioner of Education   Dr. Rosa, who will resign her position as Chancellor of the Board of Regents, will assume this position with the Department on August 14… the search for the next permanent Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York has been extended. AGB Search has reposted the position and applications should be received by October 1, 2020.

Washington Post. Frances Allen, first woman to win Turing Award for contributions to computing, dies at 88   All this was heady stuff for a woman who seemed destined for a career as a high school math teacher in her hometown of Peru, N.Y… A high school teacher piqued her interest in math, and she decided to follow a similar career path. She received a teaching degree in 1954 from the New York State Teachers’ College in Albany (today SUNY at Albany). She took a job teaching math at her high school in Peru and felt she had found her calling.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. Speaking Up: She lived in a country silenced by oppression. Now Erika Levy helps kids with speech disorders use “a big mouth and strong voice” — an approach that shapes her online teaching.   The speech comparison project, which helps students understand the speech acoustics and articulation that come into play in different languages and dialects, grew out of the period when Levy’s family lived in Vienna and Levy attended the American International School there.

GLOBAL
DutchNews.NL. Career switch: more people sign up for part-time teacher training   The number of people applying for part-time teacher training courses has gone up 20% this academic year…‘We need thousands more teachers and we have worked hard in the past year to make teacher training more flexible, so people can both study and work”…

International Council on Education for Teaching. Virtual Symposium; Call for Contributions
*Thursday, October 8, 2020 New York Time:  10 am-1 pm
*Thursday October 15, 2020 Tokyo Time:  2 pm-5 pm  

International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED).  ATEE webinar – registration form [8 Sept.]

NYTimes. A Visit to 5 of Patagonia’s Most Remote Schoolhouses. “Teachers who are in rural schools must enjoy living in extreme areas,” Ms. Almonacid said, adding that the management of multigrade classrooms — with students at a variety of levels and abilities — is a constant struggle.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Day on the Hill: September 9-10 and September 15-16 [deadline Aug. 14]

Forbes. The Real Test We Need For Our Pandemics Of COVID-19 And Racial Injustice: Assessing Standardized Tests, Teacher Diversity, And Antiracist Education With José Luis Vilson   Diversifying the teacher profession is a key goal of EduColor, which you co-founded… I’d say that the problem with hiring and retaining teachers of color is also the problem with hiring and retaining teachers in general, but it becomes more acute with teachers of color because it’s interwoven with racism and other identity markers.

Hechinger Report.
1) Jobless college students are hired for summer jobs to mentor younger peers: Expanded coaching aims to keep incoming freshmen on track for college and prevent “Covid-19 slide” among elementary kids   Several programs aimed at keeping incoming freshmen on track for college and others that provide tutoring to elementary students are scooping up jobless undergraduates as mentors in relationships that benefit everyone.
2) Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister had it right when she ensured countless teachers of color got the training they need to give students the support they deserve   Farris is the older sister of Dr. King, a former professor of education, and someone who made her share of civil rights contributions as well. As my professor at Spelman College, Farris taught a class on the fundamentals of teaching reading, and she made sure that each of her students showed mastery of the constructs of the English language.

Medium. We Need Meaningful Training For Teachers, And We Need It Now A Reality-Based Teacher Training Model   Reality pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that focuses on teachers gaining an understanding of student realities and then using this information as the starting point for instruction

National Public Radio (NPR). Most Teachers Concerned About In-Person School; 2 In 3 Want To Start The Year Online   Despite all the difficulties, 70% of respondents tell NPR/Ipsos that if they could pick a career all over again, they would still choose to be teachers. 

Post and Courier. Winthrop University launches probe after professor’s anti-racism Facebook post angers critics   …social media post containing threats to out teachers who express anti-Black, pro-police sentiments. April Mustian, who focuses on special education, was scheduled this month to start at Winthrop, a public Rock Hill liberal arts college, when a Facebook post she wrote in June caught the eye of online conservative groups.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents. Virtual Meeting of August 11, 2020

NYSED Office of Higher Education.
1) GUIDANCE FOR NEW YORK STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ON REOPENING FOR THE 2020-21 ACADEMIC YEAR
*Academics, Student Support Services, And Financial Aid
*Clinical Experiences And Examinations For Educator Certification
*Clinical Experiences And Examinations For Professional Licensing
*Opportunity Programs
*Postsecondary Students With Disabilities
*Data Reporting.
2) July Newsletter
*Guidance For New York State Colleges and Universities On Reopening
*Board of Regents July Items
*New York State Physical Education Learning Standards

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. This NYC teacher is determined to diversify computer science — and to help his school navigate a monumental loss   How and when did you decide to become a teacher? Most of my life I wanted to go into medicine. In my senior year of high school, I took a Future Educators of America elective course (mainly to get out of AP Calculus B), and I got to be a teacher assistant in a sophomore World History class with a teacher I really respected…. I think it was that experience that sowed the seeds that would blossom into my current career. 

New Yorker. What Will the First Day of School Look Like? Terrified teachers. Obstinate officials. Exhausted parents. Inside the city’s messy reopening battle.   Shouldn’t teachers, who signed up for a career in public service, be prepared to fulfill their obligations like other essential workers — the workers, in fact, who make virtually all other work possible?

