Tag: Teaching

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Dec. 16 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
All Africa. Nigeria: ‘A National Campaign Will Boost Image of Teaching Profession’   Teach for Nigeria recruits promising leaders from varied disciplines to teach in Nigeria’s underserved schools, in low-income communities.

Association for Teacher Education in Europe. Spring Conference 2020 [Florence, 20-22 May]

Kings College London. CFP: Pedagogy, politics and teacher education: an international conference. This conference has been organised by the Centre for Innovation in Teacher Education and Development (CITED). [13-15, May]

National Center on Education and the Economy. Global Ed Talks: podcasts now available

Unite for Quality Education. Public Private Partnerships in Liberia Have Failed! The Education Minister Must Act Now to Save The Liberian Education System   Many of our members, qualified teachers at public schools across the country, have not been paid for months…  We urgently need increased investment in education, quality teacher training, robust education management systems, and better accountability mechanisms. 

 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Bipartisan Christmas Miracles Come to Washington   New Proposed Regulations for TEACH Grants Released… According to DeVos, “This proposed rule ensures educators who received TEACH Grants and who are meeting their service requirements do not have their grants converted to loans improperly or as a result of confusing bureaucratic paperwork.”
2) New Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Educator Preparation video series. For nearly 30 years, the AACTE Holmes Program has supported students who self-identify as racially and ethnically diverse and are obtaining graduate degrees in education at AACTE member institutions.

AACTE/SCALE. Keynotes Announced for 2020 TPA Implementation Conference [March 26-28, Autin, TX]

Chalkbeat. ‘It’s killing children and no one is talking about it’: Asthma is taking a steep toll on Newark’s students and their schools   A decade ago, all of Newark’s public schools earned the group’s “asthma-friendly” designation, meaning that their teachers and nurses were trained to deal with asthma and there was a nebulizer at each school. 

Education Week.
1) Congress Mostly Snubs DeVos Agenda in Deal Increasing Education Spending   Title II for teacher and principal training: $76 million more
2) How Do Kids Learn to Read? What the Science Says 
3) What Should Teachers Need to Do to Transfer Their License to a New State?   Nineteen states make it harder for an out-of-state applicant to qualify for a teaching license if they were prepared to teach through an alternative route. Teachers who did not go through a traditional teacher-preparation program might have to take additional coursework or satisfy additional student-teaching or internship requirements. 

Hechinger Report. Low-income districts find ways to help students make music   A partial list of what any district would need to offer a robust music program includes teachers with advanced degrees in their subject area, class schedules that allow as many kids as possible to participate in music, high-quality curricular resources, professional development opportunities for teachers, and partnerships with local musicians and music organizations.

KQED. ‘I Feel That I’m Needed’: An Effort to Keep Male Teachers of Color in the Classroom  That’s why any effort to increase teacher diversity has to focus as much on what happens after teachers reach the classroom as before, says Travis Bristol [TC PhD ’14], a professor at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education.

NYTimes.
1) Teaching Impeachment: 7 Ideas From Our Readers
2) The Machines Are Learning, and So Are the Students: Artificial intelligence is starting to take over repetitive tasks in classrooms, like grading, and is optimizing coursework and revolutionizing the preparation for college entrance exams.   The world will still need schools, classrooms and teachers to motivate students and to teach social skills, teamwork and soft subjects like art, music and sports. 
3) What Students Are Saying About How to Improve American Education   Give teachers more money and support. I have always been told “Don’t be a teacher, they don’t get paid hardly anything.” or “How do you expect to live off of a teachers salary, don’t go into that profession.” As a young teen I am being told these things, the future generation of potential teachers are being constantly discouraged because of the money they would be getting paid.

Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) and Pearson. Affirming the Validity and Reliability of edTPA  Response to “Assessing the Assessment: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in the edTPA,” published in the American Education Research Journal (AERJ).  

Washington Post. American University to offer full scholarships to 10 D.C. students   In 2018, the university launched a program for high school seniors who want to take college-level courses in its School of Education. And officials are designing a program that will offer full scholarships to students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in education and promise to return to D.C. Public Schools to teach for at least five years.

NEW YORK STATE

NYSED Office of Higher Education. December Newsletter
*New Deputy Commissioner for Higher Education
*Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) and Teachers Who Mentor Teacher Candidates. The Board of Regents adopted a regulatory amendment that a teacher acting as a mentor to a teacher candidate (e.g., student teacher) may, at the discretion of the school district or BOCES, credit up to 25 clock hours toward his/her CTLE requirement in each five-year registration period.
*Recruiting Educators for Test Development Committees

Office of the Governor. S.5410 Sanders/ A.4538 Glick: Relates to the cumulative grade point average admission requirement for graduate-level teacher and educational leader programs.   Governor Cuomo vetoed legislation that would have provided higher education institutions with alternative criteria in determining admissibility into graduate-level teacher and education leadership programs He stated that the bill was not approved because he believes the current GPA requirement is a reasonable condition of admission to graduate-level teacher and education leadership programs.

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. My teachers mispronounced my name. Decades later, it still stings — and influences the way I coach educators.  Those moments speak to cultural insensitivity. And when white teachers are dismissive or derisive regarding students’ names, there is an overlay of racist implications. Educators don’t need to understand why a student has a certain name; they simply need to know why it’s important for them to say a student’s name properly.

EdSurge. How an Unplugged Approach to Computational Thinking Can Move Schools to Computer Science   Yet even though almost all K-12 classrooms have computers or tablets, most teachers aren’t trained to leverage computing education for rigorous learning. Teacher training programs aren’t yet making a dent: Very few, if any, training programs in the U.S. currently offer computing education as part of their teacher training, per one report.

QNS. DOE report finds that a record number of NYC students are receiving computer science education   Since the initiative launched, 1,900 teachers in 800 schools across the city have been trained in computer science through Computer Science for All. The number of students receiving CS education in the 2018-19 school year was 163,734…

SILive. Pilot program to help Staten Island teachers get free arts certification   These teachers receive free tuition and testing fees to support them in gaining their Supplemental Arts Certification from the College of Staten Island (CSI), Willowbrook, on an expedited timeline. The pilot comes as the administration continues to invest in arts teachers and focuses on increasing the number of full-time certified arts teachers in New York City schools.

Teaching Residents at Teachers College. Updated production list 2012-19: 17 peer-reviewed publications, 47 global conference presentations

The American Reporter. Teaching as an Act of Love [OpEd by J. Cowin TC MA ’89, EdD ‘92]  Investing in and providing encouragement to teacher candidates really models what effective teachers do in their own classrooms.

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Dec. 9 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
The Guardian. New teachers caught in an ideological trap   The Conservatives’ framework for teacher training ignores recent theories of learning and offers inadequate preparation, write education experts. The next government must hit rewind

International Literacy Association. Advocating for Children’s Rights to Read: A manual for enacting the rights in classrooms, communities, and the world  3. ENSURE teacher preparation and professional development (PD) program requirements meet rigorous literacy standards.

