NACCTEP Now

Ken Spero is the founder and President of SchoolSims. In this episode he discusses how the choose-your-own-adventure style of the scenarios that make up the simulations, or sims, can help to deisolate, improve self-confidence, and allow for self-reflection for teachers and school leaders across the spectrum from pre-pre-service to long established teachers and leaders. His favorite quote from Viktor Frankl is "Between stimulus and response there is a space, and in that space is our power to choose." SchoolSims focuses on that space, drawing from individuals personal experiences and what they've been taught about teaching or leading, to help them explore how they might react in different situations.

Further discussion and a demonstration of SchoolSims will happen during a NACCTEP hosted webinar in April, so please keep an eye out for communication on that.

In the meantime, you can check out SchoolSims.com or reach out to Ken at kspero@schoolsims.com.

As we prepare to meet in New Orleans next week NACCTEP is checking in with Dr. Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, AACTE. During this discussion we hear how her first year in the position has advocated for the reinstatement of grant funding for educator preparation, how she has traveled to 32 states to learn more about their policies and regulations as part of her state strategy, and how community colleges and universities are addressing the affordability of entering the teaching profession.

Additionally, Dr. Holcomb-McCoy gives a preview of one of two new initiatives that will be introduced at the 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, a call to action around a new federal policy roadmap. She also talked about how innovation and technology is leading AACTE to create a new professional development platform for both members working in higher education teacher preparation programs, but also for graduates of those programs as they enter the teaching field. These are just some of the ways that she, and AACTE are reclaiming the narrative around the strength of educators and the importance of education.

The NACCTEP Pre-conference will be held on Thursday, February 19, 2026 alongside AACTE's other pre-conferences at the Sheraton New Orleans. The 2026 AACTE Annual Meeting will follow from February 20th - 22nd at the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street. There is still time to register!

#StrongerTogether

Listen in as assistant professors Theresa Robinson and Melissa Lebowitz from the Community College of Baltimore County share the latest updates on their programs. From receiving a Feds2Eds grant to develop programming for displaced government workers to enter the teaching workforce to the Degrees to Succeed partnerships with nine institutions, CCBC is making great strides throughout educator preparation. They also have mock classrooms being set up on both the Essex and Catonsville campuses with all the latest technology that they expect to be ready for use this spring.

Also discussed is how AI can be responsibly and ethically used in the classroom. This includes incorporating assignments that require the use of AI to create rubrics or to create letters that can be compared to one's own version.

The conversation also turns to how the Baltimore County Public School System has created two programs to introduce middle school/junior high students to community college instructors, administrators, and athletes who look like them in order to show that their futures are wide open.