Teachers College. Suspect Performance: Interest in vouchers and Education Savings Accounts appears to be waning, says TC’s Luis Huerta   … private schools are not subject to public regulation and thus not required to meet government standards on measures that range from testing performance to teacher accreditation to instruction for special education students.

GLOBAL
NYTimes. Years After 43 Mexican Students Vanished, a Victim’s Remains Are Found   The students were undergraduates at a teachers’ college in the town of Ayotzinapa in the southern state of Guerrero. The night they disappeared — Sept. 26, 2014 — they were in the process of commandeering buses to carry their peers to a demonstration in Mexico City, a time-honored tradition among students at their college

TESOL International Association. Online Teacher Education Resources in ELT: Blogs, Vlogs, and Podcasts

World Education Blog. How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting contract teachers in sub-Saharan Africa Contract teachers receive a salary for the work they perform but do not receive the benefits that apply under public sector norms and standards, such as annual leave, pension or health insurance…Due to the teacher shortage, contract teachers have long been used to fill gaps in government schools, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the school-age population has grown faster than countries’ capacity to train teachers.

UNITED STATES
Association of Teacher Educators.  2020 ATE Summer Online Conference [August 9-11]

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
1) 2020 Advisory Committee Nominations   Nominate yourself or a colleague by August 7, 2020.
2) Developing Teachers as Critical Thinkers and Learners   … showcasing the work of educators, who have integrated teacher training via virtual reality (VR) simulation into their respective programs or are studying the various aspects of this modality. [mini-series: July 28, Aug. 4, Aug. 11]

Education Week. How to Balance In-Person and Remote Instruction   6. Do not spend too much time lecturing. Particularly for teachers who aren’t trained in delivering individualized instruction remotely, classroom time should be devoted to interacting with students, asking them questions, and constructing active experiences. 

New York Times. The Japanese-American Sculptor Who, Despite Persecution, Made Her Mark   One of her teachers handed her a catalog for the Art Institute of Chicago. She couldn’t afford it and instead chose the Milwaukee State Teachers College… During her third year of study, with the modest aim of becoming an art teacher, Asawa was told her race was a liability — as a Japanese-American, she would not be able to graduate with a teaching certificate, and without that, she would be unable to be hired as a teacher. 

Texas Tribune. As school reopenings falter, some Texas parents hire private teachers. Others can only afford to cross their fingers.  A whole new industry is springing up around the learning pod trend, with new organizations offering to connect pods of families with teachers or tutors. The Texas Learning Pod, for example, started by a University of Texas at Austin student, links families with college students, offering packages that range from $20 to $55 per hour depending on the number of children and grade levels. 

The Atlantic. When Teaching Is a Form of Protest: If educators want to respond to racism, they can start in their own classrooms. (by TC Prof. C. Emdin)  In the fall of 2001, armed with an undergraduate science degree and a rushed teaching credential, I stood in front of a sea of Black and brown middle-school students in the Bronx and announced that I was their teacher….Teachers need feedback from their students, who can see what teachers have been trained to ignore in their blind pursuit of a calm, quiet classroom.

The Teacher Education Podcast. #13: Building the Best STEM Educators with Dr. Anni Reinking

U.S. News. Tennessee State Using Grant for Special Ed Teachers Course   At least 70 teachers are scheduled to take an online course at Tennessee State University this fall to receive their special education endorsement as the school uses a $375,000 grant to help fill the need for more teachers in the field.

Washington Post.
1) The case for treating teachers around the world as essential front-line workers    Schools also need to have plans in place for future closures, and, to accomplish this, governments would do well to continue to invest in distance learning and in training teachers to use technologies that allow remote instruction.
2) The huge problem with education ‘pandemic pods’ suddenly popping up   The emails follow a common template: “I’m reaching out to see if you know of any recent early education graduates of Yale (with experience in teaching gifted children) in need of a position for the fall.” The mother, or in some cases the personal assistant, asks to be matched to a Yale student or recent graduate who can home-school her child this fall.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents.
1) July 24 meeting cancelled, rescheduled for July 31
2) Statement From Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown   “The Board and I thank Interim Commissioner Tahoe for her leadership during this unprecedented time.” …The Board continues its search to find a permanent Commissioner and expects to appoint an Acting Commissioner before Ms. Tahoe departs on Aug. 13.

NYSED.
1) State Education Department Announces Third Class of My Brother’s Keeper Fellows   …since 2016, NYSED awarded $12 million in Teacher Opportunity Corps II (TOC II) Grants to increase the participation rate of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals in teaching careers. 
2) Teacher Opportunity Corps II (TOC II) Virtual Summit [June 10 video archives] The purpose of  TOC II  is to increase the rate of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals in teaching careers. TOC II programs incorporate strategies for teacher retention and best practice, such as mentors for new teachers and differentiated instructional techniques.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. In financial crisis, NYC cut $707M from its education budget. These programs will feel the effects.   Other cuts include: *$4 million to pause the Teaching Fellows program, which trains and helps place future teachers.

