NACCTEP Now

NACCTEP Educational Partner, the IRIS Center, is back to share its latest online offerings. Listen as Sarah Semon discusses the recent release of six updated modules related to behavior, executive functioning, progress monitoring, and Bookshare, an organization that provides
accessible educational materials to students with print disabilities. Sarah also shares information about the interactive High Leverage Practice Tool and new Coursework Planning Forms for Faculty.
 
Check out the new modules here:
  Bookshare: Providing Accessible Materials for Students with Print Disabilities 
 Behavior Principles: The Basics of Understanding Student Behavior 
 Executive Functioning (Part 1): Understanding Why Some Students Struggle 
 Executive Functioning (Part 2): Strategies to Improve Students’ Academic Performance 
 Progress Monitoring: Reading 
 Progress Monitoring: Math 

Sign up for the IRIS e-Newsletter to receive updates and announcements about new releases.

For questions about these or other resources, please contact: [email protected]

Welcome back for NACCTEP's first podcast of the 2024-25 academic year as we listen to Dr. Lennon Audrain, our board President who is returning for a second two-year term, discuss the exciting events NACCTEP has planned for the coming year. The 2024 NACCTEP Fall Institute will culminate a week of discussion board interaction with a expert panel on Community College Apprenticeships. This hallmark event is free to all who wish to attend and offers professional development hours for a fee.

In conjunction with the AACTE Annual Meeting, February 21st - 23rd, 2025 in Long Beach, California, NACCTEP will again host a pre-conference on the afternoon of February 20th featuring discussions on the latest topics in teacher education such as bachelor programs, apprenticeships, articulation agreements, etc.

Additionally, NACCTEP will host its inaugural Community College Teacher Education Leadership Institute across multiple Fridays in the spring of 2025. This institute is designed for both those in current leadership roles as well as faculty, adjunct faculty, and those interested in moving into leadership roles.

Keep an eye out on our website, nacctep.org, as well as in our bi-weekly NACCTEP News emails for more information on all of these events.

Dr. Steve Bautista, Coordinator and Counselor for the Center for Teacher Education at Santa Ana College as well as Vice President of ACCCTEP, the Association of California Community College Teacher Education Programs, discusses his journey to working with teacher candidates. During his conversation with NACCTEP Executive Director Julie Ferin, he talks about how ACCCTEP was formed on the model of NACCTEP in 2003. Steve also shares the inspiring, full-circle story of 2022 California Teacher of the Year Alondra Diaz, an alumna of Santa Ana College's program and partnership with Chapman University to produce bilingual teachers.

When meeting with new students, Steve asks what their dreams are, a question inspired by Jeff Duncan-Andrade who speculated, "How can you educate children without knowing what their dreams are?"

Sarah Moore, former President of Middlesex College's Alpha Theta Zeta chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, KDP, talks with NACCTEP Executive Director Julie Ferin about re-careering from nursing to teaching and how KDP brought her the sense of community she needed as a community college student. From one of her first days on campus, Ms. Moore sought out the camaraderie of other student members of KDP whom she calls her chosen family. Describing the chapter as a unique gift that fulfilled her need for mentorship and community, she goes on to describe her journey not only to becoming a teacher, but to becoming the best teacher she can be through her experiences as a member and office holder in her KDP chapter. Noting the numerous scholarship, grant, and guidance opportunities, Ms. Moore also shares the beneficial activities like hosting a TB testing clinic on campus through the Department of Health and the Teacher Shower this July to provide recent graduates with supplies for their new classrooms. Mr. Whited emphasizes the value that having a sense of community that KDP can provide at the community college level is only the beginning of the benefits of having a KDP chapter at a community college.

New Chapter Interest Form (https://wkf.ms/3TYaOj7)

KDP Member Benefits (https://www.kdp.org/membership/your-kdp-membership-benefits_)

Join KDP (https://www.kdp.org/membership/join-kdp)

KDP Mission and Vision (https://www.kdp.org/about/who-we-are)

The Phoenix Union High School district recognized that during the pandemic educator stress levels rose exponentially and created the Health and Wellness Specialist position. Dr. Erika Collins-Frazier is the first to take on that role in 2021 and has seen the interest and success of health and wellness efforts grow each school year. Employing strategies such as micro-learning, monthly webinars with expert presenters, and Thursday morning meditation sessions are helping teachers and staff to "Slay the Day". Assessing the needs of the teachers through regular surveys allows Dr. Collins-Frazier to measure the success of different strategies. She talks about how reminding teachers that recognizing emotional intelligence applies to more than just the students in the classrooms. The use of intentional conversations and validating each others' feelings aids in feeling valued which can lead to greater retention of teachers. Calling stress a raw coping power, she encourages staff to embrace it and work through stress with different breathing techniques and self-reminders to loosen the tension in one's shoulders and jaw.

