What's Going On At NCTR?
NCTR welcomes Kent Fischer as our new Director of Communications. Kent will lead the development and implementation of NCTR’s strategic messaging, marketing, and movement building efforts in the months to come. Welcome, Kent!
NCTR’s New Site Development partners visited the University of Chicago Urban Teacher Education Program (UChicago UTEP) last week. Partners from New Visions/Queens College Urban Teacher Residency, AppleTree Teaching Fellows, Western New York Teacher Residency, Wilmington University Year Long Residency and Albuquerque Teacher Residency Partnership observed UChicago UTEP in action. The programs learned about coursework design, partnerships with area K-12 schools and universities, and UTEP's staffing model and operations. Participants also heard from residents who shared both their passion for the program’s social justice focus and an appreciation for its robust professional development opportunities.
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Partner Updates
Katy Anderson, a Boettcher Teacher Residency graduate and a 2018 finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year, was recently featured in Chalkbeat’s “Why I Teach” series. Ms. Anderson wrote, “I know that change will come when my students have learned how to have thoughtful, innovative, game-changing conversations about equity and equality themselves. They are the world-changers.”
Representatives from Dallas Independent School District visited Dallas Teacher Residency last week to present on the district’s Restorative Justice Practices to residents. DTR called the experience a “great initiative that is scaling throughout the district.” Find pictures and more information on DTR’s Facebook page.
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Events and Resources
Live Event
Community Schools: An Evidence-Based Strategy for ESSA School Improvement
Presented by The Learning Policy Institute and the Coalition for Community Schools
Date: November 14, 2017
Time: 11:00 A.M. – 12:15 P.M.
Location: Washington, D.C.
“This briefing highlights community schools as an evidence-based approach for school improvement for education stakeholders to consider under ESSA. The Learning Policy Institute will share its findings and recommendations on community schools as a means to school improvement…”
REGISTER
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Featured News
A Tool for Examining States' ESSA Plans
Last week, Bellwether Education Partners and the Collaborative for Student Success won the Most Actionable Research 2017 Eddies! Award for their recent independent peer review of state ESSA plans. “ An Independent Review of ESSA State Plans” details the strengths and weaknesses of the 17 state ESSA plans that were submitted to the Department of Education during the first round of plan submissions.
Bellwether and CSS convened a team of 30 bipartisan education policy experts who used a nine-point rubric to assess the plans. The team looked for plan components, including:
- The states’ overall goals, vision and targets; standards and assessments built into the accountability systems; and, accountability indicators showing progress toward targets.
- Incentives for schools to ensure students are growing over time and adequate checks to ensure all students are receiving a high-quality education.
- Methods to identify schools that need comprehensive and targeted support.
- Evidence-based interventions for schools that need support and criteria for schools to exit interventions, and a plan for continued improvement.
Findings from the review can be found on the “ Check State Plans” tool, which “provides in-depth information on how these plans advance educational opportunities in bold and innovative ways for all students, and where some fall short,” according to a CSS press release.
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 Millions Earmarked to Prepare Latino Educators
University Times
California State University campuses in Sacramento, Long Beach and Sonoma will receive a total of $8.1 million in federal grants to fund new programs that are dedicated to recruiting and preparing Latino teachers.
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 Transforming Teacher Preparation: How States are Leading the Way
Huffington Post
In this opinion piece, Chris Minnich, Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), discusses the organization’s Network for Transforming Educator Preparation (NTEP) ‘playbook’, which highlights states that are reforming teacher preparation. NCTR is a national collaborator with CCSSO in support of NTEP states.
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