Congratulations NDACTE! “The NDACTE is a positive example of caring educators who are willing to work together for continuous improvement of teacher preparation and P-12 education in our state.” Al Olson, NDACTE President. Continue Reading to read Governor Burgum’s nomination letter.
September 27, 2019
Congratulations North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NDACTE)!
Your team was nominated for the Roaming Bison Award in this year’s Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Public Service! First Lady Kathryn, Lt. Gov. Sanford and I are grateful for your contributions to our great state, and for elevating Team ND through your exceptional commitment to Empower People, Improve Lives and Inspire Success. It is our pleasure to share your nominations. As you were designated as the team’s point of contact, we encourage you to share your nomination with your fellow team members. The following was submitted by your nominators:
“Efforts of the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NDACTE) exemplify the power of working as a team to reach common goals. Foremost, teacher preparation programs in ND are committed to improving the lives of P-12 students by ensuring every learner has a competent, effective, and reflective teacher. Collaboration is strong amongst representatives of the 13 teacher education programs of NDACTE which includes six state institutions of higher education as state agencies, four tribal colleges, and three private institutions, who work alongside an extensive network of P-12 school district as stakeholders. Together, the members of NDACTE have been empowered to meet the challenges and opportunities confronting educator preparation, open up opportunities for research capacities within the ND university system to be collaboratively utilized across multiple institutions and thereby maximizing the strengths of the unified state system. The NDACTE representatives worked closely with the ND Education Standards and Practice Board (ESPB) and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) to establish a partnership agreement. The NDACTE President Elect, Dr. Stacy Duffield (NDSU) chaired the statewide workgroup to study the new CAEP standards and supported preparation programs in meeting accreditation requirements. Dr. Duffield and Dr. Al Olson, NDACTE President, have generously given their time to lead the ND teacher training programs to develop exemplary educator preparation initiatives. They have brought the ND programs into partnership with the Network for Excellence in Teaching (NExT) to establish common metrics across the state and adopt mechanisms for measuring teaching effectiveness. These efforts resulted in the successful publication of the digital handbook Preparing Effective Teachers: Multiple Approaches to Ensure Teaching Quality and Impact which is available at nextdigitalhandbook.org/. Together, the institutions of NDACTE have created a common understanding about expected performance of teacher candidates, shared mechanisms for measuring teacher effectiveness, as well as aggregate data for analysis, reflection, and cross-sectional institution conversations about teachers prepared in ND. There are currently four common measures in use across ND institutions: the Skills of Teaching Observation Tool (STOT), completer exit survey, alumni survey and employer survey. The fifth common measure, the state-wide professional disposition evaluation, is in development. Collectively these metrics are focused on improving teacher recruitment, preparation, and post-graduation employment and support. The common assessments invite collaborative discussions for improvement among P-12 educators and colleagues from peer institutions. Common elements and points of strengths and weakness drive selection of changes for improvement, and efforts are strategic alongside state organizations and agencies as part of the ND P-12 Education Strategic Vision Framework. The success of these collaborative efforts has inspired other preparation programs to implement the ND developed STOT; there are now institutions in 16 other states using the measure and corresponding training modules created by NDACTE as a result of these initiatives (available at ndacte.org). The work of NDACTE has been nationally recognized and shared at state, CAEP, and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) conferences. The high-quality work completed by the NDACTE embodies purposeful efforts for improving teacher preparation. The expertise and commitment of NDACTE members has contributed to the effectiveness of teacher preparation across North Dakota and the region.”
We hope you will help us continue the tradition of recognition and nominate your fellow team members for next year’s awards. Nominations will be accepted all year at this link. Thank you in advance for taking the time to nominate others and thank you for your service!
Regards,
Doug Burgum