BREAKOUT SESSION I
Monday, 8:00 am-8:45 am
SESSION: 1A
Room: Veramendi Salon A
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
Our “RAP” is Not Snoop Dog! — Becoming a US Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship Program
Barbara Ashmore, The University of Texas at Dallas
Amy Crowell, The University of Texas at Dallas
At this critical time in our profession, educating and preparing highly qualified, proficient new teachers for the classroom while supporting and building the educator pipeline is a priority of educator preparation programs. The Teacher Development Center at The University of Texas at Dallas is pioneering new avenues to support candidates during their professional preparation and fieldwork, including paid/unpaid residencies. As the first 4-year university in Texas to be awarded a Registered Apprenticeship Program through the US Department of Labor, candidates admitted to the educator preparation program at UT Dallas become eligible for unmet financial need/services through the Texas Workforce Commission.
Virtual Exchange Between the U.S. and Mexican Teachers
Burcu Ates, Sam Houston State University
Helen Burg, Sam Houston State University
Mary Petron, Sam Houston State University
Utilizing O’Dowd’s (2017) “progressive exchange model of telecollaboration” (p. 17) framework, our study explored how virtual exchange could contribute to intercultural awareness among teachers who are from different countries. In our particular study between teachers in Texas, United States (U.S.) and in Veracruz, Mexico, the collaboration between teachers in the U.S. and Mexico is extremely significant. Teachers can learn a lot from each other about teaching practices and educational contexts. Virtual exchange can be the means, the catalyst, to provide such a venue to explore cultural diversity and other important global issues regarding education and immigration between countries when face-to-face study abroad opportunities could be rather expensive.
SESSION: 1B
Room: Veramendi Salon B
Type of Session: Sponsor Session
The Truth About Texas Faculty Rights
Suzanne Jones, Texas Faculty Association
True or False: K-12 and Higher Education faculty in Texas can join a union.
Join us to hear about the NEA (National Education Association) umbrella, which includes the Texas Faculty Association (TFA) for higher education faculty, Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) for practicing K-12 teachers, and TSTA Aspiring Educators (TSTA-AE) for pre-service teachers. We will dispel myths that some administrators and politicians would like you to believe about teachers’ unions in Texas. Texas teachers have power (K-12 and Higher Ed) and can use our collective voice to make the profession stronger. As author Alice Walker states, “The most common way for people to give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any” (2014).
SESSION: 1C
Room: Veramendi Salon C
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
Preparing All Teacher Candidates to Serve Emergent Bilingual Students
Karen Gentsch, East Texas Baptist University
Jennifer Holling, East Texas Baptist University
Amber Daub, East Texas Baptist University
Given the prominence of competencies related to emergent bilingual needs in both the PPR and STR, as well as across all content TExES exams, EPPs must prepare candidates with a variety of ways to instruct and assess this special population. This session will address best practices for embedding knowledge and skills to support emergent bilingual students across all content areas.
Growth Mindset, Mindfulness, and Identity in the Emergent Bilingual/ESL Classroom
Frank Lucido, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Carmen Tejeda-Delgado, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Strategies for implementation of growth mindset, identity, and mindfulness in the emergent bilingual and ESL classroom will be presented. All learning is socio-emotional, and the importance of these strategies is necessary for learning a second language.
SESSION: 1D
Room: Veramendi Salon D
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
Reflections and Long-Term Outcomes of Educators Who Experienced Year-Long Teacher Residencies
Trisha Ray, Texas A&M University-Texarkana
EPPs are abandoning the one-semester model in favor of a year-long residency allowing candidates access to the full academic year experience. It is unacceptable to continue placing ill-prepared teachers into our schools to learn and refine their practice, thereby contributing to inequities in the education system. From 2004-2013, A&M-Texarkana provided a full-year residency model, then called the medical model professional development school. A recent study investigated the long-term career outcomes of interns who participated in this model. This presentation will share findings from surveys (n=71) and interviews regarding the impact the year-long residency model had on their career and retention.
