The Advocacy/Education/Research (AER) division of AMTE recognizes the key role that certification exams play in our teacher preparation programs and in our professional work as mathematics teacher educators (MTEs). As teacher educators, we have long struggled with the issue of how best to assess novice teachers, and how best to evaluate our own efforts in preparing mathematics teachers. Needless to say, this issue is astoundingly complex, as it lies at the intersection of a number of unresolved foundational questions about teaching, learning and accountability in education. For many of us in AMTE, this issue has become increasingly salient in light of two recent documents, the AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics (AMTE, 2017) and “Assessing the Assessment: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in the edTPA” (Gitomer, Martinez, Batty, & Hyland, 2019).
Advocacy
The Advocacy Committee works to identify current news and resources of interest to mathematics teacher educators. We use this page to share information and to engage in professional dialogue about issues affecting the AMTE community.
Have an Idea? Please help us spread the word by Submitting an Emerging Issue.
Advocacy Resources
Looking for resources to support your work and learning in relation to antiracist mathematics education? If so, we encourage you to visit this page of resources compiled by the Advocacy Committee.
A variety of advocacy resources are available from other education organizations. Brief descriptions and links to these resources are included below.
The AERA Advocacy Toolkit is focused on advocacy with Members of Congress. It provides sample documents to help schedule, prepare for, and follow up on meetings with members of Congress, including tools to find your elected officials. The site includes a downloadable AERA Handbook for Education Research Advocacy that provides an overview of how Congress works, how to communicate with Congress, and how to get around Capitol Hill. Education-related bills that AERA is tracking are also linked on the site.
The AACTE Advocacy Center provides a number of resources to support educators to engage in advocacy at both the state and federal levels. On the site you will find downloadable guides and links to government sites and a section listing action alerts as issues relevant to teacher education arise. Much of the site requires password access; however, many colleges and universities have an institutional membership. Check this link to see if your institution is a member.
NCTM provides a variety of resources to assist teachers in being stronger advocates for their profession and their professional work. While intended for mathematics teachers and mathematics teacher educators, some of these resources could be of use for teacher leaders, school boards, state/provincial and national policy makers, or other relevant community partners.
- The Advocacy Toolkit includes a multitude of tools and documents to help guide various aspects of advocacy for individual teachers, schools, school districts, and to help clearly communicate NCTM positions and with state/provincial and national policy makers and legislators. These tools can be downloaded digitally or hard copies can be shipped. Each will be briefly described below.
- Policies and Recommendations provides a link to the NCTM Legislative Platform as well as official letters outlining NCTM’s stance on relevant and emerging issues. Letters are sorted chronologically with the most recent first and are archived back to 2005.
- Advocacy in the Field includes information from two documents: The Capitol Report and the Legislative Update. The former focuses on timely issues related to policy and legislation that might be of special interest to those in mathematics education. The latter, is a monthly summary of current news and developments within Congress or other Washington entities.
Posted: Wed Dec 7, 2016, 5am
The Emerging Issues Committee has compiled timely, useful information on mathematics teacher shortages.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016, 10am
The U.S. Department of Education posted the text of its long-awaited final regulations for teacher preparation programs on its website on October 12, 2016. The rule will be released officially through the Federal Register by the end of the month. AMTE is working with partner organizations to interpret the information and advise membership in the coming months.
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016, 10am
Achieve, partnering with the Center for Assessment, has released a new brief to help state policymakers identify key action steps to consider as they make decisions about high school assessments. The brief, targeted to policy makers, describes ways in which passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) may affect states’ choices for approaching high school assessment.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016, 8am
AMTE President Christine Thomas has made an urgent call for AMTE as an organization and our members as individuals to comment on how teachers of mathematics, science, and teachers of STEM disciplines at the K-12 level, should be classified in the federal government’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).
More Information
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016, 7am
Discover the three most important state policy areas impacting educator preparation today. New state policy statements were developed by leaders from the 45 state chapters of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, of which AMTE is a proud supporter, to assist the advocacy work of educator preparation programs. Learn more at the AACTE's State Policy & Leadership page.
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016, 8am
AMTE members may be interested in an upcoming Education Week webinar on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 2 to 3 p.m. ET. Registration for the Webinar is free, but required for attendance.
Posted: Mon Apr 4, 2016, 12pm
The Department of Education has released a supplemental notice to re-open the comment period of the teacher prep regulations for 30 days specific to reporting by states on teacher preparation programs provided through distance education and TEACH Grant eligibility requirements for programs provided through distance education:
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015, 2pm
As NPR put it:
President Obama called it "a Christmas miracle. A bipartisan bill signing right here."
To read more reactions to the Every Student Succeeds Act from popular press, click below.
(Disclaimer: sites were selected based on wide readership, not content or political leaning):
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015, 2pm
On December 9th, Congress jointly approved the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
The American Association of College of Teacher Education (AACTE) has published a statement in response to this action.They caution: