aaee

AAEE Recognizes Janice S. Jones Scholarship Program Recipients

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 23:48:47 GMT

AAEE Recognizes Janice S. Jones Scholarship Program Recipients

The American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) is proud to recognize the recipients of the annual **Janice S. Jones Scholarship Program**, which supports aspiring and early-career educators committed to serving high-need schools and advancing equity in education.

Mayra Montalvan is a Spanish educator in Connecticut with experience teaching across elementary, middle, and high school levels. She currently teaches middle school Spanish while completing her Master’s in Education. Mayra is passionate about helping students build confidence through meaningful language learning and focuses on creating engaging, student-centered lessons that promote communication, cultural understanding, and a positive classroom community.

As a dedicated teacher and mother of three, Mayra is deeply committed to supporting diverse learners and helping students see language as a powerful tool for connection and opportunity. She is proud to serve in a critical-need area and looks forward to continuing to grow her long-term career in the classroom.

Nishant Patel, an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Stout, is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science with a concentration in Math Education. His academic program integrates advanced coursework in mathematics and computer science with professional preparation in teaching methods, curriculum design, and classroom instruction. Nishant is preparing to become a secondary mathematics educator and is particularly motivated to serve schools facing a critical shortage of qualified math teachers.

As a future teacher of color, Nishant is committed to fostering inclusive, supportive, and equitable learning environments where all students feel represented and encouraged to succeed. He believes representation in education plays a vital role in student confidence, engagement, and academic achievement—especially for students from underrepresented backgrounds. His long-term goals include teaching in high-need schools, contributing to curriculum development, mentoring students, and supporting initiatives that strengthen diversity and equity in mathematics and STEM education.

AAEE congratulates both scholarship recipients and celebrates their dedication to the teaching profession and to making a meaningful impact in schools and communities.

AAEE Conference going to KCMO in 2026

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:00:16 GMT

AAEE's 2026 Annual Conference in KCMO

The American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) is pleased to announce its 2026 Annual Conference & Education Career Fair, to be held October 19–21, 2026, in Kansas City, Missouri. The event will bring together leaders, innovators, and professionals working in educator preparation, recruitment, human resources, retention, and related fields for three days of professional development, networking, and best-practice sharing.

This year’s conference will feature:

A robust lineup of keynote and general session speakers focused on current trends in educator recruitment and retention.
Concurrent breakout sessions and interactive programming designed to equip attendees with actionable strategies for building and sustaining effective educator workforces.
An Education Career Fair connecting job seekers with more than 50 hiring institutions and organizations.
Structured and informal networking opportunities to foster professional collaboration across districts, universities, and education partners.
The conference will be hosted at venues in Kansas City, MO, with programming and lodging centered around premier hotel and meeting facilities in the city.

“We are excited to be in my home city, Kansas City, for the 2026 AAEE Annual Conference & Education Career Fair,” said Jorge Fuller, newly seated President. “This event continues to be a vital forum for education professionals committed to strengthening educator pipelines, improving recruitment practices, and retaining top talent in schools nationwide.”

Call for Presenters: AAEE is currently accepting proposals for 60-minute breakout sessions scheduled throughout the conference. Presenters with innovative strategies and research related to educator recruitment, retention, and talent development are invited to submit proposals

Registration and Additional Information:

Details on registration, sessions, hotel accommodations, and sponsorship opportunities will be available on the AAEE website. Visit aaee.org for updates and full conference information.

Podcast Ep 125: Clinical Practice: The Key to Teacher Success

execdir@aaee.org (Scott Soldat-Valenzuela) — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:37:53 GMT

Clinical Practice: The Key to Teacher Success

Join Dr. Beth and Dr. Anna as they dive into the critical world of teacher preparation with special guests Hannah Putman, Director of Research and and Ron Noble, Chief of Teacher Preparation, at the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). This illuminating conversation explores how quality clinical practice experiences directly impact teacher effectiveness and retention rates.

Our guests unpack NCTQ's mission to ensure every child has effective teachers and share practical insights from successful programs like Chicago Public Schools' Teach Chicago initiative. Discover how strategic mentor matching and demographically similar student teaching placements can set new teachers up for success, plus learn about NCTQ's resources for evaluating over 700 teacher preparation programs.

Whether you're an aspiring teacher, education leader, or policy advocate, this episode offers valuable perspectives on strengthening the teacher pipeline through intentional clinical practice.

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ): www.nctq.org

Hannah Putnam: hputnam@nctq.org
Ron Noble: rnoble@nctq.org

American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE): www.aaee.org

AAEE Announces 2024 Conference Speakers

joy.duling@gmail.com (Admin User) — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 20:22:15 GMT

AAEE 2024 Keynote Speakers Announced

The AAEE 2024 Annual Conference in the Mile High City of Denver, CO is shaping up to be an amazing event!

We're excited to announce our keynote speakers.

Joe McBreen is the Assistant Superintendent of Innovation in St. Vrain Valley Schools. Previously, he worked as St.Vrain's Chief Technology Officer for ten years, earning the 2019 CALET Ed Tech Leader of the Year award and ISTE andCoSN national awards. Joe holds multiple IT Certifications, including Cisco, Amazon Web Service, and AI. He is passionate about bringing out the best in people, leveraging advanced technologies, and scaling innovation.

He will also be leading a c oncurrent education session titled "Hands-on AI Ascent: Elevating Educator Recruitment and Retention"

In this session you will learn to d iscover the power of generative AI in this hands-on workshop designed to enhance your educator recruitment and retention strategies. Learn to integrate advanced AI tools, including chatbots, into your daily practices to boost efficiency and decision-making. Ideal for K-12 HR professionals and educator preparation experts, this session offers practical insights for reaching new heights in educational excellence.

To bookend the conference with another skilled education expert, we will feature Jolee Jones, Director of Organizational Development & Experiential Learning Douglas County School District

Jolee Jones is the Director of Organizational Development and Experiential Learning for Douglas County School District, the founder of Ellipsis Consulting, and a Master Associate-candidate for Emergenetics International. Over the last 25 years, she has cultivated a unique approach to leadership training in the outdoor education and challenge course industries. With the belief that adults are just big kids, Jolee utilizes a blend of experiential methods, neuroscience, and cognitive and behavioral awareness to collaborate with leadership teams and organizations to support culture, improve communication, foster innovative solutions, and have fun doing it.

Keynote Session: "Check Your Stress Before You Wreck Yourself"

Jolee's c oncurrent session titled "From Surviving to Thriving: The Art and Science of Sidestepping Burnout" will discuss stress management, well-being and going beyond surviving to thriving.

Whether you're struggling with stress management or seeking to preemptively safeguard your well-being, this session will equip you with the knowledge and skills to not just survive, but to flourish in today's demanding world. We will delve into the intricacies of avoiding burnout through a blend of practical strategies and scientific insights. Discover techniques to maintain wellness, enhance resilience, and foster a sustainable work-life harmony.

Be sure to register before che early bird deadline ends by visiting here .

WEBINAR | Teacher Temperament - April 16, 2024, 2 PM Central

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:28:42 GMT

Teacher Temperament: How Understanding Yourself and Others Elevates Job Performance & Engagement

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2024, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CDT

Live Online Event, Access Link Sent After Enrollment

How might we empower educators emotionally so they are equipped to handle not only universal stressors inherent in the teaching profession, but also those specific to individual temperament in order to uncover and strengthen the innate resiliency of teachers, leading to more reliable attraction and retention of talented teachers?

In this session, we will discuss the relationship between personality type and stress management, learning about burnout as an imbalance that can be both anticipated and mitigated with self-reflection. We will explore ways in which understanding personality types that differ from our own can benefit the mentor-teacher, teacher-student, teacher-parent, teacher-teacher, and teacher-administrator dynamics in order to bolster connection and combat the isolation related to burnout.

Key Takeaways:

Defining burnout and identifying its hallmarks in order to mitigate or prevent it
Increasing or maintaining job engagement through understanding of personality preferences and temperament
Learning practical tools for self-inquiry and support-system activation to apply to oneself in the relationship-rife field of education that will increase the job engagement of talented teachers, bolstering their choices to remain in this demanding and dignified profession

This event will take place at 12:00 PM Pacific Time/1:00 PM Mountain Time/2:00 PM Central Time/3:00 PM Eastern Time.