The second presentation of this multi-topic session has been canceled.
SESSION: 1E
Room: Veramendi Salon G
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
A Holistic Approach to Building Teacher Candidate Efficacy through Collaboration and Coaching in Year-Long Residency Programs
Susan Reily, Stephen F. Austin State University
As educators, if the practices we implement do not match our beliefs for best practices for teacher educators, are we contradicting our own teaching? What do we know and understand when it comes to best practices for opportunities to provide practice and evaluation of a teacher’s ability to apply what they have learned? If best practices are not implemented by EPPs and/or state requirements, what is preventing us from practicing what we know is appropriate? These are important questions for EPPs and others within education to consider when preparing and assessing teacher candidates.
The second presentation of this multi-topic session has been canceled.
SESSION: 1F
Room: Veramendi Salon H
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
A Holistic Approach to Building Teacher Candidate Efficacy Through Collaboration and Coaching in Year-Long Residency Programs
Valeece Simmons-Davis, Sam Houston State University
Research supports building teacher efficacy through collaborative teams and coaching cycles. As more institutions seek to adopt a year-long residency model for teacher candidates, sharing best practices and engaging in robust discussion about how to support teacher candidates in the field is necessary. Participants will learn how collaborative teams are a means to expand teachers’ toolboxes to differentiate instruction and appeal to the backgrounds of all students, especially students in special populations.
From I Don’t Know to Let me Show You: A Pre-Service Teacher’s Toolkit
Lorraine Spickermann, University of Texas at Permian Basin
Sharon Vasser Darling, University of Texas at Permian Basin
The goal of this presentation is to share about our teacher resident career pathways, teacher resident support, and mentorship of teacher residents. With increasing teacher shortages, the University offers multiple career pathways to becoming Pre-K through 12th-grade educators. This includes a pathway to earning teacher certification in three years. We also adopted a year-long teacher residency model to provide an authentic classroom experience. Via a comprehensive recruitment and vetting process, we invite the participation of all stakeholders, including administrators and district leaders. We further offer a year-long mentoring plan that supports teacher residents at the classroom, district, and university levels.
SESSION: 1G
Room: Veramendi Salon I
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
Purposeful and Intentional Field Placements
Gilbert Antunez, West Texas A&M University
Amy Clifton, West Texas A&M University
Jennifer Denham, West Texas A&M University
Beth Garcia, West Texas A&M University
This presentation will highlight one Educator Preparation Program’s (EPP) innovative process to match pre-service teachers with specific mentors who will be able to coach the pre-service teachers according to their unique and individual strengths and areas of need. The presenters will show how they highlight each candidate to partnering school districts in a placement fair by providing critical information beyond the pre-service teacher’s name and certification area. The school administration is then able to consider each candidate’s needs and collaboratively match them with a mentor who can best support that pre-service teacher in their growth as an educator.
The second presentation of this multi-topic session has been canceled.
SESSION: 1H
Room: Veramendi Salon J
Type of Session: Multi-Topic Session
Creating and Applying a Reflective Teaching Model
Amber Goodwin, Sam Houston State University
Mae Lane, Sam Houston State University
Debra Price, Sam Houston State University
As teacher educators, we are working toward a continued goal of reflective teaching with the goal of educating our whole student in mind. Our research team became curious about whether or not we were empowering students through our class experiences and assignments to develop agency through teaching grit/resilience, relationship building, and mindfulness in our teaching practice. The purpose of this session is to present rubrics, guidelines, and findings for participants to help facilitate active reflection on their teaching practice including instruction, assignments, and how those are assessed.
