Academic Assembly Council Meeting Recap
with Chair Maghan Keita
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AAC Chair Maghan Keita is professor of history and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University. |
The teaching profession and its future led the agenda for the Academic Assembly Council meeting in December in New York. The council also discussed ways to nurture its ongoing work with College Board staff and increase the number of Advanced Placement® teachers across the country.
The Academic Assembly Council leads the assembly's work in addressing issues related to curriculum, assessment and professional development. It includes representation from each of the College Board regions and academic units.
"We see ourselves as the guarantor of the intellectual integrity of College Board products," said Maghan Keita, the council's chair and professor of history and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University. "We have a nationwide collection of experts that, through hands-on work with the staff, see to it that these products are of the best and highest quality."
One of the council's top priorities is making teaching a preferred profession in America, Keita said, and having the College Board be a strong advocate toward that goal. "In all aspects that affect our national interest, education is at the forefront. And teachers are the ones in the trenches."
Additionally, council members talked about the need to find and groom new AP® teachers, he said. The pool of teachers is dwindling, and as the College Board and others try to increase access to the rigorous course work of the AP Program, developing new teachers is essential. One idea that has been discussed is working with university schools of education to find ways to introduce AP teaching techniques and methodologies as part of the curriculum.
As the council considers national and global issues in education, members also are dedicated to maintaining strong regional representation, despite the troubled economy, and continuity in the council's work with College Board staff.
The overarching aim, Keita said, is to join and lead the overall effort of the College Board to think about the future of American education. "The model (of education) that we are using now,
if it isn't already outdated, will be. We're thinking more about
the future of American education and its place in a global setting,"he said.
Keita is in his second and final year as chair of the council.
He said that in his many years of work with the College Board, he's enjoyed gathering some of the brightest minds in
America dedicated to this mission of improving education
and opportunities for students.
"It's very exciting at this moment in time, in terms of the possibilities," he said. "The Board is in a position to make real, meaningful interventions in American education as a whole,
and I believe that is because of Gaston Caperton's leadership.
He realizes that the College Board is not simply an organization about testing, but it's an institution that focuses fundamentally on improving the education of all students."