FEATURED SPEAKER

LEANNE DI BELLA

Elementary School Teacher and Consultant

Leanne’s greatest passion as an elementary school teacher of over 20 years has deepened from supporting hundreds of students in growing critical thinking skills using Gifted and Talented Education strategies to employing her training in depth psychology by empowering kids to understand, accept, and reflect on their emotions, resulting in better communication and collaboration skills as evidenced daily in the classroom. After metabolizing her own burnout, post-pandemic, she finds meaning in helping fellow teachers, novice and veteran, cultivate true self-compassion that naturally leads to deeper compassion for others. She believes that learning to engage in self-inquiry is teachable, and developing the practice is transformative on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.

A Letter on Teacher Diversity in the United States

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:34:14 GMT

AAEE Joins 75 Education Organizations Signing Letter Calling for Greater Teacher Diversity

The American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) has signed onto a letter, organized by the Association of American Educators Foundation, sent to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and leaders in Congress calling for their help in addressing the lack of teacher diversity in our nation’s classrooms. The letter, citing federal data and university studies, reports that 53 percent of public school students are children of color, while only 18 percent of teachers identify as a person of color. Studies reveal this disparity causes overall lower student achievement and outcomes, especially in populations of at-risk students and students of color.

The letter states, “We believe that increasing teacher diversity elevates the teaching profession and improves the lives and outcomes of all students,” and calls on all parties involved to play a role in addressing the problem. The letter volunteers the services of the undersigned organizations to help Congress and the Department of Education to determine how proposed regulations and legislation may increase or decrease teacher diversity. More than seventy-five education organizations representing teachers, preservice teachers, school counselors, education staff, principals, superintendents, charter school leaders, education reformers, tutors, and teacher educators have signed the letter.

AAEE Executive Director, Tim Neubert stated, “Teaching is not currently an attractive career path for many persons of color, to the detriment of students in our schools. If we want to provide the highest-quality education system in this country, we must work together to address the reasons why.”

The American Association for Employment in Education is focused on positively impacting education through professional connections. With the full support of its board of directors, AAEE is proud to join this coalition of organizations from across the country in highlighting the need to increase teacher diversity, and taking an active role in efforts to prepare, recruit, and retain a diverse teacher population through intentional, long-term, and widespread efforts. AAEE’s efforts will be reflected through our membership, events, resources, scholarship programs, partnerships, and advocacy, consistent with our purposes to:

Gather, organize, and disseminate information on candidates, the educational marketplace, and the job search process.
Establish and promote ethical standards and practices in the employment process.
Provide opportunities for training, networking and the exchange of information about current practices, research and innovations.
Promote dialogue and cooperation among institutions which prepare educators and institutions which provide employment opportunities.

More information, including the full letter text, list of signatories, articles and studies cited in the letter, is available at aaeteachers.org/diversity .

5 Steps to Develop Cultural Competency

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 11:42:23 GMT

Author: Jatisha Marsh

Human Resource Staffing Manager, DeKalb County School District, Georgia

Our spoken language, religion, food, customs, and traditions are all part of culture. Social interaction, body language, standards of beauty, and relationships with others are also cultural components. The U.S. Census Bureau has indicated that a majority of U.S. children under the age of 5 are now considered minority based on their race or ethnicity. As the nation and school districts become more diverse, it is critical that teachers move toward cultural competency, a skill that is highly valued in teacher candidates. Cultural competency moves educators past treating students in a culturally blind manner or only signing compliance statements.

Culturally competent teachers value both cultural differences and how these differences enrich the classroom environment, school, and community. These teachers understand the difference between equality and equity, and seek to learn about unique cultural histories so that they can incorporate their students’ cultural experiences into the learning process.

Here are five steps you can take to become more culturally competent:

Take a self-assessment. There are several assessments on the internet that can help you to determine your current level of cultural competency. For example, Georgetown University has a checklist for human services providers that promotes review of cultural values and practices.
Learn more about yourself. Toni Collette said, “The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.” Consider how you first became aware of your race, gender, sexual orientation, religion/spirituality, and socioeconomic status. Think critically about how these identities shape the lens through which you view others.
Interact with people of cultures different from your own. If you are still in school, attend club and organization events for various ethnic and cultural groups on campus. Learn another language. Attend religious services of different faiths. Travel internationally.
Participate in professional development. Attend classes that help you to unpack components of culture. Many colleges and school districts offer training courses. If you are currently student teaching, investigate opportunities to participate in Professional Learning Communities that are examining culture, diversity, and inclusion.
Empower others. Speak up when you witness exclusionary practices. Advocate for events and policies that value, rather than devalue, cultures different from your own.

Developing cultural competency is not a once-and-done activity. Expanding your cultural competency takes self examination, reflection, and continual evaluation of one’s thoughts, words, and actions.

References

NASP: The National Association of School Psychologists. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/diversity/cultural-competence/self-assessment-checklist Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice [PDF]. (n.d.). National Association of Social Workers. Stith-Williams, V., & Berry, J. (n.d.). The Significance of Cultural Competence & Culturally Responsive Practices in Education [PPT].

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 11:44:55 GMT

Author: Dr. Jill Purdy

Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Program, Cedar Crest College, Pennsylvania

Embarking on a career as an educator has never been more challenging than it is today. Teachers must be prepared to meet the challenges of increasingly diverse classrooms- classrooms comprised of students of various ability levels, races, religions, and languages. Culturally responsive teachers infuse their instruction with examples, texts, and visuals that embrace the experiences of the learners they teach. Principals need teachers who are skilled in cultural responsivity who can develop successful learning environments for all students.

Consider that each student comes to the classroom with prior knowledge based on his/her unique and experiences. While some students’ backgrounds and previous experiences may be different than those of the dominant culture, every student has something unique to offer. Establish your classroom as a safe space where students can share their stories and where contributions from all students are welcomed and celebrated.

Learning each student’s name is a simple but powerful starting point for becoming a culturally responsive teacher. Learn each student’s name, pronounce it correctly, and greet each student by name at the classroom door each day. This simple act communicates clearly to students that they are valued and that they are a part of the classroom community. Our names are connected to our sense of identity. By greeting each student by name, the culturally responsive teacher begins to build a relationship based on respect.

When designing the classroom, the teacher should be sure that the classroom is representative of many racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Bulletin boards, classroom displays, student work, and instructional materials should all communicate the value of diverse cultures.

Culturally responsive teachers also use appropriate “wait time” during instruction. Wait time provides students with the time they need to think about the questions and formulate their responses. Providing response time is especially important for teachers who work with English Language Learners.

The ultimate goal of culturally responsive teaching is to advocate for students and to teach students to advocate for themselves. Through a strong commitment to CRT, a teacher can impact his or her students greatly.

Cultural Competency 2.0

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 11:49:50 GMT

Author: Jatisha Marsh

HCM Manager, DeKalb County School District, Georgia

Classrooms and schools across the United States are becoming more diverse. Approximately 51% of all public elementary and secondary school students in the U.S. are nonwhite. However, teachers from racial and ethnic minorities accounted for about 20% of the teacher workforce. This gap in representation makes it imperative that schools hire teachers who are culturally competent, regardless of race or ethnicity. Possessing a high degree of cultural competency makes you a more marketable candidate.

Cultural competency 2.0 moves beyond just appreciating differences in language, religion, food, and holidays. It moves teachers toward a better understanding of social interactions, communication preferences, body language, and standards of beauty. It leads to the abandonment of ethnocentric views and cultural stereotypes. Teachers begin to understand how culture influences students’ views on individualism versus collectivism, avoidance of uncertainty, deference to those in power, and even acceptance of change. No longer is it acceptable to treat students in a culturally blind manner, i.e., "I don't see color" or "I wouldn't care if the child were purple or green." Their cultural background impacts how students see the world and how others perceive them.

The philosopher Rumi once said, "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." Increasing cultural competency is an inside job. No one, regardless of their background, is immune to biases; uncovering personal biases is a critical step on the path to developing greater cultural competency. Harvard University's website hosts the nonprofit Project Implicit's tests for implicit associations about race, gender, sexual orientation, and other topics. These tests offer the opportunity for self-reflection.

Another useful activity is developing a cultural autobiography. There are various examples on the internet; however, a common thread is writing about the development of your understanding of race, gender, academic ability, and religion from childhood to the present. Early experiences with various aspects of one's identity, which are often forgotten and sometimes buried, often subconsciously influence the present.

