Due to unfortunate circumstances, in spring 2024, the Northeastern Region of the Advisory Council of State Representatives (ACSR) was without a regional representative. Dr. Stacey Leftwich was approached to temporarily fill the vacancy with the option of running for a second turn. Without hesitation, Dr. Leftwich happily obliged. Being a year into her past-presidency position for NJACTE, she saw this as a sensible next step in her leadership trajectory.
According to the ACSR Governance page that can be found on the AACTE website, the primary purpose of ACSR is to serve as a collaborative network for state association leaders across the nation and to represent state-level perspectives in AACTE activities as well as help identify important issues for AACTE to monitor and manage. ACSR elects an Executive Committee which convenes the state associations and manages programming to develop state association organizational capacity and policy advocacy. The chair, chair-elect, and past chair of ACSR serve on the AACTE Board of Directors.
As a member of the ACSR Executive Committee, Dr. Leftwich’s role involves helping to plan the State Leaders Institute and other AACTE programs. As the Northeastern Representative she is responsible for hosting monthly meetings for the states (CT, DE, MA, MD, NJ, NY and PA) in the region. This year’s focus was Title IV. Similar to NJ, states in the region have spent a significant amount of time determining the needs of Title IV Program Participation Agreement (PPA). At monthly meetings, state representatives shared their approach to determine the licensure offered in other states. Having opportunities to discuss different states’ approaches has been helpful to guide NJACTE’s efforts. In addition, states in the region have been very interested in how each state affiliate establishes structures and membership fees to support their state programs and events. The latter is a topic that will continue to be discussed moving into the new academic year.
Having an opportunity to meet and share ideas as well as states supporting each other has been extremely valuable. Dr. Leftwich looks forward to reporting to her NJACTE colleagues on states’ efforts and challenges across the four regions.
Submitted on behalf of:
Stacey Leftwich, Ph.D.
Past-President, NJACTE
Associate Dean, Educator Preparation, Rowan University