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Association of Teacher Educators 2009-2010 Ballot Information
Official ballots for the 2009 election have been mailed to all members. If you have not received your ballot, please call ATE's office at (703) 331-0911.
The following information was provided by the candidates and sent with official ballots.
Deadline: All ballot envelopes must be postmarked by May 31, 2009.
For President-Elect:
James L. Alouf
Sweet Briar College
Biographical Sketch
I spent the first ten years of my teaching career as a secondary social studies teacher. I became a career teacher educator in 1982. I have served on ATE-VA’s Executive Board for ten years and as a state delegate to the Delegate Assembly for six years. My accomplishments include:
• Chair of Legislative and Governmental Relations for six years
• Co-author of ATE’s policy framework
• ATE Board of Directors, 2007-2010
• Co-chair of the Washington, DC Summer Conference
• Conference committees for Williamsburg, Boston, and Reno
• MAT/M.Ed program development for Sweet Briar College
Throughout my career, my focus has been twofold. I continue to advocate for students, teachers, and teacher educators as partners in learning while working within the teacher education community to strengthen the voice of the profession.
Position Statement
Throughout my career in education, I have sought to strengthen the voice of my profession. I consider advocacy for teacher education as a major issue facing the Association of Teacher Educators and education. I define advocacy, however, as making a case for the importance of what we have accomplished while recognizing that we still have far to go. In the past 25 years, the research base for teacher education has grown but the results have been inconclusive. We must continue to take charge of our own research agenda to discover the kinds of professional knowledge that prospective teachers need and the best ways to prepare them for new century classrooms. We must continue to work together with educational organizations across the country to provide a clear voice for education, recognizing our leadership role as teacher educators, especially as a new administration considers the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. We must argue that accountability in education should not be an excuse for widespread testing as the sole means of assessment. No Child Left Behind must be revised, funded, or abandoned. ATE’s policy framework and standards for teacher education reflect our clear commitment to quality education and it is time for our voices to be heard.
For College/University Representative (term through 2013):
Nancy P. Gallavan, Ph.D.
University of Central Arkansas
Biographical Sketch
Nancy Gallavan has been an active member of ATE since 1996 when her career as teacher educator began at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In 1997, she was appointed to the Communications Committee dedicating 12 years to increasing publication of research authored by ATE members, especially Commissions. Nancy is co-editor of the ATE Yearbook, member and co-editor of the Commission of Affective Education monograph, and member of the Commission of Teacher Reflectivity. She has served as Delegate and on conference planning committees, the Fiscal Affairs Committee, and Leadership Academy. She was active with NvATE and now with ArATE and SRATE.
Position Statement
Frequently I hear that the Association of Teacher Educators is a family. As a family, we have many different members who bring various interests, insights, and ideas. From this energy, we grow and develop; during my 13 years of membership, I have experienced our exciting transformation and thriving process. We agree and disagree as we encounter and conquer our challenges; we have our celebrations and sadness. We are here for one another. The ATE family embodies the home where I feel welcome; I renew friendships and meet new colleagues, I hear inspiring research and learn innovative practices, and I find hope and revitalization so I, too, can advance critical conversations in teacher education. Many different people serve as teacher educators. Now is the time to open our home and extend a welcome to all teacher educators including P-K classrooms, community colleges, online formats, nontraditional programs, and departments of education. ATE provides the foundations for our family to guide and support education with wisdom and encouragement. My involvement with ATE has been re-invigorating and rewarding; I want to help ensure that the same doors are always open as we welcome the many different types of teacher educators seeking a similar home.
For College/University Representative (term through 2013):
Linda Houser
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Biographical Sketch
The Association of Teacher Educators has been a very important professional affiliation for me during the last 20 years. During this time with ATE, I have been on numerous conference planning committees serving as program co-chair for the national conference in 2008 and conference co-chair for the 2010 conference in Chicago. In addition, I have reviewed articles for the ATE journal, and served on committees and commissions. In my home state, I have served as president and vice-president of the state unit and been a member of the state conference planning committee for many years, serving as the chair for two conferences.