To increase cultural competence, teachers must:

Recognize - Become curious and then aware of cultural differences
Respect - Diversity should be valued. Innovative solutions can be reached through having diverse thought partners at the table.
Reconcile - Differences in backgrounds may lead to unavoidable conflict; however, there can be a mutually agreeable common path forward.
Realize - After discovering that a specific conflict is due to cultural differences, craft alternatives that emphasize similarities.

Developing cultural competency takes continuous work. Expanding your cultural competence takes self-examination, reflection, and continual evaluation of one's thoughts, words, and actions. Jacqueline Woodson said it well, "Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together."

References

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/aboutus.html

https://learnhrm.partnerrc.com/ls2019/explore/interpersonal/tgf20/topic20-2-0/topic20-2-4

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/27/americas-public-school-teachers-are-far- less-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-than-their-students/

2025 Job Search Handbook Advertising

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:54:04 GMT

Reach your target audience with an advertisement in the 2025 Job Search Handbook for Educators.

Because aspiring educators will use the handbook as their job search "manual" throughout their early career, your advertisement will be viewed by thousands of individuals for years to come!

Purchase an ad or announcement in the 2025 AAEE Job Search Handbook for Educators that will be seen by thousands of individuals from colleges, universities, agencies, and school districts.

Artwork Specifications

AAEE reserves the right to determine placement of all display notices, except for Premium Placements.

The body of the Job Search Handbook prints in four color. Improperly sized art cannot be accepted.

Display notices must be submitted in electronic format as PDF files. Please be certain to embed all fonts, photos, and graphics in the PDF. Other formats such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, website downloads, etc. cannot be accepted.

The accuracy of the display notice is the sole responsibility of the submitter. Final display notice copy, if any changes are made, must be approved in writing.

Submit completed artwork to AAEE at marketing@aaee.org.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

To qualify for member pricing, AAEE membership must be active when placing order. • An advertisement may be submitted by an education-related consortia at the member rate if an AAEE member is an active member of the consortia. The AAEE office will review these requests on an individual basis. • Salary schedules may not be included in an advertisement; however salary ranges may be listed. Advertising purchasers may request a complimentary copy of the handbook.

For the advertisement placed on the Outside Back Cover, space will need to be included for the publication's barcode which can impact design slightly.

Members: Log in for Member Rates >>

7 Ways AI is Affecting Education

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:05:53 GMT

The new season is a great reason to make and keep resolutions. Whether it’s eating right or cleaning out the garage, here are some tips for making and keeping resolutions.

Personalized Learning: One of the biggest advantages of using AI in education is its ability to provide personalized learning. AI algorithms can analyze student data to identify patterns and trends, which can help educators determine where each student is struggling and where they excel. This can be beneficial in creating personalized learning plans that cater to individual student needs. With AI, teachers can understand what might work best for each student instead of following a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching.
I ntelligent Tutoring Systems: An intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is a software program that provides personalized instruction to students. These systems can track student progress, recognize patterns, and adjust the learning material to meet the students' needs. An ITS can be used to help students with homework assignments, provide feedback, and offer guidance on learning goals. ITS can help self-directed students learn more effectively, identify remedial areas more quickly, and work through topics at their own pace.
Assessment and Grading: Another way AI can be utilized in education is through assessment and grading. AI can use algorithms to analyze student work and provide instant feedback, which can help save time for teachers. Additionally, the use of AI in grading standardized assessments can provide a more accurate picture of student learning outcomes. This allows teachers to see the exact areas where students need improvement and tailor instruction accordingly.
Digital Learning: Using AI also opens new doors for digital learning opportunities. Digital learning has the advantage of being accessible at all times, so students can learn anywhere, anytime. With AI technology, online courses and programs can be personalized to individual students, providing tailored learning experiences that better meet their needs.
Virtual Assistants: Virtual assistants can be used in classrooms to provide support to teachers and students alike. For example, virtual assistants could be programmed to answer basic questions, provide reminders, or create schedules. This can free up teachers to focus on more critical tasks in their classrooms, such as helping students struggling with a specific concept.
Chatbots: Chatbots can be useful in educating students in various subjects. Chatbots can converse with students in natural language, answering their questions and providing feedback. These can help students learn more efficiently and provide an additional resource for their learning. Chatbots can be useful for homework assistance and test preparation.
Learning Analytics: Incorporating AI and machine learning algorithms in the field of learning analytics can help educators gain insights into their students' learning patterns. By taking data from various sources – such as attendance records, course materials, and test scores – analytics can provide educators with a clear picture of where students are succeeding and where they need improvement. By empowering educators with this information, AI can help them design more effective lesson plans and learning experiences.

Final Thoughts

AI is an exciting technology that has the potential to revolutionize education. From personalized learning to virtual assistants, AI can offer a range of advantages to educators. However, it is important to keep in mind that AI technology should not replace the role of a teacher. Instead, AI should be used as a tool to help teachers enhance their education and deliver more effective instruction. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovative ways that AI is used in education to improve learning outcomes for all students.

Blessed by Burnout

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:05:53 GMT

....partial copy from previous site for demo purposes

Awareness

“Am I really making a difference in my students’ lives?” That weed of a thought was planted the year after what I expected would be my most challenging year as a teacher, the year of distance learning. Although I was in my 19th year of teaching, in many ways, I felt like a first year teacher again. The pandemic reset the experience clock. My colleagues and I faced an epidemic of new and difficult behaviors.

Burnout set in.

Burnout is an imbalance at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels with psychological and physical effects that reverberate at each of these levels (Maslach, 1997, p. 236). Its hallmarks include cynicism, exhaustion, and a sense of inefficacy, according to burnout researcher Christina Maslach (1997, p. xxii). A worker’s most vulnerable window of time for experiencing burnout is within the first five years of the job but it can happen at any point in a person’s career. An unexpected event - like the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic - can exacerbate this phenomenon at any stage. A widespread post-pandemic increase in burnout is being felt across all fields. In-person teachers experienced such a marked and sudden change to their work, it’s no wonder that burnout seems even more prevalent among teachers than in other professions. We’re on a new playing field– in many ways, working a new job. Novice teachers and seasoned teachers alike are now equally susceptible to a divorce from job engagement.

Maslach asserts that burnout is not necessarily representative of a lack of resilience in the individual but is a symptom of the imbalance in the system. A mismatch of workload, control, community, values, or fairness contributes to burnout (Maslach, 1997, p. xxiii).

Understanding burnout erases any potential shame for embodying it. However, blaming the entrenched system is unproductive. Instead, we must ask ourselves, how might we adapt the system and better support those working within it?

Taking personal responsibility over burnout, rather than allowing it to overpower me, was essential for my growth as a teacher– as a person. Like engaging with a nightmare image through active imagination techniques, addressing my burnout was a call that I, at first, refused. The self-work seemed too difficult, until I began to contemplate the alternative– ceaseless isolation, continued neck problems, growing cynicism, and bone-deep exhaustion.

Not only did I lack job engagement, but, like many of my colleagues, I found myself lacking life engagement, abiding in a dark night of the soul. I leaned heavily on depth psychology. Specifically, a deeper understanding of projection became my entry point for healing.

Projection is an unconscious mechanism by which one throws out that which they cannot yet own in themselves onto another person or institution. “You spot it; you got it.” Recognizing one’s projections is a difficult task. It acts as a teacher using the discovery method, requiring a student to muddle through a challenge so that the learning is more memorable and the student’s self-trust grows. Fortunately, projections come with some indicators. Unfortunately, perhaps, those clues are wrapped in the form of overreactions, uncharacteristic reactions, harsh judgements, and hidden agendas.

For example, I was running late to work one day. On the way to my school, I found myself stuck behind a slow car. Usually, I am the slow driver and, typically, I feel relieved to relax behind the slower-than-me anomaly. That day, though, I became frustrated at cars whizzing by me as I waited for a space to pass the slower vehicle. “Put your blinker on, and someone will be nice,” rang my mom’s soft voice in my mind. I did. No one was nice. Even the driver behind me, who was sure to be aware of my blinker’s pleading intent, moved into the space for which I had waited. So selfish!

Then came the unexpected.

The driver from behind me slowed down in the left lane, purposefully creating an easy opening for me to enter.

“Awww,” I thought, as I waved my gratitude and moved into the pocket provided. Then, “Ohhhhh!” My internal dialogue shifted. What did my uncharacteristic judgemental frustration reveal about the part of me that’s hard to face– that part that is like a child who made a poor choice out of a desperate sense of self-preservation? In this situation, I– eventually and reluctantly– chose to ask myself, what selfish part of me did I falsely see in the driver with whom I never even spoke?

