(Name-mce) ListServ Teacher colleges get low marks

[Howe, William]

Posted on: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 

Teacher colleges get low marks 

 

 

By Beverly Creamer

Advertiser Education Writer

 

 

 STUDY FINDS SKILLS LACKING

 

Among the findings in a study released yesterday by the nonpartisan
Educating Schools Project:

 

 

Many students are graduating without the skills they need to be
effective teachers. More than three out of five alumni surveyed said
their school did not adequately prepare graduates to cope with the
realities of today's classrooms.

 

There is no standard approach to preparing teachers. Programs vary from
one to five years and are offered at the undergrad level, grad level or
both. Limited field work leaves many unprepared for classroom realities.

 

While relatively few teachers are prepared at research institutions, the
teachers prepared at these universities have students who score higher
in assessment exams.

The report is available on the Web at edschools.org. 

 

 

  

  

American colleges of education are faring poorly in the overall job of
preparing the nation's school teachers for today's "standards-based,
accountability-driven classrooms," according to a new national study.

 

Educating School Teachers, released yesterday by the nonpartisan
Education Schools Project, charges that teachers are woefully unprepared
to use technology in instruction, apply student performance assessment
techniques, and implement performance standards.

 

And while the study points to several exemplary programs, it concludes
overall that teacher colleges are preparing teachers "moderately well"
for the needs of students with disabilities, diverse cultural
backgrounds or limited English skills.

 

"Teacher education is the Dodge City of the education world," said
author Arthur Levine, who based his conclusions on national surveys of
education school alumni, deans and faculty, principals, and visits to 28
education schools throughout the country out of a total of 1,206.

 

The study did not pinpoint Hawai'i and visits were not made to the
University of Hawai'i College of Education, according to its interim
dean.

 

Levine, a noted higher education scholar who recently left the
presidency of Teachers College at Columbia University to become
president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, spent
four years on the study.

 

Don Young, interim dean of UH's College of Education that produces most
of Hawai'i's new teachers each year, called the report "broad-brush
charges" not particularly applicable to Hawai'i where student teachers
have been receiving standards-based education for the past five or six
years, as well as extensive hands-on classroom experience.

 

Young said that partly because the college is now preparing to head into
its normal accrediting process, staff have collected a vast array of
data on program effectiveness, including annual surveys of graduates and
employers that show high satisfaction rates.

 

"Our faculty are very knowledgeable about national standards and state
standards in key subject areas - math, reading and science - but we
don't believe preparing teachers only to that level is sufficient," he
said. "We want our teachers to excel beyond those standards."

 

The Levine report called for more practical experience for the nation's
student teachers, noting required field work ranges from 30 to 300 hours
at programs it evaluated. UH, by comparison, requires more than 1,200
hours of field work for a bachelor's of education degree and another 600
for both post-baccalaureate certificates. UH also offers specialized
training for special education teachers and Hawaiian language immersion
teaching, and requires a course in multicultural education, Young said.

 

UH offers: a bachelor's degree in education, with two years of
upper-level academic work that includes observing and teaching in the
classroom; a fifth-year post-baccalaureate certificate; and several
master's degree programs. UH is a doctorate-granting institution, which
the report recommends as the best institution for training teachers.
Thirty-four percent of the nation's teachers graduate from
doctorate-granting universities.

 

Karen Knudsen, a longtime member of the Board of Education, said a
partnership between teacher training at the university and the state
Department of Education has spurred "a dramatic improvement" in
Hawai'i's teacher preparation over the past six years.

 

"They're really making an attempt to answer the needs of the state,"
Knudsen said. "You look at the quality of the students coming out and
the scholarships they've received and it really is impressive."

 

But Knudsen credits the work of former UH College of Education dean
Randy Hitz and public schools superintendents Pat Hamamoto and Paul
LeMahieu for developing a close relationship that has helped align
teacher training with classroom needs. In addition, the university has
launched new courses that address challenges such as No Child Left
Behind requirements, she said.

 

"I'm hoping this relationship will continue. It's so vital. We're
dependent on each other," Knudsen said.

 

Among the Educating School Teachers study's recommendations:

 

 

Schools of education need to be refocused into professional schools
based more fully on practice in the classroom.

 

 

Make five-year teacher education programs the norm.

 

 

Establish effective accreditation standards for quality control.

 

 

Create incentives for outstanding students and career-changers to enter
teacher education at doctoral universities.

 

The project was funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation, Ford
Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

 

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer at honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William A. Howe, Ed.D.
Education Consultant for Multicultural Education & Gender Equity
Connecticut State Department of Education - Bureau of Educational Equity
165 Capitol Ave. Rm 312, Hartford, CT 06106 
Telephone: 860-713-6542 * Fax: 860-713-7496
email: william.howe at ct.gov
website: http://www.state.ct.us/sde

11th Annual Connecticut Conference on Multicultural Education, Marriott
Hotel, Farmington, CT -Oct. 16, 2006,
<http://www.state.ct.us/sde/calendar/index.htm>  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 14116 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : /pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/attachments/20060920/2ac8bb7d/attachment.bin