Teacher Education
Developing students into quality teachers requires a
university-based teacher preparation program, grounded in disciplinary
knowledge and research, that is committed to the following principles:
students must know the subject matter they wish to teach; students must
understand the context in which teaching and learning take place;
students must understand and effectively use good teaching practices;
and students must have sustained opportunities to teach children in
classroom settings. Teacher preparation must be embraced as an
institution-wide responsibility, with appropriate resources including
high caliber faculty in the arts and sciences as well as in education.
Quality teacher preparation programs prepare students to teach by
providing a thorough foundation in the disciplines they wish to teach.
Quality teaching, however, requires more than subject knowledge.
Teachers must be able to help children learn subject matter. This
requires that students preparing to teach are sensitive to cultural and
linguistic diversity, understand how children learn, are educated on the
subject of child and adolescent development, and are knowledgeable
about classroom management techniques. To this end, providing students
with teaching experiences in actual classroom settings is essential. A
graduated sequence of clinical experiences, developed through robust
partnerships with P-12 schools, should begin early and extend throughout
the preparation program. Faculty with experience in P-12 schools should
guide and supervise students in clinical experiences, and should
evaluate student performance relative to teaching standards.
Quality teacher preparation programs reflect an understanding that
novice teachers need mentoring and support through professional
development that is sustained, intensive, classroom-based and directly
related to helping a wide range of diverse learners meet achievement
standards. Quality programs also create local partnerships with P-12
schools to offer ongoing professional development that assists
individual teachers to improve their practice, and supports district and
state content and achievement standards while being responsive to
community needs.
Quality teacher preparation programs evaluate their graduates’
teaching proficiency and effectiveness in promotion P-12 student
learning, and use results to improve local programs and the profession.
Graduates and their employers are contacted regularly to gather
information for program improvement. They utilize best practices
developed locally and nationally to provide students with the most
current and credible professional preparation possible.