|
TNE Virtual Library
Design Principle C:
Teaching as an Academically Taught Clinical Practice Profession
1. Pedagogy
2. Schools as Clinics
3. Teachers on Faculty Appointment
4. Residency (induction)
5. Preparation of Candidates for Professional Growth
Beginning
Teacher Induction: The Essential Bridge
American Federation
of Teachers
September 2001
"Our latest [September 2001] policy brief provides the underlying
research-based rationale for the AFT's policy on beginning teacher
induction--why induction matters."
Research and Rhetoric on
Teacher Certification: A Response to ‘Teacher Certification
Reconsidered'
Linda Darling-Hammond
Education Policy Analysis Archives (Vol. 10, No. 36)
September 6, 2002
“In October, 2001, the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation issued a report
purporting to prove that there is ‘no credible research that supports
the use of teacher certification as a regulatory barrier to teaching’
and urging the discontinuation of certification in Maryland. The report
argued that large inequities in access to certified teachers for poor
and minority students are not a problem because research linking
teacher
education to student achievement is flawed. In July, 2002, the U.S.
Secretary of Education cited the Abell Foundation paper in his Annual
Report on Teacher Quality as the sole source for concluding that
teacher education does not contribute to teacher effectiveness. The
Secretary's report then recommended that requirements for education
coursework be eliminated from certification standards, and attendance
at
schools of education and student teaching be made optional. This
article documents the many inaccuracies in the Abell Foundation paper
and describes the actual findings of many of the studies it purports to
review, as well as the findings of other studies it ignores. It details
misrepresentations of a number of studies, including inaccurate
statements about their methods and findings, false claims about their
authors' views, and distortions of their data and conclusions. The
article addresses methodological issues regarding the validity and
interpretation of research. Finally, the article presents data
challenging the Abell Foundation's unfounded claims that uncertified
teachers are as effective as certified teachers, that teacher education
makes no difference to teacher effectiveness, that verbal ability is
the
most important determinant of teaching effectiveness, that private
schools staffed by uncertified teachers are more effective than public
schools, and that untrained teachers are more qualified than prepared
teachers. It concludes with a discussion of the policy issues that need
to be addressed if all students are to be provided with highly
qualified
teachers.”
The Certification
Connection
Mary E. Diez
Education Next (Vol. 2, No. 1)
Spring 2002
“While the existing system of licensure for public school teachers is
more rigorous than simply rubber-stamping someone’s self-report on
competence, most thoughtful people agree that the system is in need of
a
major overhaul. As a result, the processes and institutions that
license teachers are changing, and many of the changes promise to
ensure
that teachers enter the classroom well equipped to work effectively
with learners.”
Reconsidering
the Teacher Education Reform Debate: A Commentary on Cochran-Smith and
Fries
Gary D Fenstermacher
Educational Researcher (Vol. 31, No. 6)
August/September 2002
“In the November 2001 issue of Educational Researcher, Marilyn
Cochran-Smith and Mary Kim Fries provided a penetrating analysis of the
discourse that comprises the debate between those who advocate highly
professionalized teacher preparation and those who seek simpler and
more
abundant routes to teacher training and certification. This commentary
extends the Cochran-Smith and Fries analysis in several directions,
inquiring into the democratic and antidemocratic features of the debate
between those who would further professionalize teaching and those who
would deregulate it. Among the matters probed here are the importance
of thoughtful opposition, how and where on the political landscape that
opposition is resolved, and who is engaged in the resolution.”
A Tenuous Hold
James W. Fraser
Education Next (Vol. 2, No. 1)
Spring 2002
“As dean of an education school, more and more I find myself asking, to
my own surprise: Is it time to sever the link between the university
programs that prepare teachers and the public bodies that certify them?
For half a century, college- and university-based teacher education
programs have held a monopoly position in operating, in partnership
with
state governments, virtually the only route to the teaching profession
in public schools.”
Ideology
and Reform in Teacher Education in England: Some Reflections on
Cochran-Smith and Fries
John Furlong
Educational Researcher (Vol. 31, No. 6)
August/September 2002
“This article presents an international perspective on Cochran-Smith
and Fries’ (2001) recent analysis of the ways in which two competing
ideologies are currently being employed in the United States in
support of teacher education reform. In England over the last 15 years,
teacher education has been fundamentally reformed and the arguments of
both the ‘deregulators’ and the ‘professionalizers’ have been important
in that process. Despite surface similarities, there remain important
differences between the United States and England in how these two
ideologies have been advanced and in the constituencies that have
supported them. Teacher educators in England have been excluded from
much of the public debate and the government has taken on the arguments
of the professionalizers. What a comparison between these two countries
demonstrates are the complexities involved in the globalization of
ideologies.”
