New Year’s Message from TED President

Dear TED members,

Happy 2023! Welcome to another new and exciting year for TED! Though I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, I do want to take a moment to think about what’s ahead for TED this year.

First, I want to thank all of the outgoing members of the Executive Board—Ruby Owiny, Sarah Nagro, and Liz Bettini. We appreciate all of your time and energy in service to TED!

As folks transition off the Board, some transition onto the Board and others change roles. I am excited to welcome Wendy Rodgers and Ambra Green to the Board as Members at Large for Research. Jennifer Sears will be our new Secretary. Lucky Mason-Williams will move into Member at Large for Policy and Kyena Cornelius will move into the role of President-Elect. And, of course, Frank Dykes now officially gets to be Past President! I want to thank those of you who participated in the election and I look forward to working with all of our Board members.

Second, I want to remind everyone that TED will have a robust presence at CEC in March and our next TED conference will be in Long Beach, CA October 30-November 2. Look for the call for proposals in the spring.

Finally, I want to briefly lay out some of my goals for the upcoming year. There are several ideas that guide my thinking for the year. These include the following (and can be found on our website—tedcec.org):

VISION Every professional educator possesses the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and values to enable students with exceptional needs to reach their potential.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT TED is committed to mutual respect and inclusion of all individuals without bias based on differences of any kind and is committed to efforts that build dignity, fairness, and equity in teacher education preparation programs for faculty and teacher candidates.

MISSION The Teacher Education Division is a professional organization that leads and supports teacher education on behalf of students with exceptionalities and their families. We accomplish this through our strategic plan.

TED’s strategic plan includes five broad goals: (a) maintaining robust membership, (b) promoting equity, (c) promoting robust leadership structure, (d) increasing visibility, and (e) ensuring fiscal responsibility. My predecessors have made great progress on these goals and I hope to move TED forward toward these goals in several ways.

First, I will be working with our Board, especially representatives of the committees, SIGs, and caucuses, to provide both organizational and financial support for these groups to take action toward their own goals and not be hindered by not having access to resources for their work.

Second, I will work collaboratively with the Board and interested members in making connections with other CEC divisions, state subdivisions, policymakers, and other teacher preparation-related organizations who have goals similar to TED’s in order to elevate our members’ work and create beneficial collaborations.

Finally, with input from a wide spectrum of TED members, I want to build a path to productive dialogue within our organization. We have many complex issues to tackle. To be a strong organization, we must have a culture in which individuals value multiple perspectives, listen respectfully, feel comfortable to ask questions or challenge ideas, and are always working to improve special education teacher preparation. You will learn more about each of these goals as the year progresses.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with suggestions, ideas, concerns, or other topics at any point throughout the year. I value your input and encourage your active participation as we work together to continue to move TED forward in a positive direction. If you would like to work with me in any of these areas, please let me know. I will be reaching out monthly with news about TED and opportunities for you to get involved. You can always reach me at mweiss9@gmu.edu.

I am looking forward to an exciting year for TED!

Sincerely,

Peggy Weiss