UNT to help sponsor Association of Teacher Educators national conference in Dallas

UNT is a major sponsor of the 2004 Association of Teacher Educators national conference, "ATE: Promoting Quality and Professionalism," to be held this month at Dallas' Hyatt Regency Hotel. Frances van Tassell, associate professor of teacher education and administration, is the association's president.

"The College of Education is delighted to be a part of the conference," says Jean Keller, dean of the College of Education. "We are very proud of this year's ATE president."

Keller says that because the ATE annual conference is being held in Dallas, many UNT faculty, students and alumni will have an opportunity to learn from distinguished leaders in teacher education.

The pre-conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 14. The conference begins at 8 a.m. Feb. 15 and ends at noon Feb. 18.

ATE was founded in 1920 as a national organization to improve teacher education by conducting research to determine how teachers can best prepare to educate students. The 3,500 members of ATE represent 650 colleges and universities, 500 school districts and the majority of state departments of education.

Members and non-members, including students and retirees, are invited to attend the conference. Registration fees are as follows:

Pre-conference workshops are $30 for a half day and $60 for a full day.

Conference sessions will focus on topics such as brain research applications in the classroom, student resilience and web technology to support exploration of the Internet.

The opening lecture, "Effective Teaching of Reading: Evidence vs. Ideology," will be presented by Dick Allington, professor of elementary and special education at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Also delivering lectures will be Chauncey Veatch, the 2002 National Teacher of the Year and a history and social studies teacher at Coachella Valley High School in Monterrey, Calif., and Rose Duhon-Sells, dean of the College of Education at Southern University in New Orleans.

The ATE Commission on Technology and the Future of Teacher Education will hold a series of workshops and featured presentations scheduled throughout the conference. Topics range from successful integration of wireless technology to the use of technology in the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education approval process.

Van Tassell, coordinator of the UNT Department of Teacher Education and Administration's master of education in curriculum and instruction program, will conclude her one-year term as ATE president during the conference.

During her term as ATE president, van Tassell served on the board of directors; made appointments to committees, commissions and task forces; and organized committees to plan both the annual summer conference held in Santa Fe in August 2003 and the winter conference in Dallas.

She has served on numerous university, college and department committees at UNT. In addition, she has served in leadership roles at the state level and is often invited to serve on state committees related to teacher education. She currently serves as vice chair of the UNT Faculty Senate.

For more information about the conference, contact van Tassell at (940) 565-4420 or at vantass@coe.unt.edu.

BY CATHY CASHIO ccashio@unt.edu

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