Break the Link
Frederick M. Hess
Education Next (Vol. 2, No. 1)
Spring 2002
“The central premise underlying teacher certification is that—no matter
what their qualifications are—anyone who has not completed the
specified
training is unsuited to enter a classroom and must be prohibited from
applying for a job. Presumably, the danger is that, in a moment of
weakness, a school official otherwise will mistakenly hire such an
applicant rather than an appropriately trained teacher. It is essential
to remember what we often seem to forget, which is that allowing
someone to apply for a job is not the same as guaranteeing him
employment. Making applicants eligible for a position simply permits an
employer to hire them in the event that they are deemed superior to the
existing alternatives. The argument against certification is not that
unconventional applicants will be good teachers; it is only that they
might be. If one believes this, case-by-case judgments are clearly more
appropriate than an inflexible bureaucratic rule.”
New
Teacher Excellence: Retaining Our Best
Scott Joftus, Brenda
Maddox-Dolan
Alliance for Excellent Education
December 2002
"The Alliance for Excellent Education believes that this problem
requires a two pronged solution: financial incentives for teachers in
high poverty schools and well organized professional development and
support systems, including induction programs for beginning teachers. .
. Texas and Ohio, for instance, are currently designing their own
statewide initiatives based on California's well regarded Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program. BTSA drew ideas from
research and educational practices in several school districts, as well
as from successful initiatives in other countries. Although relatively
new, the systems in California, Texas, and Ohio are successfully
holding
on to their teachers and empowering them, helping to ensure that all
students graduate from high school after meeting rigorous academic
standards and becoming adequately prepared for college."
Policy and Practice:
Restructuring Teachers’ Work.
Lisa Kirtman
Education Policy Analysis Archives (Vol. 10, No. 25)
May 8, 2002
“Despite repeated attempts to reform schools, teachers' work has
remained surprisingly stable. The purpose of this study was to
investigate implementation of a state-funded restructuring initiative
that intended broad changes in teachers' professional roles. Sponsors
of
the founding legislation reasoned that changes in teachers' roles would
contribute to higher student achievement… The study resulted in
multiple types and sources of data on teachers' professional roles,
including: observations in classrooms, collegial interactions, and
governance situations; interviews with teachers (including teacher
leaders), parents, administrators, and students; and documents
pertaining to the restructuring plans and process. Findings show that
changes in the three areas were achieved unevenly in the three
schools... Altogether, it appears unlikely that the observed changes in
professional roles were sufficiently well established and connected to
affect core educational practice in the long run.”
Using Data to
Improve Teacher Induction Programs
NEA Foundation for
the Improvement of Education
Summer 2002
This report "investigates an essential, yet often overlooked, aspect
of teacher induction: data collection and analysis to determine
results.
It also examines the roles that unions, together with school districts
and their partners, can play to improve induction programs through
better use of data and other strategies."
New
Teacher Assessment and Support in the Southeast
Southeast Center for
Teaching Quality
December 2002
"Most of the ten southeastern states we surveyed have some formal
induction program framed by state policy. Interviews with program
officials and document reviews from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina (see page 9 of
Assessing and Supporting New Teachers), South Carolina, and Tennessee
reveal important similarities and differences, and highlight a number
of promising practices."
Teacher Inequality: New
Evidence on Disparities in Teachers' Academic Skills.
Andrew J. Wayne.
Education Policy Analysis Archives (Vol. 10, No. 30)
June 13, 2002
“When discussing the teacher quality gap, policy makers have tended to
focus on teacher certification, degrees, and experience. These
indicators have become key benchmarks for progress toward equality of
educational opportunity, in part for lack of additional teacher quality
indicators. This article turns attention to teachers' academic skills.
National data on teachers' entrance examination scores and college
selectivity reveal substantial disparities by school poverty level. The
findings commend attention to the gap in academic skills in the
formulation of future policy and research on the teacher quality gap.”
State
and District Policy Related to Mentoring And New Teacher Induction in
Connecticut
Peter Youngs
Prepared for the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future
November 2002
"This monograph is based on a study of Connecticut's Beginning Educator
Support and Training (BEST) program and examines how local induction
policy in two urban districts, Bristol and New
Britain in conjunction with the state's BEST program affected
assistance for beginning teachers during the 2000-01 school year. In
Bristol and New Britain, district policy related to induction, teacher
evaluation, and compensation seemed to have a strong impact on new
teachers' experiences and on new teacher retention."
|
|
|
|
|
