Tag: Teacher Prep

INTERNATIONAL
International Summit on the Teaching Profession. March 29-31, Edinburgh, Scotland

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Best Practices for Teacher Diversity Highlighted at AACTE Institute
2) Board of Directors Elects New Leaders, Adopts CAEP Action Steps
3) Preparing Teachers to ‘Reach and Teach’ All Students

American Educator, Spring 2017. The Teacher Residency: A Practical Path to Recruitment and Retention

EduVentures. Solving The STEM Shortage   …at least 38% of Future Teachers—those interested in becoming teachers but not planning to major in education—are interested in a STEM or health-related field

EdWeek.
1) Betsy DeVos to State Chiefs: Time for Ed. Dept. to ‘Let You Do Your Job’ One chief also made the case for some of the programs that would be cut under the proposed budget, especially Title II, the teacher quality grants.
2) How Many U.S. Students Are Taught by Qualified Teachers?   At least 90 percent of K-12 public school students in the United States were taught by teachers with state certification in the years studied…

Houston Chronicle. Nelson: All eyes should be on Texas teacher preparation Today, anyone who wants to teach in Texas has more than 200 choices of programs to become a certified teacher.

HuffPost. Trump’s “Skinny Budget” Would Put Educators’ Learning On A Starvation Diet [OpEd by LDH]

New America. Painting the ESSA Canvas: Four Ideas for States to Think Big on Educator Quality

NYTimes.
1) College Is the Goal. The Problem? Getting There. His home life is hard. His mother, Charla Shaner, has a degree in early childhood education but depends on disability and child support payments to pay the bills.
2) What Led to the Supreme Court’s Student Disabilities Ruling? …asking for extra time to complete a test, or additional instruction, better teacher training or additional recess during the school day.

Project Tomorrow. Webinars for Teacher Prep Programs

TeachPlus.org. Profiles in Educator Courage

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. What’s missing from the conversation about the state’s ditched literacy test for teachers?

EdWeek. New York awards $6M for My Brother’s Keeper school programs

NYSED Regents.
1) Regents Act to Amend State’s Teacher Certification Requirements
2) Statement from Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Commissioner MaryEllen Elia on Board of Regents Appointments We congratulate Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown and Regent Nan Eileen Mead on their re-elections to the Board of Regents.

SILive. Could you pass the literacy test for prospective teachers?

SUNY TeachNY. A Candid Conversation with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) Eva Moskowitz talks about Betsy DeVos, vouchers, discipline — and how the ‘tide is turning’ for charter schools I think teacher training is sort of forced to design its programs often for dysfunctional schools because we have so many.
2) New York City’s English learners often struggle to graduate, but here’s how some schools buck that trend State rules, enacted last year, require that teachers in integrated settings either be certified in language instruction, or work as a co-teacher with a colleague who has the credential.

NYTimes.
1) Dance in NYC This Week Ms. Eagly’s latest work is inspired by the disappearance of 43 students from an all-male teachers college in Mexico…
2) Where Halls of Ivy Meet Silicon Dreams, a New City Rises

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Harlem Capital Preparatory Schools. Seeking teachers. [Candidate must possess a current credential or be currently enrolled in a credentialing program]

TC Record Book Review. The Mindful Teacher

INTERNATIONAL
NPR. Somali Students Help Teachers Learn What It’s Like To Be A Refugee

Stanford Social Innovation Review. Redefining Teacher Development to Great Effect in Honduras

UNESCO. eAtlas of Teachers: Projected number of primary teachers needed by 2030 (new posts and attrition)