Position Statement
I am honored to be nominated for a position on the ATE Board of Directors. From ATE activities and its talented members, I learned innovative teaching techniques, developed research ideas, formed enriching professional and personal relationships, and grew in my awareness of the need for educators to become actively involved in the political arena. In my opinion, leadership is about service and service is about making a difference. Teachers and teacher educators are under siege. Critics often do not solicit input from professional educators when making decisions about reforming P-20 education. Policy makers seem to hold little value for our expertise. Our survival as professional educators depends on our ability to communicate effectively our accomplishments to those outside the educational community. We need to “find our voice” and learn how to navigate the political waters. We must also motivate others to become advocates for P-12 education and teacher education. This can best be accomplished with a united effort at both the state and national levels through organizations like ATE. To that end, I would humbly work if given the honor to serve the organization on the Board of Directors.
For At-Large Representative (term through 2013):
Cari Klecka
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Cari L. Klecka is an assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Associate Editor of the Journal of Teacher Education. She teaches courses in research on teaching, curriculum, and action research. Her professional interests center on development of communities to support teacher education and action research. Dr. Klecka works in collaboration with the Clark County School District on the Initiative on National Board Certification, which focuses on candidate recruitment and professional development.
Position Statement
The Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) has been a constant in my life since the beginning of my career in higher education. My involvement in ATE not only centers on the people within the Association, but also on our mutual passion to engage in dialogue and action about our roles and responsibilities as teacher educators. Much of my work in the Association has been defined by my appointment to the Commission on the Assessment of the Teacher Educator Standards. This has largely focused on creating an operational definition of a teacher educator to promote a vision for the profession through the revised standards for teacher educators. Now that the standards have been revised, our work has shifted to using the standards as a vehicle to position ourselves on the educational landscape to promote quality in teacher education.
Bringing new perspectives into the organization is critical to continuing our relevance and vibrancy as an association focused on fostering teacher educator development through participation within ATE. Much has been accomplished to this end through efforts such as the Leadership Academy- of which I have been a participant. Activities like these are central to this development but I believe that we could expand upon this to promote inclusiveness of all teacher educators through additional outreach efforts.
For At-Large Representative (term through 2013):
Janet Mason
University of South Carolina
Biographical Sketch:
Janet H. Mason earned a BS and MA from Long Beach State University in California. After twenty years both as a classroom teacher and middle school administrator, she earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina (USC) where she subsequently served on the faculty for eleven years. She retired from USC in 2007 and is currently a public school consultant primarily mentoring first year teachers. For most of her years at USC, Dr. Mason was an ATE member and has served on the board of directors of the state unit - South Carolina Association of Teacher Educators - (SCATE) since 1997. Several years ago the SCATE board voted her a Board Member Emeritus.
Position Statement:
Many of the significant issues confronting the Association have been my ongoing concern throughout my long career in education.
Paramount among these issues is:
• Closing the achievement gap - supporting strategies designed to engage the reluctant learner.
• Standards in teacher education embracing dispositions in support of effectively teaching to students of diverse backgrounds.
• Acquiring widespread community and political support and respect for the profession of classroom teachers.
• Identifying outstanding teacher educator program that have a proven track record for producing teachers who will make the desired difference for all learners.
After age three, I had no biological parents. As a member of a poor, African American, southern, rural family, my chances for success was little to none. Who made the difference for me? TEACHERS!! For my remaining productive years, I want to be a bridge between teacher educators and K - 12 teachers. I believe membership on the ATE board will facilitate my efforts to fulfill that desire.
For At-Large Representative (term through 2013):
George Fero
McKendree University
Biographical Sketch:
George Fero has been an educator at the K-12, college and university levels for over 37 of the past 39 years. He served as a music educator and superintendent in K-12 schools in Ohio and Arizona. George has served as a Director of Teacher Education Student Services, Education Division Chair, Assistant Dean of a Regional Campus and Dean of a School of Education. During his tenure in these positions he has served in leadership roles for successful initial and continuing NCATE accreditation efforts. George is currently a Professor of Education at McKendree University.
