Tag: teach

GLOBAL
Jerusalem Post. Training talented Tanach educators   One of Matan’s most ambitious programs does not target Tanach students but instead is directed at Tanach teachers. The Bellows Eshkolot Educators Institute for Tanach and Jewish Studies, now in its sixth year, trains female Jewish educators to become master teachers and leaders in Jewish schools in the Diaspora.

NCEE/OECD. Trends Shaping Education 2022: Webinar Registration [7 Feb, 02:30 PM in U.S. Eastern Time]

PRNewswire. Teacher Education Pioneer Launches Nonprofit to Advance Innovations In Teacher Preparation And Certification Around The World   Emily Feistritzer forms Future Teaching Institute to create a global teaching license. Charlotte Danielson, Robert Floden, David Imig, and Yong Zhao join board

UNITED STATES
Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College. Settlement Reached in Connecticut Sheff Litigation   Next-Generation Educators. Implemented for the first time in November 2020, in this program undergraduate teacher candidates from underrepresented groups and in subject shortage areas work directly in participating school districts….

Chalkbeat.
1) 6 education issues to watch as Illinois’ legislative session heats up   The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), … would require teacher prep programs to offer an evidence-based reading assessment for teachers seeking relevant licensure in the early grades; and it would kick off a process of creating a statewide online training program for current early childhood and elementary teachers, as well as reading specialists and educators who work with students with disabilities.
2) Uncertified education majors could soon teach in Michigan: Lawmaker proposes putting uncertified college students in classrooms to alleviate a crippling teacher shortage.   The state House Education Committee is considering a bill allowing districts to hire not-yet-certified education majors as paid teachers with their own classrooms for up to one year. 

Forbes.  Harvard Graduate School Of Education Receives Largest Gift In Its History   The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) announced today that it had received the largest gift in its history – a $40 million donation made anonymously by two Harvard Business School alumni. The gift, which will be divided in two parts, will be used to support the School’s new Teaching and Teacher Leadership (TTL) master’s program, which will enroll its first cohort of students this fall.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Texas teachers burning out after a hellish month. Here’s what a trustee saw in classrooms   David Steiner, the executive director of the Institute for Education Policy at John Hopkins University, pointed to data about the number of teachers being trained to enter the workforce. “We have inherited, even before COVID, a major decline in new teacher preparation,” he said. “From 2010 to 2018, which is the last good data, enrollment in teacher preparation programs declined … over a third.”

InsideHigherEd. Analysis: ‘Divisive Concepts’ Bills Target Higher Ed in 2022   Under Mississippi’s proposed HB 437, for instance, professors would be prohibited from teaching or assigning materials that include the idea that “the State of Mississippi is fundamentally, institutionally, or systemically racist” or that “racial equity … should be given preference in education and advocacy over racial equality.”

Learning Policy Institute. Teacher Shortages During the Pandemic: How California Districts Are Responding   The budget includes nearly a billion dollars to increase access to comprehensive teacher preparation pathways. These programs are designed to both recruit and retain new teachers by incentivizing candidates to pursue comprehensive preservice preparation that includes a robust program of study alongside student teaching, which is associated with higher retention rates.

MSN.com. To fill shortage, N.J. school district will sponsor teachers from other countries   “We would really like to see the ability to become a teacher in New Jersey to be a little bit of a simpler process,” said Fernandez, who noted that her organization supports the elimination of the edTPA — the standardized test new teachers take to show if they are ready for the classroom. The performance-based exam is used by teacher preparation programs and required to pass to become a public school teacher in New Jersey. A bill to remove the exam was introduced and referred to the Assembly Education Committee Jan. 11.

NYTimes. 30 Ways Science Educators Teach With The New York Times   Teachers tell us how they use Times reporting and multimedia to connect their science classrooms to the current events shaping our world.

Omaha World-Herald. Is Nebraska’s test for teacher candidates too hard and expensive? Legislature will decide   It was clear from the steady stream of supporters for the bills that the idea of ending the test has gained steam among some lawmakers, educators and professors at teachers colleges. Support has been boosted by a teacher shortage that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The Conversation. 4 ways to get more Black and Latino teachers in K-12 public schools   4. Redesign teacher training  The U.S. has a wide variety of teacher preparation programs. There’s no common framework for thinking about how to prepare people to become teachers… in states like California and Texas, after two months of preparation a new teacher can teach children in historically marginalized communities…Placing the most inexperienced teachers in schools with the most challenging working conditions increases turnover.

Washington Post. D.C. launches tuition program for degrees in high-demand fields   Through the program, residents can receive up to $8,000 in tuition support each academic year and a possible stipend of $1,500 each year. The program targets students in high-demand programs of study, such as education, health science and information technology. 

NEW YORK STATE
Governor Hochul.
1) Governor Hochul Announces New Investment in New York’s Students, Teachers and Schools   Providing incentives to attract more teachers and school workers; Accelerating the teacher certification process; Creating a state teacher residency program; Upskilling teacher support workers to earn their certifications…
2) State of the State Address  … create the Empire State Teacher Residency Program, which would provide matching funding for local districts to create two-year residency programs for graduate-level teacher candidates. Funded programs would involve SUNY, the City University of New York (CUNY), and/or private colleges partnering with public school districts to provide reduced or free tuition for teaching candidates, including books and fees, mentoring, and a stipend to cover living expenses…  expand alternative teacher certification programs, such as the New York City Teaching Collaborative, to make it easier and more appealing for professionals in other careers to become teachers. Aspiring teachers would apprentice in high-need school districts while pursuing a master’s degree in their field. Participants would also receive a stipend.”

NYSED Office of Higher Education  January Newsletter 
Board Of Regents January Items
1) School District Leader, School District Business Leader, and Transitional D Candidates. The Board of Regents adopted an emergency measure to remove the requirement that school district leader (SDL) and school district business leader (SDBL) candidates must pass the SDL and SDBL assessment, respectively, to be considered a program completer and receive the institutional recommendation for Professional certification.
2) Definition of University. The Board of Regents adopted a regulatory amendment to revise the definition of “university” in New York State
3) References to Institutional Accrediting Agencies. In February 2020, the United States Department of Education (USDE) issued new regulations that eliminated the distinction between “regional” and “national” accrediting agencies.

Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching (PSPB). November 2021 meeting minutes.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College.
1) Emancipatory Leadership: A Future for Educational Equity: In a discussion hosted by TC’s Black Education Research Collective, Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. and Chancellor David C. Banks discuss school policy for the future    Chancellor Banks assumed leadership of the New York City public school system on Jan. 1. An educator, social justice advocate and civic leader, he was a member of the first cohort of education leaders in Teachers College’s inaugural, and now independent, Cahn Fellows Program.
2) Teaching Residents at Teachers College (TR@TC). Induction and Beyond: February 2022 Educator Resources

GLOBAL
The Standard (Kenya). Rethink new entry qualification for primary education teachers   Prospective teachers must now have a mean grade C in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination. Further, they should have a C plain in English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, and in any of the humanities. Previously, the minimum entry requirement was simply a C. The upgrading of the Certificate of Primary to diploma in primary teacher education may have created the need to also upgrade the threshold to the diploma programme.

The Star (Bangladesh). British Council’s training programme of primary teachers end with graduation ceremony   The graduation ceremony of the second group of primary teachers under the Training of Master Trainers in English (TMTE) project was held today at Primary Teacher’s Training Institutes in Dhaka, Gazipur, Sherpur, Jashore, Barishal, and Gopalganj… These teachers are the second group of Bangladeshi primary teachers, who started their 14-week professional development journey on October 24, 2021.

UNESCO. 2022 National SDG 4 Benchmarks: Fulfilling Our Neglected Commitment   …national benchmarks on a selected set of seven SDG 4 indicators: early childhood education attendance; out-of-school rates; completion rates; gender gaps in completion rates; minimum proficiency rates in reading and mathematics; trained teachers; and public education expenditure.  

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) APSU Now Offers First Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teaching in the Country   …the Tennessee Department of Education announced it has pioneered a new way to develop teacher pipelines, and is the first state to be approved by the U.S. Department of Labor to establish a permanent Grow Your Own model, with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin Peay State University’s Teacher Residency program becoming the first registered apprenticeship program for teaching in the country. 
2) GSoLEN and AACTE Webinar On Teaching Diverse Learners – Session 2 [Feb. 9, noon EST]

AAQEP. Workshops: AAQEP offers a workshop curriculum that engages members and the broader field in professional learning related to quality assurance and improvement. Each of the four workshops runs online on a regular basis and in person by request on campuses

American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA).   National Educator Shortage Summit  The National Educator Shortage Summit is an interactive event that convenes focused groups of PK-12 and higher education stakeholders to address the challenges of the national shortage of educators and the educator pipeline to share ways to replicate practices via a national strategy. [Feb. 7-8, Kissimmee, FL]

Chalkbeat.
1) Amid soaring mental health needs, Newark schools ramp up services with help from partners   Graduate students are helping fill the need for more school psychologists in Newark. Each week, trainees in the school psychology program at Fairleigh Dickinson University provide counseling to students at four Newark schools…The program’s purpose is twofold: Expand the district’s capacity to support students who have experienced trauma, and create a pipeline of incoming school psychologists trained to work in high-needs schools.
2) Indiana Teacher of the Year sparks creativity with after-school robotics   How did you decide to switch careers to become a teacher?   I received an email asking for people with degrees or careers in STEM fields to transition to teaching through the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship. Purdue’s program was called STEM Goes Rural.
3) Students who were part of Tennessee pre-K program continue to trail peers who weren’t, study shows   Tennessee also requires that each pre-K classroom be capped at 20 students and staffed by a state-licensed teacher endorsed for early childhood education. The teachers are paid at public school teacher rates, and each room must also have an educational assistant.

InsideHigherEd. When Education Programs Bite the Dust: Oklahoma City University is closing two of its education programs amid declining enrollment—and projected teacher shortages.   With enrollments dwindling, Oklahoma City University is phasing out its early childhood and elementary teacher preparation programs. Just three students remain in the combined programs.

LPI. Educator Learning to Enact the Science of Learning and Development   This report synthesizes research on how to support educators in developing those capacities both in preservice and in-service contexts. It addresses both the “what” of teacher and leader preparation—the content educators need to learn about children and how to support their development and learning—and the “how”—the strategies for educator learning that can produce deep understanding; useful skills; and the capacity to reflect, learn, and continue to improve.

National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE). Cohen and Mikaelian on Privatization Here, There, and Everywhere   …highlights anticompetitive behavior on the part of some charter schools, such as requiring teachers to sign non-disclosure agreements to keep teaching strategies and lesson plans in-house. In these types of environments, the lines between serving students and enhancing a school’s market position are blurred. 

NBC2. Estero couple sentenced for stealing content from Florida teacher certification exams   According to court documents, the Jaspers, who were both certified Florida teachers stole content and conspired with others to steal content from the Florida Teacher Certification Exams and Florida Education Leadership Exam. Prosecutors said they included the stolen content from both exams in their company’s test preparation material and services. It was sold through their business, NavaEd, LLC for personal profit.

NEA News. Meet The Educators Whose Student Debt Has Been Forgiven   NEA members have fought hard for fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. With the new PSLF waiver, announced in October, many are finally seeing relief. In the three months since Education Secretary Miguel Cardona introduced a temporary waiver to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, roughly 38,000 borrowers have received $2.4 billion in student debt forgiveness.

NYTimes.
1) Back to School, but Still Learning Online: Federal stimulus dollars are dedicated to helping students recover from virtual schooling. Many districts are spending some of that money on virtual tutoring.   …research has shown to be most effective: a paid, trained tutor who has a consistent personal relationship with a student; sessions during the school day, so that students do not skip lessons; and at least three sessions per week.
2) The Fight for Substitute Teachers: Schools deploy creative measures to staff classrooms.   At least two states, Missouri and Oregon, removed their degree requirements for would-be hires, to try to attract more substitutes. In Kansas, the education board got rid of the college degree requirement for substitutes for the remainder of the school year. In Salem, Ohio, anyone who passes a background check can temporarily become a licensed substitute teacher. In New Mexico, the governor is now a licensed substitute teacher.

The Atlantic. America Is Desperate for Substitute Teachers   About half of all school-board members and administrators surveyed by EdWeek Research Center in December 2019 and January 2020 said their districts don’t offer subs any professional development. In the districts that do, only 11 percent of respondents said they offer classroom-management training, and only 8 percent cover effective teaching strategies.

U.S. Dept. of Education. Secretary Cardona Lays Out Vision for Education in America   Investing in, recruiting, and supporting the professional development of a diverse educator workforce, including special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and bilingual educators so education jobs are ones that people from all backgrounds want to pursue…

WashingtonPost. Youngkin summons higher education leaders to help promote his plan for ‘lab school’ partnerships   Under current law, only colleges or universities with teacher education programs are permitted to create lab schools with localities. Youngkin’s office said there are currently no such schools in Virginia.