 

UNITED STATES
AACTE. New Board Members for 2020

AACTE/SCALE. October-December 2019 edTPA Community Newsletter

American Educational Research Journal. Assessing the Assessment: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in the edTPA   We examined the technical documentation of edTPA and raise serious concerns about scoring design, the reliability of the assessments, and the consequential impact on decisions about edTPA candidates. In light of these findings, we argue that the proposed and actual uses of the edTPA are currently unwarranted on technical grounds.

Atlanta Journal Constitution. Low pay, underfunded schools and unrealistic expectations make teaching a tough sell: Education professor says teachers held accountable for factors out of their control   During student teaching, which I personally recall as one of the most challenging periods of my long academic career, today’s students must pass the EdTPA, which is a highly challenging performance-based test. All of these tests are evaluated by third parties, not schools of education. The state periodically raises the cut score for passing (which is an odd assessment practice, usually determining proficiency means identifying a performance level and sticking with it).

Chalkbeat. 7 questions asked and answered about Chicago’s new teacher diversity committee   A major and important shift is talking about the pipeline. Instead of thinking about recruitment and how we siphon off more folks in an existing pool of applicants, how can we target people who want to be teachers? How can we think about our students as future teachers, and what would that do to reimagine a pipeline? 

Education Week.
1) 10 Ways the Teaching Profession Has Changed Over the Past 10 Years   7. Fewer people are enrolling in teacher-preparation programs. Across the country, enrollment in teacher-preparation programs has dropped by one-third over the past decade. Program completion has declined as well.
2) Will the Science of Reading Catch On in Teacher Prep?   Teachers often leave preservice without clarity on cognitive science

InsideHigherEd. Required Pedagogy: Online conversation shines a spotlight on graduate programs that teach students how to teach — and those programs that don’t.   Davidson, distinguished professor of English at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, recently asked her Twitter followers to share names of doctoral programs that actually require students to learn how to teach… The document includes dozens of programs thus far, and the ongoing Twitter conservation names scores more. Davidson says the next big step is to all ask programs that aren’t on the list why not. 

Learning Policy Institute. Promising Models for Preparing a Diverse, High-Quality Early Childhood Workforce   …many of the programs in which educators enroll do not focus specifically on preparing students for teaching, and many do not require supervised student teaching, despite broad acceptance of clinical practice as an element of high-quality teacher preparation. This report is designed for practitioners and policymakers and shares the practices of promising programs that recruit and prepare diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth to age 5…

Missoulian. Montana’s teacher shortage starting to affect bigger districts   Democrat Rep. Tyson Runningwolf from Browning introduced a proposal for a state-funded grow-your-own program — a research-based strategy that focuses on training people who already have roots in a community as teachers. But it carried a $500,000 price tag, and didn’t advance out of committee. 

NCTE. The Act of Reading: Instructional Foundations and Policy Guidelines   NCTE and its constituent groups have developed position statements on a variety of education issues vital to the teaching and learning of English language arts.

NYTimes.
1)  After 10 Years of Hopes and Setbacks, What Happened to the Common Core?   Jack Schneider, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, said the idea of shared, national standards made sense, but that it was “naïve” to expect them to make a big impact on student achievement without broader investments in early childhood education, teacher training and school integration. Ultimately, he added, “I would say that poverty alleviation programs are a better investment than standardized tests.”
2) Screens in the Classroom: Tool or Temptation?   Joseph Bavazzano, the director of Montclair State University’s ADP Center for Learning Technologies, works with college students who will become teachers. His classes use smartphones for video projects and for FaceTime interviews with students from partner universities overseas.

Phi Delta Kappan. Children left behind: Turning education research into film [by TC Prof. A. Stuart Wells, et al]   Over and over, we’ve seen policy makers design and implement school reform models that contradict the professional knowledge of our field. And at the same time, even as they ignore the research literature, they freely lend their ears to publishers, political advocacy groups, and other special interests who urge them to adopt teacher-proof curricula, create fast-track teacher-preparation programs, and disregard the empirical knowledge base about child development in favor of shiny new “data-driven” approaches to classroom management.

Reading Recovery Council of North America. Responding to the Reading Wars: Everyone’s Job   …Reading Recovery teachers are taught how to document students’ knowledge of phonemic awareness and phonics so they can explicitly teach an awareness of the sounds of English and the relationship to letters. Every lesson clearly attends to phonics instruction.

The74. New Education Doctorate Focused on Social-Emotional Learning Is One of the First of Its Kind as Experts Call for Better Teacher Training on the Whole Child   The program also fills a need in the social-emotional learning space: teacher training. A recent Aspen Institute report from researchers, educators, parents and students called for redesigned teacher preparation programs that focus on understanding trauma and teaching social, emotional and cognitive development skills.

Washington Post.
1) How good is your city’s pre-K program? Here’s a new report that grades 40 of them.   The benchmarks … are:
*Comprehensive, aligned and supported early learning and development standards  *Lead teacher has a bachelor’s degree  *Lead teacher has specialized training in pre-K  *Assistant teacher has a child development associate degree or equivalent…
2) Pete Buttigieg releases $1 trillion-plus plan for early-childhood and K-12 education   Double the proportion of new teachers and school leaders who are people of color in the next 10 years by, in part, establishing new guidelines for the use of federal funds aimed at recruiting, training and supporting teachers.
3) When exciting education results are in the news, be skeptical    If we could train teachers to be more effective at increasing student heights, we’d erase a lot of other inequities too… The paper is critiquing the idea that teacher quality can be measured by looking at their students’ test scores.

NEW YORK STATE
Chalkbeat. New York policymakers request $2 billion boost in education funding. But don’t hold your breath that the money will come through.   The Regents laid out other legislative requests including spending additional $8.1 million to improve early learning programs — mostly focused on better preparing teachers — and $15 million for school districts to “enhance” their curriculum and teaching supports for students learning English as a new language. 

NYSED Board of Regents
Board of Regents Advances 2020 Budget and Legislative Priorities and State Aid Request for the 2020-21 School Year
Expand the Provision of Certification Examination Fee Waiver Vouchers to assist economically disadvantaged educator candidates in paying for the examinations required for certification ($1.2M);
Expand the Teacher Opportunity Corps II program to increase the number of certified educators of color and to enhance teacher diversity In New York State ($3M);…

Board of Regents Appoints Shannon Tahoe as Interim Commissioner   William Murphy will serve as Deputy Commissioner for Higher Education. Dr. Murphy has served in various roles at the State Education Department over the past 15 years, most recently as the Director of Professional Education where he led teams responsible for evaluating higher education programs for professional licensure at public and private colleges and universities in New York State and internationally. In this role, Dr. Murphy has maintained relationships with academic accrediting bodies, federal and state education agencies and all sectors of higher education. Prior to joining the Department, Dr. Murphy held positions at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and the Workforce Development Institute. He earned a Ph.D. from the University at Albany, a master’s degree from Baruch College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from LeMoyne College. Dr. Murphy starts his position Dec. 10.

