Supporting Great Teaching
The 2014 Conference on Teaching, titled, Supporting Great Teaching, explored how stakeholders—including teacher preparation programs, state policy makers, practitioners and education professionals—are cultivating and supporting great teachers. Presenters examined how and why individuals are attracted to and stay in the teaching profession, the skills viewed as essential to promoting student learning, and ways in which to support great teaching practices.
Speakers
Ms. Megan M. Allen, NBCT
Teacher of the Year, Visiting Lecturer at Mount Holyoke College
Developing Great Teaching
Megan M. Allen is a National Board Certified Teacher and the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year. She is currently working as a program developer and visiting instructor at Mount Holyoke College, where she is incubating a blended-learning graduate program to support the development of teacher leaders. She has taught for ten years, serving in Title One schools in Hillsborough County, FL.
As an edugeek, Ms. Allen also enjoys blogging for the Center for Teaching, where she writes about her students and teacher leadership, and advocates for a more effective public education system for all of our students. Visit teachingquality.org/author/MeganAllen.
Ms. Pamela Vigna, NBCT
Teacher, Coal City Unit District #1, Illinois
Supporting Great Practices
Pamela Vigna is a National Board Certified Teacher and is in her 27th year of teaching in the Coal City Community School District. She writes curriculum and develops local assessments as her district's K–5 English/language arts coordinator.
After becoming a National Board Certified Teacher, Ms. Vigna has continued to mentor candidates through the National Board Process within her district, and as a Virtual Facilitator for the National Board Resource Center (NBRC) at Illinois State University.
She serves on the NBRC Leadership Team, and is a member of the NBRC Design Team, which is currently developing training materials for the Revised National Board Process. The National Board Process has become embedded in her instruction and continues to serve as the foundation of her practice.
Ms. Vigna earned her master's degree in reading development from Olivet Nazarene University.
Mr. Rich Mayorga
Teacher of the Year, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona
Supporting Great Practices
Rich Mayorga has been recognized for excellence in teaching during his 30-year career. He was named Arizona Teacher of the Year and has garnered dozens of other state and national awards. He serves on numerous College Board committees , including being an Exam Leader at the AP US History reading.
Mr. Mayorga gives unselfishly to his students, school, and community. His excellence in teaching has shaped the personal lives of virtually every one of his students in his 30 years of teaching. As a philanthropist and a year-round student activist, he leads kids in volunteerism as well as in academic successes.
Mr. Mayorga cares; the ripple effects of his efforts and talents have positively shaped many thousands of lives. He is truly a student advocate.
Being a philanthropist and a year-round student activist, he leads kids in volunteerism as well as academic successes.
Dr. Sharon Robinson
President/CEO, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
A Look to the Future
Sharon P. Robinson, EdD has served as AACTE's president and CEO since 2005. In naming Dr. Robinson to the position, AACTE's Board of Directors acknowledged her strong commitment to high-quality teaching, rigorous scholarship, and diversity in the nation's teaching workforce. A lifelong civil rights activist, she has waged a personal crusade to realize the nation's moral and professional responsibility to educate and maximize the potential of all students, especially those with disabilities and racial/ethnic minorities.
Formerly, Dr. Robinson was president of the Educational Policy Leadership Institute of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and also served as that organization's senior vice president and chief operating officer, and as vice president for teaching and learning for state and federal relations. Dr. Robinson was assistant secretary of education with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (now the Institute of Education Sciences), and held a variety of leadership positions at the National Education Association, including director of the National Center for Innovation, NEA's research and development arm.
Dr. Robinson serves on the board of directors for the Center for Teaching Quality, the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, the Learning First Alliance, and Jobs for America's Graduates. She is past chair of the Diversity Issues in Measurement Committee of the National Council for Measurement in Education.
Among Dr. Robinson's many awards are an honorary doctorate from the University of Louisville, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kentucky, the Award of Appreciation from the National Head Start Association, and the Bank Street College of Education President's Medal of Honor.
Dr. Robinson received her doctorate in educational administration and supervision from the University of Kentucky, where she also earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. In 2002, she completed the renowned Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
Dr. Raymond Pecheone
Executive Director, Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
A Look to the Future
Raymond L. Pecheone, PhD, is the executive director of the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE), which focuses on the development of pre-service and teacher evaluation performance assessments for teachers and administrators and a performance-based system for student assessment to support the development of the next generation of formative and summative assessments at the district, state, and federal levels.
He has held a variety of leadership roles in the Connecticut State Department of Education in Curriculum, Research, Testing, and Assessment. As bureau chief, he oversaw the development and implementation of curriculum frameworks, the development of high stakes state student assessments and teacher and administrator performance-based licensure assessments, as well as developing programs to support teacher induction and evaluation.
Dr. Pecheone cofounded the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), which is housed at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Additionally, he co-developed one of the first performance assessments for principal licensure, called the Connecticut Administrator Test (CAT). He also co-directed with the University of Pittsburgh the first Assessment Development Laboratory (ADL) to develop assessments for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). This work pioneered the development of portfolio and assessment center activities as the basis for National Board certification. As part of a sabbatical at Teachers College, Columbia University, he directed the redesign of the New York student assessment system including the Regents Examination. Many of the features of the redesign have been incorporated into the current New York assessment system.
Dr. Pecheone's teacher induction and teacher assessment program, the Beginning Educator Support and Training Program (BEST), has received national attention and received an award of excellence for educational innovations by the Education Commission of the States (ECS). In addition, he consulted with the Educational Testing Service to design and create the School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA). The SLLA was constructed to provide a reliable, fair, and valid assessment to measure the knowledge and skills of principals and other school leaders.
Dr. Pecheone has published extensively on topics including human capital development, teacher quality, and teacher and student performance assessment.