NEW YORK STATE
Written Testimony of Commissioner Dr. Betty A. Rosa, New York State Education Department. Joint Legislative Elementary and Secondary Education Budget Hearing- January 26, 2022    …the Executive Budget proposes creating a temporary professional permit allowing applicants to be employed as teachers… This proposal would also create a new type of certificate, which adds another layer of complication to the certification process and will surely lead to increased questions from applicants…increase the workload of the Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) staff and take them away from other activities…In 2021, OTI staff disapproved over 29,100 teacher certification applications, as these applicants did not meet certification requirements.

NYSED. State Education Department Proposes Changes to Teacher Certification Requirements to Reduce Barriers to Certification While Maintaining Rigorous Standards: edTPA Requirement Would be Replaced with a Teacher Performance Assessment in New York State-Registe…   Public comment on the proposal will be accepted through February 28, 2022 via [email protected](link sends e-mail. ) It is anticipated the proposed amendment will be presented to the Board of Regents for adoption at the April 2022 meeting.

NYS Register. Proposed Rule Making: General Education Core in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirements   Proposed Amendment to Sections 52.21 and 80-3.7 to remove the General Education Core in the Liberal Arts and Sciences requirement for registered teacher preparation programs and the Individual Evaluation Pathway to teacher certification. Data, views or arguments may be submitted through Feb. 28, 2022 to: Petra Maxwell, NYS Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-2238, email: [email protected]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) Building a teacher pipeline: A Brooklyn high school’s new program hopes to train tomorrow’s educators   The goal is to eventually have the students graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in education that will enable them to be paraprofessionals while they also attend Brooklyn College to work toward their teaching credentials.
2) NYC to open new school for students with dyslexia, Banks says   The group has been in continuous talks with the education department and has been working to line up partners to help provide teacher training…

GLOBAL
National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). How Estonia is Addressing Its Teacher Shortage   The reforms are stretching from the classroom to teacher education: preparation programs are piloting “learn on the job” training programs and focusing on how to use digital tools to enhance learning and personalize education for students; and teacher education students are increasingly assuming new roles to support classroom teachers as they learn from them. 

Ottawa Citizen. Teacher candidates win ‘huge victory’ over province’s mandatory math test for educators: The test has 50 mathematics content questions and 21 questions about math pedagogy. The applicant has to score 70 per cent on both parts to pass.   A mandatory math test for those who want to become certified teachers is unconstitutional, an Ontario court has decided.

Times of India. 15 teacher training colleges in Odisha to come under higher education department.    According to the government resolution, all movable and immovable properties of the training colleges, including all accessories, stocks and stores, will come under the administrative control of the higher education department. All teaching staff of the training colleges who belong to Odisha Education Service cadre of higher education department shall be reverted from school and mass education department to the higher education department.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Members Only: Attend Educating for American Democracy Professional Development  3 day, 6 presentation seminar January 25-27

Chalkbeat.
1) Illinois school staffing shortages could persist for years, a new report finds   The state board is working with 24 colleges and universities throughout the state to recruit and retain teachers or color. The state board is also looking for ways to get more teachers of color to pass the state’s licensure exams and has invested money into early career teacher mentoring programs.
2) I’m a first-year teacher subbing all day and getting my degree at night. The burnout is real: My teacher training program is more draining — and deflating — than it needs to be. Here’s why.   I am very grateful to have the opportunity to learn how to teach in a classroom environment — without hands-on experience, I would never learn how to manage classroom behaviors like bullying, death threats, or backflips (I wish I were kidding). But the advice from the readings about effective pedagogy is rarely reflected in the way these courses are designed or taught.
3) ‘Whitewashing history’: Indiana teachers fear anti-CRT bill threatens lessons   Educators have professional training to lead students through necessary and painful discussions… if I were a young teacher at the beginning or middle of my career, the moment parents had the authority to question, berate, and barrage me for the way I was teaching and questioning what I was teaching, I would have to look for a new career or profession,” Orzechowicz said.

EdWeek. Schools Are Desperate for Substitutes and Getting Creative   Some states, including Kansas and Oregon have relaxed requirements for substitute teaching certification, allowing candidates with a high school diploma to apply…Some schools have also made more deliberate efforts to work with nearby teacher-preparation programs to build their substitute pools…

Forbes. Tennessee’s Pioneering Teacher Apprenticeship Program   … just established a permanent program allowing teachers to gain a license through an apprenticeship rather than a costly education degree. This new “Grow Your Own” model provides a sorely needed alternative to existing K-12 licensure systems, under which training the average teacher costs about $25,000 and requires 1,500 hours.

Hechinger Report. ‘Disruption is a huge catalyst for accelerating innovation. But it’s not a given’: A Q&A with Richard Culatta, chief executive officer of the International Society for Technology in Education   I know teachers have so much on their plates, and I know that there are lots of stresses, but until we take it seriously and put as much attention towards preparing teachers to use technology effectively, we’re gonna continue to have this sort of mediocre digital learning experience, at a time when we actually need digital tools more than we ever have before to help students in a year where there’s been a lot of interruptions in their learning.

Mississippi Dept. of Education. MDE awarding more than $9.8M in grants to five Mississippi universities to enroll more potential teachers in elementary and secondary education graduate degree programs   The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), through its Mississippi Teacher Residency (MTR) program, is awarding $9,886,468 in grants to five universities in the state to cover tuition and expenses for up to 240 individuals seeking a graduate degree in elementary and secondary education. The MDE is using American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to cover the grants.  

MSN. This Is the Most Unusually Popular College Degree in Ohio   According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the most concentrated degree in Ohio relative to the U.S. as a whole is teacher education. Adults in the state are about three times more likely to have a degree in the field than the typical American adult. An estimated 0.64% of adults in the state have a teacher education degree compared to 0.23% of adults nationwide.

New York Times. Some states in the U.S. are taking desperate measures to avoid closing schools.   Under New Mexico’s initiative, National Guard members and state workers must become licensed as substitute teachers or child care workers and fulfill the usual requirements for substitute teachers, such as background checks and a teaching workshop.

University of Wyoming. UW Professor Elected President of Association for Science Teacher Education   University of Wyoming Professor Andrea Burrows has been elected to serve as president of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) in 2023. The organization is a leading voice in conversations about science teacher education research, policy and practice.

U.S. Dept. of Education. Biden-Harris Administration Takes Actions to Support Students’ Basic Needs and Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 at Colleges and Universities   The American Rescue Plan provided nearly $40 billion for colleges and universities through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). The American Rescue Plan has made historic investments in many of our nation’s historic or under-resourced institutions that educate students whose communities were most acutely affected by the pandemic.