Texas Literacy Collaborative for Educator Preparation: Upcoming Opportunities for Building STR Related Course Materials
Stephanie Grote-Garcia, University of the Incarnate Word
Bethanie Pletcher, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
House Bill 3 established the mandate that all Texas Pre-K through 6th grade teacher candidates pass a standalone science of teaching reading (STR) exam—resulting in new STR competency standards and the need for faculty to develop and align new course materials to those standards. Realizing the high demand this places on faculty, a group of literacy faculty members started a STR Faculty Collaborative. In this informational session, attendees will be introduced to the collaborative’s work, learn how to be part of the collaborative, and identify additional needs of faculty members teaching literacy courses.
SESSION: 1I
Room: Spring Lake Salon A
Type of Session: Single-Topic Session
Teacher Support for Engaging Families of Elementary Children Living in Colonias in their Children’s Education
Alex Garcia, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Eugenia Hernandez-Moreno, South Texas ISD Science Academy
Velma Menchaca, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Family engagement has been identified as a factor that influences the academic achievement of elementary children, especially children living in colonias. Parents living in colonias are faced with unique challenges that influence the extent of their family engagement in their children’s education. Teachers can work with families to ensure they engage in their children’s education. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of family engagement of families living in colonias, and to determine how to resolve the challenges and promote more engagement in their children’s education.
SESSION: 1J
Room: Spring Lake Salon B
Type of Session: Single-Topic Session
Voices of Residents and School Leaders: A University-based Teacher Residency as a Recruitment and Retention Strategy for High-Need Districts
Cassidy Caldwell, Texas A&M University
Valerie Hill-Jackson, Texas A&M University
Shaun Hutchins, Texas A&M University
Andrew Kwok, Texas A&M University
Maria Ramirez, Texas A&M University
Effective recruitment and retention strategies for teachers remain elusive for school districts. This qualitative study examines the pilot implementation of a university-based year-long teacher residency program throughout 4 high-needs districts. This program embeds eight residents in these schools and provides various teacher preparation supports to help these beginning professionals sustain themselves in the classroom. We interview district administrators about their recruitment and retention efforts and then document how the teacher residents experienced these structures throughout their residency year. Findings have implications for improving residencies as an innovative teacher preparation approach and stemming teacher attrition.
SESSION: 1K
Room: Chautauqua Salon A
Type of Session: Single-Topic Session
Teacher Morale in the State of Texas is at an All Time Low: Results of a Forty-Two Year Longitudinal Study
Casey Creghan, Sam Houston State University
Daphne Johnson, Sam Houston State University
Robert Maninger, Sam Houston State University
Lautrice Nickson, Sam Houston State University
This presentation will present forty-two years of longitudinal research on teacher moonlighting and teacher morale in the teaching profession. The presenters will describe the most recent findings of the study. The results of the post-Covid study are very revealing.
SESSION: 1L
Room: Chautauqua Salon B
Type of Session: Single-Topic Session
Strengthening the Hispanic Teacher Pipeline through Region-Wide Partnerships
Joyce Asing-Cashman, University of Texas at El Paso
Lidia Herrera-Rocha, University of Texas at El Paso
Erika Mein, University of Texas at El Paso
This presentation will provide an overview of the region-wide efforts to strengthen the Hispanic teacher pipeline in El Paso County. The presentation will describe the origins, structure, and purpose of the El Paso Teacher Pipeline Community of Practice, which was co-founded in 2019 by the dean of the University of Texas at El Paso College of Education and comprised of cross-sector partners from K-12, higher education, and philanthropy. The presentation will share how the CoP developed common agendas, and shared metrics focused on strengthening teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention across the region.
SESSION: 1M
Room: Spring Lake Salon C
Type of Session: Single-Topic Session
“Charting” the Path to Support Candidates, Supervisors, and Cooperating Teachers
Suzanne Nesmith, Baylor University
Lisa Osborne, Baylor University
Sandra Parnell, Baylor University
Baylor University EPP has worked to create flow charts and growth plans to address candidate, supervisor, and cooperating teacher needs and concerns from candidacy acceptance through certification.