Tag: Teacher Education

GLOBAL
Education International. Africa’s education leadership works towards union unity  Sossion went on to underline the seven signals of teacher deprofessionalisation, which is another major challenge for African teacher unions, i.e. the influx of untrained teachers, the casualisation of teaching…

Deutsche Welle. OECD education study reveals gender gap and strong disparity  Among young people studying to become teachers, the reverse is true: 78 percent of them are female.

NYTimes. Mexican Students Hijack Tanker Truck, Buses and Kidnap Cops  The events marked the latest chapter of violence at a rural teachers college where 43 students were kidnapped in 2014 and remain missing.

UNITED STATES
Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity. An Overview of MSI Educator Preparation Programs

Center for American Progress. America Needs More Teachers of Color and a More Selective Teaching Profession  States, teacher preparation programs, and alternative certification programs are taking steps to build a more diverse and selective pool of educators.

Chalkbeat.
1) Certification rules and tests are keeping would-be teachers of color out of America’s classrooms. Here’s how.  A Chalkbeat analysis has found that virtually every step in the common teacher certification process risks disproportionately excluding prospective teachers of color.
2) Efforts to ‘raise the bar’ for becoming a teacher are running headlong into efforts to diversify the profession. Now what?  But there has been only limited discussion of the fact that these two objectives — diversifying the profession and making it harder to enter — are often at cross purposes,
3) This top-rated black teacher may lose her job over one test. Are ‘high standards’ working? David Steiner, a professor at Johns Hopkins and a member of the Maryland State Board of Education… “What’s racist is the way we put the least well prepared teachers in the classrooms of our most disadvantaged students,” he said.

Council of Chief State School Officers. Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States

Deans for Impact. The elusive evidence of educator-prep program effectiveness…exists!  If we do not gather more actionable data, policymakers will either craft accountability policies based on questionable statistics, or follow the lead of states such as Utah and Arizona that are de-professionalizing teaching entirely.

Education Reform Now. Teacher Education Reform Now  Recent history validates that the current teacher preparation program accreditor, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), is no better than other accreditors… 

EdWeek.
1) Could an App Help Teachers Recognize Their Own Biases?  The app will be available for free by the end of the year, according to Shah. Once completed, he hopes teacher-prep programs and school districts will use EQUIP to train preservice and even veteran teachers.
2) Kansas education board struggles with teacher shortage  A teacher vacancy committee has recommended an elementary licensing process that would require a district to identify people with “great potential” to be a teacher… The process to become a licensed elementary school teacher would take two years.
3) Parents Prefer Good Neighborhood Schools Over More Choice, Poll Finds  When asked how to improve teaching, 73 percent of parents said to treat teachers like professionals, raise hiring standards, and give new and struggling teachers more support and training.
4) State school board proposes lowering teacher requirements  The Charleston [WV] Gazette-Mail reported Saturday that among the proposed changes are exempting education bachelor’s degree holders who meet minimum grade point averages from having to pass a basic knowledge test.
5) State School Chiefs Offer ‘Playbook’ on Improving Teacher Preparation
6) Teachers’ Pay Lags Farthest Behind Other Professionals in U.S., Study Finds  “While the rest of the world has prioritized teaching and learning, and is investing heavily in equity and teacher preparation, 36 U.S. states are spending less on education than before the Great Recession,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers…

NEPC. Our Children Deserve Better: A Call to Resist Washington’s Dangerous Vision for U.S. Education   The rhetoric  and  reforms  that  attack  and  undermine teachers serve to lower the standards for teaching, hinder effective teaching  practices,  create  revolving  doors  of  employment,  de-professionalize  teaching,  and  deregulate  teacher  preparation.

New York Post [OpEd]. The outrageously mythical ‘teacher shortage’  Mike Antonucci, director of the Education Intelligence Agency, adds that, between 2008 and 2016, student enrollment was flat but the teaching force expanded from 3.4 million to more than 3.8 million, a rise of 12.4 percent.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York’s most controversial teacher certification exam is now a little easier to pass  The Board of Regents voted Tuesday to drop the passing score on the edTPA … from 41 to 38 starting in January 2018.

Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities.
1) CICU Member Campus CEO Sign-on Letter: Masters-in-Education
2) CICU opposes SUNY Charter School Institute’s proposed teacher certification regulation

Education Reform Now. On Teacher Prep, Give SUNY Charter Schools A Chance to Succeed Where Others Have Failed  …in general the research indicates a weak relationship between specific teacher certification standards and student outcomes.

Education Week.
1) How Virtual Reality Is Helping Train New Teachers  David Cantaffa, an assistant provost for educator preparation for the State University of New York, the project funder, was surprised by the extent to which the VR made him feel transported to the classroom.
2) New York Lowers Required Score on Teacher Certification Exam  A task force of more than 30 representatives from higher education and K-12 has been working on amending the edTPA requirements over the last nearly two years. 

NYSED.
1) edTPA Handbook Review Survey – Deadline Oct. 1:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/edtpahandbook2017
2) Board Of Regents Approves NY’S Every Student Succeeds Act Plan
3) Board Of Regents Revises Teacher Certification Requirements  The Standard Setting Panel recommended a passing score of 40 (the current passing score is 41) that would be implemented after a four-year phase-in period [passing score of 38 during 2018 and 2019].
4) Board of Regents Approves Learning Standards for the Arts

NYSED Board of Regents, Sept. Meeting.
1) Proposed Amendment to Section 80-5.17 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to Permanently Extend the Option for Certain Out-of-State Candidates to be Eligible for a Conditional Initial Certificate
2) Update on the edTPA Standard Setting Committee and Amendment to Section 80-1.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to Extend the edTPA Safety Net and Revise the Eligibility Criteria for the Multiple Measures Review Process  Under the recommended phase-in period beginning January 1, 2018, the new passing score for the edTPA would be 38.

NYTimes [OpEd]. A Way to Get Great Teachers Into the Classroom  So as a teacher who recently had to jump through the New York certification hoops, I was pleased to learn that the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, which authorizes charter operators, is considering allowing charter schools to certify their teachers themselves. 

TimesUnion. New York just made it easier for teachers to get certified

NEW YORK CITY
CBS New York. New York City Schools Are Inadequate On Sex Education, Stringer Says  Stringer’s audit also found that 88 percent of middle schools and high schools in the city do not have a licensed health education teacher – with most of them being middle schools. Also, in middle and high schools, 97 percent of health instructors are not licensed, the audit said.

Chalkbeat.
1) Diverse charter schools in New York City to get boost from Walton money  The Century Foundation and researchers at Teachers College at Columbia University and Temple University will receive additional funding from Walton to study diverse charter schools…
2) New York City wants to know: How effective is its training for pre-K teachers?  The NYU study will use measures of student behavior such as self-regulation, third-grade test scores, and how often students are held back to track the impact of the city’s different teacher training programs.

National Review. How a Democratic New York City Councilwoman Became a Crusader for School Choice  In this book, I’ve recounted some of what I saw: textbooks that arrived halfway through the school year; … forcing prospective teachers to waste half a day getting fingerprinted.