Wall Street Journal. Schools Struggle to Find Substitute Teachers as Omicron Surges: Facing shortage of subs, schools look to other employees, churches and parent groups in search for teachers   Hoping to ease the substitute crunch, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed an order Tuesday making it easier for retired teachers to fill in … Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to allow school secretaries and others to work as subs. The Kansas State Board of Education on Wednesday passed a measure allowing anyone 18 or older with a high school diploma to get an emergency substitute license, provided they pass a background check and have an employment commitment. The measure temporarily waives a rule that applicants must have at least 60 semester credit hours from an accredited college or university.

WSPA News (SC). Gov. McMaster plans to fund lower student-to-teacher ratios, higher salaries for teachers   “School districts will receive the funds necessary to support an average ratio of 11.7 students per teacher, with an average salary of $66,524 including benefits,” said Governor McMaster… “We applaud the governor in his commitment to do that, but the devil is in the details,” Schumacher said. “How are you going to do that when we’re seeing a really big decrease in the number of teachers that are coming out of our teacher education programs in South Carolina?”

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Hochul proposes $2.1 billion increase for NY schools, extension of NYC mayoral control   Hochul wants to spend $31.3 billion on school districts next fiscal year — about $2.1 billion more than what they currently receive from the state. That’s largely driven by a $1.6 billion increase in Foundation Aid, which districts can use most flexibly, including to hire more teachers… In her State of the State address, Hochul described multiple proposals to recruit more teachers to combat a shortage, including speeding up the certification process, creating a new teacher residency program…

NYSED. Statement from Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., the Board of Regents and State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa on Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget Proposal   We are grateful that the executive budget proposes to rebuild New York’s teacher workforce, make college more accessible for underserved students, and expand the pathways to good-paying careers. Additionally, the proposed investments in higher education will help to rebuild the state’s workforce.

Stony Brook University News. Physics Department Earns Top Honors for Teacher Preparation Program   The Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences was once again entered into The 5+ Club, the highest award available for teacher preparation from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a joint project of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). This impressive recognition is due to the Department’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program that graduated five or more qualified physics teachers during the 2020-2021 academic year, one of only nine institutions recognized in the nation. 

Times Union. Help build the teachers children rightly deserve   Traditional teacher education programs should partner with school districts, and support Hochul’s vision for an Empire State Teacher Residency Program. Elite boarding schools in the United States run highly effective teacher residency programs. They take promising students without a background in education and they slowly transition these students into full-time teaching. This is a model that we can use in the state, and it is exciting to see Hochul proposing a program like it.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. A Legacy in Community Building: Upon retirement, Nancy Streim looks back at a career of fostering TC’s local ties  “University-sponsored schools many times are about establishing hubs for teacher education and teacher professional development,” Streim explained. “Susan and I came at it with a different point of view – to establish the schools our neighbors wanted and then embed teacher preparation and development…”

GLOBAL
Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE).
1) CFP: ATEE Spring Conference 2022 Teacher Education and Practice: Foresight and Hindsight; 25-27 May [submission deadline 31 January]
2) Winter Conference: Teaching and Learning for an Inclusive, Interconnected World. [Sestri Levante, Italy 20-22 April]

EtornoInteligente. PM Holness Announces Comprehensive Review of Tvet System   Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a comprehensive review of the organisation and output of Jamaica’s technical and vocational education training system following receipt of the Education Transformation Commission’s report… “The way we train our teachers and the way our teachers teach in the school will have to move from one in which the teacher stands and delivers, and the students passively receive. We have scores of recommendations about the teaching profession, about teacher training and teaching itself, as well as curriculum and assessment as we move towards the realisation of or incorporation of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education,” Professor Patterson outlined.

European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). Education in a Changing World: The impact of global realities on the prospects and experiences of educational research 2020 ECER Yerevan [in-person 23-26 August] & ECER Plus [online 1-10 September]

UNITED STATES
EdPrep Lab. Webinar: Second Annual Virtual Policy Summit Addressing Teacher Shortages: Investing in a Strong Educator Workforce   At this virtual summit, join Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, and a distinguished panel of teacher preparation policy and practice experts who will discuss approaches to teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention that are effective, sustainable, and ultimately foster equity for the nation’s students. [Jan. 25, 1:30pm]

EdWeek.
1) Data Science Is the Future. Let’s Start Teaching It: The subject needs to be part of rigorous math prep leading to college and careers   The District of Columbia school system is partnering with American University to offer teacher training at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Stanford Graduate School of Education’s teacher education program (known as STEP) is launching a new preservice teacher education course on teaching high school data science that is responsive to multiple disciplines. 
2) Ind. Teachers Push Back Against Bill That Would Let Parents Vet School Curricula  Paul Farmer, a teacher in the Monroe County Community School Corporation, noted that the bill’s language requiring educators to separately post all classroom curricula online for parents — including lesson plans, worksheets, presentations and other materials — would be an additional workload for already stressed teachers. “Is this really going to decrease the number of teachers that go into education? The answer is yes, it will, because it’s going to scare them … because you can’t do it all,” Farmer said.
3) Teachers Deliver Less to Students of Color, Study Finds. Is Bias the Reason?   Specialized training, the diversification of the teacher workforce, and an overhaul of teacher preparation programs need to happen together, Cherng said, in part due to his study finding that teachers of color were not exempt from subscribing to anti-Black biases about their students. Cherng notes that teachers are often trained to teach in a way that ends up aligning with racial bias and teachers of color, in particular, are not trained to draw on their identities and backgrounds as assets for working with students of color.

Herald News. UMD program can help meet demand for Portuguese teachers   UMass Dartmouth Portuguese language faculty are hoping the growing demand for qualified teachers to teach Portuguese language and immersion programs around the nation will shine a spotlight on a one-of-a-kind program being offered at the university.

Lansing State Journal. Can MSU students solve Lansing’s substitute teacher shortage?   In a new partnership, MSU College of Education graduates will fulfill their student teaching requirements as paid substitutes in Lansing schools. Students selected for the residency will substitute teach once a week and be guaranteed a job once they’re certified. They also must participate in community engagement activities and live in the City of Lansing.

Learning Policy Institute (LPI).  Tackling Teacher Shortages: What Can States and Districts Do?   An especially important strategy for some of these districts—one that has proven critical during the pandemic—was the creation of teacher residency programs. In these programs, school districts and teacher preparation programs partner to provide residents with a yearlong apprenticeship under the guidance of an expert mentor teacher while residents complete tightly integrated coursework… comprehensive preparation is key to teacher retention and effectiveness, and that making teacher preparation affordable is essential to recruiting and retaining qualified teachers, especially for candidates of color, who face greater debt burdens and economic barriers to entry.

Missoulian. Board of Public Education discusses new teacher licensing system, annual report   Staff with the Office of Public Instruction provided an update on the new educator licensure system as well as the annual teacher licensure report to the Montana Board of Public Education… issued 1,646 new licenses and 62% of those were for standard teaching licenses, which means the educator has completed an accredited teacher preparation program with a bachelor’s degree… initial licenses have increased this year by almost 400 licenses…

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Pay increases and other non-obscure strategies to address the substitute teacher shortage   In most of these instances, the relaxation of education requirements consisted of only a moderate reduction in the number of college credits (or equivalent) required to qualify as a substitute teacher. Perhaps the biggest declines in education requirements have happened at the state level. Both Missouri and Kansas previously required a minimum of 60 college credits for substitutes, but now require only a high school diploma. 

New York Times. Teaching and Learning About Martin Luther King Jr. With The New York Times: How do you celebrate and teach the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., both on the holiday that celebrates his birth, and all year long?

Tennessee Dept. of Education. Tennessee Pioneers Permanent Program to Become a Teacher for Free, First State to Sponsor Registered Teacher Occupation Apprenticeship   Apprenticeship programs are high-quality, industry-driven, work-based learning pathways that provide individuals with hands-on work experience while earning a wage that increases during the progression of the program. The Teacher Occupation Apprenticeship will provide a national model and permanent Grow Your Own pathway for Tennesseans to become teachers for free and obtain high-quality jobs in their own communities.

Washington Post. Schools are facing dire staff shortages. Some are asking parents to step in.   At Hays Consolidated Independent School District, just south of Austin, parents are now considered qualified to fill in for absent teachers without the 30 college hours usually required, district spokesman Tim Savoy said in a statement. A flier posted on the district’s Facebook page says its schools are hiring “certified and eligible noncertified” substitute teachers.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED News & Notes.
*In an effort to streamline New York’s pathways to teaching, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) proposed last month to modify teacher certification requirements to reduce barriers to certification while maintaining rigorous standards. The proposed changes would eliminate the requirement for teacher candidates to pass the edTPA and replace it with a teacher performance assessment taken during a candidate’s student teaching or similar clinical experience in a New York State-registered teacher preparation program. Public comment on the proposal will be accepted through February 28, 2022 via [email protected].
*At its January meeting, the Board of Regents adopted two additional proposed regulatory amendments to streamline teacher certification requirements. The first proposed amendment relates to assessment requirements in school district leader, school district building leader, and Transitional D programs. Public comment on this proposed amendment will begin on January 26, 2022.
*The second proposed amendment relates to the exam requirement for the reissuance of an Initial certificate. Public comment on this proposed amendment will begin on January 26, 2022.
*Statement from Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., the Board of Regents, and State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa on Governor Hochul’s State of the State Address… The Governor’s proposal to address teacher shortages by providing incentives to enter the teaching profession, leveraging our state’s institutions of higher education to expand teacher recruitment, and making higher education more affordable are the steps necessary to build upon the Department’s efforts to grow and sustain a diverse and qualified teacher workforce.

NYSED Board of Regents. January Meeting
* Higher Education Proposed Amendments
1) Proposed Amendment… Relating to the Assessment Requirements for School District Leader (SDL) and School District Business Leader (SDBL) Program Completion, the Institutional Recommendation for Professional SDL and SDBL Certification, and the Institutional…
2) Proposed Amendment …Relating to the Requirements for the Reissuance of an Initial Certificate
* Higher Education Consent Agenda
1) Proposed Amendment … Relating to Removing References to Regional Accreditation
2) Proposed Amendment … Relating to the Definition of “University

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College.
1) Leading for Educational Equity in New York: The Case for Emancipatory Leadership  TC Prof. Sonya Douglass Horsford, in conversation with NYCDOE Chancellor Banks and NYSED Board of Regents Chancellor Young. REGISTRATION NOW OPEN [Thurs. Jan. 27 5:30pm]
2) Teaching for Writing Improvement  provides teachers and other educators with information about how to teach writing to elementary, middle and high school students who do not have full proficiency in writing. Participants receive 20 Clock Hours and 20 CTLEs [March 31- April 24, 2022]
3) Virtual Seminar: The Pandemic as a Portal to New Futures in Education  Please join Bank Street College, Teachers College, and Erikson Institute for a 90-minute special event featuring educators and parents who contributed articles to Bank Street Occasional Paper Series #46, “The Pandemic as a Portal: On Transformative Ruptures and Possible Futures for Education.”  This issue, which was guest-edited by Mariana Souto-Manning, President, Erikson Institute launched in October to examine how inequities in schooling and education have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic… [Jan. 21 5-6:30 pm]

GLOBAL
Daily Mirror. Teacher Training College of Fine Arts Moves to convert historic institute to a school   Sri Lanka Art Educationists Association has written to the Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardene and State Minister Susil Premajayantha saying that a video was released to the public containing a proposal that the Teacher Training College of Fine Arts be converted to a school due to lack of teachers in the school.   This is the only Teachers Training College of Fine Arts in the country at present.

Hindustan Times. Security agency warned of ‘grave threat’ prior to PM Modi’s Ferozepur rally   The report predicted demonstrations organised by members of Elementary Teacher Training-Teacher Eligibility Test (ETT/TET) pass Teachers Union and Sikh Radical organizations.

National Indigenous Times (AUS). National Early Childhood Strategy announced for First Nations children   Acting Minister for Education and Youth, Stuart Robert, commented that this pilot will improve quality and increase access to training and development for Indigenous educators.

UNITED STATES
Associated Press. American Indian College Fund Launches $2.25 Million Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi Native Teacher Education Program   The American Indian College Fund is launching a two-and-a-half-year Native teacher education program at tribal colleges and universities serving Native communities across the country to support teacher recruitment, development, and retention. Funding for the program is provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

EdPrep Lab. Second Annual Virtual Policy Summit Addressing Teacher Shortages: Investing in a Strong Educator Workforce [Jan 25, 2022 01:30 PM]

EdWeek. The 2022 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. TC faculty incl: J. Brooks-Gunn, S. Cohodes, C. Emdin, J. Henig, S. Horsford, H. Levin. A. Pallas. J. Scott-Clayton, Y. Sealey-Ruiz, A. S. Wells

Forbes. 7 Ways Our Intuition Can Mislead Us About Learning   1. Children don’t need systematic instruction in phonics. Evidence shows that many or even most kids do need this kind of instruction to become fluent “decoders” of written text—and fluent decoding is key to comprehension. But those who train reading teachers have generally resisted the evidence, and teachers’ intuition about what’s working can be misleading… It would certainly help if teacher-training programs disseminated accurate information, as a handful are now beginning to do.

Hechinger Report. Why we could soon lose even more Black Teachers: America has long had a teacher diversity problem, and the strains of the last two years are poised to make it worse   A year and a half ago, officials in Mississippi temporarily waived many of the licensure exam requirements for new teachers, as well as test score requirements for students entering teacher preparation programs… Between 2018 and 2020, the number of people of color entering educator preparation programs jumped by more than 500 percent. (The growth in the number of white candidates was about 44 percent.)