This self inquiry led to an automatic writing exercise later, in which I wrote a question with my dominant hand and responded with my non-dominant hand. The automatic writing sample below is one technique for reclaiming projections, once aware of them. Triggers house projections, working like the alarm in the home of our psyche that is activated by a sneaky, unwelcome intruder. The trick is that this visitor is really a banished part of ourselves that has come up from the basement, where it likely was exiled during childhood, when we were at our most impressionable and most vulnerable. It was in hiding because showing itself meant the risk of losing the acceptance of those we love.the people in their lives who were supposed to have the answers– the adults– didn’t. Culture dictates that they couldn’t be angry at the adults, so they took their sense of powerlessness out on each other. Bullying and mean acts ran rampant. The students’ parents, being human, blamed (read “projected on”) teachers, and public vitriol increased. Teachers blamed administrators. The destructive cycle of unconsciously unloading our unfinished business on others has contaminated our shared world. Awareness, compassion, and action are needed for healing.

Projections sneak up on us, even when we have practiced recognizing and reclaiming many. The practice requires patience, like a young student who has learned one-digit by one-digit division must exercise self-patience to get familiar with this skill. The initial learning is important but still needs to be applied over and over. Those who have put in this kind of self-work may begin noticing when they are projected upon, a helpful perspective when responsibly applied.

Moreover, burnout itself can be viewed as a deteriorated projection. We enter our career with positive projections on it. When these projections fall away and we are left with the realities of the career, some beautiful and some ugly, we have a choice. We can make the career transition that is the healthiest choice in some cases; bring our genuine selves to our current career and examine it authentically, taking the light to the candle; or we can let it all burn down.

Action

When my burnout began and teachers around me started leaving the profession, I feared for the future of education. Instead, I find that my personal psychological work toward wholeness allows me to make a greater positive impact than ever before, in and beyond my classroom.

As it turns out, the weed that burnout planted was fireweed. In nature, it’s the first life to grow after a wildfire and blossoms in stalks of vibrant pinks and purples. In human nature, where ashes of projection cool, new growth can be nurtured with vibrant results. Burnout can be a blessing when used as a catalyst for awareness, compassion, and action.

Just like strong first instruction supports mastery for our students, laying the groundwork of awareness and compassion creates a foundation from which action for the good of all rises. Rather than expanding in words on action, I charge the reader to take steps toward wholeness. Notice your own projections. Reclaim them, along with the lonely parts of yourself, using automatic writing as a powerful tool. With dedicated self-work, the wise teacher within will guide your right action.

*This article is intended to provide psychoeducation for self-help purposes. It is in no way a substitution for mental health services. A good burnout coach can provide invaluable support for healing, lifting you from a sense of isolation. If you are in unmanageable distress, seek help from a therapist.

Increasing Retention

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:05:53 GMT

What can be done to increase educator retention? To answer this question, I believe it is essential to identify and resolve what is causing educators to leave the classroom.

To retain educators, it is extremely important for administrators and supervisors to pay close attention to the level of stress on the job. Like in any other profession, stress whether real or imagined is the biggest culprit for employee burnout. When I started teaching in 2008, I met teachers who had been teaching for 40 to 50 years. When asked what they thought of the younger generation of teachers they shared that the young teachers joining the teaching force, since the early 1990s, had less endurance for stress and lacked skills or strategies to cope with the stress of teaching. These seasoned teachers also pointed out that they were seeing more and more young teachers burning out at a faster rate. I noticed that being the case in a significant number of papers written about teacher burnout in my nearly ten years of teaching and during my doctoral program and research from 2015 to 2019. I think this is also true of most professions today. But one of the major factors stressing out teachers in the last couple of decades, in part, is the change in teacher preparation programs where new teachers entering the classroom are not adequately prepared.

A contributing factor compounding stress for teachers is the changes in curricula, along with the emerging student behavioral issues teachers are having to deal with in the classroom. In an article entitled, Changing pedagogy for modern learners—lessons from an educator’s journey of self-reflection in 2014, Taylor pointed out these same elements as factors impacting teachers. Supervisors and administrators must keep in mind that society has changed and in recent years the level of stress tolerance has decreased. It is important to find ways to mitigate the stress of the job. It would also be wise to make stress-coping strategies part of professional development for employees, and managers and supervisors should have some training on identifying signs of stress. This should also start in the recruiting phase. During the hiring process, the hiring personnel must look for strong evidence of positive strategies for coping with stress in the candidate. Perhaps being able to preempt the shortcomings of employees when it comes to handling stress, organizations and school systems may increase retention.

Most people that go into education do so with the vision of making a difference for young people. To be the inspiration for a bright future. So, what has happened that teacher retention has decreased? While many articles have been published blaming the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for teachers, especially in K-12, leaving the classroom, I see this starting long before COVID, with the demand on teachers for standardized state testing. Especially when the teacher’s salary is tied to standardized testing scores. Standardized testing is one more aspect of teaching today that compounds stress for teachers.

If the education systems loosen the demands of standardized testing and simply monitor that teachers teach authentic education material, giving teachers the freedom to teach the whole child instead of focusing on the subjects that are tested, teachers would be much happier staying in the classroom. Literature in education shows that since standardized testing became the thing, the number of companies developing these tests has increased and the switch of teachers from the classroom to the test developers has also increased. Prior to national and state standardized testing, each school district developed its own tests. One side effect I have noticed from standardized testing in the education literature is that special interest groups have driven education to become more and more political. Teachers who do not support the politicization of education have simply looked elsewhere for employment. In the school district where I live, the principals of several schools placed gag orders on teachers not to talk with anyone about their test scores in the 2018-2019 school year. Teachers did not tolerate that situation very well and many left the schools as a result.

In an article, titled The State of Teaching Statistics 2022 published on April 2022, Devon Karbowski presents the results of a survey taken from over 4,600 public school teachers PreK-12. The focus of the study was the school year 2021-2022. The participants revealed how instruction has changed, echoing the words of Taylor (2014), the increase of needed supplies, how many classroom supplies teachers must provide, and what the school budget does not cover. According to Karbowski (2022), 78% of teachers need additional supplies due to COVID-19learning loss, 82% of teachers used their own money to buy basic classroom supplies, and 50% of the teachers did not have the budget for basic classroom supplies for the school year 2022-2023. The teachers surveyed were public school teachers. It also should be noted that there is no industry, outside of education, where the employee must use his or her own money to buy what he or she needs to do their job. Even delivery drivers are compensated for using their own cars.

I believe that the leadership of any organization must be willing to take time for deep reflection on how the workforce is meeting or not meeting the organization’s mission and vision. Then apply whatever is needed to keep a tolerable stress level for all involved.

Call for 2025 Handbook Articles

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 01:06:30 GMT

If you have words of wisdom for aspiring or potential PK-12 educators, let us help you share them!

Submit an article for the 2025 Job Search Handbook for Educators!

The deadline for consideration was Monday, February 12, 2024, but is now Tuesday, March 5, 2024!

AAEE’s Job Search Handbook for Educators is considered the premier resource "manual" for pre-service educators, recent graduates, and others interested in careers in the PK-12 field. Each edition contains dozens of helpful articles to inspire, encourage, and guide novice educators as they pursue their professional goals.

You are invited to submit an article for the 2025 edition of the Job Search Handbook for Educators. We are requesting articles between 250 and 1,000 words in length.

Types of Articles

Want to contribute but not sure what to write about? No problem! AAEE has complied the list below to help jump-start those creative juices.

We are seeking articles related to the following topics:

Reasons to enter the teaching profession
Resumes, cover letters, references, and applications
Networking and social media
Preparing for interviews and job fairs
Teaching in a virtual space
Traditional and non-traditional employment options
Equity, diversity, and cultural competence
Educator self-care
Skills, salary, and the demand for educators
Navigating the first year of teaching
Other topics that may be relevant to pre-service educators, recent graduates, and others interested in PK-12 teaching careers

We welcome data-supported articles that are written in a conversational format. To-Do Lists, Top Ten Lists, FAQs, and/or quizzes are all excellent formats for Job Search Handbook articles. Think about how you would present this information to prospective educators if you were addressing them in person.

If your article is accepted, you, as the author:

Bear full responsibility for the content of your article; opinions expressed are not necessarily representative of AAEE;
Confirm that the article has not been published or submitted elsewhere;
Grant AAEE the right to use this article in 2025 Job Search Handbook and other AAEE publications and/or media;
Understand the editorial committee reserves the right to edit the article to fit the style and continuity of the Handbook.
Please submit your proposed article (as a PDF or MS Word document) by February 12, 2024.

