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VACTE NEWSLETTER

September 2026

President's Note

Dear VACTE members--

A bit of a belated welcome to the new school and academic year! And a bit of a pre-welcome to our Fall 2026 VACTE conference--just less than four weeks away at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. In addition to these welcomes, I’m excited to share updates about recent and upcoming VACTE activities:

VDOE/VACTE Meetings in Richmond

Your VACTE leaders met with key VDOE leaders (including Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jenna Conway) this summer in Richmond. We requested these meetings as part of our efforts to forge stronger connections between our organizations, as we are all ultimately dedicated to serving Virginia’s PK-12 students. We hope to make these meetings an annual tradition!

VDOE “Office Hours” at the Fall Conference

At these VDOE/VACTE meetings we also discussed the possibility of extending the VDOE presentation and Q&A at each conference into “office hours” hosted by our VDOE colleagues. Johnelle Torbert and Shawna Leblond from VDOE will be setting aside two hours during the conference for 10-15” 1:1 meetings with interested college/university representatives. Please look for a sign-up soon!

VACTE Mission/Vision/Goal-Setting

Finally, on the day following our meetings with VDOE colleagues the full VACTE Executive Board met for what most (all?) of us believe was the first set of mission/vision/goal-setting discussions for the association that we’ve conducted in many years. The day’s conversations were facilitated by our colleague Peggy Weiss from George Mason and they were rich and productive. We will share more about the outcomes at the Business Meeting at the Fall 2026 conference.

We are excited to serve you and the educator preparation field.

Best,

Kristien Zenkov, PhD

VACTE President, 2025-2027

Conference Updates VACTE 2026 Fall Conference Preview Hosted by James Madison University This year's VACTE Fall Conference, Teacher Education Forward: Innovation, Equity, Impact, will bring together educator preparation faculty, school division partners, students, and state leaders for two days of learning, collaboration, and dialogue around the future of educator preparation in Virginia. Highlights include a Thursday presentation from the Virginia Department of Education, accompanied by dedicated office hours where institutions can meet one-on-one with VDOE representatives to discuss questions and emerging initiatives. The conference will also feature a strand of sessions from CEEDAR, along with concurrent presentations offered throughout both Thursday and Friday that showcase innovative practices, research, partnerships, and program initiatives from across the Commonwealth. ​ The event begins with an optional Clinical Experiences Pre-Conference Workshop on October 7, providing participants an opportunity to exchange ideas and promising practices related to clinical evaluation tools, mentor teacher supports, and candidate development. Together, these sessions create opportunities for meaningful conversation, practical learning, and strengthened partnerships across Virginia's educator preparation community.

We are pleased to share that VACTE can now take credit card payments for our annual institutional membership dues. Maggie Barber, VACTE Treasurer, will be in touch with directions for any institution wishing to use their purchase card for dues. As a reminder, the membership is at the institutional level – so each college or university only needs to pay once annually. Email Maggie Barber (mebarber@odu.edu) with any questions or for more information.

Clinical Practice SIG

The Clinical Experiences SIG Pre-Conference Workshop will take place on Wednesday, October 7 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. and will provide an opportunity for EPPs to collaborate around clinical evaluation tools, mentor teacher supports, and promising practices in clinical experiences. Building on discussions from the Clinical SIG Summer Work Session, participants will share approaches, identify common challenges, and explore strategies to strengthen clinical partnerships and candidate development across Virginia.

You can register for the event as a free add-on to your conference registration or email Kristina Peck (kpeck@umw.edu) about attending virtually.

VEAC

The Virginia Education Assessment Collaborative (VEAC) is gearing up for the upcoming VACTE conference, where we will present on key topics including ongoing CAEP feedback, instrument validity and reliability, and teacher retention data across the Commonwealth. A central focus of our teacher retention VACTE session will be highlighting the new questions featured on the 2025–26 survey, offering EPPs a look at what to expect and how to utilize these new data points. In addition to conference preparations, major updates are underway behind the scenes: revisions to the VEAC Repository are in progress, and we strongly encourage institutions to share their CAEP materials and exemplars to help enrich this resource for everyone. Looking ahead, keep an eye out for updated instrument guides and early developments on updated Advanced survey items designed to support specialized pathways.

Policy/Advocacy/Calls to Action

We would like to recognize Jeff Davis for his outstanding work leading the VACTE Policy SIG and keeping all Virginia EPPs updated on key state and federal policies. He is stepping down as co-chair of the SIG, so we’re looking for individuals who are interested in serving as the new co-chair! Please contact Maggie Barber (mebarber@odu.edu) to nominate yourself or to ask for additional information.

ABTEL

The first ABTEL meeting for the 2026-2027 academic year was held at the Virginia Department of Education in Richmond on Monday, August 17. Dr. Pamela Bailey and Dr. Audrey Church attended, representing VACTE. The agenda, meeting recording, and presentations are available on the ABTEL website.

Assistant Superintendent of Educator Workforce Rob Gilstrap provided updates on several bills from the General Assembly. Dr. Byran Jackson, Director of Licensure, led discussion on revision of Option 4 for the district superintendent license. Ms. Shawna LeBlond, Director of Apprenticeship, shared information on the assessment transition for paraprofessional Praxis from ParaPro 1755 to ParaPathways. ABTEL voted to recommend passing scores to the Board of Education. Ms. LeBlond shared information on the Alternate Pathway to Licensure Work Group; Dr. Jessica Jones and Ms. Shelby Elliott will represent ABTEL on the Work Group. Dr. Jackson reported that the Middle School Social Studies Praxis 5089 will be replaced with 5589 later this fall. Following discussion of committee areas of focus for the year, the meeting adjourned. ABTEL meets next on Monday, September 14.

Deans & Directors

VACTE welcomes the new co-chairs for the Deans and Director's group, Dr. Tamara Wallace, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Radford University and Dr. Tara McDaniel, Director of the Office of Teacher Preparation at Longwood University. They are both excited to serve in their roles for the upcoming year!

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