Teacher Education Reform in the United States

1. Teacher Education Reform in theUnited States John CoganUniversity of MinnesotaMarilyn JohnstonOhio State University

2. ChallengesPoliticizationFutures

3. One challenge: The numbers and diversity in U.S. schools • 53 million students • 3 million teachers • 92,000 public schools • 15,000 school districts • 40% of the students are minorities • 17% Black, 16 Hispanic, 4% Asian, 1% Native Amer. • 1 in 5 speaks another language at home • 1 in 4 comes from a single-family home • 84% of teachers are White

4. Challenge: Attrition of New Teachers • Most leave after three years and more than 50% leave within 5 years • Need for induction and mentorship programs

5. Job training/preparation, free market competition Role of education is to move the economy forward Top down administration—bureaucratic reforms Based on transferable models Competitive, individualistic, tests used for selection/hiring Equity/equality/citizenship Role of education is to create a just and democratic society Requires national leadership & community dialogue Civic education; problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration Only consistent licensure and accreditation will insure that all children have qualified teachers. Challenge: Two Competing Perspectives Market-based rationale Democratic rationale

6. Challenge:Accountability • Increased calls for accountability • this began with the Reagan’s “A Nation at Risk" report in the early 1980s, it has gained momentum with the Bush administration in Washington.

7. Challenge:Alternative Certification • Would bypass the traditional undergraduate and post-graduate faculties of education completely as well as traditional certification/licensure and accreditation programs. • Ignored in this "alternative" debate is the fact that the recent post-graduate or fifth year programs ARE alternative themselves.

8. Politicization of education through federal policy Consequence: lack of state autonomy and local policy making

9. Arguments included in federal policies: Administrators should be free to hire within an open market—quality control Should recruit persons with strong subject matter knowledge Criteria should include general knowledge, verbal ability and subject matter knowledge Subject matter tests are sufficient to measure teaching competence Arguments from within the profession: Standards, licensure, & accreditation necessary Need to recruit stronger students into high quality programs Teachers need a comprehensive set of abilities & knowledges beyond subject matter Knowledge of teaching & learning highly correlates with academic achievement Trained worker vs. professional teacher

10. Assaults on Teacher Education • Will assaults on undergraduate and post-graduate teacher education continue? • Differences in Ed School and administration perspectives • Argue for approaches that will remove roadblocks that keep “qualified persons” from becoming teachers • Will fulfill the needs for teachers in large urban districts

11. Business, Religion & Politics • Business leaders have aligned with conservative politicians and fundamentalist Christian special interest groups. • Private sector involvement in education.

12. Future of Teacher Education?

13. In general, it will depend on. . . . • Who wins the national Presidential election • Intensity of the backlash against No Child Left Behind • Perpetuation of current national budget trends, e.g., www.TrueMajority.org/oreo

14. It will depend on teacher education identity • viewed by their colleagues as "soft", not content based, and an unnecessary appendage of the institution • larger institution has no interest in teacher education per se in the long term.

15. It will depend on educating our publics • need to take a more aggressive posture with respect to educating our "publics" about what we do and why • need to make a stronger case for why schools need “educated” professionals

16. It will depend on teacher shortages • Federal government projected (in 1999) that we would need 1.7 to 2.7 new teachers in 2008. • In 1987-88, only 2.7 entered without certification (or on provisional certification)--In 1990-2000 5.7% entered without certification. • Urban schools have more uncertified teachers than suburban schools—especially with new teachers, 11% more of them are not certified if they teach in urban (cf. to suburban schools). • See K.C. Lai & Joe Hong’s policy paper: “Crash Courses for Untrained Teachers”.

17. It will depend on support for new teachers • Need professional induction and mentorship programs for new teachers • Where these have been introduced, more than 80% of the new teachers remain on the job after the first five years of service.

18. increased pressure on teacher education programs increased use of business models for running schools & universities increased use of tests to evaluate teachers and schools increased use of free market competition to solve educational problems further emphasis on questions of equity and social justice standards used to create a broader curriculum increased use of social justice arguments to justify the need for licensure wider use of performance assessment for teachers and students It will depend on which rationale will have currency Market rationale will mean: Democratic rationale will mean: