Tag: Teacher Prep

GLOBAL
Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich. US Secretary of Education visits PH Zurich  Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education of the United States, visited the PH Zurich on June 6, 2018. The education system and teacher education in Switzerland were at the center of her interest.

Al-Monitor. Egypt’s education system set for major overhaul   “…teachers must undergo training and professional development. Therefore, the ministry aims to train about 500,000 teachers across all governorates through Teachers First, a development program for teacher training.”

EdWeek. The Gates Foundation’s Education Plans Go International   Gates recently announced a change in strategy to its U.S. education programming, with a heavier focus on improvement replacing its former emphasis on teacher performance.

NYTimes. Mexican Court Orders New Investigation Into Missing Students  On Sept. 26, 2014, the 43 students from a teachers college disappeared in the town of Iguala in the southern state of Guerrero. The Attorney General’s Office said local police working for a drug cartel handed the students over to cartel members.

 

UNITED STATES
Chronicle. An Update of the Federal Law Governing Higher Ed Appears Dead. Now There’s a Fight Over Who Killed It.  …the Prosper Act. It is broadly unpopular with Democrats in Congress, college leaders, and many student-advocate groups because it would eliminate the subsidy on student loans that students now receive while in school, and would eliminate Grad PLUS loans, among other provisions.

Credible. Student loan cutbacks not expected to land on Trump’s desk this year   Even if the PROSPER Act sails through the House — a vote is expected as soon as this month — Republicans have a slimmer majority in the Senate. Democrats who hope to win back control of Congress in November aren’t expected to allow the bill to come to a vote.

EdSurge.
1) Computer Science Educators Wanted: How This New Program Is Addressing the Shortage   Public-private partnerships are one way to address the nation-wide shortage of computer science-trained educators, and the latest comes in the form of STEMpath, a new graduate-level educator certification program that isn’t quite a master’s degree.
2) The Key to 21st Century Classrooms Isn’t Tech. It’s Evolved Teaching.  The power of the teacher comes not [from] the information she shares but from the opportunities she creates for students to learn how to learn, solve problems, and apply learning in meaningful ways.

edTPA/AACTE/Pearson. October Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) Conference [Proposals Due June 15]

EdWeek.
1) Louisiana Hopes New Early-Childhood Credential Will Professionalize Workforce   Starting in 2019, all lead early-childhood teachers will be required to have a state-developed Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate, or be working toward one.
2) Ready for a Shooter? 1 in 5 School Police Say No   Thirty-three percent of officers responding to the Education Week Research Center survey agreed that “training and arming a select group of teachers would make schools safer.”
3) Want to Produce Good STEM Teachers? This Program Is Getting Results   Texas science and math teachers who are trained in the UTeach preparation program are substantially better at raising student test scores than other teachers in the state, a new study shows.

HechingerReport. Oklahoma externship pays teachers for hands-on experience in engineering and science   According to the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, in August, 2017, there were more than 500 teaching vacancies in Oklahoma. The state approved more than 1,400 emergency teaching certificates, allowing schools to hire people who were not yet certified teachers.

InsideHigherEd. Softening Claims of the Marshmallow Test   He said researchers and educators need to be more careful when making pronouncements about ideas like self-control, and to temper our expectations. “If we think that this is actually an important skill that we try to target for kids to unlock later life outcomes,” he said, “our results suggest, ‘Probably not.’”

NYTimes.
1) In the Age of Trump, Civics Courses Make a Comeback   For those teaching civics and civic engagement, the goal isn’t to get students to finish one project, but to make community involvement a habit — and one type of action often does lead to another.
2) The Cost of Going Back to School as an Adult   IBM’s Transition to Teaching program reimburses $15,000 of expenses to become certified as a teacher — an undertaking that Keith Gordon, 64, an IT software specialist, accomplished four years ago while working at IBM.

 

NEW YORK STATE
NYTimes. Gordon M. Ambach, New York Education Chief in ’80s, Dies at 83   He graduated from Yale in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies and earned a master’s in teaching and an advanced certificate in education administration from Harvard.

Senate bill S08776; Assembly bill A10952. Contact your elected state legislators Urge them to co-sponsor proposed bills to amend the legislation that requires a 3.0 GPA for admission to graduate teacher education and school leader programs.

 

NEW YORK CITY
DailyKos. Building Bridges: A Good News Education Story [OpEd by Prof. A. Singer] The Hofstra program prepares teachers to engage their students as active learners who are comfortable living and working in diverse settings and examining difficult issues. The goal is that these young people, as they grow older, will become change agents who will work toward a more equitable and just future.

NYTimes. In a Twist, Low Scores Would Earn Admission to Select Schools   Amy Stuart Wells, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University, said that all students can achieve at a higher level if teachers are well-trained and use an approach targeted to each child’s level of achievement, among other things.

GLOBAL
Education International. High Court slams Bridge International Academies   The U.S. based  multinational has a chain of for profit, private schools targeting poor families in an increasing number of African and Asian countries. It uses unqualified teaching staff, who deliver pre-determined content from a tablet to fee paying students.  

University World News [AU]. Teacher development is neglected in internationalization  In particular, our research indicates the need for teacher training and professional development programmes to include pedagogic strategies to assist international students with enhancing their English language skills and facilitating effective communication with international students from non-English speaking backgrounds. 