8 Steps to Getting Your Teaching License

Wed, 03 May 2023 10:13:14 GMT

Teaching is a noble profession that requires dedication, patience, and passion. If you aspire to become a teacher, whether you're coming from a different field or just graduated, one of the first steps is to obtain a teaching license.

A teaching license is a requirement for anyone who wants to teach in public schools in the United States. In this article, we’ll discuss the steps you need to take to get a teaching license.

Research the requirements in your state

The first step to getting a teaching license is to research the requirements in your state. Every state has different requirements, so it’s essential to know what you need to do to become a licensed teacher in your state. You can visit your state's Department of Education website or contact them directly to get information about the requirements. Keep in mind, you can also check out page 75 of the 2023 Job Search Handbook for Educators which includes a listing of certification and licensure offices for all U.S. states and territories.

Complete a bachelor's degree in education

Most states require candidates to have a bachelor's degree in education or a related field. The degree program should be from an accredited institution. The coursework in the program should cover topics such as curriculum development, teaching methods, classroom management, and child development. Some states may also require candidates to complete a certain number of hours of student teaching.

Pass a basic skills test

Most states require candidates to pass a basic skills test, such as the Praxis Core or the CBEST. These tests evaluate a candidate's skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Candidates must achieve a passing score to be eligible for a teaching license.

Pass a content knowledge test

In addition to the basic skills test, candidates must also pass a content knowledge test. The content knowledge test evaluates a candidate's understanding of the subject they wish to teach. For example, if you want to teach history, you must pass a history content knowledge test. Each state has its own content knowledge tests, so it is essential to check your state's requirements.

Complete a teacher preparation program

Most states require candidates to complete a teacher preparation program before they can obtain a teaching license. The teacher preparation program is designed to provide candidates with the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective teachers. The program includes coursework, fieldwork, and student teaching. The program must be from an accredited institution.

Pass a background check

Candidates must pass a background check before they can obtain a teaching license. The background check is designed to ensure that candidates do not have a criminal record that would disqualify them from teaching.

Apply for a teaching license

Once you have met all the requirements, you can apply for a teaching license. The application process varies by state, but it typically involves submitting an application, transcripts, test scores, and a background check.

Maintain your teaching license

Once you have obtained your teaching license, you must maintain it by meeting the renewal requirements. Renewal requirements vary by state, but they typically involve completing continuing education courses and demonstrating that you are still competent in your subject area.

In conclusion, obtaining a teaching license is a process that requires dedication and hard work. It is essential to research the requirements in your state, complete a bachelor's degree in education, pass basic skills and content knowledge tests, complete a teacher preparation program, pass a background check, and apply for a teaching license. Once you have obtained your teaching license, you must maintain it by meeting the renewal requirements.

It’s important to remember that teaching is a noble profession that requires a passion for education and a commitment to helping students reach their full potential. Beyond all these requirements, passion is what gets you through the tough days.

How to Use Technology to Attract & Hire the Right Candidates at Teacher Hiring Fairs

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:19:46 GMT

Teacher hiring fairs have grown more competitive as the teacher shortage worsens .

K-12 districts in states across the USA are leaving thousands of teaching positions vacant because there just aren’t enough teachers available. Creating a solid strategy for quick; efficient hiring at teacher hiring fairs is one element to filling those gaps.

interviewstream & Oregon School Personnel Association (OSPA) recently partnered to make hiring easier for K-12 districts in Oregon, Washington, and a few other states at the Oregon Professional Educator Fair (OPEF). All the candidates attending the fair were asked to answer a set of questions via video before the hiring fair, and the day before the fair all districts exhibiting at the fair were able to view these interviews and bookmark their favorite

candidates.

Each district that used the software walked into the fair already having screened applicants

and ready to have a second conversation – saving them time while at the fair. The districts

involved could complete secondary interviews and ask in-depth questions that would normally be saved for after the hiring fair, cutting out a step in their hiring process. Over the course of the fair and the days following, candidates completed over 1,200 interviews.

This kind of effort requires buy-in from hiring fair organizers, but even on your own, you can

mirror the experience.

Include a pre-screen in your job board posting

If you’re attending a hiring fair, make it known in your job board post! If you can post on the

hiring fair’s website, even better. And in your post, add a link to a video interview or a set of

questions with space for the candidate to respond that you normally ask in a screening

interview.

You can even ask the candidate to upload a short video of themself as a kind of “about me”.

Even the answers to these few questions will give you an early glimpse at candidates.

Show off your school culture with a video

People like working where they fit in, and although all schools have the same end goals, each school culture is different. Wasting your time looking at candidates who don’t fit your culture or have the same values gives you less time to focus on the top candidates you want to work with.

One way to narrow down the search pool is to create a video showing off your school & school culture. The right candidates will be attracted to your core values and mission, and candidates that don’t fit in as well will search for other opportunities. For example – a school like Boston Green Academy, which is based around sustainability, would want to hire a teacher who also values sustainability and has an interest in environmental sciences.

The video could be an open question and answer with current teachers, or something more

creative. It doesn’t have to be insanely long - a few minutes should be enough to show what

you stand for.

Get creative to hire the best teachers

Teachers who are looking for new opportunities are often on the younger side because older candidates are normally tenured in their position. Younger candidates want a fast and

transparent hiring process where they will feel comfortable and secure that their new position is the right one for them.

Showing your school culture helps attract the right candidates and incorporating the right

interviewing and hiring tech helps screen and hire them ASAP to avoid unfilled positions at

your school.

AAEE Report Sheds Light on Shortages

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 11:28:43 GMT

Since schools reopened, educators have been doing their best to help students recover from interrupted learning caused by the pandemic and address the educational inequities brought to light. However, the efforts of many institutions have been severely hampered by a lack of teaching staff.

To find out more about the ongoing teacher shortages, the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) collected 466 surveys from school districts as well as colleges and universities between September 21, 2020 and March 31, 2021. The association’s resulting report, the 2020-2021 Educator Supply & Demand Survey shares several useful insights.

For example, almost two-thirds (60.5%) of the surveyed schools and districts reported that finding enough candidates to fill vacancies was a huge challenge. Another 27.9% found it to be a moderate challenge. This means that the vast majority (88.4%) of schools and districts had difficulties finding enough faculty during the 2020-21 school year.

The Impact on Learning

The survey found considerable teacher shortages in academic areas such as math, chemistry, physics, several languages, and the entire special education spectrum. Other academic fields, like earth/physical science, biology, computer science education, English as a Second Language (ESL)/English language learner (ELL) education, had teacher shortages to a lesser degree.

As you can see from the table, the academic areas mentioned above are not the only ones in need of teachers. Every unfilled staff vacancy means that schools are less able to provide students with a quality education. This applies to both core subjects, which give students a solid foundation for both academic and career success, and enrichment classes, which expand their skillsets and their understanding of the world. However, some academic areas are especially vital to students’ academic and future life success.

For example, non-English-speaking students must master complex academic words and phrases (such as the language used in science classes) to read their textbooks and participate in classroom discussions. Those students need the help of ELL teachers to acquire those technical terms and phrases. (Some ELL students can acquire conversational English on their own, but even then, their progress will be slower without the support of an ELL teacher.)

Additionally, ensuring that students with disabilities receive an equitable education requires the services of trained special education teachers. Many special education students will not be able to take advantage of learning opportunities without support from teachers with knowledge of medical and psychological issues.

Finally, the sciences and computer science have become so important to the U.S. economy that policymakers have made a special calls for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and computer science education. The National Science & Technology Council stated, “Individual success in the 21st century economy is … increasingly dependent on STEM literacy; simply to function as an informed consumer and citizen in a world of increasingly sophisticated technology requires the ability to use digital devices and STEM skills such as evidence-based reasoning.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that computer occupations will make up two-thirds of all new STEM jobs created by 2029.

However, less than half of U.S. students are proficient or advanced in science, math, and technology and engineering literacy, according to the Nation’s Report Card. Teacher shortages in these areas will have future consequences for both students and the country.

Struggles with Non-traditional Preparation

Districts have been coping with teacher shortages by becoming less selective about certification. The AAEE survey found that on average, 16% of the teachers hired in the past year did not have traditional preparation and were either emergency hires or had non-traditional preparation. However, that practice maintains a chronic cycle of inequitable education by placing fewer experienced instructors in classrooms.