December Meeting; Higher Education Committee.
Amendment of Subparts 30-2 and 30-3 of the Rules of the Board of Regents Relating to Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPR) of Classroom Teachers and Building Principals to Implement Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2019
Proposed Amendments to Sections 52.21…Relating to Professional Development Plans and Other Related Requirements for School Districts and BOCES
Appointments to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching

Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching. September Meeting Minutes

 

NEW YORK CITY
Bklyner. For the Love of Calculus: Brooklyn Tech Teacher Raises the Bar   Bodner went on to Barnard College, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics. She briefly worked in vector marketing, before signing up as a fellow for Math for America— an organization committed to improving teacher retention nationally by building and supporting communities of outstanding STEM teachers. She received her Masters’ in Math Education at Columbia Teachers’ College and taught at Pace High School for four years.

Chalkbeat. NYC education officials exploring dual language programs for 3-year-olds   While the biggest challenge is finding enough qualified teachers — a common roadblock for bilingual education— it’s still worthwhile, she said. 

NYTimes. A School Empowers a Single Mother of a Girl With Autism   Earlier this year, she spotted a flier for a free program at the education center that provided training to become a teaching assistant… These days, Ms. Terrero is studying for an exam to become a certified teaching assistant. After she takes it, she hopes to enroll in college and eventually become a special-education teacher.

Teachers College. Teaching Residents at Teachers College Induction | December-January I Holiday Edition Newsletter

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Dec. 2 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
BusinessWorld [Philippines]. On Education: Lessons from Finland and now, from Estonia   If we are to glean any nuggets of wisdom from the experience of Finland and Estonia, we must elevate the quality of our education colleges and the training of our teachers. Our schools must offer the same high quality of education regardless of student economic status or background. Otherwise, Filipinos will remain sorry onlookers as other countries prosper and perform well in the international educational arena.

Global Education Monitoring Report. Arab States 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report | Migration, displacement, and education: Building bridges, not walls   In Sudan… Teacher availability and qualifications constitute a major challenge in these states. Many teachers are volunteers, and around half are not trained as teachers. Training for the other half typically consists of a two week course at most. The Ministry of Education does not supervise, train or pay volunteer teachers. Schools and alternative learning centres recruit volunteer teachers, usually from the local community.

Hechinger Report.
1) The teacher’s role in “phenomenon-based learning”: Finland’s version of PBL requires teachers to strike a new balance in the classroom   Teachers have to make sure students know the foundational knowledge they need on a given topic to even consider developing a research question within it. They need to teach students how to craft appropriate research questions that can lead to interesting and engaging, and hopefully even original, research opportunities. 
2) U.K. to test ‘ed tech testbeds’ in real classrooms   After all, change happens slowly in education. It can take months or years to train teachers to teach something differently and years more to see if those pedagogical changes lead to better outcomes for students.

Ottawa Citizen  About to graduate, education students question fairness of new mandatory math test   Education students across the province are campaigning against the math test for new teachers introduced by the Conservative government even while they cram to prepare for it.

Washington Post. International alliance unveils recommendations on teaching about the Holocaust — but only 12 U.S. states require it   Experts and political leaders from more than 30 countries gathered in Luxembourg on Wednesday to declare their commitment to adopt an updated set of recommendations for teaching and learning about the Holocaust.

UNITED STATES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).
1) ‘Grow-Your-Own’ Efforts Continue at University of Central Florida   District leaders, lead teachers, high school students, and university faculty who partner with them came together to share knowledge and best practices as it relates to the creation, growth, and results of High School Teaching Academies and “grow-your-own” pathways.
2) Identifying Barriers to Workforce Diversity in Education [Video]
3) The Reality of Segregation in Public Schools There needs to be a preemptive strike by those who prepare teachers. We need to teach candidates about race, class, gender, age, and other identifiers that foster discrimination within our teacher prep curricula. In order to be classroom ready, young teachers need to understand the differences that exist among the students they will be tasked to teach. 

Associated Press (AP). Court hears suit arguing youth aren’t prepped for civic life   Rhode Island, in particular, stands out because there is no requirement for students to take a civics course and no indication that teachers receive specialized training to teach the topic, among other issues, Michael Rebell, lead counsel and a professor at Teachers College, said last year. 

Center for American Progress. What To Make of Declining Enrollment in Teacher Preparation Programs   … reveals divergent state policies and regulations for how to address teacher shortages and exemplifies a worrying trend in the rapid growth of for-profit, non-IHE alternative certification programs. Policymakers should consider greater state and federal regulation of this sector, along with additional data collection, to help better understand not only the decline in enrollment in teacher preparation programs but also the characteristics of U.S. teacher labor markets more broadly.

Education Week.
1) Improving Reading Isn’t Just a Teaching Shift. It’s a Culture Shift   She had learned a lot in her preparation about reading theories, but no specific protocols for teaching the subject. So she did what many teachers new to a grade do. She used the methods more seasoned colleagues told her to use…
2) Lucy Calkins, Creator of Reading Workshop, Responds to ‘Phonics-Centric People‘   Calkins’ program, the Units of Study for Teaching Reading, uses a workshop model. Teachers demonstrate the skills and habits that good readers have, and then students practice them on their own, with teachers acting as guides. The program takes a constructivist approach to education, minimizing direct instruction. 

Edutopia. Lacking Training, Teachers Develop Their Own SEL Solutions   Even if the necessary support exists, teachers don’t feel they have received enough training—either through teacher preparation programs or professional development opportunities—to address student needs.

Hechinger Report. What is it like to be a male teacher in early ed?   One early childhood educator said he wanted to be a male role model for children. Others were drawn to teaching after becoming fathers. Several said they like teaching young children because it allows them to make a difference in their communities. These are just a few of the responses researchers received from a survey of male early childhood educators, the results of which were released recently by a team from the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Inside Higher Ed. High Debt, Low Earnings: The Education Department for the first time has released earnings data for thousands of college programs at all degree levels. What do they show?   At the associate level, Kelchen’s analysis found that the lowest-earning fields included criminal justice, health administration and teacher education.

Learning Policy Institute (LPI). Interactive Map: Understanding Teacher Shortages in California: A district- and county-level analysis of the factors influencing teacher supply and demand

New York Times.
1) Cory Booker Bets $100 Billion on Historically Black Colleges and Universities   Mr. Sanders, who also proposed universal free public college and canceling all student loan debt, pledged to make similar investments in H.B.C.U.s with a focus on educating teachers and those in the medical field. 
2) ‘It Just Isn’t Working’: PISA Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Efforts   Because the United States lacks a centralized system for teacher training or distributing quality instructional materials to schools, Professor Koretz said, states and districts did not always effectively carry out the Common Core or other initiatives.
3) There Is a Right Way to Teach Reading, and Mississippi Knows It: The state’s reliance on cognitive science explains why. [OpEd by E. Hanford] But a study in Mississippi several years ago showed that teachers were not being trained to use this model and that many professors and deans in colleges of education had never even heard of it. 