The Daily News (Longview, WA). Lower Columbia College opens applications for new groups of four-year degree students   The Teacher Education program is for people seeking endorsements in elementary education, which is kindergarten through eighth grade; or early childhood education, which is preschool through third grade. There also is an option for people who want to work with young children in early care and education settings but who do not want teaching certification.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York Gov. Hochul offers first look at education priorities   Hochul is proposing to speed up the teacher certification process and incentivize more people to become educators… allow teachers, counselors, social workers, and other positions with shortages to immediately begin working without waiting through the education department’s approval process… Hochul also wants to add more staffers to the department’s certification office to speed up what she described as a “lengthy” approval process. It currently takes about 16 weeks, according to the department’s website… To get more teachers into the pipeline, Hochul has proposed a new state teaching residency program. It would provide matching funding to local school districts so they can create two-year programs for graduate-level teacher candidates, who would be eligible for either reduced or free tuition at SUNY, CUNY, or partnering private colleges.

Governor Kathy Hochul. New York State of the State. Section VII: Rebuild New York’s School System and Reimagine Higher Education *Provide Incentives to Attract More Teachers and School Workers… *Accelerate the Teacher Certification Process… Create at State Teacher Residency Program… *Fund New Cohorts of the Master Teacher Program… *Upskill Teacher Support Workers to Earn Their Certifications [see p. 169ff]

NYSED Office of Higher Education December Newsletter
*Board Of Regents December Items
1) Teacher performance assessment. The Department proposed a regulatory amendment that would modify the teacher performance assessment requirement by eliminating the edTPA requirement for certification…
2) General Core in Liberal Arts and Science Requirement. The Department proposed a regulatory amendment that would remove the general education core in LAS requirement for registered teacher preparation programs…
3) Teacher Certification Study. Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands REL staff presented key findings from a study on New York State teacher shortages and certification to the Board of Regents.
4) School Counselor Bilingual Education Extension. The Board of Regents adopted a regulatory amendment that creates the Bilingual Education extension and Supplementary Bilingual Education extension for the new Initial and Professional School Counselor certificates that will begin to be issued on February 2, 2023.
* Fingerprinting Fee Decrease

NEW YORK CITY
InsideHigherEd. Touro System Will Build New Times Square Campus   Touro, a nonprofit institution of higher and professional education under Jewish auspices, will house the College of Pharmacy, New York School of Career & Applied Studies, Graduate School of Business, Graduate School of Education…. Touro said it plans to move into the new space in January 2023.

Teachers College Center for Educational Equity. Civic Education: Essential for Sustaining U.S. Democracy Webinar [Jan 21, 2022 11:00 AM]

GLOBAL
Japan Times. A dramatic shift: Subject teachers in Japan’s grade schools   Beginning in April 2022, fifth and sixth grade students in Japan’s public elementary schools will have different teachers for different subjects — a change from the current system where a homeroom teacher essentially teaches everything from math and science to physical education. The dramatic revision is aimed at easing the burden on teachers — who currently must prepare for all subjects — and allow them to refine their teaching skills and improve their students’ learning experience.

Mayer D., Goodwin A.L., Mockler N. (2021) Teacher Education Policy: Future Research, Teaching in Contexts of Super-Diversity and Early Career Teaching. In: Mayer D. (eds) Teacher Education Policy and Research. Springer, Singapore.  There are remarkable similarities in teacher education policy in each of the 13 nations and, while most nations have a history of intense political interest in reforming teacher education, there are many instances of strong and influential leadership by teacher educators through their research, agency and partnerships, and practices. 

The National UAE. Trusting teachers drives innovation in education, Dubai conference told: Ministers from around world spoke of the importance of giving staff the skills to shape young minds   Liina Kersna, Estonia’s Minister of Education and Research, said… “We highly value schools and teacher’s autonomy, and teacher education. Our teachers must hold a master’s degree which means five years of universities and one year of in-service training,”

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Action Needed: Urge Your Members of Congress To Co-Sponsor the Educators for America Act The bill specifically calls for:
* Authorizing two, $500 million grant … as well as expanding partnership programs such as the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP)
* …support historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions in expanding and strengthening their educator preparation programs
* Doubling TEACH Grants to $8,000 per year…

Chalkbeat.
1) Michigan lawmakers create a pathway for school support staff to substitute teach   Lawmakers passed a bill late Tuesday temporarily allowing school support staff to substitute teach even if they don’t have a single college credit. The Republican-sponsored bill passed on near party lines. It’s unclear if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, will sign it into law.
2) When I was 14, an English teacher saved my life without knowing it   She doesn’t know this, but I credit my life to Ms. Hunt’s presence. I eventually became a teacher myself in the hope I could maybe be a figure like Ms. Hunt to another lonely eighth grader struggling to see her place in the world. [Kelly Gleischman (she/her) is the managing partner of EdFuel, a national nonprofit that supports schools to recruit and retain high-quality, diverse teaching staff.]

NEA News. Educators Share 6 Ways the Build Back Better Act Can Support Students, Schools  The Build Back Better Act will begin to address the educator shortage by investing in educator recruitment and retention to address shortages and diversifying the profession, including Grow Your Own programs and teacher residencies   

U.S. Congress. Educators for America Act   The purposes are to build the capacity of educator preparation programs to ensure all students have access to profession-ready educators; recruit new and diverse educators into the profession; invest in partnerships between higher education, state and local partners, and support innovation to meet the changing need of students.

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents December meetings
2022–2023 State Aid Proposal  Improve the Educator Certification Process: $1.5 million for Department staff to improve teacher and school building leader certification review process timeframes… Increase Access to a Highly Qualified Diverse Teaching Workforce: $5 million to increase the participation rate of underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals in teaching careers through the Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC) II program.

2022-2023 Non-State Aid Proposal
* Improving the Educator Certification Process. Funding Critical Staff Needs: Approximately $1.5 million in new state funding is needed to hire seven additional staff members in OTI. OTI Modernization: The Department is requesting that the 2022-2023 enacted budget enable the Department to access the entire $8 million prior year balance to support the cost of a technology project to overhaul and enhance the online TEACH educator certification application system. This technology upgrade will help to make the application process easier for individuals and reduce the OTI processing time for applications.

* Technology Modernization of the Office of College & University Evaluation (OCUE). Funding Critical Staff Needs: The Department is requesting $65,792 in new state funding to hire an Administrative Specialist 1 to provide support for OCUE Modernization Project.  OCUE Modernization: The Department has requested Division of Budget (DOB) approval to allocate $8.5 million to update technology and build an online system for evaluating and approving college and university programs from the $100M appropriation included in the 2021-22 enacted budget for agency related technology improvement projects.