Webster University. Teacher Education Students Immersed in International Practicum in Leiden, the Netherlands

 

UNITED STATES
AACTE/edTPA. edTPA Handbook Improvement Survey

Chalkbeat. Here’s where you can find new workforce training classes in Memphis   Roughly 15 teachers will given the opportunity to train in one of the new focus areas next year, according to Joris Ray, an assistant superintendent. The district will pay for another 45 teachers to take an IT certification exam and ongoing training.

EdWeek.
1) 5 Ways Teachers Can Use Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Classroom   Immersive-reality technology is slowly creeping into the education world, whether as a tool for training new teachers or adding excitement to student learning.
2)  Have Your Feelings for Black and Latino Students Lowered Your Expectations for Them?  [By J. Pitts, MA student at Teachers College] Especially while the teaching force remains mostly white and female, we have to wrestle with some uncomfortable truths. Are your goals for your black and brown students different for your white students, and how can you change that?
3) Is STEM Oversold as a Path to Better Jobs?   Studies have reached mixed results about what kind of teacher training makes a difference for STEM outcomes. Several studies conclude, though, that teachers who demonstrate math-content knowledge are linked to greater student-test scores in that subject.
4) Mississippi cuts math teacher test score, citing shortage   Supporters say Mississippi set its score too high in 2013, when it joined most other states in requiring a score of 160 on a standardized test of mathematical knowledge known as the Praxis II. 

InsideHigherEd.
1) House GOP Plans Meeting on PROSPER Act
2) New Fix for Public Service Loans   Borrowers may qualify if they have been denied for Public Service Loan Forgiveness because some or all monthly payments were not made under a qualifying payment plan, if they worked for at least 10 years for a qualifying employer, and if they have made 120 payments on their federal student loans. 

Money. ‘I Didn’t Really Have a Choice.’ Meet the Teachers Quitting Their Jobs Due to Low Pay and Dwindling Benefits  Over the last five years, there has been a 35 percent decline in enrollment in teacher education programs, Darling-Hammond said. Potential teachers can be lured into other fields with more promising wages like tech — or waitressing and bartending.

NYTimes. Kentucky Math Teacher, Riding Wave of Public Anger, Defeats State House Majority Leader   The most significant changes affect future teachers, whose pensions would be part of a new retirement plan and require them to work longer before receiving payments.

NPREd. Education Department Launches ‘Top-To-Bottom’ Review Of Teachers’ Grant Program   This is how the grant program works: It gives teachers money, often called TEACH grants, to pay for an undergraduate or a master’s degree. In exchange, they agree to teach a high-need subject, such as math, for four years in a school that serves lots of low-income families.

USAToday. Democrats have a better deal for teachers and our kids, too: Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi   First, we will dedicate $50 billion for states and school districts to increase teacher compensation and recruit and retain a strong, diverse workforce over the next 10 years.

US News & World Report. What Veterans Need to Know About Student Loan Discharges   The Education Department will now match borrowers on the National Student Loan Data System who have federal student loans or aid through the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, or TEACH Grant Program, to the VA’s database.

Washington Post. Is Congress about to gut funding for teacher preparation programs?    PROSPER is the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success and Prosperity Through Education Reform Act, …now goes to the full House for a vote, probably this week; the Senate has not yet taken it up. Along with eliminating millions of dollars in federal student aid and other actions, PROSPER would also eliminate federal funding for teacher preparation programs.

 

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED.
1) Next Generation Learning Standards Implementation
2) State Education Department Awards $750,000 in My Brother’s Keeper Native American Grants   Also…NYSED awarded grants to 16 colleges and universities to help them bolster the retention of highly qualified individuals who value equity and reflect the diversity inside and outside of our classrooms, particularly in high-need schools with recurrent teacher shortages. 

Pearson/NYSTCE. seeking candidates to participate in a field test of selected-response (multiple-choice) and constructed-response (essay) items that may appear on future NYSTCE

 

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Why a medical school prospect decided to teach chemistry in New York City instead

Chronicle. Which Colleges Pay Full Professors the Most?
Private nonprofit institutions   5. Columbia University $215,094   19. Teachers College. $176,518

Pix11 News. Pre-K or sit at home? Programs for kids with special needs are in trouble  Private programs pay certified special education teachers $20,000 to $30,000 less than a special education teacher earns in New York City’s public schools. The public schools hire many teachers away from the nonprofits, resulting in a 30 percent teacher turnover rate.

 

GLOBAL
The Guardian. How PhD-educated teachers help state school pupils get into highly selective-universities   In 2014, after several years of placing PhD students in schools to deliver programmes of academic enrichment to small groups of pupils, the charity decided to go further and create a route for post-doctoral researchers who wanted to work in schools full-time and become qualified teachers.

Times Higher Education. Mexico’s brain drain leaves universities struggling to fill research posts   “Most of these schools are for-profit businesses where teachers are paid little, so quality teachers are hard to hire: very few have university degrees.”

ReliefWeb. Republic of Congo: Don Bosco Vocational Training Center launches new improvement plan to introduce new course and increase teacher training   The overall goal of the project is to improve the training of 21 teachers and increase student enrollment by 3,000 over the next three years.

St. Lucia News. OECS (Organ. Of Eastern Caribbean States) states to re-engineer teacher education  Chief Education Officers, Directors of Education, principals and deans of the national colleges, teacher educators, curriculum officers and teachers all collaborated to identify actions which should be taken to enhance teacher education and professional development and essentially teacher quality.

TES. University gives £500 to everyone signing up for teacher training course   Bath Spa University says the payments are a ‘thank you’ for those choosing to become a teacher

 

UNITED STATES
Chalkbeat. Why Colorado’s teacher shortage bills fall short   Colorado already has roughly two dozen “alternative pathways,” training other than traditional university educator-preparation programs, often for teachers who are already in the classroom with temporary credentials. Doing away with licensure doesn’t seem to be a magic bullet. Many charter schools hire unlicensed teachers but still have a hard time filling certain positions.

EducationNext. Rating Teacher-Preparation Programs: Can value-added make useful distinctions?  It’s not helpful to rank a state’s programs by teachers’ value-added. With rare exceptions, the true differences between programs are so small that rankings would consist mostly of noise.

EducationWeek.
1) Connecticut legislature seeks boost for minority teachers   The legislation approved this week could help by creating new ways to obtain teacher certification and improve coordination with state agencies to identify candidates, Commissioner Dianna Wentzell said.
2) I Was a Doctor. Now I’m a Teacher. Why Don’t I Get the Same Level of Respect?   During the early years of the Great Recession, after 14 years in medicine, I hung up my stethoscope and began training to become a teacher.

Hechinger Report. 20 judgments a teacher makes in 1 minute and 28 seconds   Loewenberg Ball makes the argument that teacher training ought to address these constant judgment calls directly… She called upon education researchers to develop a “repertoire” of teaching practices that could help counter racist habits.

The Sentinel.  Secure Schools: University adapts teacher training to meet post-Parkland concerns  Like other colleges, Shippensburg University can’t train its students to a specific protocol as each school district will have its own set of policies and procedures. It does, however, train them to ask appropriate questions to be able to see the overall safety picture at a school as early as during the interview for a teaching position.

 

NEW YORK STATE
NYS FY 2019 Executive Budget
1) Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program  The recently passed 2019 Budget included a new Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program that would forgive up to $5,000 in student loans for teachers who teach in “shortage subject areas” or in “hard-to-staff districts,” or for applicants who are economically disadvantaged
2) New Report on Teacher Diversity  … require the State Education Department… to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature by June 1, 2019. The report will include information and data on teacher diversity, barriers to diversity in teacher preparation programs, efforts teacher preparation programs are taking to recruit and retain diverse student populations, and recommendations on practices and policies that may improve teacher diversity.

NYSED.
Open Comment Periods
1) Public Comment Period on Proposed Every Student Succeeds Act Regulations  The public comment period on proposed regulations to prepare for implementation of New York’s approved Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan begins today, Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced. The public comment period continues through July 9.
2) Teacher Certification in Health Education (P) The proposed regulations will create a new Transitional K Certificate for certain New York State licensed health professionals (physician; physician assistant; nurse practitioner, or registered professional nurse) allowing them to teach health education in schools. The comment period on the proposed regulations closes May 27. Address data, views or arguments to: NYSED Office of Higher Education, [email protected].
3)  To Allow Individual Evaluation for Certain Certificate Titles in the Classroom Teaching Service To help address the reported teacher shortages in New York State, SED is proposing to reinstate individual evaluation for the following certificate titles: Early Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 2), Childhood Education (Grades 1-6), Generalist in Middle Childhood Education (Grades 5-9), English Language Arts (Grades 5-9 and Grades 7-12), and Literacy (Birth-Grade 6 and Grades 5-12). The 60-day comment period on the proposed regulations closes on June 24, 2018. Address data, views or arguments to: Rebecca Coyle, NYSED, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 486-3633, email: [email protected]

NYSED Office of Higher Education. New Assistant Commissioner Dr. Anael Alston (Teachers College; MA 2010, EdD 2011)

NYSED Regents. May meetings
Motion for Action
1) Proposed Amendment to Section 100.2(kk)(1) of the Commissioner’s Regulations Relating to Reports of Incidents of Harassment, Bullying and/or Discrimination Pursuant to the Dignity for All Students Act  A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Emergency Adoption will be published in the State Register on May 23, starting the 60-day public comment period which will end July 23.
2) Proposed Amendment of Section 80-5.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Employment of Substitute Teachers Who Do Not Hold a Valid Teaching Certificate and Are Not Working Towards Certification-(Emergency Action). …proposed amendment to allow districts to continue to be provided with the flexibility needed to address their hiring needs and employ substitute teachers who demonstrate competency in the classroom for more than 40 days beyond the current sunset date of June 30, 2018 and through the new sunset date of June 30, 2020.
3) Proposed Addition of a New Section 80-3.16 to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to Allow Individuals Completing a Program Accredited by the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (ASHA) to Obtain an Initial Certificate in Speech  This proposal would provide another option for qualified candidates both out of state and in New York to gain certification to teach students with speech and language disabilities

Discussion
Clinical Practice Work Group Recommendations for Clinical Experiences in New York State Teacher Preparation Programs