Position Statement:
The next five years is going to be a critical period for teacher education. I believe that the change in leadership at the federal level will result in changes to how teachers in schools teach and how education programs approach the identification and preparation of new teachers. The current economic issue has already had a significant impact on education and it will likely be some time before it is turned around. At the same time, as has been the case in the past we will be expected to do more with less. I believe that unless organizations such as ATE are at the table during this critical period as part of the solution that we could be left out of the process with little voice in the outcomes.
Specifically, I believe that the availability, use and application of technology to teaching and learning will continue to be a challenge. ATE must continue to provide leadership in this area. I also believe that ATE should continue to address the yet to be realized residual impact the No Child Left Behind Act has had on schools.
For At-Large Representative (term through 2013):
Patricia Tate
The George Washington University
Biographical Sketch:
As Director of the Office of Laboratory Experiences at The George Washington University, I have been working toward creating a support system for university supervisors of teacher interns. As a result of my work and association with ATE, I learned about the need to support teacher educators – those who supervise and mentor teacher candidates. This interest began as a doctoral student with a study of feedback student teachers receive in their supervisory conferences and continues today with a newly developed web-enhanced course on supervision and self-study work with a learning community of university supervisors. The supervision course developed from the need to prepare doctoral students and cooperating teachers to step into the teacher educator role. The self-study resulted in a book chapter titled – “Supervisors of Teacher Interns: Building a learning community through inquiry-based practices” in Learning Communities of Practice with Springer Press (2008) edited by A.P. Samaras, A.R. Freese, C. Kosnok, & C. Beck. This work tells about the evolution of a learning community made up of university supervisors who engaged in focused inquiries and learned from sharing wisdom, practical knowledge, and research about the significant learning needs of teacher candidates. These inquiries yielded – a) ethical guidelines for supervisory practices, b) cases and case knowledge of dilemmas in supervision of teacher candidates, and a case writing group that continues to write cases for professional development of the teacher educator, and c) resources and knowledge about the essential learning needs of teacher candidates.
Position Statement:
I have been an active member of ATE since 1991 and offer these thoughts based on many experiences in standing and conference planning committees and task forces. I will discuss four significant issues that I believe are challenges for ATE: 1) building and improving our communication networks, 2) becoming a voice for quality teacher preparation that is inclusive of the essential processes for supervision, mentoring, and induction, 3) keeping current with the new venues and technologies for providing educational learning experiences for our nation’s youth, and 4) research and renewal through targeted professional development of our teacher education membership.
•Building and improving our communication networks: ATE has established record and legacy for preparing and developing teachers. As a group devoted to this effort we are not as visible as we can be to a larger public and education community. The challenge I see is in building on and improving the information platforms we have in place for communicating who we are, our mission, initiatives, and products. I think it is very important to seek out and invite those new to teacher education roles both school- and university-based.
•Becoming a voice for quality teacher preparation: With the new administration, I foresee that what is accepted as “good teaching” and alignment with “how teachers are prepared” will come to the forefront of public dialogue about education. It is my hope that the splits we see in our definitions of alternative paths and approved programs be blended as we identify the essential research-based knowledge needed to prepare effective teachers. Whatever the type of teacher preparation program, we are all engaged in the same work whatever you name the program or the approach to licensure. Most importantly it is how we orient, supervise, mentor, and induct our new teaching candidates into 21 century teaching roles.
•Keeping current with the new venues and technologies: Teacher education must not be left behind in imparting the best pedagogies for instruction of our developing teachers. This challenge requires that we immerse our work in the schools and use partnerships to gain access to the most current practices. This is a great challenge for me personally as I visit schools and see the new technologies that are changing the way teachers plan, teach, and assess student learning.
•Research and renewal: It is time we studied ourselves and our work to make teacher education a legitimate discipline. ATE can be a leader in defining new processes for the professional development of the teacher educator as a boundary spanner who possesses a unique knowledge base that blends knowledge about learning to teach and the essential processes for developing 21 century teachers.
These four issues can become the challenges we address in the coming years as we ready ourselves for renewed interest in the teaching profession and the development of our future teachers.
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