* Increasing Access to a Highly Qualified, Diverse Teaching Workforce – Expand TOC II: $5 million in new state funds to establish a separately appropriated Teacher Opportunity Corps II program to increase the number of certified educators of color. Under this expansion, the Department projects to increase the number of TOC II programs across the state from 17 to over 30 and/or to increase the number of TOC II students served from 544 to up to 1,451.

Higher Education Sub-Committee
* Teacher Certification Reports Key findings on New York State Teacher Shortages and Certification, studies conducted and presented by Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands (REL)

* Presentation on Proposed Teacher Performance Assessment Requirement Changes

* Proposed Amendment… Relating to the Teacher Performance Assessment Requirement for Certification and Establishing a Teacher Performance Assessment Requirement for Registered Teacher Preparation Programs  … proposed regulatory amendment to modify the teacher performance assessment requirement by eliminating the requirement of the edTPA for certification and, instead, requiring that New York State registered teacher preparation programs develop or choose their own teacher performance assessment according to a proposed definition of a teacher performance assessment in New York State. Given this proposed change, Department staff will also propose to remove the edTPA safety net, edTPA multiple measures review process, and Conditional Initial certificate in the classroom teaching service from the regulations.  

* Proposed Amendment… Relating to the General Education Core in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirement for Registered Teacher Preparation Programs and the Individual Evaluation Pathway to Teacher Certification proposed regulatory amendment to remove the general core education in liberal arts and sciences requirement for New York State registered teacher preparation programs and the individual evaluation pathway to certification.

* Proposed Amendment… Relating to the Requirements for the Reissuance of an Initial Certificate   The Department is therefore proposing to remove the requirement that these candidates complete 50 clock hours of CTLE and/or professional learning to obtain a reissuance of their Initial certificate.

Consent Agenda
Relating to the Creation of the Bilingual Education Extension, Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension, and Registration Requirements for Programs Leading to the Bilingual Education Extension for Initial and Professional School Counselor Certificates   The Department is proposing to create the Bilingual Education extension and Supplementary Bilingual Education extension for the new Initial and Professional School Counselor certificates, continuing these extension options for school counselors in the future… If adopted at the December 2021 meeting, the proposed amendments will become effective on December 29, 2021.

NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives. Teacher Performance Assessment Proposal Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

NYSED Press Release. State Education Department Proposes Changes to Teacher Certification Requirements to Reduce Barriers to Certification While Maintaining Rigorous Standards   …edTPA Requirement Would be Replaced with a Teacher Performance Assessment in New York State-Registered Teacher Preparation Programs Public Comment will be Accepted Through February 28 via  [email protected](link sends e-mail). It is anticipated the proposed amendment will be presented to the Board of Regents for adoption at the April 2022 meeting. If the Board adopts the proposal, New York State-registered teacher preparation programs would have until September 1, 2023 to integrate a teacher performance assessment into teacher candidates’ student teaching or similar clinical experience.

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)  NYSUT applauds Regents for plan to eliminate edTPA requirements    “We’ve heard too many stories about edTPA’s needlessly onerous requirements and costs negatively impacting the student-teaching experience. It’s policies like this that drive people away from the profession before they even get started in their own classroom. We thank Commissioner Rosa, Chancellor Young, Regents Cashin, Collins and their colleagues on the Board for hearing educators’ concerns and taking firm steps like this toward ensuring the next generation of students will have the high-quality educators they need to be successful.”

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) Could NYC families once again have a remote option? Incoming Chancellor David Banks says yes: In a Q&A with Chalkbeat, David Banks talks about remote learning, reading instruction, school segregation, and more.   I think our fundamental approach to how we’re teaching is flawed… A lot of our schools across New York City are teaching at the earliest grades through a balanced literacy approach. And I think there’s growing research that’s been talking about the fact that balanced literacy has not really worked, and particularly for Black and brown kids. The phonetic approach to teaching of reading is something that I think has been missing.
2) New York City Council punts on bill to reduce class sizes after school officials said the proposal was unworkable   Reducing class sizes can require hiring more inexperienced teachers which can dampen the academic benefits, according to a study focused on New York City…Adding roughly 100,000 classroom seats would have come at a steep cost: roughly $993 million a year over 30 years… That figure does not include the cost of hiring additional teachers to staff smaller classrooms

Hechinger Report. Students need more computer training for our increasingly digital world   City University of New York has developed robust professional learning experiences for educators, such as integrating computational thinking into the coursework and field experience of teacher education programs.

Teachers College.
1) Leading for Educational Equity in New York: The Case for Emancipatory Leadership.  hosted by the Black Education Research Collective (BERC) at Teachers College Professor Sonya Douglass Horsford, Founding Director of BERC, in conversation with Chancellor Lester Young, Jr. New York Board of Regents, and incoming Chancellor David Banks, New York City Department of Education.  Thursday, January 27 5:30 [viewing details to follow]
2) New Research and Applications for Teaching Reading Workshop   online asynchronous course March 4-April 16; 12 clock hours CTLE credit; Facilitator: Dr. S. G. Masullo
3) The Pandemic as a Portal to New Futures in Education   Please join Bank Street College, Teachers College, and Erikson Institute for a 90-minute special event featuring educators and parents who contributed articles to Bank Street Occasional Paper Series #46, “The Pandemic as a Portal: On Transformative Ruptures and Possible Futures for Education.”  Friday, January 21, 5PM

GLOBAL
European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). CFP Education in a Changing World: The impact of global realities on the prospects and experiences of educational research [deadline 31 Jan.]

MTL Blog. Quebec Has New Scholarships Ranging From $9K To $20K For Students In 6 Fields   The government has identified six in-demand sectors. These are health and social services, education, early childhood education and care, engineering, information technology and construction.

The Guardian. Staff absences having ‘massive impact’ on pupils in England say head teachers: More than half of 1,000 senior teachers surveyed say they have insufficient staff due to absences caused by Covid and illnesses   Last year, there was a welcome spike in applications for initial teacher training, amid fears over the impact of the pandemic on jobs. Just 82% of the DfE’s target for secondary trainees was reached this year, well short of last year’s peak of 103% and below even the 83% achieved in 2019.

UNESCO. 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report on non-state actors in education, Who chooses? Who loses?    Chapter 7 unpacks the special case of tertiary education, where expansion of private provision has been rapid in several countries, posing particular challenges for governments that wish to promote equity and assure quality. Post-secondary teacher training institutions are another area in which non-state provision has emerged.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. AACTE Endorses Educators for America Act   The legislation, introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), addresses crises in educator preparation, including the growing teacher shortage, fewer students completing bachelor’s degrees in education, and the lack of diversity in the profession.