Consent Agenda
1) Proposed Amendment to Section 52.21 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Graduate Admission Examination Requirements to Implement Chapter 454 of the Laws of 2017  …remove the requirement for certified teachers and school administrators who already hold a graduate degree to take either the GRE or a substantially equivalent admission examination…
2) Proposed Amendment to Section 80-1.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Safety Nets for Teacher Certification Examinations  Candidates must continue to take advantage of safety nets before their applicable expiration date(s)… however, they do not have to complete all additional requirements for certification on or before June 30, 2018.
3) Proposed Amendment to Subpart 4-2 of the Rules of the Board of Regents and Section 52.21 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Continuous Accreditation Requirement for Educator Preparation Providers  …will allow institutions that are currently accredited by NCATE, TEAC, or CAEP to apply for accreditation through an accrediting association that is seeking recognition from the CHEA or USDE, but has not yet achieved recognition status, and still meet the “continuous accreditation requirement” …

Rockefeller Institute for Government. The State of the New York Teacher Workforce   The future effects of the declining supply of prospective teachers may be exacerbated by their specializations. When compared to the current teacher workforce, few recent graduates of teacher education programs are prepared to teach the core subjects of mathematics, science, English, and social studies as well as such subjects as career and technical training, music, and art.

 

NEW YORK CITY
Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation AAQEP Transition Workshop Interchurch Center 475 Riverside Drive, Fri. June 15

NYTimes. A Teacher’s Job [OpEd]  …concern is expressed that grouping children of different abilities in the same school is too taxing for educators. As a public-school teacher, I am offended by this. Teaching multiple ability levels in a classroom is an integral part of any teacher’s education and training. Plain and simple, it’s our job.

Teachers College.
1) William Fong (MA 2011, Elementary Inclusive Program) teacher at Central Park East II Elementary School, wins 2018 Empire State Excellence in Teaching Award.
2) Widening TC’s Doors: Alumnus William Epps, Pastor of Los Angeles’ historic Second Baptist Church, makes a generous scholarship gift  “I don’t know if Teachers College is aware of the influence and impact they had on shaping education for African Americans all across the South during the days of segregation and discrimination in civil rights …They trained teachers, they trained guidance counselors, they trained principals and assistant principals – you name it.”

GLOBAL
EdWeek. Professionalizing Teaching Isn’t About More Compensation For the Same Occupation    … things that the countries with the best-performing education systems have done to assure a steady supply of first rate teachers… include raising the standards for admission to teacher education programs, much more rigorous programs of education in the subjects to be taught and much better training for the craft of teaching…

International Education News. The Latest Recommendations for Education Reform in Finland

NYTimes. Facing Budget Cuts and Teacher Shortages at Home, American School Districts Look Abroad to Hire   …the Philippines purposefully trains teachers, nurses and other workers “in a way that it’s easy for them to pass muster from licensing authorities here. They obviously speak English and they are willing to work.”

UNITED STATES
AssociatedPress. Proposed rule on teacher preparation programs draws pushback   A rule that would allow the New Mexico Public Education Department to oversee teacher preparation programs has garnered criticism and pushback by school leaders and education groups.

EdWeek.
1) Arizona Teachers Face Heavy Resistance as They Continue to Strike.  … consequences for teachers could be if there are complaints made about their refusal to work—but they could include a letter of censure, suspension, or the revocation of their teaching license.
2) Museums Are Dabbling in Teacher Training, and the Results Are Promising
3) Playing Games in Teacher Education: How Do Preservice Teachers Respond to Game-Based Learning

Hechinger Report. Are teachers losing their grip on the middle class?   At Arizona’s three public universities, enrollment in undergraduate and graduate teaching programs has dropped by nearly twenty per cent since 2008. Over the same period, nationally, the number of college students majoring in education declined by fourteen per cent.

InsideHigherEd.
1) Economist to Lead Harvard School of Education
2) Private Lenders Eye Graduate Loan Market   The council argues that graduate students should have the option to take out private loans if they so choose but should also be able to borrow federal loans up to the full cost of their education. Students who aren’t able to do so, the group argues, lose access to benefits like income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Kappa Delta Pi. Getting Political About Teacher Preparation for Multilingual Learners [OpEd]   …most programs do not offer sufficient experiences to develop “sociopolitical consciousness,” or understanding of how social and political issues affect the education of multilingual learners.

NEA Today.
1) How Independent Teacher Prep Programs Fail Our Most Vulnerable Students
2) It is Time for Betsy DeVos to Resign   She led the charge to cut $9.2 billion from the Department of Education—eliminating teacher training programs and college prep courses for students in poverty.

NYTimes. Teacher Pay Is So Low in Some U.S. School Districts That They’re Recruiting Overseas   Many short-staffed schools turn to Teach for America, which recruits recent college graduates and career-changers for two-year stints in the classroom. But to hire a Teach for America recruit, who may have no teaching experience or coursework in education, the district must pay $5,000 per teacher, in addition to salaries.

Teachers College. Professor William Gaudelli will become Dean of Lehigh University’s College of Education

The Harvard Crimson. Faust Says Bacow Will ‘Focus’ on PROSPER Act, Though Bill Remains Stalled   …the bill is stalled in the House and the outcome of the Nov. 2018 midterm elections will likely have significant bearing on whether the PROSPER Act progresses.

The State.
1) ‘All of that costs money’: Solving SC’s teacher crisis is going to be expensive  Several legislative proposals would ease the financial burden on teachers looking to renew their certification or increase their pay.
2) No US passport. No education degree. Meet your child’s new SC teacher  Increasingly, they’re recruiting them from other countries and other states and through programs that, for example, take professionals in other careers and turn them into teachers in a matter of months.