NPREducation. A Dreaded Part Of Teachers’ Jobs: Restraining And Secluding Students   She says she wishes more staff in her school had been trained so they knew how to de-escalate situations, and when, exactly, restraint or seclusion was really warranted.

Politico. Booker wants to invest $9B to help students studying early childhood education   The legislation, called the Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act, or PROSPECT Act, would establish federal grants aimed at providing free child care to student-parents attending qualifying institutions, as well as increasing and improving the infant-toddler educator workforce through mentorship and training.

The74.
1) A Decade of Decline at America’s Teacher Preparation Programs: New Numbers Show Enrollment of Aspiring Educators Has Fallen By More Than a Third Since 2010   The report also recommends collecting data in such a way so that the public can know how many teacher-prep programs are run by for-profit colleges or are chiefly online.
2) How Is the Education Workforce Structured? What Are the Pathways to an Ed Career? New Report Has Some Answers   … we were struck by the sheer range of pathways that individuals can take within the field. Among our respondents, no two stories were the same. Recent graduates hoping to move into an education career and advance along a steady trajectory will find no clear signposts along the way: no external indicators that a given job will move them closer to their ultimate goals

Wall Street Journal.  Students Press Unusual Argument in Court: a Constitutional Right to Civics: Lawyers for Rhode Island students argue the Constitution guarantees an education that prepares them to be capable citizens   ‘‘We want the federal courts, and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court, to declare there is a right to a basic quantity of education to prepare kids for capable citizenship,” said Michael Rebell, lead counsel for the plaintiffs and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Washington Post.
1) Education Department puts hold on 5-day suspension of employee who provided The Post with budget information   The proposal included cutting in half funding for college work-study programs, ending public-service loan forgiveness and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars that public schools could use for mental health, advanced coursework and other services.
2) Impeachment is difficult to teach. The case of President Trump provides real-time lessons   … Kevin C. Walsh, president of the John Marshall Foundation, which trains teachers to deliver lessons on the U.S. Constitution. “When we look out and we see the battling forces that are trying to enlist the Constitution on their side, it wakes us up to the need for people to be educated.”
3) The best and worst education news of 2019 — and one item hard to categorize   Most teachers polled in the respected annual PDK International survey said they would not want their children to become teachers. 
4) ‘To embrace charter schools in 2020 is to embrace Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump,’ says black scholar who once led charters   Black people need systemic change. We can’t allow the cry for charters to drown out the demands for school financing reform, better work conditions, higher teacher pay, universal pre-K, free college, teachers’ training and recruitment programs, stronger labor protections and workforce housing initiatives.

NEW YORK STATE
My Brother’s Keeper. Teacher Opportunity Corps II Spotlight: SUNY Old Westbury Interns 

NYSED Board of Regents. Regents Meeting for December 2019

NYSED Office of Higher Education. November Newsletter

  • Educator Diversity Report
  • Assessment Vouchers for Certification Exams
  • NYSTCE Field Testing and Test Development Opportunities
  • edTPA Passing score increase for candidates who submit edTPA after Dec. 5

NEW YORK CITY
City Limits. Teacher Quality is a Key Ingredient of Racial Equity in NYC Schools   To begin the process of desegregating NYC’s public schools, we need to first equip teachers for long-term efficacy in high-needs districts. 

City University of New York. Statement By Chancellor Matos Rodriguez On Ratification Of CUNY’s Five-Year Contract With Professional Staff Congress   The historic five-year deal benefits students at the nation’s premier urban public university and provides wage gains for the 30,000 full-time faculty, adjuncts and professional staff of CUNY’s largest union.

Teachers College.
Reading and Writing Project/L. Calkins. No One Gets to Own the Term “The Science of Reading”   That is, just as many teachers are not prepared for the demands of teaching phonics, many are also not prepared to support the equally important skills of comprehension. They are also not well prepared to teach writing. They also are not well prepared to support English language learners. They also are not well prepared to teach culturally relevant curriculum. Clearly, teachers don’t enter the profession with all the knowledge they will need to rise to the challenges of their enormously complex field. We all need to be engaged in continuous learning.

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Nov. 18 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
CNN Africa Voices. Kenya’s ‘World’s Best Teacher’ gives away 80% of his monthly income to help the poor   A graduate of education science from Egerton University, Tabichi gives out 80% of his income to his school and community projects. 

Education International.
1) #CRC30 “Ending corporal punishment in schools – a pathway to protecting the right to education”   In Uganda…In our training programmes, we discuss how positive discipline should be relevant and proportional, and focus on correcting behaviour but not humiliating the student. We explain that the disciplinary action should be designed to help the child learn from their mistakes.
2) Statement | The Convention on the Rights of the Child at 30: Celebrating Progress, Facing Challenges   We work to ensure teachers have the necessary employment and working conditions, initial training, and continuous professional learning and development to help all children reach their full potential.

eNCA. South Africa must up its game and produce more teachers   A longer-term view needs to look into investing resources in initial teacher education through funding of student teachers.

UNITED STATES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Reminder: Vote in the AACTE Board Election Underway Through Nov. 29

Education Commission of the States. On Teacher Shortages: No Shortage of Data or Teachers Available to Help   Like in the medical field, a teaching profession driven by accomplished, board certified teachers has the power to win the respect of the public and attract and retain top talent.

Forbes. Burdensome Student Loan Debt Is Contributing To The Country’s Teacher Shortage Crisis   Government can play an important role in clearing the obstacles for prospective teachers by addressing college affordability. Among the most effective supports are service scholarship and loan forgiveness programs that underwrite preparation in return for service in a high-need location or field. 

Learning Policy Institute. Social and Emotional Learning, Cultural Competence, and Equity in Teacher Preparation Nov. 14 Webinar now online

MarketWatch. Solving America’s financial-literacy crisis starts with teachers, not laws   …  it’s no surprise that studies like this one at the University of Wisconsin show the majority of teachers lack the confidence to teach the subject, even though most endorse financial education.

New York Times. He Wanted to Be a Pro Basketball Player. He Became a Teacher Instead.   Jeff Duncan-Andrade, an associate professor at San Francisco State University, is driving a public conversation challenging traditional assumptions about how to reform schools.

Strada/Gallup. Changing the Value Equation in Higher Education  Strada, in partnership with Gallup, asked more than 340,000 individuals about their education pathways…. Consumers saw greater career and cost value with majors that are traditionally associated with careers, such as health care and education.

Teaching Tolerance. When Trivia Isn’t Trivial  One teacher explains how she turned “Thanksgiving Trivia” into an opportunity to share under-taught history with her colleagues as well as her students, regardless of the time of year. 