UNITED STATES
CAEP. Seeking Volunteers

EdWeek.
1) Should E-Learning Replace Substitute Teachers? Lexington High School in Massachusetts has replaced in-person substitutes with “electronic learning facilitators,” full-time licensed educators who are trained in online instruction.
2) Tapping High Schoolers to Become Teachers   …9th graders can get a taste of the teaching profession through Today’s Students-Tomorrow’s Teachers, a program that started in 1994 at a high school in Westchester, N.Y.,
3) Trump Sharpens Budget Knife for Education Department, Sources Say …eliminate or substantially cut the third-largest K-12 program in the department: Supporting Effective Instruction state grants program, better known as Title II…
4) Trump Budget Would Make Massive Cuts to Ed. Dept., But Boost School Choice …whacking popular programs that help districts offer after-school programs, and hire and train teachers.
5) When ‘Highly Qualified’ Teachers Aren’t: Are we watering down teacher certification? [OpEd]

HechingerReport. Highlights from SXSW’s education confab in Austin – and beyond The most talked-about speech during SXSWedu came from Christopher Emdin, an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University

NAAC. 27th Annual Conference of the National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) (2017)

NYTimes.
1) Agency-By-Agency Look at Trump’s Budget …eliminate two programs worth $3.6 billion that provide funding for teacher preparation and after-school programs
2) Navigating Our Shameful, Maddeningly Complex Student Aid System “Just at the moment when everything seemed like it was going in the right direction, the rug gets pulled out, and in the middle of the application season,” said Judith Scott-Clayton, associate professor of economics and education at Teachers College of Columbia University
3) When a Few Bucks Can Get Students to the Finish Line “It wasn’t important enough before that for the Department of Education to include it in their eligibility criteria,” said Thomas Bailey, a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Project Tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Teachers Speak Up Survey

Seattle Education. An Interview with Kenneth Zeichner: Relay Graduate School of Education

US News & World Report. Best Education Schools [2017 rankings]

NEW YORK STATE
Breitbart. New York State Kills Literacy Test for Teachers: Minority Kids Hardest Hit

Chalkbeat. It’s official: New York’s prospective teachers will no longer have to pass controversial literacy exam

NY Daily News. Teach your teachers well: The state Board of Regents makes a big mistake on an educators’ literacy credential

NYSED Regents.
1) Board of Regents Act To Amend State’s Teacher Certification Requirements Based On Recommendations Of Expert Panel And Public Input
2) Report of Regents Higher Education Committee to The Board of Regents

FoxNews. NY dropping teacher literacy test amid claims of racism

NYPost. The Regents’ lame excuses for lowering teacher standards

NYTimes.
Regents Drop Teacher Literacy Test Seen as Discriminatory

INTERNATIONAL
Education International. Standardised tests and Global Citizenship: a flawed relationship? The deprofessionalisation of the teaching profession was also highlighted as a threat to education for sustainable development, global citizenship and human rights.

Unite for Quality Education. Not “Always Learning” (As Much As Desired): Rebranding Pearson As The “Efficacy Company” In Education …individuals accumulate huge amounts of debt paying for credentials, degrees, and training from educational providers and yet, may still end up un(der)employed…

Times Higher Ed. Global higher education might turn upside down as West turns inward

UNITED STATES
115^th US Congress.
1) H.J.Res.57 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to accountability and State plans under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
2) H.J.Res.58 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher preparation issues.

AACTE.
1) Annual Meeting Highlights
2) Statement on the Rescindment of the Federal Regulations for Teacher Preparation Programs

C-SPAN. U.S. Senate Vote on Resolution to Rescind the Teacher Preparation Program Regulations The U.S. Senate voted 59-40 to rescind the U.S. Department of Education’s regulations for teacher preparation programs.

EdWeek.
1) Building Up the Teacher Workforce in Small-Town Iowa … teachers brand new to the profession, who are coming out of college. You’re not just coming into a classroom and maybe being supported—you’ll be supported on a weekly basis.
2) Congress May Turn Focus to Higher Ed. Law’s Renewal In February, the House of Representatives voted to block regulations governing teacher-preparation programs that were finalized late last year by the Obama administration.
3) Senate Votes to Block Obama Teacher-Preparation Rules
4) Updated Higher Education Law Could Impact Data, Access for K-12 Students Among those issues are what kind of information about colleges and universities prospective students will be able to see.
5) With New Administration, 100Kin10 Renews Call to Support STEM Teachers 100Kin10, a national nonprofit focused on recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math … reiterated the importance of their mission in a new political climate.
6) With White House Backing, Senate Overturns ESSA Accountability Rules

Futurism. Your Next Teacher Could Be a Robot

NEAToday. Educators Told to Intern at Local Businesses To Renew Teacher Licenses

NYTimes. Obama Education Rules Are Swept Aside by Congress

The Atlantic. Training Students to Outpace Automation Schools near Detroit have reworked curriculum to include both technical and soft skills.

