The Arkansas Teacher Corps came together on Saturday, February 12 for the third All Corps event of the 2021-22 school year, a day of professional development focused on our core value of brave vulnerability. This year has been really difficult in schools with constant changes due to COVID and we wanted to give fellows time to process that the year was not what they expected.
Archive for category: ATC News
Facilitators Selected for Summer Institute 2022
Jamie Powell (ATC '18), Whitney Carter (ATC '18), Bernard Smith (ATC '17), Dasnee McChristian, Nick Brown, and Tonya Bobo (ATC '18) have been selected to lead and facilitate coaching, logistics, equity sessions, and instruction sessions, respectively, for the 2022 ATC Summer Institute.
ATC Featured in Book “COVID-19 and the Classroom”
Arkansas Teacher Corps has been featured in a recently published book, COVID-19 and the Classroom: How Schools Navigated the Great Disruption, for our work with novice teachers at the beginning of the pandemic! Chapter 12 "How an Alternative Licensure Program Pivoted during the Pandemic" details how our team shifted to a virtual institute model in summer 2020 and the impact it had on our fellows and staff.
Fellows Report Feeling More Connected to ATC
This past fall we administered our semi-annual culture survey and saw growth in responses for ALL questions compared to the same time last year. Our largest growth occurred for the question “I feel connected to the ATC family”, a priority for our team this year as we have structured our PD days around connectedness and worked on creating more-connected coaching cohorts and content groups.
TESS Data Suggests Focus on Discussion, Assessments
The ATC Teacher Development Team completed the remainder of fall TESS evaluations in January and has now set a direction for PD and coaching this spring--one centered on discussion techniques and formative assessments with an emphasis on teachers' emotional resilience.
Students of ATC Fellows Report Higher Engagement
A recent survey of students taught by Arkansas Teacher Corps fellows found that students' self-reported class engagement has increased since September 2019, the last time the survey was administered. However, students also indicated a decrease in grit, or the ability to persevere in order to achieve a goal. These results suggest that students may be excited by the return to in-person learning but may struggle to stay on task.
Fall Workshops Focused on CFUs, Teacher Wellness
Once a month, our fellows meet with their coach in regional cohorts for small-group professional development workshops focused on teaching skills and emotional resilience. For the 2021-22 school year, these sessions have focused on formative assessment and teacher mindfulness specifically.
Peer Learning Takes Spotlight at Second All Corps PD
On November 6th, we welcomed our fellows to our second All Corps professional development event of the 2021-22 school year. Grounded in our core value of continual learning, the day featured ATC alumni facilitating content-specific sessions and allowed current fellows the opportunity to facilitate skill-based sessions for their peers.
9 Selected for 2022 Cohort After 1st Deadline
ATC staff recently completed the selection process for our first application deadline of the year. For the Nov 1 expedited deadline, we received 20 applications, interviewed 13 applicants, and offered 9 fellowships for the 2022 cohort.
ATC Recruitment Hits the Airwaves
It's been a busy first semester for ATC's newest recruiter, Whitney Carter, as she has hit the road crisscrossing the state to get the word out about Arkansas Teacher Corps! From Jonesboro to Helena to Pine Bluff, hear Whitney's cheerful voice on your favorite radio station encouraging you to apply.