Washington Post.
1) Does the bill just passed by the Ohio House allow students to be wrong in science class without penalty if they cite religious reasons?   …including a requirement that the school’s classroom teachers be licensed in accordance with sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code, except that a community school may engage noncertificated persons to teach up to twelve hours per week.
2) Fighting the misinformation pandemic: Here’s help teaching students to distinguish real news from what’s fake
3) The indispensable Ken Burns has a new initiative: A one-stop online resource for teachers   The site will continue to evolve over the next couple of years as we add content from more films, as well as features and functionality that will resonate with social studies, English teachers, science teachers and others.
4) Today’s kids might be digital natives — but a new study shows they aren’t close to being computer literate   State licensure policies need to require such preparation as a component of principal preparation, and or develop a credential for teachers’ leadership of ed tech.

 

NEW YORK STATE
Newsday.
1) Education summit looks at how to draw new generation into teaching   “New York regularly produces a surplus of elementary level teachers, yet not enough teachers in areas such as science, math and special education,” read the 2017 state school boards report that looked at the issue statewide. DiBrango said enrollment in the state’s teacher prep programs had declined 53% since 2009 — a “startling figure.”
2) SCHOOLS AS A SELLING POINT: Discussing quality can become a proxy for talking about a community’s racial makeup.  Amy Stuart Wells, a professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, was lead author of the 2014 report…“And when we actually went in and looked inside the schools, there didn’t seem to be a huge difference at all in the curriculum and the quality of the teachers. So, they [real estate agents] do play an important role in steering people away from certain districts that are becoming more racially, ethnically diverse and less white, in particular.”

 

NEW YORK CITY
ABC7NY. Brooklyn teacher wins Milken Educator Award, only winner in New York state   “I feel like teaching found me, … I originally wanted to be a doctor, and then I joined Teach for America. And it was through that that I fell so in love with my kids. Because I was teaching in the neighborhood that I came from.”

Chalkbeat. NYC boosts salaries for 1,500 non-union pre-K teachers in community-run programs   …city leaders announced a $57 million agreement to boost pay for teachers in publicly funded but privately run preschool programs that aren’t unionized. That would raise salaries by October 2021 to about $69,000 for certified teachers with master’s degrees — the same amount first-year teachers in public schools earn. 

NYDailyNews.
1) Leave no teacher behind: Help all pre-k teachers get their credentials   … approximately 50% of the thousands of teachers the city depends on to teach pre-K in childcare centers are not certified teachers, but are instead on study plans to become certified, rendering them ineligible for the substantial salary increase. The city and state expect these pre-K “study plan” teachers, as they are commonly referred to in the field, to become certified in three years, or move on.
2) Non-unionized city preschool teachers get major pay bump   Salaries for certified, non-unionized teachers with a bachelor’s degree will leap from about $48,000 this year to almost $62,000 in 2021, officials said. For teachers with master’s degrees, the rate will rise from $54,000 to $69,000.

NYPost. Record number of NYC high school grads are heading to college   The graduates are heading to two-or four-year colleges, vocational programs and public service programs like Teach for America, according to the DOE.

Wall Street Journal.
1) Education Guru Chris Whittle Tries a Comeback With New School in Brooklyn   Samuel Abrams, director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, cautions that seeking profit from tuition doesn’t fit with an educational mission, or putting as much money as possible into instruction. “There is a lot of opacity” in the business operations … You have to trust, in the case of a complex service, that the provider is going to do what was promised.”
2) Teachers Lament Loss of Grammar. Some Students Say It Ain’t a Problem.

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Nov. 11 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Education International. Iraq: Kurdistan’s education unionists take stock of obstacles to quality education system   The conference discussed several important topics, including: Teaching methods and ways to better prepare teachers professionally;…

International Council on Education for Teaching. CfP 64th Annual Conference Hosted By The Bath Spa University [23 – 25 June, 2020] 

The Guardian.
1) ‘I would burn in hell before returning’ – why British teachers are fleeing overseas  According to the National Foundation for Educational Research’s 2019 report into the teacher labour market, recruitment to teacher training in physics is more than 50% below the numbers required to maintain supply.
2) Will Boris Johnson’s present for hard-up teachers be enough?  The DfE forecasts secondary schools will need 15,000 more teachers as pupil numbers rise

World Bank Blog. Communities working together to end learning poverty   Ivo Ferriera Gomes, the Mayor of Sobral, Brazil …specifically pointed out the need for universities to participate as full community members noting that, in his experience, they do not yet prepare teachers effectively to teach the fundamentals of reading or basic math. Mr. Gomes further explained that teachers are playing a central role in creating the curriculum in Brazil, ensuring that those who will implement the solution are part of creating the solution.

UNITED STATES
AACTE. New AACTE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Video Series Now Available

Chalkbeat.
1) Colorado Gov. Polis calls for 6,000 more state-funded preschool spots in 2020 budget request   The budget, which represents a 2.7% increase from this year, also includes:

  • $26 million to limit tuition increases at state higher ed institutions to 3%
  • $4.9 million for teacher scholarships
  • $500,000 to expand loan forgiveness programs for educators…

2) Lots more Latino students, not so many Latino teachers: Data reflect Illinois’ disparate changes   To accelerate hiring of more teachers of color, district leaders in some areas are investing in residencies and grow-your-own programs — but those cost money that many cash-strapped school systems don’t have.
3) The fate of DACA is in the hands of the Supreme Court. Here’s how its decision could affect students and teachers.   Many education groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs arguing the DACA program should continue, including the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, as well as Teach For America, dozens of colleges, and national associations representing superintendents, school boards, principals, and school counselors.

Education Week. What We’re Getting Wrong About Gifted Education   Educators must recognize that America’s talent pool is changing. If scholars and educators are to remain true to the purpose of producing the next generation of leaders, scholars, artists, and creative innovators, then they must explore ways of going beyond traditional metrics and norms.

InsideHigherEd. Supreme Court Takes Up DACA   They are in our undergraduate student population, some are in our medical schools and our law schools, some have graduated and are now serving as nurses, as teachers, as business owners throughout the economy… 

Teaching Tolerance. Teaching Thanksgiving in a Socially Responsible Way   Educators have an ethical obligation to teach accurately about Thanksgiving. Here are some online resources that can help. 

The Carolinian. Grant from U.S. Department of Education Allows Creation of New Teaching Program at UNCG   Students completing the program will earn a Masters of Arts in teaching, as well as a teaching certificate. However, after graduation, graduates must work in an assigned school in Surry or Rockingham county for three years. During this time, the program will continue to provide support and training for teachers.

The 74. DeVos’s First 1,000 Days: Whether Principled Advocate or ‘Flat-Out Disaster,’ the Survivor Secretary at the Education Department’s Helm Remains Uniquely Polarizing   “At least at the K-12 level, I think she’s been pretty ineffectual…She’s still kind of a symbol that people like to rally against, more than for. I don’t know that she’s had a lot of impact in terms of actual policy,” said Jeffrey Henig, a political science and education professor at Columbia’s Teachers College.

Washington Post.
1) Are teachers allowed to think — or expected to simply follow directions?   Teaching may be the only profession where you are required to get an advanced degree including a rigorous internship only to be treated like you have no idea what you’re doing.
2) Teaching impeaching: History comes to life in school as teachers seize on this historic moment. Here’s what some are doing — and how.