Washington Post.
1) Senate votes to repeal Obama rule on teacher training “By overturning these regulations, Congress would tell our nation’s teacher preparation programs that they will not be held accountable for how well they educate aspiring teachers,” Walsh said…
2) Teacher: Here’s the history lesson Betsy DeVos needed on black colleges and the Ku Klux Klan The colored schools employed teachers of a lower grade of qualifications and at smaller salaries than the whites. 

NEW YORK STATE
New York Post. Will New York open the door to teachers who can’t read? At its meeting Monday, the board will vote on eliminating the Academic Literacy Skills Test…

NYSED Regents. March 13 Meeting agenda

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Is New York City schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña on her way out? Aaron Pallas, an education professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, also recently hinted that her term is coming to an end.

Teachers College.
1) Gap Between Refugee Policy and Practice Hinders Urban Refugee Children’s Access to Education [by TC Profs. Mary Mendenhall, S. Garnett Russell, Elizabeth Buckner] …displaced children vulnerable to the same problems faced by native urban poor children in attending school: over-crowded local schools, inadequate resources and teacher training, far distances and lack of safe transportation to and from school.
2) Teacher Opportunity Corps application [March 15 deadline]

INTERNATIONAL
BBCNews. Teaching ‘weakest aspect’ of education in Wales – Estyn   …better access to professional development “from a lack of high quality training provision, a lack of financial resources…

Independent IE. Graduates getting jobs quickly – and more staying in Ireland A degree in education remains the quickest route to a job, and the data shows a big growth last year.

NYTimes. Still No Justice for Mexico’s Missing Students …the unsolved case of the September 2014 disappearance of 43 students at a teachers college in Ayotzinapa…

UNITED STATES
115th US Congress. S.J.Res.26 Introduced 3/2/17 by Senator Sasse (R-NE) A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher preparation issues.

AACTE. Ongoing 69^th annual meeting

AAUP. Political Litmus Tests Have No Place in Higher Ed …require tenure-track and tenured faculty members to “reflect the ideological balance of the citizens of the state…”

CAEP. Seeking Volunteers; applications due April 1, 2017

Chalkbeat. #PublicSchoolProud has its Oscar moment as ‘La La Land’ songwriter shouts out his schools   “And I’m so grateful for all my teachers, who taught so much and gave so much to us.”

EdWeek.
1) Educators Join New Fight to Block Guns in Schools …groups like Moms Demand Action counter that teachers and school staff aren’t prepared to respond to armed intruders…
2) Louisiana and Arizona Look to Address Special Education Teacher Shortage
3) Measure to Overturn ESSA Accountability Rules Introduced in Senate
4) Miss Obama’s Education Department? There’s a Website for That
5) Teacher Programs Face Loss of Funding With Trump’s Proposed AmeriCorps Cut

Hechinger Report. Is teacher preparation failing students with disabilities?

RealClearEducation. Teacher Preparation Programs: Under Pressure and Making Progress

Southern Regional Education Board. DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE… But not a Byte to Use Teacher prep programs, for example, need access to comparable data on student achievement and teacher evaluation.

SmartBrief. Teacher prep responds to inclusive classrooms

Springfield News Leader. AACTE uses data sharing to evaluate teacher preparation

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. State pols push for eliminating controversial rule in Cuomo’s tuition plan and expanding help for low-income families

EdWeek. Buffalo and Rochester Work Together to Recruit Teachers of Color To find a more diverse applicant pool, the districts are leaving behind predominately white Upstate New York and  are headed south.

