Message From The President

What is the Good Message in your Day?

As you begin this newsletter, please ponder, "What is the Good Message of your day?" I have recently heard more than one teacher from pre-kindergarten through the university ask their students to share the Good Message of the day. At first I thought to myself, is this necessary? The more I considered the question the more I realized, what if we all thought about the Good Message of our day in education. Would we be surprised at our answers? Despite all the sabotage on education, we have a great deal of Good Messages to share. Maybe this is a tough question during tough economic times but in a profession founded in leadership and learning, we must all search and share Good Messages! READ MORE

Director's Note

Dear NACCTEP Friends and Colleagues:

This is a special year for NACCTEP as we celebrate our ten year anniversary. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed. There have been many changes over the past ten years. Community colleges are much more involved in the development of future educators. We have moved from serving in a role of developing teachers to playing an integral part in creating educators for our communities, cities, and country. We are meeting the needs of our teacher education students in many ways. Our programs are as diverse as our students. We have come a long way, but there are still many challenges to overcome and opportunities to pursue. The NACCTEP Executive Board and I will continue to provide our membership with a great level of support. READ MORE

Tactical Approaches in Teacher Preparation Education:
Faculty INstitutes for Earth and Space Science Education (FINESSE)

reform calls for special attention to increasing K-12 teachers' ability to successfully teach science to a more diverse population of students. In response, a unique collaboration of scientists and science education specialists working in pre-existing programs developed and will be providing innovative and transformative professional development institutes to college and university faculty engaged in the preparation of future highly diverse and underrepresented populations of STEM teachers. This group of faculty represents an unusual, yet critically important, component in the STEM pipeline that rarely have opportunities for professional development and who often do not have strong Earth and space sciences backgrounds. The group of faculty represents the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), American Astronomical Society (AAS), American Geophysical Union (AGU), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA). READ MORE

I have always loved children of all ages and wanted to help people whether it is in the health or teaching field. I first started at Mesa Community College (MCC) in fall 2009 as a pre-med major but that all changed when one elective class, Introduction to Education, changed my life. EDU 221 was an extremely challenging class. The course covered a wide variety of topics and issues about public education, and revealed both rewards and challenges that faced educators. In this class, I discovered I was destined to be a teacher. In the fall of 2010, I officially changed my major from pre-med to secondary education. READ MORE

The NACCTEP 2012 annual national conference, Leading the Way in Community College Teacher Education Programs, will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 2-4, 2012, at the Marriott Downtown hotel. For conference details click here.

Philadelphia is famous as the birthplace of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Cultural, culinary, artistic, and ethnic treasures abound the city. A great concentration of American history can be found just blocks away from the conference hotel at Independence National Historical Park, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Philadelphia's compact downtown places all of this and so much more within a short walk or cab ride from the Marriott Downtown hotel. For additional information, click here.

A great place for lunch and across the street from the Marriott entrance is the Reading Terminal Market. This unique and extraordinary historic farmers market features mouth-watering aromas, fresh produce, Amish specialties, fresh meats, seafood, poultry, unique, hand-made pottery, jewelry and crafts from around the world. For additional information on the Reading Terminal Market click here.

Conference Registration is Open!

The National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) national conference, Leading the Way, will be held March 2-4, 2012, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown hotel.

Keynote Speakers

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Chris Haskell is a lecturer and teacher educator at Boise State University as well as co-creator of 3D GameLab, a game-based learning management system. He will discuss the evolution of the teacher, the changing nature of teacher education, and the dramatic shift of the educational paradigm.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Dr. Walter Bumphus is president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Ten years ago, he played a key role in the formation of NACCTEP. Dr. Bumphus will discuss the role of community colleges in teacher education then, now, and in the future.

Please click here to register.

National Science Foundation Grant Opportunities for Community College Teacher Education Programs

In this interactive session, representatives from the National Science Foundation will share grant opportunities and ideas for developing a successful grant proposal.

Web 2.0 Tools to Enhance Learning

In this session, the presenters will share Web 2.0 tools that have been integrated into their education courses (online, hybrid, and face-to-face) to prepare students for the 21st century classroom.

Pre-registration is encouraged, please click here to register

The National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) is proud to offer two $1,000 scholarships to students at member colleges who are studying to become teachers. In these difficult economic times, we understand that students continue to need financial assistance to help them realize their dreams. We are dedicated to helping two students on their way to becoming educators.

Click here to find out more about this scholarship opportunity.

Scholarship applications, and all associated documentation, are due by Friday, April 20, 2012.

The goal of this scholarship program is to provide graduates with a smooth transition between the two-year teacher education associate's degree programs and finishing their bachelor's degree online. As part of the program, WGU will provide both graduates and staff members of a NACCTEP member institution the following benefits:

• An application fee waiver (a $65 savings).
• Eligibility to apply for the WGU NACCTEP Teacher Education Scholarship - WGU has agreed to fund 20 annual scholarships, each valued up to $2,000, which are disbursed at $500 per six-month term for up to four terms.
• This scholarship is available only for graduates and staff members who want to earn one of WGU's teaching degrees.

Click Here for details.

All National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) members are invited to nominate Executive Board candidates. All nominees must be a member of NACCTEP, active in teacher education, and have institutional support to serve for the term of office. The NACCTEP Operating Procedures includes a description of the duties for each position. There is also the NACCTEP Board Opportunities and Involvement document available on the website. Both documents may be found at www.nacctep.org.

Open Positions 2012-2013

President Elect: must be willing to make a three-year commitment to the organization, one year as President Elect, one year as President; and one year as Past President; past experience on the Executive Board required
Secretary: two-year term; past experience on the Executive Board required
Member at Large: two-year term; two positions open

Each nominee must submit a packet to the NACCTEP office at 2411 West 14th Street, Tempe, AZ, 85281. The packet will include: letter of intent/statement of candidacy which will be posted on the NACCTEP website if selected by the committee; biographical information; a photo; and a supporting letter from the institution reflecting financial support for traveling to Board meetings and the national conference. All packets must be received by Monday, April 9, 2012.

Click here for additional information on Executive Board nominations.