Boston Globe. An Andover preschool hired an unusual teacher’s aide: a robot   The district first connected with Bolat, a father to an adult son with autism and a Navy veteran, this summer. He introduced Stetson to a slate of MOVIA robots, each built to aid people with intellectual disabilities… “We worked extensively with teachers and therapists to create their personalities and the lesson plans,” Bolat said…MOVIA needs teachers to keep the robots attuned to educational advances and children’s responses.

Chalkbeat.
1) Child care staffing shortages across Pennsylvania persist, but solutions taking shape  … the state’s Teacher Education and Compensation Helps Early Childhood, or TEACH, program…a public-private partnership including businesses, foundations and government that offers scholarships to help child care workers improve their education and their compensation. Through TEACH, the college courses are free, and she gets paid release time during the work day to attend them. It is a powerful incentive.
2) Michigan dyslexia bills launch debate over supporting struggling readers   The bills require school districts to screen students for dyslexia characteristics and increase teacher training requirements so teachers are better able to identify and address reading problems… Several of the state’s largest teacher preparation programs previously told Chalkbeat that they already cover dyslexia and the science of reading.

Education Week. 4 Changes Schools Can Make to Recruit Teachers of Color and Keep Them Around   1. Establish teacher residency programs   2. Advocate for states to rethink the use of teacher certification exams or establish alternative certification requirements 3. Establish ‘grow your own’ programs 4. Provide targeted specific training and support for teachers of color

New York Times.
1) In Texas, a Battle Over What Can Be Taught, and What Books Can Be Read   As for the state’s attempt to ban critical race theory, for all the Republicans’ talk, the Texas law makes no mention of the term. Aspects of critical race theory are influential in some teacher colleges, and shape how some administrators and teachers approach race and ideas of white privilege. Yet no one has identified a Texas high school class that teaches the theory.
2) How Public Preschool Can Help, and How to Make Sure It Doesn’t Hurt: Congress is considering universal pre-K and subsidies for child care   The bill in Congress includes quality thresholds. It says that within six years, all children should be able to secure a spot in a center of the highest quality. It also has grants that include teacher training and building improvements. 

U.S. Congress. S.879 – Civics Secures Democracy Act.  SEC. 105. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. (a) Program Authorized.—The Secretary of Education is authorized to make grants to institutions of higher education, on a competitive basis, to assist such institutions in developing and implementing programs to train elementary and secondary school teachers in methods for instructing and engaging students in civics and history.

Washington Post.
1) D.C.’s struggle to hire more diverse teachers — and keep them: Latino educators remain sparse, even in the city’s largely Latino schools   Nineteen percent of the city’s students, meanwhile, were Latino or Hispanic, compared with 7 percent of teachers. The latter gap was even wider in Wards 1 and 4, where “15 percent and 10 percent of teachers are Hispanic/Latino, respectively, but 58 percent and 40 percent of students are Hispanic/Latino,” the report said… “What message does that send to [students]? That Latinx people don’t or can’t become teachers,” Sanchez, who has since moved to Garrison Elementary, said of those disparities in an interview. “There’s so much messaging that happens on kind of a subconscious level.”
2) GOP resistance to preschool plan could imperil key Biden proposal in many states   The president’s plan would also require states to implement new standards for what children learn in the classroom, upgrade credentials for hiring new preschool instructors and mandate higher teacher pay than most states do currently…

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Board of Regents. December meeting agenda

New York State Register. Rule Making Activities Education Department: Definition of the Term “Year of Experience” for Permanent or Professional Certification. Candidates in the classroom teaching, educational leadership, and pupil personnel service must complete … at least three years of experience for the Professional certificate… To allow for additional types of experiences, the Department is proposing to revise the definition to provide a single definition of a year of experience for Permanent or Professional certification, which would be defined as: * a minimum of 180 days in a 12-month period of full-time satisfactory experience, or its equivalent, in an educational setting acceptable to the Department. Data, views or arguments may be submitted before Jan. 28, 2022 to: Petra Maxwell, NYS Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-2238, email: [email protected]

New York Times. SUNY Leader to Resign After Disparaging Cuomo Victim: Jim Malatras, the chancellor of the State University of New York, said he would resign after text messages showed he had belittled a woman who had accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. It’s official: David Banks will be NYC’s next schools chancellor   Banks, 59, has a long track record as an educator stretching back to 1986 when he began as a teacher at P.S. 167 in Crown Heights, a post he held for five years before becoming the school’s dean of students for a year…

Gothamist. Teachers Union, Parents Push For Class Size Bill As Legislative Session Winds Down   According to the city’s Independent Budget Office, under the bill originally proposed, nearly half the city’s 1,600 schools would not be able to comply with the class size legislation. Schools would also have to hire additional teachers to accommodate smaller classes.

NY Daily News. NYC teachers union pressures City Council to vote on class size bill before end of the year.  The union projects that the amended bill would require the city to hire an additional 11,000 teachers over the next five years — outlays he said could be funded by the recent influx of state and federal funding.

NYTimes. David Banks, Educator and Adams Ally, Is Next N.Y.C. Schools Chancellor    Mr. Banks earned his law degree from St. John’s in Queens and worked for the city’s law department and the state attorney general before becoming a public school teacher in Crown Heights… Mr. Banks has already begun to build out his cabinet. Daniel Weisberg, who served as the lead labor strategist for schools under former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and now runs an organization focused on teacher training and quality, will serve as Mr. Banks’s first deputy. 

Teachers College. Advocacy at Teachers College. Join Tuesday, December 14 at 12pm ET for an Advocacy Academy workshop to learn about the federal, bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy bill (see U.S. Congress above) that would improve civics education; we’ll also write letters to Congress in support of the bill [hosted by Dr. Matt Camp]

The Action Network. Please bring the class size bill to a vote!  Please send a letter today to NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, urging him to bring the bill that would require smaller classes, Intro 2374, to a vote.  We only have one week before nearly the entire NYC Council turns over.

The Nation. To Reduce Inequality in Our Education System, Reduce Class Sizes   New York City has a rare opportunity to pass a hugely popular bill to shrink class sizes. So why are the mayor and the City Council speaker standing in its way?   The legislation currently has 41 cosponsors out of 50 members—a supermajority that could overturn the mayor’s likely veto. Yet the vote on this bill has been delayed by Speaker Corey Johnson… time is running out. If the City Council doesn’t vote on the bill by December 16, it will have to be reintroduced and reconsidered by a largely new council under a different speaker.