Teachers College.
1) Ensuring that Every Student Succeeds: TC’s Goodwin and Parkes offer advice to New York State on implementing ESSA  New York … must do more to afford aspiring teachers substantial time in the field to gain deep and detailed classroom knowledge; to ensure that its teaching force mirrors students’ diversity; and to remove certification requirements that discourage both teacher diversity and excellence.
2) New TR@TC website

GLOBAL
Education International. Mexico: global campaign demands justice for 43 missing Mexican students  On September 26th, 2014, students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College gathered to head to Mexico City  to attend the commemoration of the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre

Education Week.
1) Cellphones, Apps Power Learning for Syrian Refugees  …there’s limited information about how tech access will affect educational outcomes, if at all, said Mary Mendenhall, an assistant professor of practice in the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College.
2) Mexico offers teaching jobs to ‘dreamers’ returning from US

NCEE. Empowered Educators Aug. 24th Webinar. Featuring: L. Darling-Hammond, A. Lin Goodwin, Pasi Sahlberg, Marc Tucker, etc.

Unite for Quality Education. Evaluating the Liberian School Privatisation Program  Considering that PSL schools receive enormous increases in spending and inspection, and, as the midline report notes, had “first pick of better trained” recently graduated teachers, this situation has the potential to create a two-tiered education system in Liberia.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. How Teacher Education Can Elevate Teacher Quality: Highlights From Sept./Oct. JTE

Business Insider. America’s teacher shortage is leading some states to lower their requirements to become one  A teacher shortage has led legislators in several states to lower requirements to become a public school educator.

Chalkbeat.
1) Teachers protected by DACA launch a new school year under a threatening cloud  Teach For America is joining many other education organizations in continuing to lobby Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.
2) XQ is taking over TV to make the case that high school hasn’t changed in 100 years. But is that true?  …Ansley Erickson, an assistant professor of history and education at Columbia University Teachers College. But, she said, there has been a massive transformation of high school…  Schneider elaborated on what has changed: “A century ago, teachers were largely untrained and oversaw very large classes in which rote memorization was the rule.

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). CFP

Education Week.
1) Could an Apprenticeship Be a Viable Way to Prepare Special Educators?  An Ohio teacher-educator has an idea that she thinks will fill persistant teacher shortages in special education fields—and potentially revolutionize teacher preparation.
2) Differences in Performance WITHIN Schools: Why So Much Greater Than in Other Countries?  New teachers, fresh out of teachers college, get very little support from the veteran teachers and often leave the occupation early feeling they have failed at teaching.
3) Senate Panel Rejects Trump Teacher-Funding Cut, School Choice Proposals  The legislation would leave intact the main federal programs aimed at teacher training and after-school funding.
4) Trump School Choice Proposals, K-12 Cuts Again Rebuffed by Senators But the teacher training program isn’t out of the woods just yet. The House of Representatives spending bill, which will have to be conferenced with the Senate measure, would seek to scrap that program entirely

NYTimes.
1) Football Favoritism at F.S.U.: The Price One Teacher Paid  Ms. Suggs decided to leave Florida State, after five years, with an education specialist degree — one step short of her doctorate.
2) More Protests of Trump’s Plan to End DACA Expected  “It’s like my life is crumbling on top of me,” said Salgado, who graduated from Murray State University in Kentucky last year and in is her second year as a high school Spanish teacher just outside Nashville, Tennessee.
3) Silicon Valley Courts Brand-Name Teachers, Raising Ethics Issues  “Teachers can’t help but be seduced to make greater use of the technology, given these efforts by tech companies,” said Samuel E. Abrams, director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Wall Street Journal. Teacher Shortage Prompts Some States to Lower the Bar  In the face of a worsening teacher shortage, several states around the country are loosening requirements for credentials that will make it easier to teach in public school classrooms.

Washington Post.
1) Most teachers believe that kids have different ‘learning styles.’ Here’s why they are wrong.  I frequently hear from teachers that they learned about the theory in teacher education classes. I’ve looked at all of the well-known educational psychology textbooks, and none of them present the idea as correct. But neither do they debunk it.
2) The false narrative behind a glitzy live television show about school reform  But a century ago, almost everything else was different. Teachers were largely untrained. Rote memorization was the rule. Students brought a hodgepodge of books from home and were instructed in an unpredictable range of content. 

WCVS [Virginia]. Superintendents fear teacher shortage is near ‘crisis situation’  We checked the numbers at UVA-Wise. In 2011, the teacher education program had 60 students enrolled. This year, that number is down to just 29.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. After blasting Success’s board chair, Chancellor Rosa to visit Success Academy on first day of school  At a recent conference, Rosa strongly condemned a policy shift that would benefit Success Academy — a SUNY proposal to allow charter schools to certify their own teachers.

Education Week. Some New York Charter Schools May Soon Certify Their Own Teachers  …training for charter school teachers working toward the special license (30 hours of instruction and 100 hours of classroom training) wouldn’t even equal that of a cosmetologist (1,000 hours of instruction), or a real estate broker (120 hours of instruction and two years of on-the-job experience.)

Hechinger Report. OPINION: As New York City pubic schools open, here are three strategies to help every student succeed under the new education law [OpEd by A. L. Goodwin & K. Parkes]

HuffPost. Opposition Rallies Against Plan To Put Unqualified People In Classrooms  Comments can be submitted online or mailed to Charter Schools Institute, State University of New York, 41 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 by September 10.

Lohud. NY teachers wanted: Here’s why  New York has nearly 8,600 fewer active educators than it did five years ago, and the number of SUNY students majoring in education has dropped 50 percent since 2007, fueling fears of a looming teacher shortage across the state.

NY DailyNews. Let charter schools certify teachers  Charter schools wouldn’t be starting from scratch, because many already run their own teacher training programs.

NYSED. Comments on the Governance, Structure and Operations of SUNY Authorized Charter Schools Pertaining to Teacher Compliance

TimesUnion.
1) New York education leaders: Scrap charter school teacher proposal: Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa speak out
2) There’s more than one way to train a great teacher  The most vocal critics of this approach are entrenched in traditional university schools of education. With some notable exceptions, universities fail to train the teaching force that kids need.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. With Trump moving to end DACA, New York City leaders pledge support for students and teachers  Teach for America has actively recruited almost 200 “DACA-mented” teachers to its corps. New York State officials in 2016 authorized DACA recipients to earn certain teacher certifications and professional licenses. It is unclear how those teachers will be impacted.

New York Times. For Teachers Working Through DACA, a Bittersweet Start to the School Year  In May 2016, New York State allowed DACA recipients to get licenses for teaching…The city’s Department of Education, whose schools reopened for the year on Thursday, does not keep track of how many teachers have DACA. But Teach for America, the national program that places young teachers in low-income neighborhoods, does. Twelve of the organization’s 180 teachers with DACA are in New York classrooms…

Teachers College.
1) Digital Learning for the K-8 Classroom  …Detra Price-Dennis and top professional development platform Teach Away, with the aim of delivering online digital literacy training that helps K-8 educators maximize student learning outcomes in the classroom.
2) Heeding Her Call: Urban Education responds to Mariana Souto-Manning’s framework for re-centering minoritized communities in social justice research

ThinkProgress. Meet Gabe, a DACA recipient and aspiring South Bronx science teacher who’s helping low-income kids

 

 

GLOBAL
Association For Teacher Education In Europe. Annual Conf. Dubrovnik, Croatia from 23 to 25 October 2017.