NEW YORK STATE
New York State Register. Open public comment period on Annual Professional Performance Reviews of Classroom Teachers and Building Principals  Data, views or arguments may be submitted to: Alexander Trikalinos, Office of Educator Quality and Professional Development, 89 Washington Avenue, 360EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 486-2573, email:[email protected]

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat. I made sure New York City’s pre-K classes were filled with play. Then I became a kindergarten teacher and the fun stopped. [by F. Akbar, TC EdD student]   I wished that my school administrators understood what I had seen: that play is far from frivolous; with training, educators can encourage discovery, experimentation, and creativity in kids; and laughter is the sound of children learning.

New York City Department of Education. Nominations open, Big Apple Teaching Awards

Teachers College.
1) edTPA Score Reports to date: 16 (100%) | PASS 13 (81%) | FAIL 2 (13%) | INCOMPLETE 1 (6%)
2) Teacher Preparation Open House  Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 6:00 PM until 8:15 PM
3) Webinar | The Teaching Secrets of the Best Leaders  [Dec. 11, 5pm]

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Nov. 4 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
Centre for Innovation in Teacher Education and Development (CITED). Pedagogy, politics and teacher education: an international conference [13-15 May, Kings College London]

NCEE. Video: Finnish Teacher Training School

Stanford Social Innovation Review. What US Schools Can Learn From Finland’s Approach to Education    As Columbia University’s Samuel Abrams has noted, Finland’s scores have surpassed those of other Nordic countries despite similar levels of child welfare, social support, and homogeneity. Improvements within the last few decades are products of sound policy and practices…Finland attributes its success in education to getting the right people to become teachers, developing them into effective instructors, and putting systems and supports in place to ensure that all children benefit from excellent instruction. 

Teachers College. Translating Comparative Education   A TC conference on Latin American education policies translates success & challenges across cultural lines   “I think a lot of countries in Latin America say teachers are at the center of education, but when you look at the policies, that is not necessarily true,” said Louzano, who studies teacher training in Chile. 

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) A Community College Pathway into Teacher Education Increases Diversity in Teacher Candidates   Chemeketa Community College initiated a teacher education pathway model in 2015 that is successfully adding diverse teachers to the region’s education workforce. 
2) How Will Impeachment Proceedings Affect the Congressional Agenda?   “I’m increasingly worried that President Trump will want to shut down the government again because of impeachment,” Schumer said…On Thursday, the House Committee on Education and Labor adopted their Higher Education Act rewrite, HR 4674, with a partisan vote. Committee Chair Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) has indicated that he would like to see the bill, the College Affordability Act, on the House floor for a vote before the end of the year.  
3) Why Trauma-Informed Instruction is Vital to Success in the 21st Century Classroom   Emotional stress stems from a variety of external factors including depression, divorce, social media anxiety, lost friendships, bullying or simply feeling out of touch with others. It is imperative, now more than ever, that our teachers are prepared to notice when students are experiencing these types of trauma. 

AACTE/Stanford SCALE. National TPA Conference Call for Proposals Deadline Extended to Nov. 11  [March 26-28, Austin, TX]

Chronicle. How Ed Schools Became a Bastion of Bad Ideas

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University and The Atlantic Host Civic Education Conference  “Civic education is providing kids with a deep knowledge and history about how the government works, it means critical analytical skills, it means learning democratic values, it means experiential opportunities and it means living in a civic society which means a diverse society,” said Michael Rebell, professor of law and educational practice at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Learning Policy Institute. Social and Emotional Learning, Cultural Competence, and Equity in Teacher Preparation [Webinar 3pm, Nov. 14]

NEAToday. Contempt Citation and Possible Subpoenas – It’s Getting Scary for Betsy DeVos   However, with the introduction of the College Affordability Act this month, House Democrats are aiming to restore investment in public institutions, fix Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and make for-profit colleges responsible to their students.

The74. Teacher Residency and Federal Dollars: One Approach to Solving the Rural Teacher Shortage   The grant will establish a teacher residency program there where attendees teach three days a week alongside a senior teacher for an entire school year. One day a week they’ll take courses taught by California State University, Bakersfield instructors.

U.S. Dept. of State.  Congratulations to The Top Participant Institutions Of 2018   The English Language Programs would like to thank the top participant institutions of  2018-2019. Congratulations to the top Fellow producing institution, Teachers College, Columbia University, for preparing the largest number of English Language Fellows selected for 2018-2019 cycle and advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives and educational exchange.

U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 4674: College Affordability Act   Sec. 2006. Accountability for programs that prepare teachers, principals, or other school leaders…  [The committees assigned to this bill sent it to the House or Senate as a whole for consideration on October 31, 2019.-  

Washington Post. Funding for minority-serving colleges caught in the crossfire of Senate dispute   Alexander’s bill has been lauded by the business community but has faced a chilly reception from Senate Democrats who insist on a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the primary federal law that governs the sector. Alexander’s refusal to move on the stand-alone funding bill has dismayed some of his Democratic colleagues, who accuse him of using minority-serving schools as a pawn.

NEW YORK STATE
Board of Regents November Meetings.
State Education Department Appointments.

  • Board of Regents Appoints Shannon Tahoe as Acting Commissioner of Education
  • John D’Agati, recently retired Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education, will serve as Senior Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy. 
  • Elisa Alvarez will serve as the Associate Commissioner for the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages.

Educator Diversity Report: Briefing On Draft Report

InsideHigherEd. Surprise for Grand Canyon’s Nonprofit Conversion   Grand Canyon Education said Wednesday that the OPM division now works with 20 other colleges, providing support for online programs that enroll 3,100 students [incl. teacher preparation programs]

Learning Policy Institute. Webinar: Integrating Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning: Lessons for Educators and School Leaders

LOHUD. Replacing Judith Johnson: Legislators lay out timetable to replace the late Regent   The Board of Regents seat vacated by the late Judith Johnson is not likely to be filled until spring because state legislators need time to screen candidates and settle on a replacement.

NYTimes. ‘Blue’s Clues’ Returns, and Silence Is Still the Star. Now in their 50s, the pair met at Nickelodeon in their early 20s when Santomero was using her master’s degree in child developmental psychology [TC MA ‘96] in the research department…  

Pearson/Vue. NYSTCE English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)   …seeking candidates who meet the qualifications to participate in a field test of items that may appear on future NYSTCE test forms. Field test participants will receive incentives upon verification of participation.

