Higher Education in the United States

AACTE Weekly News Briefs | November 25, 2008___________

. . . delivered to your inbox so you can enjoy up-to-date news on Colleges of Education, Teaching and the Classroom, Campaigns, Legislation, STEM Teacher Issues, International Teacher Issues, Grants, and Upcoming Events. Please click on linked headlines for full story.





AACTE IN THE NEWS



NCATE to Develop Options within Accrediting Process

From NCATE

The NCATE Executive Board voted unanimously at its fall meeting in October to redesign the NCATE accreditation process. The Board asked Dr. James Cibulka, President of NCATE, to return in Spring 2009, after consulting with all NCATE constituencies, with a comprehensive set of recommendations for redesign of NCATE's unit accreditation and program review processes to provide options, promote rigor, relevance, and inquiry, and ensure cost-effectiveness.





AACTE ANNOUNCEMENTS



AACTE Board Elections

All AACTE Institutional Representatives are eligible to vote for new members of the AACTE Board of Directors, one of the most important benefits of AACTE membership. Please take advantage of this privilege and make your voice heard. For more information please click here.



AACTE Web Conference

AACTE presents "Building an Accreditation Learning Community," a Web Conference for Deans and NCATE Coordinators. From December 2, 2008 through December 4, 2008 participate from the comfort of your own office in this multi– day web event that includes a mix of pre -recorded and live sessions, online chats, and resource sharing on topics such as Assessment Rubrics, Creating the Electronic Exhibit Room, Writing An Institutional Report and preparing for the Visit. For more information about fees and registration, please click here.



AACTE Focuses on 21st Century Schools, Colleges and Departments of Education

AACTE is inaugurating a new national conversation on 21st Century Schools, Colleges and Departments of Education to parallel the efforts of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. This theme will be front and center at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Chicago. AACTE will feature a special preconference professional development program titled “Developing a Vision for 21st-Century Schools of Education: An Out-Loud Session of Critical Thinking for the Profession by Veteran Deans.” In addition to a number of concurrent sessions on this theme, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills will present a session titled “Colleges of Education and 21st Century Skills”.





NATIONAL NEWS



Obama Faces Fierce Fight to Keep Education Promises

From the Washington Post

President-elect Barack Obama has made big promises to educators, parents and the nation's nearly 50 million public school students. He vowed to recruit an "army of new teachers," create better tests and give public schools more funding. He also said he would make college more affordable.



New Model for Education Research

From Inside Higher Ed

Current practices in education research — most of which is conducted in a university setting — are insufficient to meet the demand for a better K-12 system, the new president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching says. In his first major policy address since becoming the foundation’s president, Anthony S. Bryk announced his vision for the future of education research and development at the American Enterprise Institute here Wednesday, putting particular emphasis on the possibility of reforming teacher education programs.



Researchers Pitch Policy Ideas to Obama Advisers

From Education Week

Some of education’s most prominent scholars are offering President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers and other Washington policymakers their collected wisdom on research-backed strategies the next administration can use to improve schooling.





NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY



College reaches out to inspire future teachers

From Arizona State University

ASU’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership sponsored the recruitment event to attract middle school and high school students to the profession of teaching and to consider teaching in their own neighborhoods. The students were hand-picked to attend by Teach for America (TFA) corps members, part of a national program to place the most promising recent college graduates in high-need classrooms for two years. Through a partnership with the college, these TFA teachers attend classes downtown and work with faculty and clinical professors to earn their master’s degrees in education.



Training load to grow for 'alternate' teachers

From the Star-Ledger

Thousands of new teachers coming into the classroom as a second career will need to take many hours of additional training under rules approved by the state Board of Education last week.



Colorado State Awarded $12.5 Million National Science Foundation Grant For Stem Teacher Development

From Colorado State University

Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory is the lead institution of a $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematics and Science Partnership program to create a dynamic teacher development program targeted at middle school and high school teachers in the STEM disciplines - science, technology, engineering and mathematics.



University of Chicago Teaching Preparation Program Expands to Include Training for Mathematics and Biology High School Teachers

From the University of Chicago

Responding to a national shortage of high school mathematics and science teachers, the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute will expand its teacher preparation program in 2009 to ready secondary math and biology teachers for urban classrooms.



Recruitment begins for Teacher Quest Tampa Bay pilot program

From Business Journal Tampa

The Technological Research and Development Authority is recruiting businesses in Tampa Bay to participate in the Teacher Quest Tampa Bay pilot program, a professional development initiative. The effort aims to employ Florida certified teachers in grades 6-8 in science, math and technology-based positions during the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011.





Other Announcements




AERA Grants and Fellowship Programs

AERA Grants and Fellowship Programs provide funding to help graduate students and early career scholars develop research skills and conduct studies in education and related fields. Application deadlines for the 2009 competitions are fast approaching! Please follow the links below for more information.



AERA-AIR (A²) Fellows Program
Application deadline: December 15, 2008.

AERA-ETS Fellowship Program in Measurement
Application deadline: December 15, 2008.
· Minority Fellowship Program in Education Research
Application deadline: December 15, 2008.

· AERA Grants Program
The next application deadlines are August 29, 2008; January 7, 2009; and March 6, 2009.

From the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is accepting applications to serve on committees responsible for reviewing and revising standards in two areas: English as a New Language and Social Studies-History. To access the online application click here. The application will be available through December 12, 2008, 5:00pm EST.



For assistance or additional information please contact NBPTS at nominations@nbpts.org.





AACTE 61st ANNUAL MEETING & EXHIBITS

February 6 - 9, 2009
Hyatt Regency Chicago - Virtual Tour
Chicago, IL





REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Click Here to register for the 61st Annual Meeting & Exhibits. This will lead you through creating an account which you can use for future meetings. If you registered for the Accountability, Accreditation, and Quality Conference, Click Here to use the account you set up when registering for that meeting.



Alyssa J. Mangino

Communications Manager

AACTE

1307 New York Ave., NW Suite 300

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 478-4596 -Direct

(202) 457-8095 -Fax

amangino@aacte.org