Award-Winning Best Practices in Globalizing Teacher Education

The AACTE Awards Program recognizes excellence in both member institutions and individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of educator preparation. In identifying notable programs, practices, activities, writing, and research, these awards encourage members to strengthen the profession of educator preparation through innovation, high standards, and leadership.

As part of the Longview Foundation-supported Global Education Faculty Professional Learning series, AACTE takes a closer look at the 2023 award-winning best practices from the University of Illinois and the Rutgers Graduate School of Education.

AACTE awarded the 2023 Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives to the University of Illinois for its IGlobal initiative. IGlobal provides online global fieldwork for preservice teachers, professional development for in-service teachers both local and global, connection to campus and home cultures for international students, and opportunities for both local and international middle school students to collaborate on real-world challenges across languages and cultures. Allison Witt, director of international programs in the College of Education, will share more about this program and its amazing impact on preservice educators.

Additionally, AACTE awarded the 2023 Best Practice Award in Support of Multicultural Education and Diversity to the Rutgers Graduate School of Education for its Urban Social Justice Teacher Preparation Program. Assistant professor of professional practice and faculty director of clinical experiences, Maqueda Randall Weeks, will take you through the program and its aim of developing a generation of teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to teach and advocate for all students while learning from the community they serve.

Speakers:

Maqueda Randall Weeks, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor of Professional Practice

Faculty Director of Clinical Experiences

Graduate School of Education 

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 

Randall-Weeks received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and social sciences from Vanderbilt University; her master’s degrees in both early childhood education and education leadership from Columbia University, Teachers College; and her master’s degree in education policy and management and doctorate in urban superintendency from Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE). Before coming to Rutgers GSE, Randall-Weeks was the executive director of reform and leadership development at Ackerman Education Strategies Group; a special assistant to the superintendent for school improvement, innovation and reform at the School District of Philadelphia; and a coordinator and lead reading coach for the Office of Early Literacy at the New Jersey Department of Education. She began her career as an educator and reading specialist in New York City and urban school districts throughout New Jersey. Randall-Weeks’ practice is centered around the belief that engaged and knowledgeable teachers are the key to increased student achievement and systems evolution. Her research interests include teacher engagement in school policy, management, and instructional practice reforms.

Allison Witt

Director of International Programs, College of Education  

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign  

Witt is the director of international programs in the college of education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an associate teaching professor in Global Studies in Education and is the program leader for the International Education Administration and Leadership graduate program. She is the director of the IGlobal Club, a virtual extracurricular activity that links preservice teachers to middle school students globally in the study of the United Nation sustainable development goals. Witt is a former assistant director of academic affairs at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, where she contributed to state higher education policy in Illinois. She is the author of Shifting Tides in Global Higher Education (2011), published by Peter Lang. Witt earned a Ph.D. in education policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.