LiveMint. Govt plans to build content depository for improving teaching standards  [India] “Beyond content, it will allow education authorities and regulators to assess what kind of training is required for teachers,”

MyanmarTimes. Students protest against unfair appointing system  In this academic year, there are only a little over 7,000 teachers who graduated from 24 University of Educations and Education Colleges around the country …

Uni Reviews. Best Teacher Education Universities in Australia

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Advancing High-Quality Learning Through Clinical Teacher Preparation  Teacher candidates, like everyone else, learn best when they take an active rather than passive role in their education, and clinical preparation empowers them to engage actively.

Chronicle. A Profile of Freshmen at 4-Year Colleges, Fall 2016  Intended major … professional-school aspirations: Education-4.6%

CNN. Schools throughout the country are grappling with teacher shortage, data show  Goldhaber cites some solutions… Make teacher certification national instead of state by state.

EducationNC. UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State collaborating to help lateral entry teachers  As traditional teacher preparation enrollments drop nationwide, local school districts are increasingly hiring lateral entry teachers who meet content requirements but lack teacher preparation.

EdWeek.
1) Districts Turn to Emergency Measures for Hard-to-Staff Teaching Posts In May, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed a law that allows districts to hire people without formal teacher training—similar to recent changes in Oklahoma and Utah.
2) Here’s What States Are Doing With Their ESSA Block Grant Money  Hawaii…is planning to roll the money into Title II, the main federal program dealing with teacher quality.
3) Some combat veterans finding new lives as Texas teachers  The U.S. Department of Defense program helps recent veterans navigate teacher certification processes
4) Survey shows more than 530 teacher vacancies in Oklahoma   … about 1,400 emergency certificates are expected to be issued for the upcoming year for teachers teaching outside their area of expertise.

Hechinger Report. Rural schools turn to high-tech teacher training solutions  A collective of schools in Kentucky decided to make its own training model for teachers

NYTimes.
1) Even With Affirmative Action, Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago  Elementary and secondary schools with large numbers of black and Hispanic students are less likely to have experienced teachers, …
2) Reader Idea | Using Times Education Articles With Aspiring Teachers in China  The idea below explains how Lindsey Russo and Sarah Elia use New York Times articles with their students as they prepare to travel from China to New York to complete their studies in early childhood education.
3) Student Loan Company Accused of Mismanaging Debt Forgiveness Program  The company, based in Harrisburg, Pa., holds an exclusive contract with the Education Department to service all loans enrolled in the public service loan forgiveness program and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant program, or TEACH, which offers assistance to those who teach in high-need areas.

Policy Innovators in Education. The Power of Data Makes Educators “Learner Ready”  The report examines the challenges of lack of access to information—felt by educators, preparation programs, policymakers, and families as they try to navigate important decisions without a complete picture.

Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning & Equity. Deadline for proposals extended until August 26 [edTPA Conf. Nov. 3-7; San Jose]

NEW YORK STATE
City and State New York. [OnEducation Event 8/16/2017]
1) Elia, Fariña and Milliken address equity and ESSA at On Education
2) Fireside Chat with Betty Rosa & MaryEllen Elia

SUNY Charter Schools Institute. Public Comment Period Now Open: Alternative Teacher Certification Compliance Pathways for SUNY

United University Professions. Public comment period on SUNY charter school proposal

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. NYC announces it will subsidize hiring from Absent Teacher Reserve — and sheds light on who is in the pool  The largest share of teachers in the ATR — 27 percent — are licensed to teach in early childhood or elementary school grades. Another 11 percent are licensed social studies teachers, 9 percent are math teachers and 8 percent are English teachers.

NY1. Early Head Start offers full-time school for two-year-olds by training parents to teach  …so the city started a second new program, a partnership between Children’s Services and CUNY paying for the parents of Head Start students to go back to school and become accredited teachers.

NYPost. Making kids suffer for teachers no one wants  Then again, many aren’t too valuable: A 2010 report by Chalkbeat found that nearly a quarter of ATRs were only licensed to teach specialized classes like swimming, jewelry-making and accounting.

NYTimes. City Will Move Sidelined Teachers From Limbo to Classrooms  …better for students to have a permanent teacher with the appropriate license than to have a rotation of substitutes.

Teachers College. First, Peace – Now, Music: A new program funded by the Jaffe family brings music to city schools  Through the program, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers earn master’s degrees at TC while teaching in high-needs New York City public schools. More than 850 of these Jaffe Fellows have become teachers during the program’s 32 years of teacher support and preparation.

 NOTE: Teacher Ed News will resume the week of September 4

GLOBAL
NCEE. Empowered Educators Webinar Series: Recruitment and Preparation [Aug. 24, 3-4pm]

International Ed News. Promoting Social Justice in Physical Education Around the World

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Collaboration and Compromise: The Key to Good Policy Making  Fortunately for teacher preparation in North Carolina, NCACTE was involved in the development of this and many other bills proposed.  We’re grateful to Senator Barefoot for seeing past the negative rhetoric around teacher preparation and seeing us as a viable partner.
2) JTE Author on Helping Candidates Address Academic Language

Argus Leader. Can Sioux Falls Schools close its teacher diversity gap?  More than 50 high school students are enrolled in high school classes that feed into a college program that’s helped 15 students so far pursue teaching degrees.

Chalkbeat.
1) 5 key anti-racism resources for teachers, courtesy of #CharlottesvilleCurriculum
2) A Queens teacher on Charlottesville: ‘It can’t just be teachers of color’ offering lessons on race  Hilton Kelly, a professor of education at Davidson College in North Carolina told the site, the coursework isn’t giving future teachers the training they need to talk about race.

Dothan Eagle [AL]. From retail to ‘rithmetic: Second-career teachers bring new perspective to classroom  Purvee, a former Wal-Mart manager, went back to school a few years ago to earn a teaching degree.

EdSource. Undergraduate education major, banned for 56 years, returns  …Gov. Jerry Brown has reversed a half-century-old law that prevented aspiring teachers in California from majoring in education and required them to pursue a teaching credential only after earning a bachelor’s degree.

EdWeek.
1) 4 Tips for Awesome Eclipse Teaching
2) Have You Experienced or Witnessed a Hate Crime or Bias Incident? If you’ve got an incident or experience to share, please use this form…
3) Immigrant Influxes Put U.S. Schools to the Test  Finding and attracting Somali-speaking teaching candidates has proved challenging.
4) Teaching Force Growing Faster Than Student Enrollment Once Again  Are teacher education programs rebounding, and is that easing hiring?
5) The Nation’s Teaching Force Is Still Mostly White and Female  … the new survey, which includes the same questions as well as some new sections on teachers’ preparation and their influence over school policies, will operate on a two-year cycle.