NY Assembly Education Committee. Interviews of Regent Candidates in Judicial Districts 6 and 7.

TimesUnion.
1) Cuomo and Trump: Education buddies?
2) NY education officials want your input on holding schools accountable …strategies for pre-service preparation and professional support for educators…

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. City to open 68 new bilingual programs, signaling support for immigrants in NYC public schools

EdWeek. The Education of Barron Trump and Other ‘First Kids’ In Manhattan, Barron Trump attends the private, co-educational Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School—where he will stay put until the end of the school year…

NYDailyNews. New $1M scholarship program offers low-income children a college education for free … a full ride at Queens College in the major of their choice.

 

INTERNATIONAL
BBCNews. Teacher shortage getting worse, say MPs …recruitment targets for teacher training have been consistently missed

Education International. UK: workloads spark a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention

IEN. Building Hope In South African Education …they have to find ways to attract students, recruit teachers, tutors…

The Hill. The Japanese education system may solve the problems of US public education Elizabeth Green, author of Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and how to Teach it to Everyone) found a similar pattern when she interviewed Akahiko Takashi, once one of Japan’s leading teachers…

UNITED STATES
115th US Congress.
1) H.R.610 Choices in Education Act of 2017 This bill repeals the No Hungry Kids Act and Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and limits the authority of the Department of Education (ED) such that ED …is authorized only to award block grants to qualified states.
2) H.R.899 – To terminate the Department of Education.

AACTE.
1) Ask Congress to Rescind the Teacher Preparation Regulations!
2) February Federal Update Webinar archive

Boston Univ. The Daily Free Press. Study finds statewide lack of diversity in teacher prep programs

The Chronicle. Betsy DeVos Criticizes Professors in Remarks to Conservative Conference. “The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what to say, and more ominously, what to think. They say that if you voted for Donald Trump, you’re a threat to the university community” …

EdWeek.
1) ‘Education Establishment’ Has Blocked Efforts to Fix Schools Now let me ask you: How many of you are college students? The fight against the education establishment extends to you too … –USED Secretary DeVos
2) Colo. District Considers Building Tiny Homes for Teachers Eagle County School District in Colo. is considering tiny home construction as a strategy to recruit and retain teachers…
3) Drawing a Line Between Civics Education and Activism … there’s a connection between college students being educated for civic engagement but not being educated for civic literacy.
4) Eight Steps to Improve the Ed-Tech Industry: Education technology is worryingly disconnected from education research [by TC President Susan Fuhrman]
5) Home Visits With a STEM Twist …It’s unusual for a school of education to provide home-visit training for its candidates
6) More South Dakota teachers retiring, fewer recruited   “The bottom line is we can’t hire good, new teachers if there aren’t good, new people going into the profession,” …
7) Should Job Shadowing Be a Requirement for Teacher License Renewal?
8) Video: A Teacher Explains Formative Assessments

NYTimes.
1) Beyond ‘Hidden Figures’: Nurturing New Black and Latino Math Whizzes …four hours of math a day taught by 10 experienced math teachers, several of them Ph.D.’s.
2) For-Profit Schools, an Obama Target, See New Day Under Trump So it is in higher education that the new administration’s power is likely to be felt most keenly and quickly.
3) Rough First Week Gives Betsy DeVos a Glimpse of the Fight Ahead …accused some of the school’s teachers of passively awaiting instruction and said she would be pleased if the department she currently runs did not exist in the future.
4) Three Teaching Ideas for Making Presidents’ Day Great Again
5) Trump Rescinds Rules on Bathrooms for Transgender Students And Ms. DeVos, faced with the alternative of resigning or defying the president, agreed to go along.

Washington Post.
1) Ohio Gov. Kasich is trying to impose this misguided mandate on teachers   …all new teachers applying for a license … will be required to get some “on-site work experience with a local business or chamber of commerce.”
2) Senate Democrats seek answers about a Trump higher ed task force We are also very troubled that there has been no public explanation by the President or the Administration about what will be under the formal purview of this task force.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat.
1) Gov. Cuomo is proposing free college tuition, but are his plan’s rules too strict?
2) New York state charges forward with its ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ initiative   the state has split the $20 million into grants that encourage the recruitment of a diverse pool of high-quality teachers, along with family and community engagement, and programs focused on college and career success.