The74. Report: Deck Stacked Against Young Children of Color, but Leaders Can ‘Seize This Moment’ to Improve Equity   Amy Stuart Wells, a sociologist and desegregation researcher at Teachers College… Implicit bias training, which many districts have pledged to implement since the protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, can be “one-off things,” especially if teachers think the training doesn’t apply to them, she said. “We get people to reimagine. What are the things you take for granted that maybe you should question?”

GLOBAL
AllAfrica. South Africa: Children With Disabilities Must Be Part of Nation Building   The vice-chancellor said that UCT would continue their work in the field through an accredited research unit, Including Disability Education in Africa (IDEA). This will provide in-depth analysis of TEDI’s data on teacher empowerment, disability inclusion, and the overall landscape of teacher education to support disability inclusion.

Education Cannot Wait. Education Cannot Wait Interviews Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of International Development   Ensuring that teachers are well-trained and equipped to instruct children who have or are living through a crisis; that curricula and learning materials reflect relevant cultural realities and do not perpetuate negative gender norms…

Global Partnership for Education. Global Partnership for Education provides US$130 million to support education in Guinea, Niger and Somalia   The Federal Government of Somalia will receive US$9.2 million to increase access to quality preschool education, including in existing Quranic schools, build or renovate 700 classrooms to welcome out-of-school children, including those with disabilities, train head teachers, review the curriculum to improve learning outcomes, and conduct annual exams for Grade 8 students. 

UNITED STATES
Education Week. Future Teachers Mistake Black Students as ‘Angry’ More Than White Students, Study Shows   In this study, researchers studied 178 prospective teachers who were enrolled in education programs at three southeastern universities. Most of the future teachers in the study were white women, which is in line with the national teaching force. 

Hechinger Report.
1) TEACHER VOICE: ‘Before teaching Algebra 2, I was an EMT, a Starbucks barista and a real estate agent. I learned to treat people with compassion’    To address these issues, our education system must equip teachers with the tools they need to teach young people how to ask for help through social-emotional support. Unfortunately, many teacher-training programs don’t offer these kinds of skills. I completed my bachelor’s degree last year, and never once did I have any kind of professional development that addressed social-emotional learning.
2) TEACHER VOICE: Reimagine schools?: Three priorities for schools as they make plans to reopen: personhood, relationships and equity
 We must widen our starting points [By E. Shieh TC EdM ’10, EdD ‘20]   In my school, many of my students with special needs and my emergent bilingual students struggled mightily with remote learning’s extraordinary challenges. So, too, did students who suffered depression from long hours spent alone at home, as well as the trauma of sickness and death. We need to be ready to say, more than we ever have before, how we are prepared to serve these students better. 

InsideHigherEd. Government Rescinds International Student Policy: The decision to abandon a directive that would have prevented international students from taking all their coursework online came in response to a lawsuit from Harvard and MIT.

NYTimes. Most Big School Districts Aren’t Ready to Reopen. Here’s Why: All but two of the nation’s 10 largest districts exceed a key public health threshold, according to a New York Times analysis.   But fully staffing the Broward school system to maintain social distancing between students and staff members would require at least $230 million in new funding, Mr. Runcie said, because of the need to hire thousands of additional teachers to reduce class sizes to an average of 14 students.

Washington Post.
1) How to teach in these troubled times: A trauma expert’s advice for educators   But, as we approach fall and the transition back to school, in whatever forms that takes, teachers who do not share students’ racial identities and the trauma of racism — white teachers like me — must commit to anti-racism so we can bring awareness, advocacy and the keenest compassion to supporting students.
2) School in a coffee shop? A different approach to teaching and learning during the pandemic. University of Georgia professor Stephanie Jones takes the idea of unconventional learning settings even further … a professor in the department of Educational Theory and Practice. She is a former elementary school teacher and has worked in teacher education for 20 years…

Yahoo News. Maintaining the Teacher Pipeline During a Public Health Crisis and Beyond: Scaffolding teacher prep with student avatars, virtual classrooms and live coaching.  The Danielson Group and Mursion joined forces to support teacher preparation programs and school leaders in preparing teachers to lead engaging, student-focused learning experiences …

NEW YORK STATE
NYSBA. So Much More Than a Teachable Moment [by B. Rosa, Chancellor, New York State Board of Regents]  …the Regents and I have for so long worked to make the teaching of civics and civic engagement an integral part of what is taught in New York’s schools. It is particularly important for our schools to take on this role now – because we have an administration in Washington now that is fomenting a hateful culture war designed to pull us down and drive us apart, rather than lift us up and draw us together.

NYSED.
1) State Education Department Issues Guidance to Reopen New York State Schools   As schools and school districts create their plans for the 2020-21 school year, they must ensure that all teachers, school and district leaders and pupil personnel service professionals hold a valid and appro­priate certificate for their assignment; can continue to utilize incidental teaching when determining how to staff their classrooms; can employ substitute teachers to address staffing needs for the allowable amount of days given their qualifications and teaching assignment; should work with educator prepara­tion programs to identify appropriate ways in which student teachers can support classroom instruction…
2) Shortened Semester Flexibility for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 Semesters  At its July 13, 2020 meeting, the NYS Board of Regents approved an amendment to Section 145-2.1(a)(i) and (ii) of the Commissioner’s Regulations to permit NYS colleges and universities to shorten the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters from a minimum of 15 weeks to no less than 12 weeks without impacting a student’s eligibility for NYS financial aid.

NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives. Emergency COVID-19 Certificate   The Emergency COVID-19 certificate is available for candidates who are seeking one of the following certificates that require exam(s): Initial or Professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, Initial or Professional certificate in the educational leadership service (School Building Leader, School District Leader, School District Business Leader), Initial Reissuance, Teaching Assistant certificate, School Administrator and Supervisor (SAS) Provisional Renewal, Supplementary certificate, Transitional A certificate through the Option B pathway, Transitional B certificate, Transitional C certificate, or Transitional D certificate.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. This award-winning NYC music teacher had her students making podcasts during the pandemic   One day, I was sent to a neighborhood school to do a short demo lesson for first-graders… At the end of that lesson, the teacher and the paraprofessional grabbed me and informed me that her young boy was not usually as engaged as he was with me, and he really loved my lesson. They thought I was going to make a “wonderful music teacher.” That little boy has never left my heart! From that day forward, dropping the music ed major was no longer an option for me.

Teachers College.
1) Re-Imagining: The Arts in a Time of Reckoning [by TC Prof. J. Burton]   Perhaps, if we are willing to look, we will also find a way to prepare teachers to traverse disciplinary boundaries, confront the unique and complex challenges of our time, and infuse their pedagogy with bold and imaginative practices that respect and deepen the natural inclinations of human minds.
2) Telling Young People Better Stories About Themselves: At TC’s Reimagining Education Institute, Lisa Delpit demands narratives that ‘uncover students’ brilliance’    “We have to create better relationships between students and teachers,” she said. “The students have to feel they belong to the school club. And we have to help the teachers show students they are welcome, celebrated and a vital component of every school day in every school classroom.”

GLOBAL
GESCI. #COVID19: GESCI Trained Teacher Conducts Online Classes For Students In Tanzania   Mr. Kichumisa is among 400 teachers in Tanzania who have been trained through the African Digital Schools Initiative (ADSI ) which is implemented by GESCI…

International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. Supporting teachers in back-to-school efforts: A toolkit for school leaders   Section IV – Teacher Preparation And Learning

Times Higher Education. Online education: how Hong Kong got ahead of the game   …these initiatives were more demanding on lecturers, and required additional resources and teacher training.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. How Educators Can Turn Grief into Action   Besides, it’s not the job of Black teachers to fix the problems of White Supremacy. The most important thing you can do is prepare yourself to teach in a way that liberates your students.  You should be teaching for abolition.

Charlotte Observer. Cooper signs bills into law on prisoner education, cybersecurity and teaching programs   On HB 1096, Cooper sent out the following statement: “Expanding the Teaching Fellows program will get North Carolina’s brightest students committed to teaching in our state’s classrooms. We should include HBCUs in the expansion to improve diversity at the front of the classroom, which research shows can improve student performance,” 

Chronicle. Andrea Burrows, an associate professor in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Wyoming, has been named associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Education.

EducationNext. The Stubborn Myth of “Learning Styles”   …research shows that in 29 states, government-distributed test-preparation materials on high-stakes certification exams include the debunked theory of “learning styles,” which holds that matching instruction to students’ preferred mode of learning—seeing, listening, or physically engaging in content-aligned activities, for example—is beneficial

EdWeek.
1) NEA’s Lily Eskelsen García Talks Racial Justice, COVID Layoffs, and Leaving Office   The work that is going to be with us forever, at least in my lifetime, is really going to be having people focus on trying to fix public schools… “Let’s make it more competitive to be a teacher, let’s make it harder to be a teacher, let’s make it easier to be a teacher, let’s do it online.” Everybody kept saying, “There are some schools that have so little, how are we going to get them the best teachers?”
2) Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Teachers: Why It Matters, Ways to Do It   Future teachers of color are also being recruited among current K-12 school employees through Grow Your Own (GYO) Educator programs. Criteria for each varies. Some GYO programs, for instance, require participants to have bachelor’s degrees; others don’t. 

Louisville Courier Journal. Kentucky Board of Education names finalists in search for state’s next education chief    Vasquez Heilig came to the top seat at UK’s education school in 2019 after a stint at California State University, Sacramento. He is a “prolific scholar,” co-authoring dozens of reports on topics including racial equity and teacher preparation…

LPI. Connecting K-12 and Higher Education Through the Use of Performance Assessments 3pm July 21 [Webinar registration]

Phys.org. Prospective teachers misperceive Black children as angry   Prospective teachers appear more likely to misperceive Black children as angry than white children, which may undermine the education of Black youth, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

Teaching Tolerance. Teaching Hard History Key Concept Videos

The Atlantic. What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently: They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching.   Anti-racist teachers take black students seriously. They create a curriculum with black students in mind…They seek support from colleagues who are effective teachers for all of their students, including black students…

USC Office of Educational Outreach. Spurring Innovation Through Collaboration in Rural South Carolina.  The state’s first comprehensive, university-based alternative preparation program leverages the power of micro-credentials to promote job-embedded professional learning, provides localized coaching inspired by the Carolina Coaching model developed through the Carolina Teacher Induction Program, and includes graduate credit that can be used toward an advanced degree.

