Kim Metcalf of UNLV Begins Term as New AACTE Board Chair

(Feb. 25, 2019, Washington, D.C.) – The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) welcomes the new chair of its Board of Directors: Kim Metcalf, Ph.D., dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). During his one-year term, Metcalf will lead the Board through strategic planning in partnership with AACTE President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone.

“I believe colleges of education are at a turning point,” said Metcalf. “As an association, we can continue to sustain the status quo, with an emphasis on ‘best practices’ based on ideas or outcomes that are nearly 40 years old, or we can focus our efforts on research and innovation that provide our member institutions and our professional colleagues with the tools they need to address the challenges of tomorrow.” 

Metcalf has served in his current role at UNLV since 2013, where he has focused on leveraging the unique context of Southern Nevada and the Clark County School District to encourage development of “next generation” approaches to education, educator preparation, and education policy. His research in teacher education and in education policy—particularly his research on school choice—is nationally recognized by the Association of Teacher Educators, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and the American Evaluation Association, among others. His publications include the coauthored textbook, The Act of Teaching, now in its sixth edition.

Metcalf, who began his academic career at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State), accepted a position at Indiana University in 1991 to establish the TEL, a facility and curriculum intended to supplement and in some cases replace field-based clinical experiences. In 1996, he established the Indiana Center for Evaluation to integrate an entity providing comprehensive evaluation of large scale state and national programs with innovation and research of evaluation. During this time, his team conducted the most extensive longitudinal study of school choice, the eight-year study of the Cleveland School program for the state of Ohio. As a result, the American Evaluation Association awarded Metcalf with the distinguished Evaluation Award in 2004. 

Following his role at Indiana University, he became associate superintendent for research and assessment for Monroe County Community Schools in Bloomington, Ind. In 2006, Metcalf joined the University of West Georgia, where he served as the director of The Evaluation Center, dean of the College of Education, and associate vice president for research and sponsored projects/director of institutional research until accepting his position at UNLV.

His career in education started as a public school band and orchestra teacher. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Ball State University, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University in teacher education and educational research and evaluation. He studied under the mentorship of renowned teacher education scholar, Donald Cruickshank, with whom he coauthored two chapters in the inaugural Handbook of Research in Teacher Education. 

Metcalf was elected to the AACTE Board of Directors in 2015. He has served as board liaison to the AACTE Research Committee, co-chaired the AACTE Board Composition Work Group, and currently co-chairs the AACTE Strategic Planning Task Force. He was elected chair-elect by his Board colleagues in 2018. The Board includes 26 representatives of AACTE member institutions around the country.

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About AACTE

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is a national alliance of educator preparation programs dedicated to high-quality, evidence-based preparation that assures educators are profession-ready as they enter the classroom. The 800 member institutions include public and private colleges and universities in every state, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Through advocacy and capacity building, AACTE promotes innovation and effective practices that strengthen educator preparation. Learn more at www.aacte.org.