 

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED Office of Higher Education.
1) April Newsletter

•                   edTPA Safety Net
•                   Individual Evaluation Certification Pathway
•                   TeachNY and NY Teacher Table
•                   Clinical Practice Work Group Recommendations
•                   Caep Draft Partnership Agreement
•                   Office of Higher Education New Assistant Commissioner
•                   NYSTCE Test Development Activities

2) Critical information re edTPA

 

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. New York City to add almost 50 bilingual programs, the latest in a push to help English learners  …the education department is helping with tuition reimbursement for other Albanian-speaking teachers who are working towards earning certifications to teach English learners.  

GLOBAL
KT Press. Rwanda Launches $6M Technical Teacher Training Institute

Phnom Penh Post. Cambodia Teacher Training Project (CTTP)

The Star, Kenya. Number of trainees in teacher training colleges rises, bureau statistics show

 

UNITED STATES
Association for Teacher Educators. CFP Annual Meeting Atlanta, GA Feb. 15-19 [deadline July 1]

Chalkbeat. Newark looks to build school-to-work ‘pipeline’ by boosting vocational education   Individuals who have studied or worked in certain industries can get provisional teaching certificates, but they must then undergo two years of classroom supervision and coursework to become fully certified.

Chronicle of Higher Education.
1) Drew Cloud Is a Well-Known Expert on Student Loans. One Problem: He’s Not Real.  After The Chronicle spent more than a week trying to verify Cloud’s existence, the company that owns The Student Loan Report confirmed that Cloud was fake.
2) It Matters a Lot Who Teaches Introductory Courses. Here’s Why.   Because Ran’s new paper combines administrative data from six community colleges with a detailed faculty survey, it is able to shed light on why students who take early courses with adjuncts (a term it uses interchangeably with part-time faculty) fare worse, said Ran, a senior research assistant in the Community College Research Center at Teachers College of Columbia University.

CNN Opinion [L. Darling-Hammond] What teacher strikes are really about  Because teaching has grown so unattractive as a profession, teacher education enrollments have dropped by more than 30% in recent years while turnover also climbed.

Education Week. ‘I Am Scared to Walk Into a Classroom’: A Preservice Teacher on School Violence   This cannot be an issue on which future teachers remain idle and silent, twiddling our thumbs. Current teachers, responding to suggestions from lawmakers that teachers should be armed, began the #ArmMeWith movement… It’s never too early for preservice teachers to join the conversation.

Hechinger Report. Study: The U.S. isn’t doing enough to prepare students for the automation age   …the five top-performing countries have all started to adapt teacher education for the workforce changes ahead, the study says. This often involves training teachers in the use of advanced technologies.

Inside Higher Ed. Pentagon on PROSPER [US Higher Education Act reauthorization] Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which was created with bipartisan support in 2007, promises that student loan borrowers who work for employers in the public or nonprofit sector and make 120 qualifying monthly payments will have the remainder of their federal loan balance discharged. It potentially makes the armed forces, as well as other public employers, attractive to younger workers [including teachers] who might not consider that option otherwise…

Learning Policy Institute. Diversifying the Teacher Workforce: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color   Barriers to recruitment and retention include: Inadequate teacher preparation when teachers enter through alternative routes and try to teach while they are in training…

NYTimes.
1) Public Servants Are Losing Their Foothold in the Middle Class   “My adjusted gross income is $28,000,” said Shala Marshall, a Spanish teacher at Jenks High School. A 17-year veteran with a master’s degree and a finalist for Oklahoma teacher of the year, Ms. Marshall has two children. “I can’t support a family on that,” she said.
2) Teaching Activities for: ‘A Lynching Memorial Is Opening. The Country Has Never Seen Anything Like It.’
3) The Teachers’ Revolt Spreads to Arizona   … Arizona has such an acute teacher shortage that many schools are already hiring teachers without formal education training, some with only high school diplomas. 

Politico. Third judge rules against Trump move to end DACA

The Hill. The risk of kicking higher ed reauthorization down the road   …HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), indicated markup of the bill could begin this month. Let’s hope it does.

The 74. How the Push for Preschool Teachers to Earn Costly College Degrees Could Strain a System in Which Wages Are Only Half of K-12 Teachers’

 

NEW YORK STATE
My Brother’s Keeper.  2018 Symposium for MBK Communities [April 27-28] featured speakers incl: TC Prof. Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz

NYSATE/NYACTE. CFP Fall Conference Oct. 12-18 [deadline May 15]

 

NEW YORK CITY
NYC Dept. of Education. WeTeachNYC.  Search the library for lessons, professional learning resources, etc.

