President's Note
As we wrapped up the 2025-2026 academic (and VACTE) year, we met with the Association of Teacher Educators’ (ATE) Executive Director, Alisa Chapman, and their Professor-in-Residence, Judy Beck, to share a status update about VACTE’s activities and structures. We described the considerable number of VACTE highlights from this past year:
Membership Gained Through Conference Attendance
Membership is included in each conference registration: that is, you join simply by registering for a meeting. This lowers the barrier to entry considerably and increases participation and access.
A Dedicated Peer-Reviewed Journal Open Beyond State Lines
The Teacher Educators' Journal (TTEJ) is published by VACTE and aims to stimulate discussion and reflection about issues related to teacher education; authors need not be based in research institutions and research need not be conducted in Virginia for manuscripts to be considered for publication. This approach allows VACTE to attract contributors and readers nationally, which in turn elevates our organization's profile and can draw in new members.
Structured Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
VACTE members have access to three SIGS for ongoing engagement:
- The Advocacy and Policy SIG strives to give the Association an effective voice in policy and legislation impacting educator education in Virginia.
- The Clinical Practice SIG aims to improve the quality and impact of field experiences for future educators.
- The DEI SIG advocates for and supports teacher educators and preservice teachers to prepare students in a diverse and multicultural society.
Constitutional Revisions
VACTE has revised its constitution to accomplish the following objectives:
- Require that organizational, committee, and SIG leadership reflect the diversity of the Commonwealth and of the VACTE membership
- Structurally encourage the appointment of co-chairs with staggered terms for all leadership positions to prevent concentration of influence
- Transform the DEI SIG so that it encourages membership representation from all other SIGs and committees, integrating DEI considerations across the entire organization rather than siloing them.
The Educator Circles Virtual Series
VACTE Educator Circles are a virtual series designed to bring together stakeholders across Virginia to explore timely and transformative topics in teacher preparation. Sessions feature educator-led discussions on emerging trends, practical insights from educators at colleges and PreK-12 schools, interactive sharing among participants, and resources to support educators across settings. Sessions are open to all, and registration is free. Recent sessions have addressed AI in teacher preparation, new teacher mentoring and retention, and lesson planning in the era of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM).
The Inquiry Initiative
VACTE launched a two-year Inquiry Initiative focused on teacher retention, designed to provide a focused collaborative research structure for members, promote long-term research relationships among existing members while giving new members entry points, and highlight VACTE as a research, practice, and policy player in the Commonwealth. Participants engage in dialogue, collaborative research, pedagogical tool development, presentations, policy creation and advocacy, and publications.
A Dense Web of Institutional Partnerships
VACTE participates in the Virginia Education Assessment Collaborative (VEAC), a partnership among educator preparation programs (EPPs) that provides a centralized assessment structure standardizing and reducing the complexity of data collection for both VDOE and CAEP. VACTE is also part of the Virginia Public Education Coalition (VPEC), the unified voice of twelve Virginia state education associations advocating for preK-12 education, and partners with teacher mentoring networks including Mentoring Virginia and Reach Virginia.
Geographic and Institutional Accessibility
VACTE has committed to attempting to rotate its twice-yearly conferences among member institutions, making events more accessible across the state and signaling that all member institutions are valued participants--not just those in central or well-resourced locations.
Intentional Community Building at Conferences
To break down silos and foster new connections, VACTE employs deliberate mixing strategies at conferences, including activities like "institutional bingo" and dedicated time for functional/identity groups to convene. These approaches are designed to build relationships both broadly (across all members) and more specifically (among members in similar roles).
Cross-Organizational Partnerships
VACTE is working to partner with another Virginia education organization at each conference—such as the Virginia Professors of Education Leadership and the Virginia CEEDAR state leadership team—to promote cross-organizational collaboration and draw in new members from adjacent professional communities.
Best,
Kristien Zenkov, PhD
VACTE President, 2025-2027
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Conference Updates
Fall 2026
The VACTE 2026 Fall Conference, Teacher Education Forward: Innovation, Equity, Impact, is scheduled for October 8th and 9th on the campus of the James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Submit a proposal in one of the four categories (Equip, Innovate, Empower, Lead) by July 15th using the Call for Proposals link. We welcome traditional presentations, workshops, discussion sessions, and posters.
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