Newsday. SUNY chancellor endorses gov’s tuition plan, addresses criticisms

NY Daily News. Cuomo’s very good college investment

NYSED.
1) ESSA Winter Regional meetings. Participants must RSVP to ensure that they will be able to participate in the meetings.
2) A.G. Schneiderman And State Education Commissioner Elia Issue Reminder That New York State Protects Transgender Students

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) New York City is touting grad rates at its lowest-performing high schools, but far fewer students are graduating from them   “In one sense, it can almost be framed as a marketing problem,” said Aaron Pallas, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
2) Prayers, precision and push-ups: A special ed teacher puts his unusual background to work in the classroom Asomugha made his way to the classroom through New York City Teaching Fellows, an alternative certification pathway for new graduates and career-changers, and has been mentored through NYC Men Teach…

Teachers College.
1) Celebration of Teaching 2017: Scaffolding Content And Language In The Multilingual Classroom. Sat. March 4, Zankel 408
2) TC Mourns Shakespeare Teacher John Henry Browne, a “True Keeper of the Flame”

 

INTERNATIONAL
IEN.
1) A “Right to Play” in Daily Education …and through a cooperative inquiry approach developing a yearlong process of training.
2) Poland: Reforming an improving school system

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) AASCU Report Maps Challenges, Priorities for Teacher Preparation
2) New AACTE Action Group to Focus on Rural Education

EdWeek.
1) Betsy DeVos to State Chiefs: Full Speed Ahead on the Every Student Succeeds Act …the following programs may be included in a consolidated State plan: …Title II, part A: Supporting Effective Instruction;
2) Scientists Take on New Roles in K-12 Classrooms
3) Fostering a Long-Lasting Love of Teaching
4) Teachers at Low-Income Schools Deserve Respect  A casual review of teacher-training courses in my home state of Oregon revealed that none specifically addresses the teaching techniques and special needs of underresourced learners.
5) Teachers in Wisconsin Could Get Lifetime Teaching Licenses Under Budget Proposal
6) Uncertainties as Congress Takes Aim at ESSA Regulations Another resolution, also approved last week by the GOP-controlled House, would overturn final rules issued in October on teacher-preparation programs.
7) Undocumented Teachers Shielded by DACA in Legal and Emotional Limbo

Network for Public Education. The Trump/DeVos Privatization Agenda Begins to Take Shape

NYTimes.
1) Chicago Public Schools Sue Over ‘Discriminatory’ State Funding Michael Rebell, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, who tracks school funding litigation, said plaintiffs have prevailed in 23 states since 1989
2) Teaching and Learning About Governmental Checks and Balances and the Trump Administration

TheAtlantic. Are Teachers Becoming Obsolete?

TheChronicle. In First Higher-Ed Address as Education Secretary, DeVos Praises Community Colleges

The74. The Certification Maze: Why Teachers Who Cross State Lines Can’t Find Their Way Back to the Classroom

TusconWeekly. Jerry Falwell Jr. to Head Trump’s Higher Ed Deregulation Task Force. Expect a Big Boost for Liberty—Falwell’s Liberty University, That Is.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. Much-criticized teacher literacy test could be on the chopping block next month

EdWeek. Which States Pay Teachers the Most (and Least)? Alaska and New York pay teachers nearly double the salaries of those working in Mississippi and Oklahoma

NYS Assembly. Interviews for NYS Board of Regents Vacancies

NYSED Regents. February meeting cancelled; agenda likely to be taken up in March including:
1) Proposed Amendments to Part 80 of the Commissioner’s Regulations Related to the Elimination of the Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST) for Teacher Certification and to Remove Unnecessary References to the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/217hea1.pdf
2) Proposed Amendment to Section 80-1.5 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Establishment of a Multiple Measures Review Process for the edTPA: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/217hed1.pdf