Teachers College.
1) Office of Teacher Education (OTE) social media updates OTE Twitter  OTE LinkedIn
2) Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC) Program. 2018-19 applications now open [deadline Sept. 10]

GLOBAL
FE News [UK]. Secret RoATP application window revealed  Thirty-six teacher training organisations have joined the register of apprenticeship training providers during a secret application window…

Greater Kashmir.  20 NGOs roped in to improve school education, teacher training

Scroll.In. A new training policy proposed to help Indian teachers upgrade their skills may not help much

TES [UK]. New-teacher preparation has gone ‘off the boil’

 

UNITED STATES
Chronicle of Higher Education. Why Does the Public Distrust Higher Ed? Too Many Women    Except at elite institutions, where the degree is as much about powerful connections as it is about learning, higher education’s value is shrinking as a two-track system develops — one in which women go to college and men get credentials by other means.

edTPA/AACTE.
1) Call For 2018 Conference Proposals [Deadline: June 15]
2) Handbook Improvement Survey
3) New NCTQ Review Offers Mixed Feedback on Graduate Teacher Prep, Alternative Routes

Education Week.
1) Here’s How the Public Views Teachers, Their Salaries, and Their Impact  Second most cited improvement-Improve teacher training
2) South Carolina Spends $500,000 on Ad Campaign to Recruit New Teachers   The state estimates it will need more than 5,000 new teachers each year. In-state teacher-preparation programs graduate about 2,000 candidates a year.
3) The Teaching Force Has Grown Faster Than Student Enrollment—Except in These 4 States

Hechinger Report. Former educators answer call to return to school   At the same time, the number of new college grads with degrees in education has been declining, so many positions are left unstaffed when veteran teachers leave. 

National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. #RewritePROSPER
The PROSPER Act (Higher Education Act):

• Eliminates Grad Plus loans and Perkins loans
• Eliminates Public Service loan Forgiveness
• Caps student loans at $28,500 annually and $150,000 in total
• Eliminates Subsidized Stafford loans
• Eliminates federal work study for graduate students

NYTimes. How Liberty University Built a Billion-Dollar Empire Online  Other students were left simply to flounder, contrary to Falwell’s claims of close attention from distant instructors. Lydia Terry-Dominelli, who lives in a suburb of Albany, N.Y… decided to get her teacher’s certification… struggled further with confusing assignments in another graduate-level education course…

The Atlantic. Why American Students Haven’t Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years   While some elementary teachers have embraced the approach advocated by the NAEP panel, it’s clear that most have been trained to in methods that aren’t supported by research, and that many are resistant to change.

US Education Dept. FY 2018 Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Competition Announcement: applications for Early-phase, Mid-phase, and Expansion competitions.

Zippia. The Most Disproportionately Common Majors In Each State   Ohio-Teacher Education

 

NEW YORK STATE
NYSED News. State Education Department Proposes Rule to Allow Individual Evaluation for Certain Teaching Certificate Titles  A Notice of Proposed Rule Making will be published in the State Register on April 25, 2018. Comments on the proposed changes will be accepted through June 25, 2018 and can be submitted by email to <[email protected]>

SUNY Cortland. Teacher Education Program Meets Tough New Accreditation Standards   When the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Accreditation Council issues its formal decision in October, SUNY Cortland — home to New York’s largest comprehensive teacher education program — is likely to become one of only eight New York colleges with CAEP’s rigorous seal of approval.

 

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Five boroughs in five days: Follow along with Chancellor Carranza on his inaugural school tours   With interest in teacher preparation programs plummeting, Fariña thought encouraging middle and high school students to explore teaching would help fix the problem. Carranza seemed to share in her excitement about the academy. “My heart is really full,” he said. “We’re generating the next generation of teachers right here in this school.”  

Teachers College.
1) All Things to All People: Preparing teachers – and others – to meet the individual needs of those with developmental disabilities   “We’re not just about one method,” says the ID/Autism Program Director, Laudan Jahromi, Associate Professor of Psychology and Education… And that makes Amanda really perfect for us, because not only does her research align with the goals of this program – that is, preparing professionals to use evidence-based strategies with individuals with disabilities..
2) Center for Innovation in Teacher Education and Development (CITED) conversation Decolonizing Teacher Education: Learning from YPAR & Critical Literacies Wed. April 25
3) #TakeActionTuesday Work-In and Letter Writing: Higher Education Act Tues. April 24, 11:30-1:30 Everett Lounge

GLOBAL
New York Times. An Expert’s View: Sir Ken Robinson   If I were secretary… I would support the comprehensive development of early-years education. I would institute a “soup to nuts” review of the selection, training and support of teachers.

Tes. How a ‘balance bike’ approach to training will give us better teachers

The Hindu. Teacher training goes digital

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Call for Entries: AACTE Dissertation Award [Deadline: Aug. 20]
2) Call for Entries: AACTE Outstanding Book Award [Deadline: May 3]

Brunswick News.  Teacher education program paying local dividends College of Coastal Georgia’s impact locally is felt in many ways.

Chronicle. How Ed Schools Became a Menace [L. Asher OpEd]. Ed schools, such as Teachers College at Columbia, or Penn’s Graduate School of Education, have trained and certified most of the nation’s public-school teachers and administrators for the past half-century.

CNN. These charts show why America’s teachers are fired up and can’t take any more   Nationwide, teacher education enrollments dropped 35% between 2009 and 2014, the most recent year for which data are available

Education Week.
1) Can Hiring Ed. School Students Help Solve Substitute Teacher Shortages?   Nebraska is not alone in its attempt to leverage teacher candidates as a way to solve the substitute teacher shortage. California, for instance, also allows ed school undergraduates to earn substitute teacher certification, and for the past two years so has Pennsylvania. Illinois lawmakers are considering the idea.
2) Rauner signs law to ease licensing out-of-state teachers   Teachers must show evidence of completing a state-approved educator preparation program comparable to Illinois’.
3) Review of Graduate and Alternative Programs Finds Gaps in Teacher Prep   In graduate-level and alternative programs, there’s a mismatch between the preparation that teachers get and the real demands of teaching, according to a National Council on Teacher Quality review of 714 programs that prepare both elementary and secondary teachers.
4) South Carolina Education Department recruiting teachers  The ads come as South Carolina faces a teacher shortage, in part because fewer young people are majoring in education in college.