Professional Standards and Practice Board for Teaching.  July meeting minutes

NEW YORK CITY
Chalkbeat.
1) NYC has the most diverse teaching force in the state. But it still doesn’t match the student body.   There were “limited” efforts to entice young people into the teaching profession and too few programs that support students, such as ones that help candidates earn a stipend while they study for their certification — one of the noted barriers to getting into the field — according education department staffers. 
2) NYC Head Start teachers approve contract that will raise salaries for some by $15,500  Under the agreement, certified teachers with master’s degrees will see their pay increase by more than $15,500. By Oct. 2021, they will earn $68,652, which is in line with starting salaries for public school teachers.
3) This NYC English teacher helped start a high school newspaper. Soon, digital natives were discovering the joys of print.   Q: What was your biggest misconception that you initially brought to teaching? A: Based on what I was taught in my graduate studies, I was always told not to go into a school thinking you can change the world. I was told instead to keep my head down, do what I was told, and focus on getting tenure. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to propagate, foster or precipitate significant change, but that if I can make a difference in one student’s life, I would be successful.

Columbia College Today. For This History Teacher, There’s No Time Like the Present   There was a time when Sari Beth Rosenberg ’97, TC’02 had to dig deep into her well of storytelling skills to create enough dramatic tension to hold the attention of her New York City public high school history students… Rosenberg has been part of a small team of teachers hired by the city’s Department of Education to remake the U.S. and global history curriculum. 

Teachers College. Teacher Opportunity Corps II accepting applications [promotional video].

Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Oct. 28 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
DEVEX. For-profit schools increase inequality. Here's why.   Bridge International Academies is one example that sparks controversy. In Kenya it’s been reported, for example, that the chain has failed to meet curriculum, teacher certification, and other educational and safety standards [which Bridge denies]… And these schools disproportionately exclude girls and the poorest children, while often paying poverty wages to under-qualified teachers.

Education International. Statement: EI calls on World Bank to change tack in education   It should advocate for teachers to be professionally trained and highly qualified, actively supported and well-resourced.... In summary, as the decision-makers of the International Finance Institutions come together this week, Education International has two simple, clear messages – stop promoting education privatisation and stop undermining teacher professionalism, teachers and their unions. 

OECD. Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care: Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018   [p. 102 ff. Workforce composition and pre-service training]

Washington Post. The degrees of separation between the genders in college keep growing   There are also shortages of teachers in Iceland, another job for which few men apply; at the University of Iceland, 91 percent of teaching students are women… When the rock band that competed for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 included two male preschool teachers, there was a brief increase in men who went into teaching.



UNITED STATES
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
1) Celebrating TC’s Innovative Residency Program   Teachers College, Columbia University has won a third round of federal funding for TR@TC, its 18-month teaching residency program.
2) Congressional Agenda Includes Education Funding and Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act  

Clarksville Now. TDOE’s “Grow Your Own” partnership brings more teachers to Clarksville-Montgomery County   The Tennessee Department of Education has approved its first “Grow Your Own” partnership in an effort to support districts in recruiting and preparing future teachers. Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, Austin Peay State University and Lipscomb University are part of the program’s inauguration.

Education Week. Curriculum Reviewer EdReports Will Start Evaluating Phonics Programs   Hanford's reports kicked off a wave of interest in the specifics of early literacy programs, and struck a chord with teachers who felt that their teacher-education programs had fallen short in preparing them to teach reading. 

NEPC. How Charter-School Billionaires Corrupt School Leadership   Broad’s efforts to transform school governance and management include conducting a training center for school leaders; advocating for school governance models that emphasize business methodologies rather than democratic engagement; circumnavigating traditional teacher preparation programs by funding Teach for America…

New America. Paving the Way for Latinx Teachers: Recruitment and Preparation to Promote Educator Diversity   This report adds a significant perspective to the current wave of efforts aimed at diversifying the teacher workforce… focused solely on pathways into teaching for Latinx individuals—explores how Latinx teachers typically enter the profession and the barriers they face along the way. 

U. S. House of Representatives, Labor and Education Committee.  Committee Advances Comprehensive Legislation to Lower the Cost of College: College Affordability Act heads to House Floor with unanimous Democratic supportTitle by Title:The bill reauthorizes and expands the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Grant program, which strengthens coordination between school districts, state agencies, and teacher preparation programs… Further, the bill allows teachers to count teacher loan payments toward the teacher loan forgiveness program at the same time as PSLF, reducing the number of monthly payments needed towards PSLF. This change allows teacher borrowers to get their loans forgiven through PSLF faster.    [Congressional record at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4674/actions?r=13&s=1]

Washington Post.
1) Maryland Teacher of the Year calls job ‘the intersection of my passion and my purpose’   Beilstein earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Loyola University Maryland and two master’s degrees, one in teaching and the other in organizational psychology, from Walden University. She is a national board-certified teacher in early-childhood education.
2) There’s no substitute for what the regular teacher brings to the classroom   “Many subs are totally unprepared to be in classrooms… They receive little or no training, and many have no teaching experience. The school administration rarely observes them or checks to see if help is needed. People believe anyone can teach and thus we have inexperienced people doing nothing but babysitting.”


NEW YORK STATE
EdTrust New York. Within Our Reach: An agenda for ensuring all New York students are prepared for college, careers, and active citizenship   In addition, to increase the use of Computer Science for math or science credit, the state should continue to consider teacher certification pathways that expand the pipeline to mid-career professionals while ensuring strong preparation and support 

New York State Education Department.
1) NYSED is accepting public comments on proposed regulatory amendments to make additions to the list of subject areas for the limited extension and statement of continued eligibility for certain teachers of student with disabilities.  Data, views or arguments may be submitted to: Petra Maxwell, Education Department, Office of Higher Education, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 975 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-2238, email:[email protected]
2) Office of Higher Education October Newsletter
Regional Educational Laboratory Workshop Series On Culturally Responsive Teaching
New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NYSTCE) Test Development Activities
Revised Science Content Specialty Tests (CSTs)
Recruiting Educators for Test Development Committees.
Candidates who submit their edTPA after December 5, 2019 will receive their score after January 1, 2020 when the new passing scores apply.


NEW YORK CITY
New York Daily News. HOMETOWN HERO: Taking a city program and turning it into a lifeline for generations to come   Ahmed, who earned her doctorate in teaching policy at Columbia, centralized the program centers, expanded early childhood curriculum, developed assessment for toddlers to track growth and progress, created professional training for social workers and teachers, and created a team dynamic among staff.

New York Post. ‘Fame’ high school gets well-liked pianist to replace ousted principal. Yeou-Jey Vasconcelos, 38, [TC MA 2006] was appointed Thursday to lead Fiorello H. Laguardia High School Of Music & Art and Performing Arts, the NYC institution that inspired the 1980 movie “Fame” and a TV series that ran for six seasons on NBC.