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. Little mention of education in de Blasio’s ‘State of the City’ address  “…we’re probably seeing the winding down of Carmen Fariña at the helm,” said Aaron Pallas, an education professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College

NYTimes. De Blasio’s State of the City Has Critics Asking: What About Schools?   Aaron Pallas, a professor of sociology and education at Columbia University Teachers College, said …it could also reflect that the mayor doesn’t have a distinct vision for the schools heading into a possible second term

Teachers College. Feb. 16 Teacher Pop-up Discussion with Prof. Celia Oyler. #TeachActivism

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Advocacy on Teacher Prep Regs Yields House Resolution to Rescind; More Outreach Needed
2) Black & Hispanic/Latino Male Teachers Initiative Networked Improvement Community

AASCU. Preparing teachers in today’s challenging Context: Key Issues, Policy Directions and Implications for Leaders of AASCU Universities

Chalkbeat.
1) Cory Booker vs. Cory Booker: Two videos to understand how the politics of education are being reshaped in the Trump era  In the wake of Trump’s election, other issues …are driving a wedge between Democrats and Republicans who previously could find common ground on education issues.
2) Worried Betsy DeVos could ‘destroy’ public education? Here’s what you should know   “There isn’t that much money that is fungible from the federal education budget,” points out Samuel Abrams, an expert in education policy at Teachers College

DeansForImpact. Special education and the role of teacher-preparation programs

EdWeek.
1) California Teacher Shortages Have Led to ‘Severe Consequences,’ Report Says LPI recommends that California offer scholarships or loan forgiveness to pre-service teachers who commit to teaching in high-needs fields and locations, utilize teacher residency models to help with retention rates…
2) House Votes to Overturn ESSA Accountability, Teacher-Prep Rules
3) Reactions to Betsy DeVos’ Confirmation as Ed. Secretary Range From Joy to Anger
4) ‘Uber for Substitutes’ Promises to Enrich Learning When the Teacher Is Away  Parachute finds prospective substitutes… and offers about three hours of basic training on common issues like classroom management and lesson planning.
5) Will Push to Improve Schools of Ed Continue Without Teacher-Prep Regs?

Hechinger Report. Senate committee approves Betsy DeVos, “Thoughtless proponent of the privatization of American education” [OpEd by TC Prof. Pallas, featured in Tweet by Senator Schumer]

NYTimes.
1) American Universities Must Take a Stand [OpEd by Bard College President L. Botstein]  American colleges and universities, public and private, are … committed to research and teaching in a manner that transcends ordinary politics.
2) Immigrant Students Seek Access to State Financial Aid   …said Lopez, who wants to become a high school math teacher. “I have been worried about paying for college since I was 10…”
3) Preparing Young Americans for a Complex World  For now, teacher education that is focused on this area remains at a nascent stage, says William Gaudelli, an associate professor at Teachers College
4) What to Watch in Congress: Confirmation Votes, Regulation Rollbacks   …and another Education Department rule that sets the parameters for gathering and sharing data on teacher training programs.

PBSNewshour. Column: How I learned my own value as a black male teacher

The Atlantic. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Has Already Affected Public Education   DeVos’s confirmation as secretary could prove itself an unexpected boon for advocates, teachers, and parents exasperated with the state of school reform…

The74. House Blocks Obama-Era ESSA Accountability, Teacher Prep Rules Over Democrats’ Objections  The teacher preparation regulations proposed to rate teacher training programs based, in part, on how well students taught by the programs’ graduates performed on tests…

NEW YORK STATE
NY Daily News. Breakaway Senate Dems want undocumented immigrants to receive college financial aid in N.Y.

