American College of Education helps improve educators' knowledge, skills and performance by collaborating with education organizations to provide professional development opportunities. Here are some recent programs in which the College has engaged to further teaching effectiveness and student achievement.
"Teaching reading IS rocket science."
American College of Education collaborated with the Indiana Department of Education and the Wilson Education Service Center of Charlestown, Indiana, on October 24, 2011, to present a one-day conference featuring literacy expert Dr. Louisa Moats. Titled “Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science,” the event drew more than 200 teachers, principals and coaches to the Indianapolis Convention Center.
Dr. Moats, founder of the LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) Louisa Moats Literacy Academy, discussed code-based instruction, spelling phonology and teaching vocabulary, basing her presentation on Scientifically Based Reading Research (SBRR) and real-world experience.
Indiana K-6 reading teachers were given the opportunity to enroll in “The Foundations of Reading Instruction,” a five-week, graduate-level, online professional development course offered by American College of Education. Designed by Dr. Moats, the course, which was offered at a reduced tuition, began November 28 and was the first in a new course sequence leading to a Master's in Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a Louisa Moats Literacy Concentration.
You can view a video of the conference here.
On September 5, 2011, American College of Education, in affiliation with the Indiana Department of Education and the Wilson Education Service Center, offered a free mathematics professional development course designed specifically to support K-6 mathematics educators in Title 1 AYP schools in IDOE.
With tuition provided by IDOE and registration through Wilson Education Service Center, the flexible facilitated online course was paced over a 10-weekperiod. Teachers could earn graduate credits from American College of Education, leading to a Mathematics Concentration. The facilitated learning content focused on Common Core State Standards.
Connecting Mathematical Practice and Content to the Common Core Standards: A Teacher Development Project
In October 2011, American College of Education began collaborating with the Chicago Teachers Union to offer K-6 teachers an opportunity to enroll, at discounted tuition, in the College’s program leading to the M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Concentration in Implementing K-6 Common Core Mathematics Standards.
Teachers could also choose the Concentration in Implementing K-6 Common Core Mathematics Standards or the professional development option.
The graduate-level professional development offering was designed by five nationally recognized math specialists/authors to help teachers understand the impact of the Common Core Math Standard on the grade level expectations and provide best practices for improved instructional effectiveness.