Teacher Education News

NATIONAL NEWS
Though Unproved, 'Early Reading First' Likely to Continue
From Education Week
Congress continues to finance the Early Reading First program for 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families, and it's in both House and Senate versions of a comprehensive literacy bill. Proof of the program's effectiveness is elusive.

Obama Pushes to Turn Around Failing Schools
From the Boston Globe
The Obama administration will spend at least $3.5 billion to push local officials around the country to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals. Districts will have to compete for federal grants to overhaul the lowest-performing schools. Applications for the money, made available Thursday to states, should result in a list of about 1,200 schools that states have targeted for turnaround, the Education Department said, adding that the eventual goal is 5,000 schools.

PTA Launches Campaign Backing Common Standards
From Education Week
The National Parent Teacher Association has received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to begin organizing parental support for the Common Core State Standards Initiative in four states: Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

Troops Finding New Service as Teachers
From The New York Times
Congress is hoping to expand a federal program, Troops to Teachers, that has helped about 12,000 former service members transition into second careers in the classroom.

Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA
From Education Week
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said November 30 that he envisions a significant new emphasis on federal incentives for high-performing schools, districts, and states in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, expected to be taken up by Congress as early as next year.

Skeptics of Standardized Tests Weigh In on ESEA
From Education Week
Education organizations in Washington are starting to lay the groundwork for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. And that includes the contingent of Democrats who are skeptical of standardized testing. One of the groups on that side of the debate is the Forum for Education and Democracy, which held an event on Capitol Hill December 4 to draw policymakers' attention to schools that have embraced project-based learning and other methods that proponents say help develop higher-order thinking skills.


NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
Michigan Senate Passes Education Reform Bills
From WWMT.com
The Michigan Senate has passed some significant education reform bills in hopes of turning around failing schools in order to qualify for federal Race to the Top money. Topics of the bills passed by the Senate December 2 include allowing teachers to take a different path to education, allowing more charter schools, and providing specific support for low-performing schools.

Area Colleges Join Protest of Teacher Education Findings in Texas
From the Abilene Reporter-News (TX)
University education deans in the Abilene area joined a statewide protest against a research group's preliminary report that gave generally low scores to teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities in Texas. An official with the National Council on Teacher Quality defended the report, claiming Texas teacher prep programs are settling for subpar standards.

Nevada Education Jobs Saved by Stimulus Overstated
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada overestimated the number of higher education jobs so far "retained" with federal stimulus aid, according to a state budget official. The revised count is about 1,400, a steep drop from the nearly 2,100 that state and federal officials have touted for weeks.

200 Rally for Michigan State's Deaf Program
From the Lansing State Journal
Some 200 people rallied December 4 to save the Deaf Education program at Michigan State University, which trains teachers for the deaf. The program, along with classes in American Sign Language, have been threatened with elimination as the university cuts its budget. At issue is not whether the state will train teachers for deaf students, but what sort of training they will receive. MSU's program is the only one in the state that trains teachers for bilingual deaf children – those who use ASL and English.

Universities to Transform Teacher-Preparation Programs and Guarantee Teacher Effectiveness
From PR Newswire
Fourteen higher-education institutions and the Bush Foundation announced a partnership focused on transforming teacher-preparation programs in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Collectively, the institutions will produce at least 25,000 new, effective teachers in the next 10 years. The institutions are guaranteeing the effectiveness of teachers who graduate from their redesigned programs.

New Teachers Having Trouble Finding Jobs in Competitive Calif. Market
From the Whittier Daily News (CA)
Many newly licensed teachers are having trouble finding work in California schools, competing with other newly credentialed teachers and thousands more who have lost their jobs.


OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS / REPORTS

Holmes Partnership Conference to Be Held January 28-30 in Charleston, SC
The Holmes Partnership's 14th annual conference, "Closing the Achievement Gap: Continuing the Work," will convene January 28-30 in Charleston with featured keynoters Pedro Noguera, Terry Peterson, Jennifer Murphy, and Melissa Watson.



American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).


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