NEW YORK STATE
New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education.  Educator Preparation Newsletter June 2020
* Emergency Covid-19 Certificate.
* Teaching Assistant Certificates
* Fingerprinting Fee Increase
* New York State edTPA Full Refund and Replacement Voucher Information
* New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NTSTCE) Test Development Activities

NEW YORK CITY
Big Education Ape. White Hero Teacher and White Paternalism (#3)  Christopher Emdin teaches at Columbia University Teacher College… I always ask my teachers why do they want to teach and I can tell by their responses how closely the white savior narrative is imbued in who they are or who they want to be. I always say, if you’re coming into a place to save somebody then you’ve already lost because young people don’t need saving. They have brilliance, it’s just on their own terms.

Chalkbeat. Back to school? Any NYC family can opt for full-time remote learning this fall   Individual schools will likely grapple for weeks on what next year will look like. At the same time they will need more teachers to cover smaller classes for in-person learning…

GLOBAL
Forbes. The School That Tried To End Racism: New Documentary Looks At Classrooms’ Role In Ending Bias    Dr. Nicola Rollock, Reader in Equity and Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, part of the team of experts observing the “Segregation Experiment,” thinks that it needs to go beyond the curriculum. “This has to be embedded in Teacher Training, and not just in terms of the delivery of the curriculum, but in terms of who is teaching that curriculum, the identity and the lens that they bring to their understanding of their profession…” 

GhanaWeb. Degree education: A case for in-service teachers   One particular dazzling reform to overhaul Pre-service Teacher Training is the Teacher Education reforms, specifically the upgrading of the College of Education to Universities affiliated to the five main public universities.

Globe and Mail. Ontario unveils updated elementary math curriculum   The government said last fall that it was investing $200-million over four years on a math strategy that included professional development for teachers … It also initiated a math proficiency test for future teachers and promised to roll out a new curriculum.

Sydney Morning Herald. Cost of priority degrees to be slashed, some fees to soar in funding overhaul   Teaching, nursing, clinical psychology, English, languages, maths and agriculture courses will cost $3700 a year, down by 46 to 62 per cent.

UNESCO. 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report: Inclusion and Education
*teachers need to be prepared to teach students with varied backgrounds and abilities
*Training on inclusion tends to focus on teaching skills for specialists.
*Mainstream and special school teachers tend to be trained separately and the latter are more likely to be negative about inclusion as the best way to educate all students.
* To be of good quality, teacher education must be relevant to teachers’ needs, cover multiple aspects of inclusive teaching for all learners and include follow-up support to help teachers integrate new skills into classroom practices…

UNITED STATES
Chronicle of Higher Education. Jenna Shim, a professor in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Wyoming, will become associate dean for graduate programs in the college on July 1.

Education Week.
1) Can Teachers Really Do Their Jobs in Masks?   …particularly concerned about phonics and phonemic awareness instruction. She recently went through two weeks of professional development with the Orton-Gillingham approach, which is a multisensory way to teach early reading. A major focus in the training centered around having children watch her mouth.
2) Why These Teachers and Students Want Juneteenth in the Curriculum   …news stories from other places in the country about attempts to teach black history gone wrong, like teachers who ask black students to reenact slavery. “A lot of teachers aren’t really qualified 100 percent to teach this material, because they weren’t trained in how to teach this material,” Mondesir said.

Hechinger Report. Education companies see an “upside to the pandemic” for business   K12 Inc. has faced frequent criticism about poor student performance and been subject to legal scrutiny… Davis defended the company’s teacher prep, which he said ensures that students receive the necessary support. “K12 has two decades of honing the skills and training teachers need to be effective in the online classroom,” 

Learning Policy Institute. Raising Demands and Reducing Capacity: COVID-19 and the Educator Workforce   National data on teacher preparation enrollments for next fall are not available. An informal survey of the 15 educator preparation programs in the Educator Preparation Laboratory—a mix of public and private programs from across 10 states—suggests that, while enrollment is relatively stable now, deferments are on the rise. 

Nevada Today. LGBTQ+ teaching mentorships need growth in diversity in education   Student teachers who identify as LGBTQ+ face a number of challenges while navigating their education- both in the university and public schools where they student teach…Deciding when to come out, and where, is perhaps one of the most trying decisions a student-teacher faces, especially if it can get you fired.

Santa Maria Sun. Cunningham bill expands qualification options for teacher credential candidates   …Assembly Bill 1982, would allow teacher credential candidates to satisfy the state’s Basic Skills Requirement with an A or B grade in accredited courses approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing… Currently, teacher credential candidates can satisfy the state’s requirements through various standardized testing options. Among these options are passing the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST); passing the California Subject Examinations for Teachers; using qualifying scores from past AP, SAT, or ACT tests; and other test-based options. 

Tampa Bay Times. Jeff Vinik invests $3 million on early learning research in Hillsborough County: The investment is part of a growing business recognition that improving education for preschoolers helps build a more talented and prepared workforce.   Teachers and directors also receive $250 for each term they are enrolled in courses at Hillsborough Community College in pursuit of an associate’s degree. And the program covers the costs of submitting portfolios for the national certification.

