Arizona Education Association

Advocate Spring 2012

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NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NEA President Announces New Three-Part Action Agenda On December 8, 2011, National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel laid out a new action agenda for the nation's largest organization of educators that will help advance the union's goals of transforming the teaching profession and accelerating student learning. Incorporating proven best practices from thousands of leading teachers from around the country, and input from an independent NEA Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, of which AEA member and Arizona K-12 Executive Director Kathy Wiebke is a member, Van Roekel detailed three major strat- egies that will guide the union's efforts. The net effect of these will be to increase the quality of teacher candidates before they ever reach the classroom, to make sure that teachers remain at the top of their game throughout their careers, and to improve student learning by improving the teaching profession. "It's about of the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, and a fourth-grade teacher at Miller Park Elementary in Omaha, Neb. "It's a crucial step toward more effective teaching and student learning and encouraging the union to meet those needs." The agenda has three major components: the kids," Van Roekel said. "NEA aims to ensure that every student has a qualified, caring and ef- fective teacher. And NEA will support a stronger profes- sion of teaching. I will put the full weight of our national organization behind this effort and expand on proven programs and successful in- novations underway in our affiliates around the country. We have to ensure that teachers' ex- pertise isn't confined to the classroom. Teachers should have more opportunities to strengthen their skills and knowledge and inform policy decisions that affect the classroom." "This agenda takes up some key recommen- "NEA aims to ensure that every student has a qualified, caring and effective teacher. And NEA will support a stronger profession of teaching." —NEA President Dennis Van Roekel 1. Raising the Bar for Entry • As we often hear, no one knows what kinds of jobs our students may be competing for in the decades to come. The only certainty is that, in order to prepare the coming genera- tions of students, "All teachers must be effec- tive—period," Van Roekel said. • The first step, he added, must be to strengthen and maintain strong and uniform standards for those preparing for the educa- tion profession, both at the postsecondary- admissions and pre-service stages. • Drawing from recommendations by the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching and teacher-accred- itation bodies, and to ensure that all teachers are rigorously prepared for the challenges of teaching, the NEA president called for: 4 Every teacher candidate should have one full year of residency under the supervision of a Master Teacher before earning a full license. dations of the commission and addresses long- neglected problems that have inhibited effective teaching," said Maddie Fennell, the chairperson 16 Spring 2012 x AEA Advocate 4 Every teacher candidate should pass a rigor- ous classroom-based performance assess- ment at the end of his or her candidacy. The union will urge broad expansion of the Teacher Performance Assessment now being piloted in states across the country to ensure that no one enters the teaching profession without first demonstrating class- room proficiency through clinical practice.

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