With traditional certification, teachers receive a four-year degree after going through student teaching experiences and courses in pedagogy, classroom management, specific content areas, and other topics. Non-traditional certification programs usually provide a faster path to classroom teaching, but that means most don’t prepare teachers as thoroughly as traditional programs.

Insufficiently prepared teachers are less likely to have the pedagogical knowledge needed to differentiate instruction and otherwise support struggling students. They also may be less adept at keeping students engaged in learning or checking for knowledge. Additionally, they’re more likely to be overwhelmed by the demands of teaching. These factors can disrupt students’ learning flow and sabotage their progress.

The AAEE survey found that urban schools had the highest percentage of teachers with non-traditional preparation hired in the past year (18% compared to 13% in rural schools and 8% in suburban schools). According to organizations such as the Pew Research Center, urban areas are now predominantly occupied by people of color. Consequently, the practice of hiring teachers with non-traditional training disproportionately impacts students of color.

But those schools are stuck for a teacher shortage solution. The survey found that almost a third (31.5%) of districts were hiring teachers who did not have traditional preparation because of a shortage of education majors in colleges. The other two most common reasons for this hiring practice were a lack of traditional candidates who apply for the position (18.3% of schools and districts) and the need to hire for difficult-to-fill positions in certain subject areas (17.8% of schools and districts).

The Situation is Set to Worsen

The teacher shortage could soon increase. According to the AAEE survey, 32.5% of schools and districts needed to hire more teachers because their existing faculty are leaving due to the COVID pandemic. Another 21.1% cited teachers retiring as the reason for their need to hire.

Those responses align with findings from other institutions. The 2021 State of the U.S. Teacher Survey from the RAND Corporation discovered that one in four teachers were considering leaving their job by the end of the 2020-21 school year. Similarly, Education Week reported that almost a third (32%) of National Education Association members had plans to leave the teaching profession earlier than they’d previously planned. Alarmingly, more than 25% of veteran teachers (those with 20+ years of experience) reported that they would be leaving earlier than originally planned. This means they will not be available to mentor less experienced colleagues or share their perspectives in professional learning communities.

One spot of good news is that the AAEE survey found fewer decreases in traditional education program enrollments than in years past. As far back as the 2014-15 school year, enrollments had been decreasing by 32.5%-41.2%. In the 2020-21 academic year, the decrease was only 23.8%. However, with more teachers set to leave the profession, even smaller declines in teacher education program enrollments will have an adverse impact on K-12 education.

Some academic areas will be hit harder than others by new shortages. The AAEE survey reports that education degrees with the lowest number of graduates for the 2020-21 school year include computer science education, journalism education, most languages, and physics.

Virtual instruction as a Solution

Virtual instructors can help schools and districts overcome their hiring challenges. For example, almost a quarter (21.8%) of survey respondents cited their undesirable location/demographics as a reason for their having difficulty hiring teachers. Rural and urban areas generally tend to be the locales that prospective teachers view as undesirable, and the AAEE survey did indeed find that rural (18%) and urban (22%) districts were more likely to have hired non-traditionally prepared teachers in the past year.

A 2018 study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education shared further insights into the difficulties such schools face. It stated that “high-poverty, high-minority, urban, and rural public schools have among the highest rates of turnover,” experiencing “an annual asymmetric reshuffling of significant numbers of employed teachers from poor to not-poor schools, from high-minority to low-minority schools, and from urban to suburban schools.”

Virtual instruction can help those schools provide educational equity by placing teachers in their classrooms without requiring the teachers to physically commute to or live in the locates. Because geographical distance is not a concern, one virtual teacher can provide services to several schools and districts, teaching a class in a rural school in Montana at 10:00 a.m., another class in Newark, New Jersey at 1:00 p.m., and yet another class in Texas at 3:00 p.m.

Finances also play a huge part in districts’ hiring challenges. More than three-quarters (77%) of K-12 respondents said decreased district funding posed a big to moderate challenge to their hiring. Plus, a little more than one in five (20.9%) of schools and districts said that offers of low compensation/ benefits undermined hiring efforts. If virtual instructors are supplied by a third-party provider, that organization will handle the matter of salary and benefits. Districts can use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to partner with a provider or hire their own virtual instructor. And as mentioned above, several districts can share a virtual instructor, which means they also share the financial onus of filling teacher vacancies.

Virtual instruction can even help districts with challenges such as ELL students and special needs students. Both these student populations benefit from the visual learning (videos, diagrams, and more) component of video-sharing, which bolsters their comprehension and engages them in learning. Additionally, virtual special education teachers can revise student IEPs, arrange meetings with parents, and provide the state DOE with updates.

The AAEE report also revealed that schools with more than 20,000 students had the most difficulties filling teacher vacancies. Those schools can use live virtual teachers to address the problems discussed above as well as to fulfill other needs (e.g., substitute teachers, enrichment classes, etc.).

What to Look For

The two main attributes to look for in a virtual teacher is state certification and training in online instruction and technology. Trained live virtual teachers have mastered techniques for engaging students online (e.g., gamification) as well as measuring learning progress (e.g., spiraling and repetition). These teachers also have a repertoire of virtual tools for accomplishing these tasks (e.g., grading functions embedded in educational gaming programs, MobyMax curriculum, TicTacToe Hyperdocs, etc.)

One resource is the National Virtual Teacher Association, which puts teachers through a certification course to ensure they are highly proficient in online instruction and requires that the certification be renewed every two years to ensure teachers stay cognizant of changes in technology and practices. The association also provides rubrics so that administrators and third party providers can evaluate whether teachers are delivering quality instruction

It’s best to look for teachers who deliver online instruction synchronously (via live interactions). One of the benefits of synchronous instruction is that teachers can respond to student questions and needs as they arise, so there’s less chance of students becoming frustrated or losing interest. Another is that teachers can virtually guide students through hands-on activities. These real-time interactions not only help with comprehension and retention of information but also significantly increase student engagement.

Proximity Learning Can Help

Proximity Learning’s mission is to connect students with the expert teachers they deserve and deliver all the benefits of virtual instruction previously mentioned. Our proprietary Enriched Live Instruction Model (ELIM) creates equitable learning environments in school districts through live-streamed teaching. Over the years, we’ve refined our ELIM approach to the point that our teachers deliver instruction for electives like physical education, choir, culinary arts, business, and engineering just as effectively as for core subjects.

In addition to being state certified, our teachers are background checked and are extensively trained in our ELIM. The teachers who choose to work with us are committed to excellence and continuously seek out the best digital tools for delivering quality education to be a teacher shortage solution.

The efficacy of our approach was confirmed by a 2020 study by Chicago State University. After analyzing the grades of 30,524 participants in 983 random student courses, it found that Proximity Learning students’ percentage mean was 80.34% out of 100% (a B grade on the traditional scale) over six terms. That meant our students scored an average of 6% higher than the national average of 74.4%. Districts’ increasing confidence in us is a further testimonial to our quality, student-first approach. We’ve grown from five teachers instructing about 1,000 students in 2009 to over 800 teachers serving almost 100,000 students every day.

Conclusion

Since early 2020, schools and districts have been facing new challenges that have exacerbated yearslong educational inequities. Students in many urban and rural communities desperately deserve access to quality education so that they can create a better future for themselves and their families. Technological advances make it possible to deliver virtual instruction for practically every area of learning and bring educational equity to students, no matter where they live.

Part 4: Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students into Education

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 10:40:59 GMT

Last but not least, I will be talking to you about our retention strategies. In terms of figuring out what we could do to help support and retain underrepresented students, we started by having some informal 1:1 interviews with students, met with focus groups, and surveyed classes to see how we can better support them. We wanted to learn what more we might do to help them feel supported so that they could succeed in our education programs.

The main areas they identified they could use support with were mentoring and financial assistance. Therefore, we worked with our Dean’s Advisory Council and leadership teams to figure out how we might provide those supports. They suggested we start by visiting student groups, such as the various Latinx student organizations at our university. While visiting, we let students know that we were there for them and ready to help with anything they might need to succeed in college. We visited the groups a few times throughout the year to remind them that we really wanted them to feel supported and comfortable to ask questions.

The Dean’s Advisory Council also started a virtual mentoring program. How so? Well, we invited students (through emails, newsletters, social media, and on our digital screens in the halls) to ask questions or seek advice from the Dean’s Advisory Council by emailing the College of Education email. Students mostly emailed questions about:

signing up for programs,

who to contact to change classes, and

how to access scholarships.

