Signature Programs
Aggie Educator
For information please contact the Interim Chair of Educator Preparation, Dr. Tyrette Carter for details of Signature Programs.
On Common Ground Conference
Each spring semester, the Department of Educator Preparation hosts the “On Common Ground Conference” that focuses on current issues occurring in our public schools. This conference is a deliberate attempt to bring together parents of K-12 students, teachers and administrators from K-12 schools, faculty from institutions of higher education, and teacher education candidates to engage in critical discourse and collaborative conversations to address these pressing issues. Generally, this conference is free of charge for participants.
PBTE (Practice-Based Teacher Education)
Practice-based teacher education (PBTE) is professional training that is deliberate about making sure novice teachers can use specific practices of teaching. There are several critical features of PBTE; some of the features that the program at North Carolina A&T State University focuses on are as follows: deliberate attention to black and brown children, content knowledge for teaching, ethical obligations, performance assessments, coherence, sustainability, continuous improvement, shared vision, high leverage practices, models of skillful teaching, opportunity to practice, and ambitious learning goals for children. Moreover, there are four major goals for the program: 1) Engage Teacher Education Faculty in the PBTE professional development model and culturally sustaining pedagogy; 2) Develop robust opportunities for all teacher candidates to develop, practice, and demonstrate competencies; 3) Facilitate cross organizational learning and collaboration through a community of practice at scale, and 4) Make data-driven and empowered decisions to improve the teacher preparation program that results in teacher retention. Teacher Candidates will engage and practice with mentor teachers and faculty, as they receive real-time feedback to improve. Practice-based teacher education is designed to strengthen content, pedagogical, and assessment knowledge, classroom management strategies, and increase retention. This is one of the premiere programs for our teacher education programs.
SECU Public Fellows Internship Program
The State Employees Credit Union Summer (SECU) Internship experience provides students majoring in diverse teacher education programs the opportunity to engage in service learning experiences with schools, agencies, and organizations in rural, underserved and/or under resourced communities across North Carolina. We partner with local schools, agencies, and organizations throughout North Carolina to serve as community placement sites to increase community outcomes through service learning. The SECU summer program provide opportunities for interns to engage in diverse service learning experiences for underserved and/or high needs populations.
Study Abroad Programs
Being globally aware is simply being cognizant and responsive to what is going on around the world. As a teacher educator, it is important that we provide our candidates with experiences that expose them to different cultures, places, people and ideas. Providing candidates with these opportunities equip them with knowledge and skills to effectively communicate and teach a diverse group of students at the K-12 grade levels. Teacher education candidates are expected to meet the Professional Teaching Standards. In particular, study abroad experiences will allow candidates to address and meet ideas described in the Teacher Demonstrates Leadership, Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students and Teachers Reflect on Their Practice standards. The Professional Teaching Standards address that the candidates are able to create a learning environment that embraces diverse cultures and utilizes the history of varied cultures to discuss global issues. Hence, through our study abroad experiences equip candidates with knowledge to address the problems and issues within a region through education.
TRUE (Transformative Rural-Urban Exchange Program)
TRUE emerged from the effort to provide cross-cultural experiences for pre-service education students. For approximately 18 years, North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT) and Western Carolina University (WCU) have engaged in a week-long Rural-Urban Exchange Program (RUE, now known as Transformative Rural-Urban Exchange, or TRUE). The TRUE program provides teacher education majors a week visiting high-need and high-impact schools in rural and urban communities, sharing cultural experiences, attending university classes, and interacting with their participant counterparts.