NYPost. Critics blast Cuomo’s free-college-tuition plan as a ‘sham’

NYSED Regents Meeting Higher Ed Committee, Feb. 13
1) Amendment… to Automatically Extend the Time Validity of Certain Expired Provisional, Initial or Transitional Certificates for Three Years
2) Emergency Regulation to Eliminate the Requirement That Candidates Must Take and Pass the Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST) for Teacher Certification
3) Staff Recommendations Related to the edTPA Task Force Report

PoliticNY. Cuomo defends tuition-free college plan on statewide tour

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. An exit interview with Sophia Pappas, who led New York City’s historic expansion of universal pre-K   …the 35-year-old Georgetown and Harvard grad — who also led early childhood efforts with Teach For America…

TCRecord Book Review. STEM Learning with Young Children: Inquiry Teaching with Ramps and Pathways  Should early grades teachers focus on literacy and mathematics instruction?

 

INTERNATIONAL
BBCNews. Should all countries use the Shanghai maths method? These specialist teachers are given at least five years of training targeted at specific age groups,

EduInternational. UK: Brexit outs EU academics

UNITED STATES
115th US Congress. Contact Senators

AACTE.
1) Ask Congress to Rescind the Teacher Preparation Regulations!
2) Nancy L. Zimpher to Receive AACTE’s Imig Award Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education
3) Ohio Teacher Educators, PK-12 Partners Collaborate at Teach to Lead Equity Summit

Chronicle of Higher Ed. Jerry Falwell’s New Higher-Ed Task Force Could Take Cues From a Private-College Association’s Playbook …NAICU, highlights several areas “ripest for deregulation in higher education,” including new rules on teacher education,

EdWeek.
1) Here Are Key GOP Senators Who Have Yet to Support or Oppose Betsy DeVos
2) House Republicans Move to Scrap Rules on ESSA, Teacher Preparation
3) How to Pick a Better Ed. Secretary Than Betsy DeVos [OpEd by K Kumashiro, former dean, USF School of Education]
4) New Orleans Spending More on Admins, Less on Teachers Since Charter Takeover   Administrators have largely relied on alternative certification programs like Teach for America since the storm to staff classrooms.

Inside Higher Ed.
1) Data Fears and Downloads Some education researchers have begun downloading federal data amid questions about the new administration’s commitment…
2) Republicans Seek to Block Teacher-Prep Rules

NYTimes.
1) Betsy DeVos, Pick for Secretary of Education, Is the Most Jeered …some Senate offices reported receiving more calls opposing Ms. DeVos than any other Trump nominee.
2) Senate Sets Fight Over Education Secretary for Next Week Voting margins are so thin that Pence, as head of the Senate, may have to cast a tie-breaking vote.

Politico. Former Education Secretary King speaks out against DeVos, Trump “People who care about public education, who care about equity, who care about civil rights should speak out loudly,” King said.

The Education Trust. John B. King Jr. to Serve as President and CEO of the Education Trust

USAToday. Decades after civil rights gains, black teachers a rarity in public schools

Washington Post.
1) Two Republican senators say they will vote against DeVos for education secretary
2) U-Va. education dean: Betsy DeVos’s Senate hearing performance was ‘disqualifying’

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat.
1) Changing education is like ‘moving a battleship on the ocean’: Departing NY Regent reflects on his tenure
2) Famed researcher Linda Darling-Hammond on the future of New York education — and what she makes of Betsy DeVos

EducationNext. As Cuomo Proposal Rekindles Free College Movement, New Research Provides Ammunition for Skeptics [OpEd by TC Assoc. Prof. J. Scott-Clayton]

edTPA Task Force. TAKE ACTION on Proposed Certification Exam Changes, Support the NYS edTPA Task Force Proposals

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. More men of color are teaching in New York City classrooms as city works to boost overall retention and recruitment

NYDaily News. Private colleges need state help too: A local university president urges Gov. Cuomo to help students at more schools

New York City Council, Education Committee Oversight – Teacher Recruitment and Retention Jan. 24, 2017

Teachers College. Edmund Gordon Lecture by Erica Walker. Hidden in Plain Sight: Lessons for Mathematics Education Seen Through a Storytelling Lens Feb. 16

TCRecord Book Review. Hinkel, E. (Ed.) 2016. Teaching English Grammar to Speakers of Other Languages