We did not receive too many questions, but with everything moving fully online due to COVID-19, we anticipate that we will get many more inquiries soon.

What is our main retention issue you might ask? When looking carefully at our data, it appears once students are accepted into our programs, they are staying in them. However, students sign up for our education programs at the end of their sophomore year. Thus, when we tracked freshmen that are pre-education majors, we noticed that by the time they needed to apply to the program, half of them did not. We call this the freshmen melt. We looked at other colleges and noticed they too experience the freshmen melt. Regardless, with our declining enrollment, we wanted to zone in on this issue.

We are currently brainstorming with various groups (such as our advisors, recruitment team, and CAEP committees) to focus on this problem. One way we hope to help with retention from freshmen to sophomore year is by actively engaging students in our Educators Rising group. We also plan to share with them the opportunity of living in a Residential Learning Community (where students live on the same floor with students in their same major). Moreover, we will be highlighting funding opportunities, such as TEACH grants and other scholarships to demonstrate how they can pay for their careers in education.

If you would like to collaborate on any of these ideas, or have your own ideas you would like to share, please let me know. I am always interested in learning new ways to recruit and retain underrepresented students. I can be reached through email gmartinez@towson.edu .

Dr. Gilda Martinez-Alba is the Assistant Dean in the College of Education at Towson University, in Towson, Maryland. Her research revolves around literacy, technology, English learners, and recruiting/retaining underrepresented students into teaching.

Part 3: Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students into Education

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 11:11:56 GMT

How else have we worked on recruitment? We have a recruitment and retention plan for underrepresented students for our CAEP accreditation that outlines our various initiatives. I have included below the ones specific to recruitment. (The plan includes undergraduate and graduate programming.)

Recruitment Initiatives:

Recruitment Team - We put together a recruitment team, which consists of faculty from each program in our college. Together we brainstorm ideas to help meet the needs of students that might be interested in any of our programs.
Educators Rising – We host the Educators Rising chapter for Maryland at Towson University. As a result, we have over 200 students that are interested in being educators that have joined the group, and have created a support network for our students. This not only seems to help with recruitment, but also with retention.
Connecting with Baltimore City – Right next door to Towson is Baltimore City, which has paraprofessionals and teachers from underrepresented groups. Therefore, we have been connecting with Baltimore City to create culturally responsive Master of Arts in Teaching programs for paraprofessionals and leadership programs that provide background in working with English learners and Special Education.
Marketing – We hired a marketing person in the College of Education, as well as a videographer, in order to create content for our social media that potentially provides information that is of interest to underrepresented students.
Online Programs – We have developed more programs that are fully online, to help students that cannot come onto campus be able to participate. Thus, we have a new fully online graduate program in Educational Technology and Literacy and a Post Baccalaureate Certificate (PBC) in Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Scholarships - We are also providing “Dean’s Scholarships” to students that have a 3.0 or above with financial need because through focus groups we learned that our students need financial and mentoring support.
Recruiter for Underrepresented Males – We also just hired a male teacher to help create and implement a recruitment plan to bring in more underrepresented males. We are excited about having him join us.

Next time I’ll be outlining our retention initiatives. If you would like to collaborate on any of these ideas, or have your own ideas you’d like to share, please let me know. I am always interested in learning new ways to recruit underrepresented students.

Part 2: Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students into Education

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 11:14:04 GMT

The first idea generated for recruitment from the literature review was to develop a dual enrollment program. This was probably one of my favorite ideas because it involved a planning process that included various stakeholders, such as:

Baltimore County Public Schools’ Human Resources
College of Education Recruitment Committee
Towson Learning Network (office at Towson University that helps facilitate off-campus collaborations)
Towson University Registrar’s Office
Bilingual faculty

Together we discussed what schools were participating in the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) in areas that had more underrepresented students. TAM schools provide students interested in becoming teachers with some courses for dual enrollment credit that are related to education. We focused on those schools as it seemed to be best, since they already had students interested in teaching. We were able to invite students from five different schools, which yielded a group with students from various backgrounds. Moreover, the county provided them with transportation.

The TU Teacher Scholars Summer Institute free program was four days long, provided 1 dual enrollment credit for the course we developed called Exploring Careers in Education, and included visits:

from faculty who shared their pathways in education,
to different establishments around campus (such as a to the childcare center where the high school students assisted children with a science lesson),
to the library to learn about social justice and equity books they could use with their future students,
from our local WBAL-TV news as well as Baltimore County Public Schools’ media, and - Partnerships for Greater Baltimore office).
to our University Union for an “all you can eat” lunch (thanks to funding from the Baltimore-Towson University - Partnerships for Greater Baltimore office).

The final day concluded with an invitation to parents/caregivers to showcase work the students had completed, talk about applying to the university/financial aid, learn about applying to teach in their county, and take pictures with our mascot. We were worried we wouldn’t get people to come for the family night because that would require students to come back to campus after having already gone home on a bus. However, we had a full house with parents, caregivers, siblings, and even some cousins come along, which was great!

This year we were expanding the program to Baltimore City, Howard County, and the Archdiocese of Baltimore schools; but, as a result of COVID-19 we had to cancel it. We are inviting students that applied to our fall virtual university open house, with a special program for them. Moreover, we hope to have the program face-to-face next summer, and if not it will be virtual.

Do you have a “grow your own” program? I would love to hear about your program. Please feel free to email me at gmartinez@towson.edu. Or, if you have any questions, let me know.

Part 1: Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students into Education

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 11:16:50 GMT

As you know, there is a shortage of teachers across the United States. How can we help? At Towson University, we decided to start by conducting a literature review about national models or promising practices that were themes across the country. We came up with the following initiatives that provided some positive outcomes for several colleges and universities:

Recruiting Students into Education

Creating dual enrollment credits/programs, where high school students gain college credit by taking courses to learn about careers in education.
Teaching courses in Spanish to engage international students.
Providing programs for high school teachers to learn about delivering courses to motivate students into the field.
Providing courses related to working with English learners or bilingual development to attract underrepresented students.
Providing writing instruction or tutoring to help prepare students for college requirements.
Building mentoring programs.
Teaching research skills for students to learn about their options within education.
Creating a paraprofessional pipeline.
Partnering with community colleges.

Helping with Finances

Assisting with finances by providing scholarships.
Seeking loan forgiveness.
Providing stipends.

Student Support

Forming cohorts for networking and support.
Hosting monthly meetings for professional development and social activities.
Providing childcare.
Offering transportation.
Assistance with job placements.

Which of these have you tried? Think about how you might want to create ways to build on these ideas. Stay tuned for the next blog to find out what initiatives Towson University created as a result of this literature review.

Upskilling & Reskilling for the "New Normal" of Education

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 11:24:19 GMT

The abrupt shift to distance learning directly challenged the knowledge, mindsets, and skills of our teacher workforce this Spring. Formerly ‘nice-to-have’ skills in digital integration became ‘must-haves,’ traditional classroom management and instructional design methods no longer applied, and everyone was required to embrace a high level of comfort with ambiguity as guidelines and expectations shifted on a weekly basis. And as a new school year approaches and the global pandemic remains, educators are bracing for these abrupt and temporary changes to make take root.

Regardless of in-person, hybrid, or virtual learning models, teaching and learning will not look the same this Fall. A few knowns:

Schools must increase virtual readiness (digital platforms, technical skills, virtual expectations and norms)
Health and safety protocols will affect class sizes, procedures, and instructional strategies
Students will have experienced learning loss and/or trauma that will affect readiness
Some students and staff will need to remain at home

Given new conditions, our education system faces the monumental task of preparing teachers for teaching and learning in the year ahead. Our districts are not alone however and can look to organizations inside and outside of education to inform and guide initial steps. Below, we offer three considerations for staffing and development in the wake of COVID-19.

1. Identify Upskills Within Existing Teacher Competencies

The need to update and train our educator workforce existed long ahead of the novel coronavirus. In 2019, the World Economic Forum estimated that the effects of automation, shifts to virtual work, and advances in technology would require more than half of all employees to be upskilled or reskilled by 2022. Work-from-home and social distancing requirements have simply accelerated these needs.

Educators can look to the healthcare industry to see the kind of rapid upskilling that will be needed across our more than three million teachers this Fall. To ensure an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ pandemic response, medical professionals across every area of expertise have received training on the basics of treating infectious diseases, performing common procedures like CPR while wearing PPE, and conducting virtual appointments and diagnoses.