Hechinger Report. DEBT WITHOUT DEGREE: The human cost of college debt that becomes “purgatory”  Nonetheless, he made it through the rest of high school, and kept his GPA high enough to be accepted at Georgia State University, where he wanted to study to be a history teacher.

NEA Today. Keeping the Promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for Educators  PSLF is an important incentive to attracting teachers to the profession, and keeping them there…

Washington Post.
1) The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America. Here’s help.
2) U-Va. professor: ‘What good is education in the face of someone who closes their mind to facts?’  So if you’re an educator, don’t lose heart. If you think your curriculum needs to do a better job on the history of the KKK, or Nazism, or the Constitution, or whatever, then work for that change.

WUNC. Enrollment At NC Teaching Programs Inches Back Up  The University of North Carolina system saw a 16 percent uptick in education degree-seekers last year. 

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. State ed officials rip into ‘insulting’ SUNY charter proposal and ‘outrageous’ Success Academy chair  “I could go into a fast food restaurant and get more training than that,” Elia said about the proposal, which would require 30 hours of classroom instruction for prospective teachers.

City and State New York
1) “Instant” teacher licensing is a threat to charter students and the teaching profession
2) Trump, racism controversies on the syllabus at On Education event There were other signs of tension involving charter schools. Last month, the State University of New York introduced a proposal that would let some charter schools hire uncertified teachers and instead develop their own in-house certification that was less arduous.

DNA info. Charter Schools Could Get to Hire Teachers With Only 30 Hours of Training  Under a plan now open for public comment, charter school teachers will be able to get a license to teach without a master’s degree after finishing a mere 30 hours of instruction and working 100 hours in a classroom.

NY Daily News. New York education leaders blast charter school teacher certification plan  The state’s top education officials ripped a controversial plan Wednesday to allow charter schools to certify their own teachers.

SUNY Charter Schools Institute. Public Comment Period Now Open – Alternative Teacher Certification Compliance Pathways for SUNY

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Bank Street heads to East New York to help child care providers play to their strengths  Site evaluations and teacher training have been a centerpiece of the city’s free pre-K program, which now serves 70,000 4-year-olds and is expanding to enroll 3-year-olds, too.

Hechinger Report. A school where you can’t fail — it just takes you longer to learn  A third of the school’s students require special education assistance; …. Even with two teachers (one trained for special education), it was difficult to engage everyone.

Village Voice.
1) How Medgar Evers College Is Raising Up Brooklyn and the Caribbean  Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College is trying a novel approach: a teaching program that will train educators both at their Crown Heights campus and at colleges in the Caribbean, where they’re hoping to incubate a new generation of K–12 teachers for the borough and those countries.
2)  To Fight Institutional Racism, Teachers Are Going Back to School  The workshop was part of Teachers College’s four-day Reimagining Education Summer Institute, a conference organized in response to what Amy Stuart Wells, the conference’s lead organizer, calls the “systematic way our educational system has tried to ignore the central role of race and culture” in solving the ills of American schools.

GLOBAL
BBC. How Canada became an education superpower  Another distinguishing feature is that Canada’s teachers are well paid by international standards – and entry into teaching is highly selective.

Chalkbeat. Some Top U.S. Educators Went to Finland. Their Big Takeaway: Empower Teachers  Teacher preparation programs are rigorous and selective, and there’s only about a 10 percent acceptance rate, Nelson said. Because of that, teachers are not evaluated through standardized test scores. 

Commonwealth of Learning. A call to empower teachers to lead the next wave of the OER movement  We will need to rethink learning resources completely and empower teachers, through their initial training and through ongoing professional development, to contribute to curriculum and resource improvement as members of a learning community. 

European Conference on Educational Research, August 22-25, 2017; Copenhagen, Denmark. Online programme.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Dissertation Award Entries Due Aug. 18
2) Louisiana Tech Leads Transformation of Student Teaching With TEAM Model

Bridge Magazine. Fewer college students want to be teachers, and why it matters (searchable database)

Chalkbeat. A new study shows why it’s so hard to improve teacher preparation  It’s a difficult task, since there are two degrees of separation between a teacher training program and students taking state tests, and researchers use complex value-added models to control for a number of factors.

Chronicle. Award-Winning Teachers Reflect on Their Training

Data Quality Campaign. Using Data to Ensure That Teachers Are Learner Ready on Day One [calls attention to current data challenges faced by educator preparation providers (EPPs) and offers suggestions and examples for states to improve the situation.]

Detroit Free Press. Badly wanted in Detroit: Teachers for the upcoming school year  The vacancies are a symptom of a larger problem. Across the country, the number of people entering teacher preparation programs is down significantly. So is the number of people receiving teaching certificates.

EducationWeek.
1) Idaho schools try new tactics to combat teacher shortage  In Shoshone, there’s a relatively new partnership with Eastern Oregon University’s teaching preparation satellite program in Ontario, Ore., just across the state border.
2) Trump Ed. Dept. to Michigan: Your ESSA Plan Is Missing Major Details  It’s seeking a more complete explanation of how the state will train teachers to work with gifted students.

Educators Rising. Smyrna High School Seniors Train with Micro-credentials for Careers in Teaching

Hechinger Report. Will a one-year residency better prepare aspiring educators for a new style of teaching?  Summit charter school network in California will certify its own teachers so they’re steeped in the school’s culture

KQED. For Teachers Who Dread Math, Finding a Better Way  These words aligned with what Zager had observed in her job mentoring student teachers who expressed similar reservations about math. Teachers’ sentiment toward math is noteworthy because research has shown that adults can transfer anxiety to kids.

NYTimes.
1) Professors as Targets of Internet Outrage  The Professor Watch List, for one, created last year by the conservative group Turning Point USA, is helping drive a new level of scrutiny of professors who, it says, “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.” [Education faculty incl. Jenn Adair, Univ. of Texas; Bill Ayers, Univ. of Ill-Chicago; Sara Goldrick-Rab, Temple Univ.]
2) Seeing Hope for Flagging Economy, West Virginia Revamps Vocational Track  … the four-course sequence for which teachers were training at Marshall University, require math and physics instruction as rigorous as in the College Board’s Advanced Placement track. 

Washington Post. Why immigration proposal would have barred best teacher in America   It took him 10 years of study to learn the language and acquire California versions of the teaching credentials he had already earned in Bolivia.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Amid concerns about plan to let charter schools certify their own teachers, changes could be on the way

HuffPost [Blog]. How Charter Schools Buy Political Support  Cuomo’s political appointees who serve as trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) are considering a proposal to exempt charter schools from the public school teacher certification requirements they approved less than two months ago.

Politico New York. How New York stopped being the nation’s education reform capital  After the evaluation deal collapsed, other dominoes fell: earlier this year, the Board of Regents, led by opt-out ally Betty Rosa, did away with a rule requiring potential New York teachers pass a literacy test. [Academic Literacy Skills Test: ALST]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) New York City to bring high-profile Teaching Fellows program in-house, ending role for nonprofit TNTP  …the fellowship program was conceived to quickly place professionals from other fields into the city’s classrooms, skirting the traditional certification process.
2) Teach for America is sending more teachers into NYC this year — and it might have Donald Trump to thank  The summer institute also now counts as credit toward a master’s degree, offered through the Relay Graduate School of Education, which for the first time helped run its summer training program.
3) What New York City students learned about Christopher Columbus when their own classroom was ‘discovered’  In order to truly integrate, advocates say educators need to take a close look at the lessons they teach. In other words, schools need to be adept in culturally relevant teaching — making sure students of all identities are reflected in what is taught and how it’s taught.

