A better way to train teachers
Too few aspiring classroom teachers receive the training and support they need to be effective.
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Clarksdale High School students study math in Clarksdale, Miss. (Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press /February 15, 2013)
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If America's medical schools were failing to offer their students the academic content and practical experience necessary to provide high-quality healthcare, we would be outraged.
But that's exactly what happens in most undergraduate and graduate schools of education. According to a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality — which was funded by 62 organizations, led by the Carnegie Corp. and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation — too few aspiring classroom teachers receive the training and support they need to be effective. And that disconnect has alarming implications not just for them but for the future of K-12 public education.
Eight years in the works, the "Teacher Prep Review" examined admissions standards, course requirements and content, student teaching manuals and graduate surveys for more than 1,100 college and university programs. Together, these programs prepare two-thirds of our nation's new K-12 teachers, so what they do matters a lot. But fewer than 10% of them earned at least three stars in this report's four-star rating system. Just four of those are located in California: UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Irvine and the University of Redlands.
This new study shines a critical light on the strongest teacher training programs so that others can learn from their success and model best practices. It also gives aspiring graduate students important information about the programs they are considering — before investing considerable time and
