AACTE (American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education) welcomes Anne Tapp Jaksa, Ph.D., professor of teacher education at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), into her role as the 2025-26 chair of the AACTE Board of Directors. 

For the next year, Jaksa will serve alongside AACTE President and CEO Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D., in prioritizing the Association’s commitment to advancing educator preparation through educating, advocating, and innovating to meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape. She succeeds Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of California State University, Long Beach. 

“AACTE is honored to welcome Dr. Anne Tapp Jaksa as the new chair of our Board of Directors,” said AACTE President and CEO Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D. “Anne is a dedicated advocate for teacher education, a respected researcher, and a leader who has consistently championed inclusion and innovation in our field. Her passion and expertise will be invaluable as we continue our mission to advance educator preparation and address the pressing challenges in education today.” 

Jaksa previously served as the chair of the Advisory Council of State Representatives (ACSR), and Midwest Region Representative, and is past president of the Michigan Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Jaksa is the educator in residence at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Board of Directors. She also serves as a director of professional development for the University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula and co-director of the SVSU Center for Experience Research & Design and Usability Research Team.  

Jaksa’s research interests include continuous improvement, STEM, and technology integration, and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences on those topics and has published many articles, book chapters, and texts. She earned her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from Wayne State University. 

“Stepping into the role of chair of the AACTE Board of Directors is both an honor and a promise to uphold the values that enhance the educational experience for our nation’s learners,” Jaksa said. “Comprehensive educator preparation has made a profound impact in our nation’s classrooms in the 21st century, and now, more than ever, AACTE’s community of education preparation programs must come together to drive innovation and continue to modernize how we prepare educators. I am eager to lead and collaborate with the board to strengthen our collective efforts in shaping a workforce that is equipped to meet the evolving needs of PK-12 students.” 

The Journal of Teacher Education (JTE), the official journal of AACTE, has been a leading voice in the field of teacher preparation for 75 years and is one of the most widely read professional journals in the field. JTE’s five peer-reviewed issues per volume year contain thematic and general interest articles as well as editorials and commentaries.

In “Preservice Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Equity and Equality: Tensions Between Technical and Humanizing Approaches,” an open-access article from January 2025, writers and researchers Michelle Kwok, Eleanor Su-Keene, and Ambyr Rios write about conceptualizing equity in the current sociopolitical context, and how despite decades of theorizing, scholars do not agree on what “equity” and “equality” mean.

“Traditionally, preservice teachers (PSTs) have been introduced and socialized to a cartoon of three children attempting to watch a baseball game as the prevailing definition of equity. Yet, in our sociopolitical context where Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ children are continuously marginalized, we critique whether this simple construction of equity is sufficient,” the authors wrote.

In this article, the authors discuss their research methods, including a large-scale qualitative study that uses data from 2022 and 2024 and 1,528 PST responses about conceptualizing equity and equality. This data is especially relevant in today’s post-pandemic educational landscape, as PSTs are being prepared differently than they were five years ago.

“In our current time, it is critical to encapsulate a humanist perspective in the conceptualization of equity. This is not to seek replacement of other conceptualizations per se, but rather a grounding of equity for education, not schooling (Pritchett, 2013). Through their educational censorship efforts, states and districts signal to students that their humanity, or the ability to be their whole selves, is being denied. In addition, these censorship efforts deny students the right to learn about differences, nuances, and the beauty of humanity outside of their own experiences,” the authors wrote.

Readers can learn more about the research methods, the findings, and how equity and equality are evolving in this open-access article on JTE’s website.

Interested in reading more articles on JTE? Visit the JTE resource page of the AACTE website to learn how to access or get signed up.

Michigan needs to invest further in career and technical education (CTE) programs so that more children have opportunities to prepare for high-wage and high-skills careers, State Board of Education members said in a resolution approved on Tuesday.

The resolution calls for the legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to provide additional funding to local and intermediate school districts to open new high-quality career and technical education programs—particularly those in CTE deserts where participation in the programs is much lower than expected and in areas with opportunity gaps—to ensure equitable access across all schools.

CTE programs prepare students for careers in areas ranging from agriculture to skilled trades, to public safety, to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“Students who complete CTE programs gain valuable, practical skills and the opportunity to start exciting careers after high school and to build a strong foundation for success in post-secondary education,” said Board President Dr. Pamela Pugh. “All Michigan students deserve access to these opportunities, regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, or where they live.”

Over the next five years, an additional investment is needed to expand opportunities for students who, because of funding, geography, transportation, and cultural barriers, have not been able to access state-approved career-tech programming.

CTE provides students with work-based learning experiences to help Michigan develop and maintain a highly skilled, sustainable workforce.

CTE programs contribute to meeting several goals in Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, the board resolution says. Included are Goal 4, to expand secondary learning opportunities for all students; Goal 5, to increase the percentage of all students who graduate from high school; and Goal 6, to increase the percentage of adults with a post-secondary credential.

“In addition to preparing students for rewarding careers, CTE courses can also keep some children engaged at school so they are able to graduate and improve their life outcomes,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “Students enrolled in CTE programs have significantly higher high school graduation rates and higher earnings in the labor market. They acquire skills that prepare them for successful career entry, advancement, and/or continuing education—including college—for high-wage, high-demand careers.”

Enrollment in CTE programs has not only recovered from a decline during the pandemic but now exceeds enrollment from before COVID. In the 2023-24 school year, 112,156 students enrolled in CTE programs, the third year of increases totaling more than 9,000 students, or 9%, since the 2020-21 school year enrollment of 102,988 at the low point of the pandemic and more than the pre-pandemic, 2019-20 school year enrollment of 111,073.

CTE completers, students who finish an entire series of courses in a given career area rather than a single course or two, have also increased in the last three years, a total increase of more than 8,000 students, or 19% from 44,226 in 2020-21 to 52,625 in 2023-24, and greater than not only the 2019-20 pre-pandemic number of 50,416 but also any single year pre-pandemic.