Kings County Politics. Uncommon Schools Creating Pipeline of Teachers of Color in Brooklyn  …155 rising college seniors who are trying out their teaching skills at Uncommon Schools this summer in various locations, including Brooklyn.

NYPost. DOE fails to provide Harlem schools with librarians: activists  The DOE suggested Friday that there’s a shortage of certified librarians to staff city schools.

 

 

GLOBAL
BizCommunity [South Africa]. R3.5m bursaries for teacher education in 2018  The bursaries apply to students wanting to study full-time towards a Bachelor of Education in Foundation Phase Teaching or a Bachelor of Education in Intermediate Phase Teaching from 2018 to 2021. 

British Educational Research Assoc. How do we support beginner teachers to develop awareness and understanding of issues of social justice?  …our work is concerned with the complex intersectionality in England between poverty, social class, disadvantage and educational attainment and in particular thinking about how we, as teacher educators, can develop student-teachers’ awareness and understanding…

Int’l Society for Music Education. My Music Education Life: Milca de Paula  It is necessary to have discussions to face the difficulties in the conditions of the teaching work at schools and face the challenges in the formation of the licensed teacher in music, so the reality of the schools of Basic Education can really change. [cf. IJME, Vol. 35/1, New legislation in Brazilian music education: Studying the law and its implementation]

LiveMint. The sordid tale of teacher education in India

NYTimes.
1) Clooneys to Help 3,000 Syrian Refugees Go to School in Lebanon  A $3.25 million donation from the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Google and HP will pay for transportation, school supplies, computers, content, curriculum and teacher training.
2) High-Profile Lawyers Targeted in Mexico Spyware Scandal … the government’s probe into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. Multimodal Explorations in Language, Identity, Culture Inform Development of Bilingual Teachers  This interview features insights from the article “Preparing Bilingual Teachers: Mediating Belonging With Multimodal Explorations in Language, Identity, and Culture” written by Patricia Martinez-Álvarez, Isabel Cuevas, and María Torres-Guzmán.

A.I.R. Fostering a New Approach to Research on Teacher Preparation: Results of the First Convening of Researchers, Practitioners, and K–12 Educators

Atlanta Journal Constitution. Teaching method wins Ron Clark Academy math instructor hero status  Jones figured there had to be something to mixing the arts and math. She decided to find out and in 2007 applied to a doctoral program at Columbia University Teachers College, where in addition to being taught the facts, candidates were taught how to teach them.

Chronicle.  Training Graduate Students to Be Effective Teachers  More colleges are making it a priority to teach future faculty members how to teach

CBSDenver. Not Enough Teachers To Go Around In Colorado Since 2010, there has been a nearly 25 percent drop in graduates from teacher preparation programs, according to the CDHE.

Deans for Impact. Seventeen deans awarded Impact Academy fellowship  Together, the fellows’ programs enrolled about 7,400 teacher-candidates in 2013-2014.

EdWeek.
1) Can a High School Course Help to Solve a State’s Teacher Shortage?  This fall, two high schools in Provo, Utah will offer students in grades 10 through 12 an introductory course called Careers in Education I, with the aim of enticing young people into the teaching profession.
2) The Next Generation Science Standards’ Next Big Challenge: Finding Curricula  It’s tempting to assume that teachers can just develop curricula on their own and learn to teach it—after all, lesson planning is a huge part of preservice teacher-preparation programs.
3) Nearly Two-Thirds of New Science Educators Lack Training in Their Subjects  …almost two-thirds of new science teachers (64 percent) taught at least one course outside of their field in their first five years in the classroom, while 40 percent taught mostly or entirely out of field during that period.
4) Performance Pay Law Not Paying Off for Top-Rated Teachers, According to Report  …the report argues that the discrepancy between salary awards for advanced degrees and “highly effective” ratings flies in the face of decades of research that has concluded that teachers with master’s degrees are no more effective than teachers without one.
5) Skip Coding, Teach Data Science  They find the certification processes deeply flawed and (not surprisingly) want a lot more certified CS teachers with multiple roots to the classroom.

Hechinger Report. Rising popularity of dual-language education could leave Latinos behind  … DCPS is competing with the rest of the nation to hire highly qualified teachers who are not only trained in specific subjects, but also capable of running a classroom in Spanish.

NYTimes. A Wakeup Call on Writing Instruction (Now, What’s an Adverb?)  The Common Core has provided a much-needed “wakeup call” on the importance of rigorous writing, said Lucy M. Calkins, founding director of the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University… But policy makers “blew it in the implementation,” she said. “We need massive teacher education.”

Tulsa World.
1) Oklahoma approves nearly 900 emergency teacher certificates
2) State of education in Tulsa draws Teach for America members and alums passionate about fixing schools

WNYC. Tens Of Thousands More Women And Minorities Are Taking Computer Science  The College Board, Code.org and other authorized providers are also training teachers to facilitate the course… “We are by far the largest player in creating new computer science teachers…

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Among NY students seeking new Excelsior scholarship, potentially many who aren’t qualified or could pay a price later  …TEACH, a federal grant program aimed at encouraging aspiring teachers to enter high-needs subject areas and schools. But, like Excelsior, it places restrictions on the jobs that prospective teachers can take once they leave school…

Education and Teacher Education Today. Letter from the SUNY Deans of Education to the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York  We, the Deans and Directors of Education Programs in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, write to strenuously object to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute’s recent action to virtually eliminate teacher certification requirements for charter school teachers. 

InsideSources. New York Has Nation’s Highest Per Pupil Expenditure; But Is it Enough?  Michael Rebell, …a professor at the Teacher’s College at Columbia University…at the time of the 2006 lawsuit, Rebell said that about 17 percent of teachers in the state were uncertified—now that number is down to under one percent, which he considers to be a major victory.

NYSED. Office of Higher Education Newsletter. The Office of Higher Education (OHE) is pleased to launch a monthly newsletter to inform the education community of current and upcoming activities related to higher education. To subscribe to our monthly newsletter, please sign up on the OHE website at https://listserv.nysed.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=ohenewsletter&A=1%20.

NYSED Regents
1) July meeting. Higher Education Committee Consent Agenda
Selected items from the July 2017 Higher Education Committee Consent Agenda are below. To view the entire list and the items’ supporting materials, go to: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/node/8712

• RE: Establishment of a Residency Certificate for Students Enrolled in a Classroom Academy Residency Pilot Program
• RE: Pathways for Candidates to Pursue Transitional A, Initial, and/or Professional Career and Technical Education Certificates
• RE: Permanent Extension of the Option for Certain Out-of-State Candidates to be Eligible for a Conditional Initial Certificate

2) Arts Content Specialty Tests (CSTs) Test Development Experts Needed
Seeking educators to participate in test development activities for the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NYSTCE) Content Specialty Tests (CSTs) in the Arts. These certification exams are for teacher candidates seeking certification in Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Certified educators, including those from higher education, who have extensive content expertise in the area of one or more of the four arts are encouraged to apply to participate in the test development process.

