EdPrepLab at AACTE 2021

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s (AACTE) annual meeting takes place this year virtually from February 24th - 26th. We are excited that several EdPrepLab institutions will be presenting over the course of the conference. See below for a list of session titles and descriptions, presenters, dates, and times. If you are a faculty member at one of our EdPrepLab member institutions and would like to add information about your session, please email Beatrice Benavides at bbenavides@bankstreet.edu.

A nationwide teacher preparation response to COVID-19: What can we learn from each other and do together?

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 2:45 pm

Jessica Charles, Bank Street College, Director of Scholarship Practice on Educator Practice, Bank Street College of Education; Director, Educator Preparation Laboratory Practice Network

Maria E. Hyler, Learning Policy Institute, Director, Washington, D.C Office and Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute; Director, Educator Preparation Laboratory

Resisting hate and restoring hope in educational institutions requires a workforce committed to anti-racist, liberatory pedagogy, and a nationwide transformation of educator preparation institutions in order to achieve that goal. This presentation will provide an analysis of how teacher preparation practices and policies at several leading institutions across the country have been adapted to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in order to continue preparing teachers for deeper learning and equity. This session responds to the question, “How will educator preparation programs adjust their practices to accommodate the unique needs of students, schools, accrediting bodies, etc., while maintaining program integrity?”

Redesigning the Profession, the Workplace, and How we Prepare People for Both

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 1:30 pm

Carole Basile, Arizona State University, Dean, Arizona State University Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College

The pandemic has made visible the cracks in our normal; and we aren’t going back! The duality of student learning loss and the educator workforce decline requires our immediate attention. Even prior to the pandemic, we weren’t seeing the learning outcomes we wanted nor the educator workforce we wanted as so many people are either not entering the profession or leaving the profession quickly. Educator preparation programs have an opportunity, right now, to engage PK-12 schools in new ways and leverage resources to redesign the traditional one-teacher one-classroom models. We can think about how to deepen and personalize learning to combat the growing disparities in student outcomes as well as ensure that students have the appropriate adults supporting them throughout the school day. We should also begin to think about what advancement pathways for teachers might look like. This fireside chat asks the question, “If we’re not getting the educator workforce or the learning outcomes we want, can we redesign the profession, the workplace, and how we prepare people for both?”

Future-casting. What does the future of education look like? How can AACTE and its partners help to advance the field?

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 2:45 pm

Carla Finkelstein, Towson University, Associate Professor

The amount of change the education field experienced during the COVID-19 crisis is immeasurable. In spite of the challenges, Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) sought innovative solutions to ensure learning gains continued. During this session we will highlight the changes made at EPPs to respond to COVID-19, how AACTE and its partners responded with resources, research, and funding, and how we can continue to shape the future of education.

University & State Agency Partnerships for Equity: From regulation to collaboration.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 2:45 pm

Selma M Powell, University of Washington, Director, Special Education Teacher Preparation

This presentation brings faculty from three IHEs in WA into conversation with the Standards Board that oversees, regulates, and provides funding support. We describe the initiatives implemented by grant funding and examine the relationship with the Standards Board. In this session we attempt to disrupt entrenched dynamics, analyze their historical and sociopolitical roots, and move toward a more collaborative, participatory model based on the important goals of equity and educator diversity.

Effective Practices to Diversify the Teacher Workforce: District/University Partnerships, Perspectives, and Practices

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 10:00 am

Megan Kelley-Petersen, University of Washington, U-ACT Program Director, College of Education, UW Seattle

As school districts and university partnerships continue to evolve, there is much to learn about the effective practices associated with diversifying the next generation of educators. In this session, attendees will engage with school district/university administration, faculty and staff as they share their coordinated efforts to launch successful pathways to diversify the teacher workforce.

Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers of Color through Alternative Pathways to Licensure

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 10:00 am

Diana Lys, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Assistant Dean for Educator Preparation and Accreditation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Co-Founder, Pathway to Practice North Carolina

This session contributes to AACTE 2021’s Strand 3, by highlights an innovative, alternative preparation program developed to meet a pressing state shortage of teachers, with a sharp focus on supporting teachers of color. As a collaboration between two highly-regarded EPPs in the state, the highlighted program is a disruption to the state’s current EPP landscape on many planes; however, if the program does not further the goal of supporting teachers of color, its design and implementation requires attention.

Classrooms as Sites of Resistance and Rebuilding: The call for teacher education programs to position teachers to disrupt colonialism

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 1:30 pm

Megan Kelley-Petersen, University of Washington, U-ACT Program Director, College of Education, UW Seattle

This session highlights qualitative case studies of teacher candidates engaged in teacher preparation coursework to learn about and partner with local tribal communities through the use of state-mandated Native education curriculum. We investigate the constraints and affordances of teachers’ use of the Native Education curriculum as a necessary tool to disrupt the settler colonialism endemic to schools and society.

Using Video Across Programmatic Spaces to Support Teachers’ Learning

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 3:45 pm

Megan Kelley-Petersen, University of Washington, U-ACT Program Director, College of Education, UW Seattle

This session highlights a model for using video in a systematic way across an innovative alternative route program to better support teacher candidates’ opportunities to learn from their own and others’ practice, whether in "remote learning" due to a pandemic or not. Session participants will consider how a video-centric model and a particular set of technologies can support both individual and collective learning for the participating teacher candidates given the context of hybrid learning structures to support teachers in both rural and urban settings.

Disrupting the Status Quo Through Engaged Data Use

Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 3:45 pm

Diana Lys, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Assistant Dean for Educator Preparation and Accreditation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Co-Founder, Pathway to Practice North Carolina

This session will highlight exemplary practices to drive programmatic change which were found to be successful in three institutions with different missions. Participants in this session will explore strategies for leading evidence-based change in their own programs and how to mobilize the people, tools, and organizational structures in their EPPs for these efforts.