Dr. Megina Baker Among Authors to Receive 2020 AACTE Outstanding Book Award

Baker and Co-Authors of Reclaiming Accountability in Teacher Education to Receive National Book Award

(Feb. 10, 2020, Washington, D.C.) – The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) today announced the nine authors of the book, Reclaiming Accountability in Teacher Education, as winners of the 2020 AACTE Outstanding Book Award. Among them, is BU Wheelock Lecturer, Megina Baker. Baker and her co-authors will be recognized formally with the award at the AACTE 72nd Annual Meeting, February 28 – March 1, in Atlanta, GA.

The book, published by Teachers College Press in 2018, provides the field of teacher education with a paradigm-shifting take on accountability, an issue that is central to the theory, policy, and practice of teacher education. The book’s insights and arguments are supported by rigorous scholarship regarding the historical, sociopolitical, and policy contexts of teacher education accountability. The authors created an eight-dimensional framework to critically examine the current dominant accountability paradigm, to deconstruct four influential accountability initiatives, and finally, to envision a new paradigm of democratic accountability.

“Their framework is powerful as a tool used not only for critique, but also for providing a structure for envisioning an entirely different accountability paradigm—one that values democracy, equity, professional responsibility, and deliberative and critical democratic education,” said Tamara Lucas, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, Montclair State University.

Authors of Reclaiming Accountability in Teacher Education are:

  • Megina Baker, lecturer in early childhood education at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development
  • Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of teacher education for urban schools and director of doctoral program in curriculum and instruction in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College
  • Molly Cummings Carney, doctoral candidate at Boston College studying teacher education and education policy
  • Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, teacher educator, researcher and associate professor/founding director of Graduate Education at Stonehill College
  • Stephani Burton, assistant professor of practice in the department of teaching and learning at the University of Miami
  • Wen-Chia Chang, postdoctoral fellow at the Nanyang Technological University/National Institute of Education in Singapore
  • Beatriz Fernández, assistant professor in the Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Educación at Universidad de Chile
  • Andrew F. Miller, director of academics for the Archdiocese of Boston Catholic Schools Office
  • Juan Gabriel Sánchez, instructor and Tang Fellow at Phillips Academy, Andover

The AACTE Outstanding Book Award is given annually to recognize a book that makes a significant contribution to the knowledge base of educator preparation. Overseen by the AACTE Committee on Research and Dissemination, this award seeks to honor publications that not only are well-written but offer a fresh lens on current assumptions or practices, reorient thinking in the field, and show potential for significant impact on policy or practice in educator preparation.

“As the leading voice in educator preparation, AACTE represents educators throughout the U.S. who advance our profession through innovation, high standards, and leadership. For 24 years, AACTE has honored its member institutions, leaders, and individuals who make bold, exceptional, and revolutionary contributions to our field,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO. “As the recipients of a 2020 AACTE Award, these authors exemplify the continuing need for us to reexamine and reevaluate our work in light of the needs of our contemporary students. I look forward to honoring them at the 72nd Annual Meeting later this month.”

Based in Washington, D.C., AACTE 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 AACTE awards program has been recognizing excellence since 1996 in both member institutions and individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of educator preparation. By honoring notable programs and practices, professional accomplishments and scholarship, these awards encourage AACTE members to strengthen the profession through innovation, leadership, and inquiry. Learn more at aacte.org.

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