SUNY Charter School Institute. Proposal that SUNY charter schools be able to establish their own teacher preparation programs and “certification” system. The public comment period ends on September 9. Submit comments to: Ralph A. Rossi II, SUNY Charter Schools Institute, 41 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, New York 12207, (518) 455-4250. E-mail: [email protected]

TimesUnion. SUNY deans speak out against teacher hiring plan  The deans of education programs at 18 State University of New York schools are condemning a proposal they say would lead to unqualified teachers in New York classrooms.

 Washington Post. What’s the link between charter schools, political donations and teacher certification in New York?  SUNY’s requirements call for clinical experiences that are “diverse and immersive, ideally over a full school year.” The SUNY-proposed regulation for charter schools, in contrast, is less than three weeks (100 hours) of field experience under the supervision of an experienced teacher who may even be uncertified herself.

NEW YORK CITY
Teachers College. NY Daily News. Manhattan principal builds successful high school with diverse students  [Kate Burch holds a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in International Educational Development, with a focus on Peace Education]

GLOBAL
AACTE. JTE Authors Propose Inquiry-Oriented Standards to Capture Complexity of Teaching  This research was prompted by recommendations from a New Zealand Government Education Workforce Advisory Group. The group recommended, in 2010, a number of structural changes to improve the quality of initial teacher education and induction into the profession.

Blog on Learning Development. “Differential education is a competitive factor”  Finnish educator and author Pasi Sahlberg predicts a backlash against global standardization and says teachers need different training and skills to succeed. It’s not enough to have a “reform”. We need to change several things simultaneously and it starts with teacher training.

PRNewswire. Collaborative Effort Between Educators From Singapore and India to Build Capacity in Early Childhood Education in Mumbai  …through the following initiatives: A teacher resource guide which will be produced by both the SIVs and master trainers and used in teacher training programmes to teach pedagogy skills

UNESCO. Investigating Teacher Agency in Implementing the Early Primary Curriculum of Ugandan Schools  This study shows the potential of ICTs in supporting sustainable teacher training programmes whose potential is immense though not yet tapped fully in Uganda. 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AACTE Chapter Develops Statewide Student Teacher Observation Tool
2) Applying for Federal Research Funding? View On-Demand Webinars From IES for FY18

CAEP. Family Engagement: Practice that Empowers & Motivates  …family engagement is important – both conceptually and technically – for teacher candidates and inservice teachers alike.

Chalkbeat.
1) 6 problems the NAACP has with charter schools — and 5 of its ideas for how to reshape the sector  “Charter schools should not be permitted to waive any licensing requirements for teacher and leaders working in their schools,” the NAACP report says…
2) Schools near state lines perform worse — and rules discouraging teachers from moving may be to blame  …states that require prospective teachers to clear a high bar to become certified may worry that making it too easy for an out-of-state teacher to receive a license could reduce teacher quality.

Early Childhood Education Degrees. America’s Typical Teacher  42.5 years old, female, holds Masters degree or higher, underpaid, teaches 21-27 students per class, not allowed enough time to collaborate with other teachers…

Education Week.
1) Are Charter Schools Bad for Black Children? The NAACP Asked, Here’s What It Found  The group lays out a formula for improving charters that includes: Requiring all teachers be certified.
2) Betsy DeVos Is a K-12 Advocate. So Why All the Action in Higher Ed?   The feds have far more authority over colleges…than they do over K-12 schools…  And the Higher Education Act has been due for a facelift for several years now. DeVos, in fact, has said she’d like to scrap the HEA and start from zero.
3) Computer Science Teachers Needed. But Who Will Pay to Train Them?
4) Don’t Mourn or Applaud the End of $2 Billion in Teacher-Training Money Just Yet
5) To Attract Teachers, More Cities Eye Discounts on Housing  Memphis has a teacher residency program that provides teachers in training with free housing in the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. building, which is now a mixed-use high-rise.
6) The Many Ways We Are De-Professionalizing Teaching [Blog] …the professional preparation and advancement of teaching looked very different 25 years ago … The talk then was about full-year field experiences and paid internships for prospective teachers.
7) Two Years Is the Worst Amount of Time to Teach  Teach for America turned 25 last year and continues to treat teaching as more stepping stone than career. 

EdTech. As Connectivity Improves, The Digital Divide Persists in Teacher Tech Preparation

Education First. Transforming How We Prepare Our Teachers …new brief on how teacher preparation programs are innovating.

Marzano. Marzano Research to Support U of W’s Future Educator Development

NPR Ed. Teachers With Student Debt: These Are Their Stories  You need a bachelor’s degree …increasing pressure to get a master’s degree and the many ways to repay loans or apply for loan forgiveness.

Penn GSE. HBCU Schools of Education: at the Forefront of Teacher Education for a Diverse Teacher Workforce

Teaching/Math/Culture [Blog] Teacher Education In The New Economy

The Atlantic. Why the Myth of Meritocracy Hurts Kids of Color.  …the onus is also on teacher-prep programs to ensure aspiring educators know how to address these controversial topics.

Washington Post. NAACP report: Charter schools ‘not a substitute’ for traditional public schools and many need reform  The task force recommended … the following procedures: Require charter schools to hire certified teachers. Many states allow charters to hire the uncertified at far higher rates than traditional public schools.

NEW YORK STATE
The Atlantic. How Teachers Are Taught. But Dirck Roosevelt, a visiting associate professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, says … “To know mathematics sufficiently to design a bridge or to supervise the construction of a bridge is not remotely the same thing as to know it in such a way that you will know what your sophomore algebra student is going to find difficult,”

New York State Register. Governance, Structure and Operations of SUNY Authorized Charter Schools Pertaining to Teacher Compliance [p. 23 ff]
Public comment will be received until Sept. 9.
Ralph A. Rossi II, SUNY Charter Schools Institute, 41
State Street, Suite 700, Albany, New York 12207, (518) 455-4250, email: [email protected]
Current SUNY Charter Schools. 165 total, over 140 in NYC.

NYTimes. Proposal Would Let Charter Schools Certify Their Own Teachers  Kate Walsh, …said that charter schools are not set up to focus on the difficult work of training teachers, nor are they in a position to offer the kind of coursework even very talented teaching candidates need to receive.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. New York City has sent its first offer letters for 3-K for All. Here’s a look at the new pre-K initiative by the numbers  …the education department is also providing teacher training, social workers and other support for existing centers run by ACS.

NYCDOE. Application & Hiring Process  Our schools have high hiring needs for teachers in specific subject areas: Bilingual Education; Early Childhood Education; English as a New Language; Mathematics; Physical Education; Science (all subjects); Special Education

Teachers College.Some New York charter schools could soon be allowed to certify their own teachers. What could that look like?  Teachers College Visiting Associate Professor Dirck Roosevelt was quoted in the… story on regulations recently proposed by SUNY that would enable some charter schools to design alternative certification programs.