Within education, traditional competencies will require similar forms of upskilling. As a first step, leaders will need to examine these competencies through a pre- and post-COVID lens to identify potential upskills.

For example:

2. Consider Reskilling for New Competencies

Our education system faces unprecedented pressures on staffing in the year ahead. Budget cuts, limits on class sizes, and a significant number of teachers required to stay home (18 percent of teachers are 55 or older) will stretch an already understaffed workforce to new limits. To ease capacity concerns, leaders will need to consider how to reskill both traditional and newly created roles to meet capacity demands.

Educators might again look to the healthcare industry for a model of this kind of reskilling. As hospital capacity stretched thin throughout the initial COVID-19 spike, Scandanavian Airlines designed a three-and-a-half-day training program for cabin attendants to become assistant nurses, both maintaining paychecks for their employees and filling necessary support roles for hospitals. The program has since expanded to laid-off employees from Marriott, McDonald’s, and other companies across the UK.

To alleviate similar stretches on capacity, districts should consider a reskilling of new and existing roles. For example, parents could receive training on leading guided or independent practice with students. Counselors might lead daily small-group instruction on health and wellness to ease classroom sizes. Bus drivers might play a role in delivering WiFi and providing basic in-person technical support for virtual students and teachers. To meet unprecedented demands on capacity and physical space, districts will need to think beyond the traditional teacher role to support new demands on teaching and learning.

Regardless of role and title, a reskilling of new knowledge, mindsets, and skills will need to occur across all positions. Skills and knowledge previously held by virtual instructors, or mindsets for dealing with uncertainty not universally required, will need wholesale training and reinforcement in the year ahead. For example:

3. We Need to Recalibrate Hiring, Development, and Evaluation Efforts

Upskilling and reskilling will require significant human resource efforts across hiring, onboarding, and development structures. By identifying present and future state of skill development, teams can begin to identify both barriers and bridges along new and existing competencies.

Teams might start revisiting hiring profiles to reprioritize knowledge, skills, and mindsets for successful applicants. Previously ‘nice-to-have’ attributes like digital instruction or a high comfort with ambiguity might become must-haves upon hire. Structured interviews will need to be adjusted to include questions and performance tasks that reflect new priorities, for example through virtual lesson demonstrations or questions that probe on how candidates maintain productivity and quality in the face of shifting conditions.

Onboarding and PD structures will also need to reflect upskills and reskills. Summer teacher training programs like Teach For America (TFA) are taking initial steps. In place of in-person teaching and intensive coaching in summer schools across the country, the program is putting additional emphasis on social and emotional learning strategies, training on digital tools for lessons and communication, and rethinking traditional classroom management techniques like the use of proximity. Because the training is virtual, teachers have opportunities to engage in and reflect on effective virtual instruction strategies.

Lastly, districts will need to examine how coaching and evaluation processes align and support revamped expectations. To align managers on training expectations and look-fors, Ford Motor Company recently developed a Return to Work Strategy for its 175,000 plant employees worldwide. Districts will need to consider similar guidelines that include but are not limited to things like virtual instruction practices, CDC compliant seating charts and classroom arrangements, and classroom management and instructional strategies that incorporate social distancing.

Systems Redesign for a Post-COVID World

Businessman and ‘futurist’ Alvin Toffler once said that, “the illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” The abrupt shifts to virtual and socially distant learning are challenging the capacity and traditional competencies of our workforce. As both educators and employers, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to redefine these skills and develop systems that allow our teachers and support roles to learn, unlearn, and relearn the knowledge, mindsets, and skills necessary to succeed in a new normal.

By Daniel Johnson, Education Elements

What are the Consequences of the Teacher Education Shortage

Sun, 23 Feb 2020 11:35:48 GMT

For several years now we’ve been hearing a lot about the teaching shortage spreading across the United States. In some respects the problem is just what it sounds like: By and large, U.S. schools are having a hard time staying staffed with qualified teachers.

Underlying this issue, however, is a directly related problem that isn't discussed as often. The U.S. also has a shortage in teacher education, meaning the system that should be churning out high-quality educators is essentially operating at a sub-par level.

Clearly the main consequence of a teacher education shortage is, broadly, a lack of quality educators reaching the professional ranks. However, there are more specific consequences that deserve some consideration as well.

Hiring From Overseas

In just the last few years, talk of hiring teachers from overseas has begun to spread, representing a clear and frankly bizarre consequence of our teacher education issue. To be clear, this isn’t to suggest there’s anything wrong with overseas teachers. However, the need to hire from abroad speaks ill of the United States’ ability right now to produce and train its own teachers.

The bigger implication of this development is that we simply aren’t providing an adequate incentive for Americans pursuing professional careers. The teachers being hired from abroad are agreeing to come to the U.S. because in many cases they’re able to earn more and enjoy a higher quality of life than in their home countries. By contrast though, the same opportunity is looked down upon by would-be American teachers who expect more from a full-time career. The U.S. simply does not pay and support teachers at a level that Americans consider to be commensurate with the work.

Inequality Between States

Another, somewhat related consequence is that a teacher education shortage inevitably leads to inequality between states. Because the shortages aren’t exactly uniform from one state to the next, we ultimately see disproportionate quality of teaching — and ultimately unequal opportunities for children. It’s partly for this simple reason that AAEE's webinar entitled "Taking the Long View: How states can strengthen the teaching profession and build sustainable and diverse teacher workforce" discussed targeting solutions to teacher shortages to individual states according to need.

Industry-Specific Shortages

It’s important that we also recognize that a broad shortage in teacher education also amounts to industry-specific shortcomings. As an example, it’s been written about quite frequently in recent years that America has an inadequate number of nurses, partially as a result of lower nurse faculty numbers. This illustrates a clear consequence of teacher education shortages: vital industries in which there isn’t enough educating going on to sustain professional needs.

That said, some industry- or job-specific cases like this are beginning to show us some positive consequences as well — most notably in that educational opportunities are emerging online. This is happening in part to address shortages, and to allow accessible material and a limited number of online instructors to reach a far greater number of students. Regarding the nursing shortage specifically, this expansion in online education means that interested students can pursue careers in nursing online, even with limited numbers of instructors. And some of those careers even involve nurse education, which means this online cycle could help to produce more teachers in fields in need.

Lack of Disaster Preparedness

Disaster preparedness across an entire educational system is not something we necessarily would have thought about before 2020. And yet, the COVID-19 pandemic shed a light on just how devastating a large-scale interruption of education can be when there’s already a shortage in teaching professionals. As one article put it, COVID-19 combined with a shortage of teachers created a “perfect storm” for the system.

This means two things. The first is that a system that already had an inadequate number of teachers was less prepared to withstand interruption, and less equipped to adjust and educate in new ways. The second is that the effects of COVID-19 on the teaching workforce (leading many teachers to retire early) were even more devastating than they would have been had that workforce been larger. Had we been educating and producing more teachers, these consequences would be far less apparent.

A Self-Perpetuating Narrative

Perhaps the most damaging consequence of all is that this problem has actually made it less appealing for the next generation to pursue education in teaching. Per one university dean’s comments on teacher prep, “we have made it flat-out unattractive to be a teacher.” This unfortunate truth leads to fewer people pursuing careers in teaching, which in turn only deepens the narrative that these careers are inadequate, and so on.

None of this is meant to bring about a sense of despair about teaching in the U.S. Recognizing the problem is important, however, as it will ultimately help more people to consider and explore solutions. The hope is that with innovative teaching, new narratives, and assistance from modern technology, the U.S. can, in time, revamp its teacher instruction and produce the educators it needs.

Content intended only for the use of aaee.org

Prepared by Alicia Dawson

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Upskilling & Reskilling for the "New Normal" of Education

1. Identify Upskills Within Existing Teacher Competencies

2. Consider Reskilling for New Competencies

3. We Need to Recalibrate Hiring, Development, and Evaluation Efforts

Systems Redesign for a Post-COVID World

What are the Consequences of the Teacher Education Shortage

For several years now we’ve been hearing a lot about the teaching shortage spreading across the United States. In some respects the problem is just what it sounds like: By and large, U.S. schools are having a hard time staying staffed with qualified teachers.

﻿

Hiring From Overseas

Inequality Between States

Industry-Specific Shortages

Lack of Disaster Preparedness

A Self-Perpetuating Narrative

Awareness