USNews. DeSantis Signs Bill for $500 Million in Teacher Raises   He said his hope is that it will help the state recruit teachers. “Obviously, you’re not going to get rich doing it, just like police officers don’t get rich,” DeSantis said. “You do it because you have a servant’s heart, but it sure makes it easier if you have a good minimum salary and are able to make ends meet.”

Washington Post. 13 books on the history of black America for those who really want to learn    The national uprising for racial justice and social change sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has prompted new calls for changes in school curriculum that reflect the broad reality of black America…

NEW YORK STATE
NYSATE/NYACTE. Award Nominations due July 1

NYSED. COVID-19 Update: First Aid and CPR/AED Certification Flexibility for Coaches   All coaches of extracurricular sports must hold valid first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)/automatic external defibrillator (AED) certification… Given the lack of in-person certification courses, the Department is providing the following flexibility regarding the first aid and CPR/AED certification…

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. NYC preschools are calling for a bailout, saying $65 million in state grants fall woefully short   Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced that the state would tap money from the federal CAREs act to offer $20 million to child care centers to help pay for social distancing measures, such as partitions or cleaning supplies, or training and hiring more teachers.

LoHud. Music teacher: I was laid off, but it’s my students who will suffer  [by C. Hebert TC EdM ‘19] …consider that there are more than 26,000 students in Yonkers Public Schools, but now just 23 music teachers districtwide after cuts. That means there is one teacher for every 1,130 students — roughly 400 more students than the 707 I taught this year in pre-K through eighth grade.

GLOBAL
Market Watch. Global Special Education Teacher Training Market expected to reach CAGR of 4%, Future prospect & Industry growth   About Special Education Teacher Training: Special education teacher training includes various graduate, post-graduate, and certification courses offered by educational institutions and training organizations to personnel willing to teach students with special needs such as developmental disabilities and Autism.

NL Times. Pandemic Aggravating Existing Teacher Shortage, Inequality In Education: Education Council   Schools with many vulnerable students also need sufficient and well-trained teachers – another reason to tackle the teacher shortage.

Phnom Penh Post. Kingdom’s teachers receive ICT training  He said teacher training institutions play an important role in promoting teachers’ quality and digital skills. Soveacha said the recruitment and training of effective teachers is essential to reforming the training system and also a mechanism to secure teachers’ status as noble members of society.

South China Morning Post. Hong Kong teachers to get mandatory training on professional conduct, national development   The notice on training rules issued to more than 1,000 public schools and those under the direct subsidy scheme said all newly recruited teachers would have to complete 30 hours of core training within the first three years of service to “better understand and demonstrate their professional roles, values and conduct”.

UNITED STATES
AACTE/SCALE. edTPA® Announcements and Resources 
*2020-21 edTPA® Assessment Materials Now Available for Preview
*edTPA® 2020–21 Submission and Reporting Schedule Now Available

Chalkbeat. New program will train more Black men to become Indianapolis preschool teachers   Early Learning Indiana is providing funding for Educate ME to give fellows up to $1,000 in stipends throughout the two-year commitment. Once the fellows complete training and begin working, they’ll be paid $10-14 per hour. Educate ME will place fellows at Early Learning Indiana’s nine child care centers before staffing other sites.

EdWeek.
1) Coronavirus Reveals How Math Instruction Must Change, Math Groups Say   Two professional math-education organizations are urging them to put equity front and center as they plan what their math classrooms will look like in the fall… Both organizations have been sounding the alarm about equity issues for years. And both released recent reports calling for closer attention to changing structures and practices that perpetuate inequitable math instruction, including eliminating tracking and ability grouping in math.
2) Georgia Eliminates the edTPA Requirement for Teacher Candidates  Studies have shown that candidates of color are less likely to pass the edTPA than their white peers, prompting concerns that the licensing test is contributing to an already overwhelmingly white profession. 
3) Merriam-Webster is Rewriting Its Definition of Racism. Should Teachers Change Theirs, Too?   The upcoming change holds significance for classroom teachers, said Keisha Rembert, an assistant professor of education at National Louis University in Chicago, and a member of the National Council of Teachers of English’s Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English… “This idea of power and the systemic nature of racism is important when students are understanding a concept unfamiliar to them.”… Humanities teachers, she said, should always seek to create a “three-dimensional” understanding of how race functions in U.S. society.

InsideHigherEd. DACA Lives: Supreme Court rules that the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was “arbitrary and capricious.”   The decision returns the issue to the Department of Homeland Security and means the Trump administration cannot immediately end the DACA program, which provides protection against deportation and work authorization for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. 

MySanAntonio. Laredo father, daughter graduate together   Ricardo Quijano was a history major with a teaching certification as he plans to teach, and his daughter could go a similar route. She had a history major and a dance minor, and she is considering going either for her teaching certification or a master’s degree.