GLOBAL
Buriram Times. Thailand Still Lagging Behind Other Countries In Education  Large classes were commonplace and students who were not accepted into university were encouraged to apply for teacher training colleges.

NYTimes. A Solution When a Nation’s Schools Fail  “The status quo has failed,” George Werner, Liberia’s education minister, told me. “Teachers don’t show up, even though they’re paid by the government. There are no books. Training is very weak.

Times Higher Education. Netherlands and Singapore among leaders on education research

The Star Online. ‘Chinese education is for all’  …Dr Wee said there was a need to provide teachers with training to better teach the language.

UNITED STATES
Brainerd Dispatch. Franken introduces bill to fight teacher shortage  …encourage an earlier start to pathways for becoming a teacher and allow schools access to a broader range of funding to support dual-enrollment programs in education.

EdWeek.
1) Bill With More Than $2 Billion in Teacher-Training Cuts Advances in House
2) Here Are 10 Policy Lessons Teachers Should Know
3) If We Fix Student Teaching, Will We Fix Teacher Shortages?  The president of the National Council on Teacher Quality presented what she sarcastically called a “radical” solution for both improving the pipeline of new teachers and filling specific teacher shortages: “Fix student teaching.”
4) Tennessee education coalition focuses on teacher diversity  A new report released by a group of Tennessee educator preparation programs focuses on eliminating the barriers preventing diverse candidates from choosing teaching as a career.
5) Unable to Solve Teacher Pay Issue, Oklahoma Will Promote Recruitment, Retention  … outline what programs exist to help teachers, namely state-funded loan forgiveness and tuition assistance…
6) What Should Special Education Teachers Know and Be Able to Do?  Teacher-education programs have already started to shift their training to embrace the high-leverage practices…

Hechinger Report. Advocating for rural students and teachers – in frozen, fly-in-only territory  I think we need to look at how we train teachers, [and] the general public, about our history and what has happened with our indigenous community, because most people don’t really know the history.

NCTR. Recommendations for State Support for Effective Teacher Residencies

NPR Ed. Teachers With Student Debt: The Struggle, The Causes And What Comes Next  Public school teachers traditionally have had undergraduate degrees in education. But over the past decade, K-12 teachers have had a growing economic incentive to earn master’s degrees. In some cases, they’re actually required to do so.

The74. House Committee Rejects Democrats’ Bid to Restore Education Funding, Protect Teacher Training

USNews. Democrats Protest Cuts to Teacher Prep and Pell Grants

Vanderbilt Univ. Teach for America service leads to empathy  TFA is a national service program that puts college graduates into low-income communities as volunteers for two years to help disadvantaged students. It was founded in 1989, based on founder Wendy Kopp’s Princeton University undergraduate thesis.

WashingtonPost. A teacher’s anti-solution to a big problem  So if colleges aren’t preparing students for the jobs that students really want and for the employers who need to hire them, then K-12 schools must. 

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. State education officials question another batch of Success Academy charter renewals  The board is not scheduled to discuss SUNY’s recent proposal to allow some of its charter schools to certify their own teachers, though that announcement drew criticism from State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa earlier this month.

Network for Public Education. Action Alert: Every Child Deserves a Well-Prepared Teacher

NYSED. ESSA July Draft  [Preparation, Recruitment, and Placement:  p. 140 ff.]

Politico. Excelsior effect: Application period for scholarship ends

NEW YORK CITY
EdWeek.A Fine Line on ‘Forced Placement’ of Teachers in New York City  Daniel Weisberg, the CEO of TNTP, a teacher training and advocacy group, and former NYC education department official, recently wrote in Time magazine, “Breaking that promise now would have only one possible result: Schools across the city would face an influx of teachers with records of poor performance.

Teachers College. Preparing and Supporting Teachers of Color: The relaunch of a program aimed at recruiting more teachers from underrepresented groups  The Office of Teacher Education at Teachers College has been awarded a five year TOC II grant by the New York State Education Department.

 

INTERNATIONAL
Hechinger Report. When it comes to teacher training, the U.S. could learn a thing or two from Canada

NYTimes. Spyware Sold to Mexican Government Targeted International Officials  The mystery began on Sept. 26, 2014, when about 100 students from a teachers’ college in the town of Ayotzinapa struck out to commandeer some buses. 

NZHerald. More than half of Auckland schools up to four teachers short  “I don’t know what the future holds but we’re potentially looking at babysitters in classrooms because we do not have the teachers to fill those vacancies.”

South China Morning Post. Hong Kong teachers oppose appointment of pro-Beijing educator as undersecretary  Cheng Kai-ming, emeritus professor of education at the University of Hong Kong, said it was “a very bad starting point” to pre-screen candidates for administrative positions for their political views…

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Federal Task Force Identifies Over 150 Ed. Regulations for Review; Comments Due Aug. 21
2) House Hearing Witnesses Stress Privacy Protections for Student Data While Ensuring Researchers Maintain Access

DeansForImpact. Showdown in Texas teacher preparation  Acting collectively, advocates for students and teachers stopped the legislation that would have weakened the quality of teachers entering Texas classrooms.

EdSurge. Does the Word ‘Teacher’ Still Describe What Educators Do in the Classroom?  “There is a thought that because people went to school, that they know what school is [and] how teachers should teach and how students [should] learn,” explains Fuhrman. “It is like having a housing secretary who lived in a house. It is not the preparation that you need. It is a great disservice to the knowledge base underlying education.” 

EdWeek.
1) Five Big Tasks for Betsy DeVos  One former state leader who was considering a post balked after seeing the president’s budget request, which would eliminate money for teacher training and slash career and technical education funding.
2) How Teacher Prep Programs Can Help Teachers Teach Math Conceptually
3) Like Trump Budget, House Funding Bill Strips Out $2 Billion for Teacher Training
4) Most Republicans Have Negative View of Higher Education, Poll Finds
5) Teachers Trained Through Fast-Track Program No Better or Worse Than Their Peers  TNTP, formerly The New Teacher Project, has trained and placed about 35,000 teachers in urban areas over nearly two decades… The teachers get on-the-job coaching and support throughout their first year.
6) Watch This Refresher on Trump’s Education Budget in Under 60 Seconds  How will Title II money for teacher training and after-school spending, which together amount to over $3 billion but which Trump wants to eliminate, fare in the House spending bill?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bill would allow gun education curricula in Wisconsin high schools  The bill also would require the classes to be taught by people who have proof of previous training in firearm safety.

NEA. As More Schools Look to Personalized Learning, Teaching May Be About to Change

NYTimes. DeVos’s Hard Line on New Education Law Surprises States  This feedback was widely criticized by academic groups, including the National Science Teachers Association, who said the department was interpreting the law too literally.

Raise Your Hand Texas. Foundation Launches $50 Million Raising Texas Teachers Program To Elevate Teaching Profession  …a program to provide $50 million over the next 10 years in scholarship funding for students committed to a career in teaching, and technical support for premier Texas teacher preparation programs. 