Valerie Sakimura, Executive Director, and Jim Heal, Senior Program Director, from Deans for Impact join NACCTEP Now to discuss their work to equip future teachers with the tools to create rigorous, equitable, and inclusive classrooms so that all children thrive. For nearly 10 years, their organization has supported close to 200 teacher preparation programs and school districts in preparing aspiring and novice teachers to enact instruction grounded in a scientific understanding of how students learn.

Through their Impact Academy fellowship, they offer deans and program leaders a community of practice to discuss and work through the challenges that different educator preparation programs face. Additionally, they offer one-to-one coaching as a part of this academy that kicks off and concludes with in-person meetings in June of each year.

Applications for the coming cohort are open through the end of March 2024. Information and a link to the application can be found on their website at: https://www.deansforimpact.org/programming/for-educator-preparation-leaders/impact-academy

Robert Parker, Manager of Strategic Partnerships for 240 Tutoring shares what inspired founder and CEO Scott Rozell to create 240 Tutoring in October 2010. He also discusses the individualized nature of their test preparation courses from benchmark assessments at the beginning of a course to providing guidance on incorrect answers in order to learn the concepts necessary to successfully pass the tests. Each course also has an alignment tool to help candidates see where each of the standards for the test are included in the course.

In addition to their current offerings, Mr. Parker shares that they will be nationwide by the end of 2024 as they include New York state. They will also be updating courses to be more dynamic and expanding to include more disciplines such as art, music, business, and Spanish. Additionally, they are piloting a job matching concept in Texas that will help districts and candidates connect. He also shares other exciting additions to help with retention and for program administrators to improve their programs.

Monica Carson, Chief Growth Officer for the American College of Education, ACE, discusses how the school was created twenty years ago by educators for educators. She talks not only about the value of ACE financially, but also in terms of academics, and stack-ability of their many offerings from micro-credentials, to certificates, bachelors degrees, as well as multiple varieties of masters degrees. Partnerships with other colleges such as Rio Salado College allow program completers to transfer in credits towards other degrees, while partnerships with school districts offer para-pros, janitors, bus drivers, and parents the opportunity to become credentialed educators in their own communities.

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Lynn Gangone, President and CEO of The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), as she shares how AACTE plays an integral role in elevating the field of teacher education. 

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is the leading voice on educator preparation. AACTE’s member institutions and programs prepare the greatest number of professional educators in the United States and its territories, including teachers, counselors, administrators, and college faculty. 

Dr. Gangone begins by sharing how she started her career in higher education at a community college and explains how this experience has underscored the work she continues to do with AACTE. The discussion covers competency-based education (CBE) initiatives, registered apprenticeships, guideline standards for teacher apprenticeships, AACTE’s 75th anniversary, and the upcoming AACTE Annual Meeting in Colorado. For more information about AACTE and information about the upcoming pre-conference and annual meeting visit https://aacte.org/about-aacte/

In this episode we hear from Daniela Robles, Executive Director of the Arizona K12 Center as she discusses her journey to becoming a National Board Certified Teacher, the history of the Arizona K12 Center, and how the two intersected more than once. From an organization that began by giving grants to external professional development opportunities, to providing those opportunities directly, as well as adding mentorship and support for new and experienced teachers, the Arizona K12 center has grown. Prior to the pandemic, the center was able to fund 7 districts, but since 2020 that has grown to 33 programs throughout the state.

The Arizona K12 Center is instrumental in providing training and guidance for those pursuing NBCT status which is how Ms. Robles first worked with the center. Not long after becoming a National Board Certified Teacher, Ms. Robles worked with the center on the Mitchell 20 project which involved teachers in a single school banding together to become NCBTs in order to better serve their students. The documentary created from this project can be found at www.mitchell20.com/about.

In addition, the Arizona K12 Center has many upcoming opportunities for professional development including their 19th Annual Teacher Leader Institute being held in Tucson June 24-26th, 2024, a one-day Voices for Impact event this spring, as well as in-person Cognitive Coaching offerings. Information on these events as well as several other programs can be found at azK12.org/events.

In parting, Ms. Robles recommends the book The Necessary Journey: Making Real Progress on Equity and Inclusion by Ella Washington.