Hechinger Report.
1) Out of poverty, into the middle class   Five most popular career choices according to the survey of Lowell students …#5 teacher
2) Universal preschool is most cost-effective, study finds   The difference in student performance, she writes, could not be explained by differences in class size or teacher education.

InsideHigherEd.
1) Faculty Salaries Up 3%  AAUP’s annual report on faculty compensation takes on salary compression, gender inequality and more.
2) Virtual Avatars for Online Students, Too  Students in many teacher training programs for the last few years have, as a precursor to actual classroom experience, engaged with virtual avatars to simulate the experience of interacting with real-life students. Now online students can get the same opportunity.

National Association for Music Education. NAfME Honors Frederick Burrack and Kelly Parkes [TC Assoc. Prof.] as Lowell Mason Fellows  This past March at the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, NAfME honored exemplary leaders in music education …

NEPC. VAMboozled!: Identifying Effective Teacher Preparation Programs Using VAMs Does Not Work

NPR Education. He Was Oklahoma’s Teacher Of The Year, Then Moved To Texas For Better Pay. Now What?  Really, for our daughter… we didn’t want to gamble 12 years of her education. The likelihood that she would be with an emergency certified educator was just too high.

New York Times [PROPSPER Act OpEd]. Don’t Let the G.O.P. Dismantle Obama’s Student Loan Reforms  Under the bill, new borrowers would pay 50 percent more per month and would no longer have their loans forgiven after 20 to 25 years of repayment. The bill would also drastically cut the amount that can be borrowed for graduate school.

Washington Post. The teacher boycotts are a reminder of what Americans often get wrong about ‘class’   But the teacher walkouts are a reminder that even professionals with master’s degrees in some of the country’s largest cities endure many of the same economic challenges associated with those in blue-collar jobs.

 

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Top New York policymakers to tackle state budget, student privacy, and teacher certification at April meeting   The state is looking to combat teacher shortages, and changes to teacher certification may be on the horizon as a result. One item up for discussion looks to expand the number of teachers who can help students with disabilities. The other is focused on early childhood education and literacy.

NYSED News. State Education Department Proposes Rule to Allow Individual Evaluation for Certain Teaching Certificate Titles  The State Education Department today proposed regulatory changes to reinstate an individual evaluation pathway in certain certificate titles for teacher candidates who have not completed an approved teacher education program but have completed coursework and field experience.

NYSED Regents April Meetings.

• Amendment to Subpart 80-3 and Section 80-4.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Creation of Limited Extensions for Teachers Holding a Students with Disabilities Generalist Certificate Who Teach a Special Class in Grades 7-12 and a Statement of Continued Eligibility for Teachers Holding a Students with Disabilities Generalist Certificate Who Teach a Special Class in Grades 7-12 and Were Previously Allowed to Teach in Another Content Area by School Districts Using the HOUSSE Rubric for Federal Aid Purposes under the No Child Left Behind Act
• Proposed Amendment to Sections 80-3.3 and 80-3.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to Allow Individual Evaluation for Certain Certificate Titles in the Classroom Teaching Service
• Proposed Amendment to Section 80-4.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Grade-Level Extensions for Certain Candidates Who Hold a Students with Disabilities Generalist Teaching Certificate
• Proposed Amendment to Section 52.21 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Graduate Admission Examination Requirements to Implement Chapter 454 of the Laws of 2017. In order to implement the change in law, which has an immediate effective date, the proposed regulation amendment to §52.21 of the Commissioner’s Regulations makes it clear that the graduate admission examination requirement does not apply to certified teachers and school administrators who already hold a graduate degree.

SUNY Update on TeachNY. Presentation to the Board of Regents

WKBW Buffalo. State Education Department has plan to decrease teacher shortage   The State Education Department proposed regulatory changes to reinstate an individual evaluation pathway in certain certificate titles for teacher candidates who have not completed an approved teacher education program but have completed coursework and field experience. 

 

NEW YORK CITY
New York Times. As Tests Begin, Chancellor Comes Out Against ‘Opt Out’  “Today’s N.A.E.P. results show that we are not where we need to be on math education.” He said the city would immediately increase teacher training in elementary math…

Teachers College.
1) AERA 2018 Annual Meeting.  Who, What, When, Where: A full listing of 376 presentations by the Teachers College extended community
2) Center for Innovation in Teacher Education and Development (CITED) April 12, 13 events
3) Haeny Yoon, an Expert on Children’s Play, Receives AERA Emerging Scholar Award   Emerging Scholar Award from the Critical Perspectives of Early Childhood Education Special Interest Group

 

GLOBAL
The Irish Times. Ten ways to tackle the teacher supply crisis   In no other profession are trainees asked to deliver a service unpaid for two years, while paying fees of more than €12,000 while they do so. We don’t ask nursing students to do so, so why do we expect teachers to teach unpaid?