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Some New York charter schools could soon be allowed to certify their own teachers. What could that look like?  But Dirck Roosevelt, a visiting associate professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, says professional success doesn’t always translate into the ability to lead a classroom.

cIcu. Summary of June 22 Independent Sector Schools of Education Mtg w/Regent Cashin & Deputy Commissioner John D’Agati [attached]

HuffPost. Politics And Campaign Dollars Shape New York Charter School Policies  Politicians and wealthy business leaders with ties to Cuomo are behind the push to exempt some of the state’s charter schools from hiring certified teachers.

Inside Higher Ed. Zimpher to lead center on education pipelines  Early on, the center will focus on efforts including the creation of a statewide education data system and a “train the trainer” certification program.

Money. 711 Best Colleges For Your Money  [77 IHEs in NYS, highest of 50 US states]

NPR. SUNY charter schools committee considers their own teacher certification  New York’s public schools are grappling with a teacher shortage which many blame on the stringent requirements to become certified in the state.

NYPost. New rules for who can teach are a big win for New York kids  Sadly, most education degrees are practically worthless: Teaching is an art best learned from a master on the job, not a science to be picked up by studying theory.

NYSED Regents. July meeting agenda

Politico. Hochman leaves as Cuomo’s deputy education secretary  Hochman [TC EdD. 1990], a former Westchester County school superintendent and longtime critic of the Common Core learning standards, was appointed to the position in October 2015.

SUNY Board of Trustees
1) Archived Meetings. Proposed Teacher Cert Regs Resolution
2) Proposed Regulations of the Charter Schools Committee

TimesUnion. NY teachers with 30 hours of experience? Charter school proposal stirs debate  The proposal, which would allow high-achieving charter schools to develop their own teacher certification requirements, was quietly floated in the last hours of the 2017 legislative session…

Univ. of Buffalo. UB’s virtual reality expertise creates simulated classroom environment for aspiring teachers  The virtual reality teaching environment created by Lamb and Etopio differs from other teaching simulation platforms in that actual footage of student behaviors occurring within real classrooms will be used…

NEW YORK CITY
Bank Street Sustainable Funding Project. ESSA and Quality Teacher Preparation

NYDaily News.
1) Corporate lawyer traded high-paying gig for calling to educate low-income NYC students  So Russell quit his corporate job and applied for training at Success Academy, the first step in eventually becoming a teacher …
2) Technology teacher offers every student chance at coding, computer science classes in Queens school  She cashed in her retirement savings and enrolled in graduate school, earning a master’s degree in education and a teaching certification.

NYTimes. De Blasio’s Concessions on Charter Schools Are Disclosed  Another potentially significant change for the charter sector came in the form of proposed rules, released last month, that would create different ways for teachers at certain charter schools to earn certification and start teaching before the process is complete.

 

INTERNATIONAL
CPRE. Strategies for Strengthening the Technical Workforce: A Review of International Evidence  …UNESCO (2013) found that a main concern in the implementation of ICT in TVET was that teachers were often not prepared to use ICTs in teaching

New South Wales Teachers Federation. Commercialisation in Public Schooling  “Commercial producers have a place in the resource market for teachers but must never be considered as a substitute for quality teaching — this is what we are trained to do and we must remain the experts in this regard”.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. New edTPA Resource for the 2017-2018 Program Year  Handbooks and Templates 2017-2018 – No changes, except for Classical Languages, Elementary Education, Elementary Literacy, Literacy Specialist, Special Education, and World Language. [login required]

Brookings Inst. Stemming the tide: Are public school districts keeping the best and brightest teachers?  If an English teacher has more peer teachers with more experience, advanced degrees, and professional certification, this English teacher is less likely to move to another school across town. 

CAEP. Board of Director appointments

Chalkbeat. Has the charter school movement gone awry? A new book says yes, and it’s causing a stir  …recommendations that include expanding the number and type of charter authorizers, ensuring charters are not bound by teacher certification rules, and reducing charter school regulations.

CT Mirror. Education Commissioner Wentzell: ‘Our English Learners Need More Support’  I am really proud that our education preparation institutions are doing a much better job with this.

Deans for Impact. Why mythbusting fails: A guide to influencing education with science  Experiment after experiment has shown that matching the form of instruction to a student’s preferred “style” of learning – such as auditory or visual – does not improve a student’s understanding. 

EdWeek.
1) ‘Course-Choice’ Efforts Grow to Give Students More Options  “No matter what Secretary DeVos does, the focus needs to be on investing in our public schools, especially in training and retaining good teachers and educating students of all abilities,”…
2) Program aims to help teachers stay in profession  The News Journal of Wilmington reports that the state is creating a new academy for high schoolers considering a career in education. 

NPR. 18 States Sue Betsy DeVos And Education Dept. Over Delay Of Borrower Defense Rule

NYTimes. DeVos Is Discarding College Policies That New Evidence Shows Are Effective  Bridgepoint Education, a publicly traded for-profit college corporation, offers an online associate degree in early education through Ashford University that costs almost $34,000 in tuition, fees and supplies, most of which students finance with debt. Fewer than half of students finish on time, and the median graduate earns less than $16,000 per year. 

Stories from School. Educators Rising: Start ‘Em While They’re Young  Basically, Educators Rising works with secondary teachers to identify black, brown, and white young people–as young as 13– who have potential as future educators.

Wall Street Journal. Exclusive Test Data: Many Colleges Fail to Improve Critical-Thinking Skills

Washington Post. What should students know about religion? New guidance on teaching it in public schools.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Some charter school teachers could become certified without a master’s under proposed new SUNY rules

InsideHigherEd. New State Aid, With Strings Attached  Private colleges in New York State criticized Governor Cuomo’s plan to give some of their students much more aid in return for limits on tuition increases and more money from institutions. 

NYSED. Statement from Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa, the Board of Regents & State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia on SUNY Charter Proposal   …ensuring that strong and effective teachers with the proper training, experience and credentials are educating New York’s children in every public school – including charter schools. SUNY’s teacher certification proposal is cause for concern…

NYS United Teachers.
1) NYSUT blasts charter school industry’s attempt to bypass teaching standards  …regulations proposed by the charter school industry that would allow some charter networks to bypass state certification standards and set up their own training programs for teachers — meaning students in publicly funded charters could be taught by individuals with as little as 30 hours of classroom instruction.
2) Stop Backdoor Teacher Certification for SUNY-Authorized Charters!

Politico. Charters move closer to new teacher-certification rules, worrying education schools

NEW YORK CITY
MotherJones. How Income Inequality Is Messing With Kids’ Brains  Dr. Kimberly Noble’s laboratory at Columbia University looks like your typical day care center—save for the team of cognitive neuroscientists observing kids from behind a large two-way mirror. The Neurocognition, Early Experience, and Development Lab…

Teachers College. Affirming Their Choice: Admitted Students Day at TC  “Whenever I worked in a school whose curriculum was inspired by TC, I loved it,” says Nassau, who will earn her master’s degree in the Department of Curriculum & Teaching, possibly with an additional focus on teaching art.