Teachers College.
1) Extending its REACH in Neighborhood Schools: TC receives a $2.5 million federal grant   “A major part of REACH’s focus has been to build capacity,” says Streim. For example, last year, 34 teachers and school administrators participated in regular professional development workshops, onside coaching planning retreats and summer institutes sponsored by TC, while more than 600 students in grades pre-K through 12 participated in expanded learning opportunities in science, engineering, robotics, math, chess, photography, filmmaking, dance, choir and debate offered by TC students and community-based agencies.
2) Providing Support for Sex Education in New York City Public Schools [apply by Dec. 1 for 2020 sessions]

United Federation of Teachers. Teacher Assistant Scholars ‘changing culture’ at Bronx school   For PERC, Tutelian trains students to be Teacher Assistant Scholars in her algebra classes. Each assistant leads a small group, is observed monthly and is graded. “I teach them how to be teachers and then I do some content to make them feel confident with it,” she says. By year’s end, she says, “They don’t need me. If I’m at a PD, my class still runs. You would think I’m there.”
Categories
Teacher Education

Week of Oct. 21 in Teacher Ed News

GLOBAL
France24. Classrooms made from recycled plastic waste come to Ivory Coast   “There’s no problem finding teachers, it’s classrooms we need. Teachers are being trained all the time and some can even do rapid training courses to help us,” adds Doumbia.

NLTimes. Overcrowded Special Education Classes Leading To Unsafe Situations   SBO schools also say that they sometimes get pupils who actually belong in SO – children who need extra guidance because of disabilities end up in schools for children who have difficulty learning. That can also be dangerous, because SO teachers are not trained to help and cope with such students. 

NYTimes. National Dance Institute Starts Teacher Training Program   The institute’s previous teacher training efforts have borne fruit. Educators and artists who have studied at N.D.I. have created 13 affiliated programs in the United States, China and Lebanon.

UNITED STATES
AACTE.
1) Association’s New Strategic Priorities
2) Will Congress Find Time to Move on Education and Higher Education Bills?   …a few key provisions related to teacher preparation:…

AACTE/SCALE. 12th National TPA Implementation Conference Call for Proposals [deadline Nov. 4]

Chronicle. Small Changes in Teaching: Space It Out   In a study from the early 1980s, researchers evaluated two groups of high-school students who were learning new French vocabulary words… The nonspaced learners remembered an average of 11 words out of 20; the spaced learners, 15. 

Cision. Claremont Graduate University’s Teacher Education Department Awarded $3.3 million from U.S. Department of Education   Over five years, the grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program will enable the university’s Teaching Fellows program—in partnership with Alliance College-Ready Public Schools—to strengthen its preparation of resilient, highly-effective K-12 educators to meet the needs of underserved student populations in the greater Los Angeles area.

East Valley Tribune. Mesa, ASU work together to make new teachers   As opposed to the previous one-to-one model, where one associate teacher assists one “master teacher” with a few lessons, Professional Pathways allows teams of certified teachers and student teachers to work across multiple classrooms under the leadership of an experienced lead teacher.

EdWeek. Michelle Obama Wants to Train Teachers to Help Students Vote

Hechinger Report.
1) A major test for would-be teachers will de-emphasize the more difficult math sections   A new version of the Praxis Core places less emphasis on algebra and geometry… A special report in partnership with The Hechinger Report and Mississippi Today on the state’s teacher shortage explored how some teacher candidates struggle to pass the exam, failing despite multiple attempts. 
2) Hope in coal country: Parents without diplomas keep their kids in school   Previously, any resident of the county with a teacher’s license could assume they would get a job in the district schools. But Roark tried a different approach, searching for the best teachers he could attract to the school and hiring some teachers from out of state and through the Teach For America program.
3) Out of the fields: In a North Carolina county where few Latino parents have diplomas, their kids are aiming for college   And 32 states, including North Carolina, don’t require English language learner training beyond the minimal federal requirements for general classroom teachers. Districts around the country also face a shortage of bilingual and ESL teachers.

IDEdNews. Rural Teachers Need Student-Loan Debt Relief  The average teacher graduating with their bachelor’s degree is taking on over $26,000 in student loan debt. If a teacher decides that they want to go on to pursue a master’s degree, there is significantly more debt. With those levels of student debt, a brand-new Idaho teacher looks at payments between $200-$400 a month.

Learning Policy Institute. Early Childhood Essentials: A Framework for Aligning Child Skills and Educator Competencies   Early educators need extensive support through college-level preparation and ongoing job-embedded professional development in a supportive environment to be able to consistently provide intentional, individualized learning activities that scaffold each child’s acquisition of essential skills.

Medium. A Great Public School Education for Every Student [by Elizabeth Warren]  My college plan will wipe out debt for most teachers and provide tuition-free public college so future teachers never have to take on that debt in the first place. In addition, I will push states to offer a pathway for teachers to become fully certified for free and to invest in their educators and build teacher retention plans. I will increase funding for Grow Your Own Teacher programs that provide opportunities for paraeducators or substitute teachers to become licensed teachers. And I will push to fully fund the Teacher Quality Partnership program to support teacher residency programs in high-need areas, like rural communities, and in areas of expertise like Special Education and Bilingual Education.

NEA Today. ‘I Didn’t Know It Had a Name’: Secondary Traumatic Stress and Educators   Jennifer Pacatte, a teacher in Rochester, NY… didn’t quite realize what she was was getting herself into beyond the role she had been trained for. “I was not really prepared for how my students’ lives outside of school would seep into the classroom and how that would so deeply affect me,” she recalls.

UVA Today. Curry School Launches Four-Year Teacher Education Majors   Beginning in the fall of 2020, the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development will enroll undergraduate students seeking Bachelor of Science in Education degrees in special education, elementary education and early childhood education.

Washington Post.
1) Betsy DeVos insists public schools haven’t changed in more than 100 years. Why she’s oh so wrong.   In terms of pedagogy, it’s important to remember that class sizes were much larger, at least in city schools, so teachers had little choice but to stick students in rows and work to keep them quiet. Because pre-service training didn’t become prevalent until mid-century, most educators simply taught as they themselves had been taught. And because students often didn’t even have the same set of texts, teachers needed to lecture in order to deliver common content. So it may be easy to parody teaching today — as being teacher-centered and lacking “personalization” — but it’s hard to overstate how much that was really the case 100 years ago.
2) School officials in Maryland strengthen requirements for Holocaust education   State officials said Maryland’s middle school social studies “framework” — which provides guidance for school systems as they develop curriculum and teacher training — will be revised in 2020… 
3) The Master Salesman of For-Profit Education: Can controversial entrepreneur Chris Whittle create a new model for private schools?  Samuel Abrams, director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College and author of “Education and the Commercial Mindset,” questions Whittle’s entire approach. 

NEW YORK STATE
BusinessInsider. 10 alarming facts about teacher pay in the United States   Teachers in New York make a median salary of $78,576 a year. According to CNN, that’s around the same salary as a physician’s assistant, a college agricultural sciences professor, or a veterinarian… Of course, it is also worth noting that New York is one of the few states that requires its teachers to earn a master’s degree within the first five years of teaching.

Chalkbeat. Yet another top departure in Albany: New York’s interim education commissioner is leaving

NYSED. Statement from Chancellor Betty A. Rosa, Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown and Interim Commissioner Beth Berlin on the Passing of Regent Judith Johnson

NEW YORK CITY
Inside Higher Ed. CUNY Contract Deal Means Big Raise for Adjuncts