Washington Post.
1) A descendant of slaves explains why it’s indefensible to keep Confederate names on public schools. She taught in one.   In teacher preparation, we were introduced to the concepts of implicit bias, unconscious racism and the hidden curriculums they produce. We are encouraged to confront it in ourselves, our students and our colleagues. Still, an often overlooked environmental aspect is the school name…
2) For “dreamers,” elation and relief at Supreme Court decision extending DACA   … allowed them to apply for work permits, driver’s licenses, and pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. Now mostly in their 20s, and working as teachers, doctors and laborers, DACA beneficiaries say the program has helped catapult their families into the middle class.
3) Netflix chief, wife pledge historic $120 million gift to Morehouse, Spelman and the United Negro College Fund   “This is a liberation gift,” Thomas said, because students who graduate without debt can pursue their dreams, not chasing jobs with high salaries but becoming teachers, if they want, or going to graduate school…

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching. April 2020 meeting minutes.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.   Ideas to power next school year in NYC: How to confront trauma and foster healing   Christopher Emdin — Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Teachers College, and Founder, #HipHopEd   And as the nation engages in protest about the value of Black lives, educators must work to elevate Black voices, stories, and experiences across subject areas. The chief form of protest for educators is their teaching. 

Teachers College.
1) A Call for New York State to Dramatically Improve Media Literacy Education: Students must be media literate to be democracy ready, asserts a new report from a coalition of civic and education organizations convened by a TC center   Noting that many well-regarded media literacy lessons and curricula already are available (often at no charge), the report recommends a five-part media literacy education framework oriented toward equity:… Qualified personnel for teaching media literacy, and professional development for all teachers in teaching media literacy…
2) Graduate Gallery. On a Quest Against Illiteracy: From Colombia to the South Bronx, Victoria Henry Cervantes is giving young people access to the written word   She spent much of her 20s working in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Honduras and Peru as a Fulbright Fellow literacy teacher… last year brought Cervantes to Teachers College as a master’s degree student in the Literacy Specialist program…

GLOBAL
Brookings. The case for more international cooperation in education  In sub-Saharan Africa, only 62 percent of primary school teachers and 45 percent of secondary school teachers are trained to teach. In some countries, the need for teachers represents half of the entire projected number of graduates from university. A challenge of this scale—including expanding teacher training programs, supporting public policies to build a skilled and motivated teaching force, and equipping educators with technologies to improve teaching and reach more students—is ripe for greater international cooperation.

International Education News.   A view from Nairobi, Kenya: Deborah Kimithi on school closures and the pandemic   Dignitas uses an innovative training and coaching approach to empower schools and educators in marginalized communities to transform students’ opportunities…. trained over 1,000 educators, and have another 450 educators enrolled for 2020. 

The Irish Times. Irish schools and racism: Do we have a problem?   After arriving in Ireland as a 14-year-old, she went to secondary school in Tallaght and trained as a teacher at Trinity College Dublin. She has been teaching at Le Chéile for the past three years. “Yes, I think there is a racism problem in Irish schools but not just Ireland, it’s everywhere. It’s across all of society,” she says.

The Times of India. Goa: Education department mulls home visits by teachers to start academic year   “…the methods taught in the teacher training by DoE should be used for synchronous and asynchronous learning,” Rao has said. As the third phase of online training is still on for teachers, Rao has asked schools to relieve computer teachers and others involved, early from school so they can attend training sessions.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Survey Shows Widening Gap in Supply of Teachers Coming in the Fall  “Our survey examines the critical demands in teacher preparation as we continue to navigate the global health pandemic and prepare for the academic year beginning in the fall,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO.
2) Updates to AACTE’s COVID-19 Educator Preparation Policy Tracker Map

Chalkbeat. Fired KIPP founder Mike Feinberg should keep teaching license, Texas admin judges say   The judges’ ruling is only a recommendation to Texas’ State Board for Educator Certification, which will ultimately decide whether Feinberg can maintain his teaching license. Its next regular meeting will take place in July.

Chronicle of Social Change. Black Male Teachers a Rare and More Precious Resource in Wake of George Floyd Killing   CSU is the largest four-year college system in the U.S., and the five campuses in the Los Angeles-area (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, and Northridge) collectively had just 85 black male students enrolled in their teacher and educator preparation programs during the 2019-20 school year, according to a CSU spokesperson.

EdWeek. Attention School Leaders: Students Are Demanding Anti-Racist Curriculum and Instruction   As massive social-justice demonstrations continue after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, students in cities around the country are organizing to demand that their school and district leaders provide them with anti-racist curricula and instruction.

InsideHigherEd. Colleges Must Take a New Approach to Systemic Racism   …especially in recent years, programs such as criminal justice, education/teacher preparation and public administration have been increasingly updated to include courses on multiculturalism, race relations, privilege, and diverse identity experiences.

McDonough County Voice. ISBE updates teacher licensure requirements amid COVID-19   Illinois institutions that have teacher education programs can file for the COVID-19 teacher education completion exemption on behalf of their students. They can also apply for the edTPA waiver through the ISBE educational licensure information system.

Mursion. How can simulations be integrated productively within mathematics and science teacher education courses? [June 9 Webinar recording]

NEAToday. Welcome to the Education Profession, Class of 2020!   The NEA Aspiring Educators program and its leaders recently held a Zoom celebration to honor and welcome college graduates who are entering the education profession, and it was a star-studded event, with special guests Erin Gruwell, a teacher, an education activist, and the founder and original teacher of the Freedom Writers Foundation; Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); and U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).

