VACTE Inquiry Initiative

A Collaborative Research/Practice Project to Understand Teacher Retention

As a follow-up to the 3-year implementation of ATE’s Inquiry Initiative, VACTE will launch a 2-year edition in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The purpose of the initiative is to:

  • Provide a focused, collaborative research structure for VACTE members to address a pressing scholarly, pedagogical practice, and policy issue: teacher retention

  • Promote long-term research relationships among existing VACTE members--and provide new members with opportunities to engage

  • Highlight VACTE as a research, practice, and policy player in the Commonwealth

Call for Participants

We are seeking professional educators and teacher educators (scholars and practitioners - university faculty, classroom teachers, administrators, and more) to participate in this collaborative work. Individuals will be intentionally grouped across institutions, roles, and inquiry/practice traditions to collective examine our shared focus: teacher retention. Participants are welcome from all roles and organizations.

 

Apply by August 15, 2025. Selected participants will be notified by Monday, August 25th so they may register by the Fall 2025 conference “early bird” deadline.

 

  • Inquiry Initiative participants must maintain their membership in VACTE across the two-year plus span of the project. Participants will engage in Inquiry Initiative events in at least three required forms:

    • With all participants in the project and their small groups: At the Fall 2025 (@ William & Mary), Spring 2026 (@ George Mason), Fall 2026 (@ Old Dominion), and Spring 2027 (TBA) conferences; face-to-face attendance is required for the Fall 2025 conference and for at least two of the following three conferences during the planned two-year life of the Initiative.

    • With their small groups: Monthly via virtual and/or face-to-face meetings between November 2025 (following the Fall 2025 conference) and May 2027 (following the Spring 2027 conference).

    • Individually: To help VACTE best understand the impact of the Initiative, complete all evaluation components as requested by the Inquiry Initiative planning committee.

  • Over this two-year plus span, Inquiry Initiative participants will engage in dialogue, collaborative research, pedagogical tool development, presentations, policy creation and advocacy, and publications. Initiative participants will have preferred presentation/publication status for VACTE conferences, the VACTE journal (The Teacher Educators' Journal), and select other products.

  • While participants will be formed into small teams of 5-7 based on shared interests in aspects of teacher retention, they may choose to meet for the monthly sessions in smaller--and even shifting--configurations, likely based on the products/projects on which they are working. 

Participant Benefits

  • Enhanced academic community

  • Opportunities for research, publishing, presenting, and grant awards

  • Guaranteed research, practice, and policy presentations at conferences

  • Participation officially recognized for annual review

VACTE Benefits

  • Enhanced profile as an association in the Commonwealth and nationally

  • Increased, more sustainable, and more intentional membership

If you have questions or suggestions, reach out to VACTE President Kristien Zenkov and VACTE Secretary Audra Parker.