The Guardian. Outdoor learning grows in Scotland as grasp of benefits takes root   The rest of the UK has likewise seen a huge growth in forest nurseries, teacher training and campaigns to celebrate outdoor learning…

The New York Times.
1) An International Final Four: Which Country Handles Student Debt Best?   The judging panel, which includes… Judith Scott-Clayton, associate professor of economics and education, Teachers College, Columbia University…
2) Johan van Hulst, Who Helped Save 600 Children From the Nazis, Dies at 107   He headed a teachers’ college in Amsterdam when he came up with a plan to save hundreds of children from being sent to Nazi death camps.

Voice of America. Techno Teachers: Finnish School Tests Robot Educators  Despite their skills in language and mathematics however, the robots’ inability to maintain discipline amongst a class of primary school children means that, for the time being at least, the human teachers’ jobs are safe.

 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) 2018 Annual Meeting Closing Keynote with Diane Ravitch
2) Diversifying the Teaching Workforce: An Observer’s Reflections

EdWeek.
1) ESSA Pressures States to Assure All Students Have Good Teachers   Instead, many states included lofty goals in their ESSA plans that could take a decade or more to be realized, such as improving teacher preparation…
2) How Oklahoma’s Low Pay Dashed My Hopes of Teaching in My Tribal Community   After getting my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, I accepted a position to teach on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Laveen, Ariz…
3) New Teachers Report That They Feel Well-Prepared for Their Roles   … 80 percent of beginning teachers reported feeling most prepared to teach their subject matter, while 75 percent felt well prepared to align their instruction to content standards.
4) Tech Giants Announce New Funding for 1-to-1 Devices, Computer Science Education  Verizon Innovative Learning, the education initiative of the telecommunications company’s foundation, pledged more than $200 million Monday to furnish technology, teacher training, and internet connectivity…
5) Why One West Virginia Teacher of the Year Stood on the Picket Lines   Without competitive wages and excellent teacher preparation programs we will continue to be unable to fill the over 700 vacancies we currently have in classrooms across the state. 

Forbes. Teacher Strikes Strike Deeper Than Paychecks  Teacher education enrollment dropped by 35% between 2009 and 2014, and almost every U.S. state is experiencing teacher shortages. Several states have recently lowered certification requirements to attract people to the profession.

InsideHigherEd. More Aid for Student Parents: Congress triples federal funding for low-income student parents   … completing an online master’s degree through Grand Canyon University and expects to begin student teaching this fall before starting a career as an elementary school teacher — an outcome she said wouldn’t have been possible without the on-campus childcare.

National Center for Education Statistics. Preparation and Support for Teachers in Public Schools: Reflections on the First Year of Teaching   This Statistics in Brief investigates early-career teachers’ preparation for teaching and receipt of support by selected characteristics of the schools in which they taught during the 2011–12 school year.

NYTimes.
1) A Student Loan Fix for a Teacher, and Many Other Public Servants  “The fight isn’t over until every single nurse, teacher, police officer and firefighter gets the student loan forgiveness that they earned.”
2) Building Skills Outside the Classroom With New Ways of Learning   Lasell’s “Pathways to Teacher Diversity” — part of a statewide effort supported by a Gates Foundation grant — is a partnership with four school districts in the state intended to encourage more high school students of color to pursue careers in education.

The Nation. No Wonder Teachers Are Saying Enough Is Enough   About half of public-school teachers have a Master’s degree. For every $1 someone with a Master’s makes, a teacher with a Master’s makes 79 cents.

Washington Post. Algorithms: Why you should learn what they are, how they affect you and your kids — and whether they actually work   This post looks at this problem and argues for “algorithm transparency.” It was written by Charles Tocci, an assistant professor of social studies education at Loyola University Chicago, a parent and a former high school teacher in Chicago Public Schools.

 

NEW YORK STATE
Inside Higher Ed. New York Budget Restores Bundy Aid   Boosters of private colleges in New York are cheering after the state passed a budget including funding for a long-running program providing unrestricted aid to independent colleges based on their degree productivity.

NYS Education Dept.  April Regents meeting agenda

NYS Register. Continuous Accreditation Requirement for Educator Preparation Providers  Data, views or arguments may be submitted by April 9th to: Kelly Grace, NYS Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 979 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 486-3633, email: [email protected]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. ‘Connecting kids with who they are’: Why school diversity advocates are optimistic about Chancellor Richard Carranza  “There was a palpable, racist antithesis to the establishment of mariachi curriculum,” he told a documentary filmmaker. “How can you be against connecting kids with who they are?”

Diverse Issues in Higher Education. NYC Men Initiative Diversifies Teacher Workforce   “One place where we lose students in the [teacher] pipeline is actually in the K-12 setting,” said Dr. Travis Bristol…

NYTimes. Homework Therapists’ Job: Help Solve Math Problems, and Emotional Ones   Today, most educators are trained in social-emotional development, and advancements in brain imaging are increasingly indicating how closely cognition and emotions are linked.

Teachers College.
1) TR@TC2 hosts: “You Can’t Fire the Bad Ones!” – Book Talk at Teachers College [Mon, April 16, 2018 5:00 PM]  William Ayers, Crystal Laura, and Rick Ayers debunk persistent misconceptions about teachers, teachers’ unions, school “choice,”…
2) TR@TC2 AERA presentations. Teaching Residents research presentations