NYTimes.
1) Teaching Ideas and Resources to Help Students Make Sense of the George Floyd Protests
2) The Only Way to Save Higher Education Is to Make It Free   The United States also once financed education as a public good. In 1888, the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Va., began to forgive tuition in exchange for two years of teaching in Virginia’s public schools. Federal land grant universities established after the Civil War were free for decades, and remained low cost until the 1980s. The City University of New York was free until 1976.

Washington Post.
1) From Zoom to the streets, students and schools find teachable moments in protests of police violence   But John B. King Jr., [TC Ed.D. ’08, M.A.’97] secretary of education under President Barack Obama, says more change should follow. He points to a raft of structural changes that districts should consider, including the recruitment and retention of teachers of color and equal access to advanced classes and extracurriculars that serve as a bridge to success later in life.
2) Resources to teach the history of policing in America that you won’t find in textbooks

Westport News. Schools still need to hire dozens of teachers amid pandemic   Jean Filetti, director of the teacher preparation program at Christopher Newport University, said that they normally hold an in-person career fair. This spring, the Center for Career Planning set up a virtual fair. They had 15 district participate and coordinated 30 interviews.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED.
1) Board of Regents and State Education Department Announce Regional Reopening Task Force Meetings   Each regional task force will have individuals representing teachers, parents, administrators, school board members, non-instructional school personnel, experts and stakeholders from the fields of health and education.
2) Board of Regents Acts on Third Series of Emergency Regulations to Ease Burdens on Educators, Students and Professionals in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic
     Higher Education
*Teaching Assistant Certificate Extension.
*Teaching Assistant Experience
*Certificate Extensions

NYSED Board of Regents June meeting
1) Proposed Amendments to Sections 60.10, 80-1.2, 80-4.3, 80-4.4, 80-5.6…
     Higher Education
0 Teaching Assistant Certificate Extension.
0 Teaching Assistant Experience
0 Certificate Extensions
2) Proposed Amendments to Sections 52.3, 52.21, 57-4.5, 70.4, 74.6, 75.2, 75.5, 76.2…
     Higher Education
o Sections 52.21, 57-4.5 and 80-1.13 are amended to permit the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) training to be conducted entirely online …
o Section 80-1.5(1)(c) is amended to create an edTPA safety net for candidates in registered educator preparation programs (EPPs) who complete a student teaching or similar clinical experience during the Spring or Summer of 2020 terms and cannot complete their edTPA as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, holding them harmless. These candidates would be able to take and pass either the ATS-W or edTPA. Eligible candidates who choose to take the edTPA but do not pass it, could take and pass the ATS- W, or pursue the edTPA Multiple Measures Review Process (MMRP), if they qualify (Attachment A #52).
o Section 80-3.15 is amended to extend the SOCE application deadline from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2021 so that school districts have time to identify staff who are eligible for the SOCE…
o For the SOCE and limited extension, special education teachers must complete their satisfactory full-time teaching experience, while being considered Highly Qualified through passing a HOUSSE rubric in the subject area, prior to June 30, 2020….
3) Proposed Amendments to Sections 52.21, 60.6, 61.19, 80- 1.2, 80-3.7…
     Higher Education
o Section 80-3.7 is amended to allow any undergraduate or graduate level course completed during the spring, summer, or fall 2020 terms with a passing grade, or its equivalent, to count toward the content core or pedagogical core semester hour requirements for certification through the Individual Evaluation pathway.
o Section 80-1.2(b) is amended to extend the expiration date of the Initial certificate, Initial Reissuance, Provisional certificate, and Provisional Renewal from August 31, 2020 to January 31, 2021 to provide candidates with the time needed to work in schools and complete the requirements for the Professional or Permanent certificate. Additionally, such section is amended to extend the expiration date of the Conditional Initial certificate from August 31, 2020 to August 31, 2021 to provide candidates with the time needed to complete the edTPA…
o Section 80-5.27 is added to create an Emergency COVID-19 certificate for candidates seeking certain certificates and extensions because there is limited test center availability and schools have been closed pursuant to Executive Order(s) of the Governor due to the COVID-19 crisis….
4) Amendments to the Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching (PSPB) Bylaws Adopted by the PSPB Members at Their May 2020 PSPB Meeting
5) Proposed Amendments to Section 3.14 of the Rules of the Board of Regents Relating to the Composition of the Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching
6)  Proposed Appointments and Reappointments to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching [incl. TC Assoc. Dir. D. Manning 2020-2024]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. How to do anti-racist work with NYC school communities: 5 experts weigh in   Amy Stuart Wells, director of The Public Good Project and the Center for Understanding Race and Education at Teachers College, and Diana Cordova-Cobo, a research associate for the Public Good Project and former middle school teacher… As we’re in one of the most vexing periods in our nation’s history, students need support in finding answers through a curriculum that provides vivid examples of structural racism and its impact on housing, employment, and education. 

Teachers College.
Graduate Gallery. “An Ordinary Person, Doing Something Extraordinary”: In charting his education career, Eddie Ortiz has channeled a courageous teacher who risked all   When Christa McAuliffe perished in the Challenger space shuttle explosion, Eddie Ortiz decided to become a teacher. McAuliffe’s dictum to take risks inspired him to earn a master’s degree — and now, to pursue a Ph.D.