 

INTERNATIONAL
JapanToday. Startups, venture capitalists, and teachers disrupt education

The Baltic Times. Academy: Education Ministry’s statement about reorganization of Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy is mendacious

UNITED STATES
Chalkbeat. President Trump appears to be backing off repealing protections for undocumented youth. But anxiety is still running high. …the president wants to work with congressional leaders to find a long-term solution for young undocumented immigrants — hundreds of them teachers…

EdWeek.
1) Holocaust Group Will Release Classroom Resources for Trump’s First 100 Days
2) Learning Forward Merges With the National Commission on Teaching … calling for education leaders and policymakers to revamp teacher-preparation programs…

Hechinger Report. Why teachers should help students inaugurate a discussion of politics in the classroom [OpEd by Italia Krahling, a masters student in the Teaching of Social Studies program at Teachers College]

HuffingtonPost. An Open Letter To Senator Lamar Alexander About Betsy DeVos

Los Altos Town Crier. Bullis Charter School prepares new teachers for long careers

Michigan State Univ. Teacher Education Professor Receives Presidential Science Award

NAESP. Practitioner’s Corner: What Principals Should Know About edTPA

NYTimes. Campuses Wary of Offering ‘Sanctuary’ to Undocumented Students

The Tennessean. Betsy DeVos is unqualified to lead Education Department by The Teacher Education Collective

NEW YORK STATE
NYS edTPA Task Force. Proposals; Regents may take action on the recommendations at their meeting Feb. 13-14

CNN. New Yorkers start debate on free tuition

EdWeek. New York Poised to Revamp Certification Exams

NYTimes. Private Colleges Suggest New York’s Free Tuition Plan Limits Choices Mary Beth Labate, the [new] president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, has criticized …

Pace University. School of Education Public Forum: Shaping Public Education Policy in New York State March 10

NEW YORK CITY
Gotham Gazette Teacher Recruitment, Retention Will Be Focus of City Council Hearing

New York City Council: Education Committee. 1/24/17 Oversight – Teacher Recruitment and Retention

URGENT

TAKE ACTION on Proposed Certification Exam Changes

— Support the NYS edTPA Task Force Proposals —

This is the first real opportunity for New York teacher educators, K-12 teachers and students to provide input and press for changes in the flawed teacher certification exams and process mandated in 2014. The proposed changes reflect a commitment to high, equitable and reasonable standards for entry into the teaching profession.

After months of collaboration and compromise, the NYS edTPA Task Force issued a report and recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents may take action on the recommendations at their meeting Feb. 13-14. There is no guarantee that all task force recommendations will be acted on by the Regents.

They need to hear from YOU.

Contact Your District Regent, At-Large Regents, and the NYS Commissioner of Education NOW and urge them to take action.

Contact information for Commissioner and Regents:

PDF: http://uupinfo.org/committees/pdf/teached/2017Regentscontactinfo.pdf

SED website: https://www.regents.nysed.gov/members/findrep

edTPA Task Force recommendations to the Regents & State Education Department include:

• Convene a standards setting committee to review and potentially recalibrate edTPA score requirements;
• Establish a multiple measures review process so a teacher candidate who fails the edTPA within a narrow margin may be recommended for certification by program faculty based on other evidence of readiness to teach;
• Work with teacher educators to review edTPA handbooks of concern, with two possible outcomes:
• Handbook revision, or
• SED approval of an alternative performance assessment when a mismatch occurs between the edTPA and professional practices in a particular teacher education specalty area;
• Review certification exam costs and evaluate pass rate variations in different certification areas and across different student populations, as well as why they occur;
• Eliminate the Academic Literacy Skills Test, which duplicates other parts of the certification process;
• Examine the Educating All Students exam for possible content problems and  to assess variations in pass rates across certification areas; and
• Examine statewide discrepancies regarding the length and content of the student teaching experience.

SED’s summary of the edTPA Task Force recommendations is posted at the following link:
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/117hed2.pdf