The National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) has issued two calls: one for pilot sites, and one for reviewers. The NAAC is looking to test a new set of standards, called “Quality Indicators,” or QI, developed by NAAC, Project KNOTtT, and The Ohio State University. The QIs are designed to be tools for program assessment Read more about The National Association for Alternative Certification Wants YOU![…]
The Center for American Progress released a report last week focused on the 12 first-round Race to the Top (RTT) winners’ progress on teacher preparation and accountability systems. RTT winners are required to meet several goals, such as linking student achievement and growth data to their teachers; tie this information into teacher prep programs; publicly Read more about Getting Better at Teacher Preparation and State Accountability[…]
The National Education Association’s (NEA) president, Dennis Van Roekel, recently announced a new action agenda for the nation’s largest teachers union. The plan aims to further the union’s goals of transforming the teaching profession and accelerating student learning, and utilizes proven best practices from teachers across the country. The three major strategies are: 1. Raising Read more about NEA President Announces Three-Part Action Agenda[…]
The annual turnover rate in rural Alaskan schools can be as high as 35%, compared with urban rates as low as 5%. A new program in rural Alaska seeks to halt this trend through a new program that pairs rural schools with big-city counterparts. Funded by a federal grant of nearly $2 million to launch Read more about Group Aims to Reverse Rural Teacher Turnover Rate[…]
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has proposed a new rule with regard to admission to teacher preparation programs: a minimum GPA. There are 32 teacher preparation programs in the state, and students would now need to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (a B average) to be eligible for admittance. According to estimates, this would make Read more about Iowa Governor Proposes Minimum GPA for Teacher Candidates[…]
The New Teacher Project has changed its official name to its acronym, TNTP, and has announced several other important changes to the organization. Launched in 1997, TNTP has expanded its partnerships and training to 20 cities across the country, and has trained more than 46,000 new teachers. However, given the current educational climate, TNTP has Read more about The New Teacher Project is Now TNTP: Reimagine Teaching[…]
For-profit, online colleges have been ramping up the development and execution of alternative teacher certification programs over the past couple of years. The state of Texas, particularly, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of for-profit alternative certification programs. These programs, lasting from three months to two years, “are booming despite little more than Read more about For-Profit Teacher Certification on the Rise[…]
A new teacher evaluation law in Indiana is causing concern among prospective and certified teachers. The new evaluation system includes measures of student performance that carry significant weight in the overall evaluation structure. Teachers who formerly welcomed student-teachers into their classrooms are now hesitant to do so. “They’re saying, ‘We’re not having a student teacher Read more about New Evaluations Systems May Threaten Student-Teaching Programs[…]
ASCD Express is seeking short essays on the theme “Supporting Preservice Teachers.” From ASCD:“The learning trajectory from college education student to classroom teacher—and “master of her own universe”—is pretty compressed. Inevitably, much about education must be learned on the job. But can universities better prepare future teachers? If so, how? Are education schools so worried Read more about Call for Papers: Supporting Preservice Teachers[…]
The Center for Education Data & Research (CEDR) has released a study that examines teacher preparation programs in Washington State, in an effort to determine a link between program efficacy and teacher effectiveness. Comparing data between teacher’s initial endorsements and student achievement on state math and reading tests, the study found that teacher prep programs Read more about Assessing Teacher Prep Based on Student Achievement[…]
At a conference sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education on October 4, advocates for robust new-teacher support systems gathered to change the current discourse “from evaluation to induction.” Richard Ingersoll, professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke about an analysis he released last year of the National Center Read more about Teacher Induction Gets Renewed Attention[…]
Last month, the Obama Administration released its plan for “recruiting, preparing, and retaining great teaching talent.” In his forward to the plan by Secretary Duncan writes: “Some of our existing teacher preparation programs are not up to the job. They operate partially blindfolded, without access to data that tells them how effective their graduates are Read more about Obama Administration Releases Plan for Teacher Education Reform and Improvement[…]
Last week, National Louis University in Chicago collaborated with Groupon to offer an unheard-of deal: a 57% discount on a teacher prep course. The course, “Introduction to the Profession and the Craft of Teaching” was offered for $950 and covers topics such as “trends and debates in the teaching profession” and “how the K-12 sector Read more about Go Get Your Groupon! and Become a Teacher?[…]
A new book by researchers at the Carenegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching examines the movement towards the changing face of teaching from an “occupation” to one based on scientific scholarship. The movement’s impact on teacher education programs is examined with particular attention. Authors Pat Hutchings, Mary Taylor Huber, and Tony Ciccone imagine a Read more about The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered: Institutional Integration and Impact[…]
In this month’s Education Outlook, Cory Koedel examines the standards by which prospective teachers are evaluated during university training. Koedel looks back at an article published in 1960 that showed evidence of low grading standards in university education departments: undergraduate students taking education classes were twice as likely to receive an A compared to students Read more about When Everyone Makes the Grade[…]
Under a series of actions taken over the past year and a half by the New York State Board of Regents, the body that oversees P-12 education, higher education, and teacher certification, the doors have been opened for nonuniversity programs to prepare teachers at the graduate-degree level. Additionally, the first new graduate school of education Read more about N.Y. Thinks Outside Teacher Education Box[…]