Des Moines Register
10-05-06
Let's work to improve education of our teachers
By DAVID WHALEY
IOWA VIEW
Arthur Levine, the former president of Teachers College, Columbia University,
made national news recently by announcing the results of a four-year study that
alarmingly reported that teacher-education programs at colleges and universities
nationwide are inadequately preparing new teachers.
While some teacher educators have been angry at such a critical conclusion, we
should carefully examine Levine's report and, where needed, implement
changes. This is a welcomed opportunity to critique teacher-education programs
and improve the preparation of new teachers, such as those here in Iowa.
Today's teachers, according to Levine, come from programs where the
"curriculum is in disarray, faculty are disconnected from the realities of PreK-12
grade schools, and quality control is lacking." Levine criticized programs as
having an "outdated and historically flawed vision" in light of the rapid
transformations taking place in national and global demographics, economies,
sciences and technologies. Yet the nation is facing a serious demand for
teachers - nearly 200,000 a year.
Levine has issued a call to the nation's university-based teacher-education
programs to transform their programs to ensure the efficacy of new teachers who
will directly affect our children's preparedness to enter today's workplace and
global society.
He's right. We can do better - both for and by our teachers.
The conditions for beginning teachers have been described as grim and
challenging. New teacher assignments are often the most difficult in their
schools, and all for an average annual salary of about $27,000. Yet, in Iowa
teachers average 15 years of experience. This is remarkable since 14 percent of
new teachers nationwide leave after the first year, and 50 percent are gone after
five years.
Some may not stay because - as Levine suggests - they may not be properly
prepared.
At Iowa State University, an overarching vision for teacher education is the
recognition that high-quality teachers produce high levels of student learning.
Thus, there is an ongoing urgency by faculty to ensure that ISU teacher-
education graduates possess the skills and tools essential in today's schools.
This requires that the curriculum is coherent - the content of one course builds on
the content of another - and the practice and theory of pedagogy are fully
integrated and embedded within relevant courses. Further, this curriculum
emphasizes heavily the knowledge and skills of the specific teaching area - such
as music, English, etc. - with coursework and field experiences in teaching
strategies, assessment, technology, diversity and much more.
During their prescribed "field experiences," teacher candidates assume roles first
as observers and teacher aides and then later as "student-teachers" - having
responsibilities for preparing, teaching and assessing lessons under the tutelage
of mentor teachers. This gives them the chance to fully experience, firsthand,
classroom successes and failures - and how they can learn from those
experiences to become even better teachers.
The ISU teacher-education program has a legacy of success, but it, too, needs to
continually transform itself to ensure highly effective teachers. We continue to
ask questions as to how we can better prepare teachers to meet the demands of
today's students - the whole point of Levine's report.
As an example, we're now more vigorously seeking true partnerships in school
settings. This semester, two assistant professors - one in math education and
one in reading literacy - have joined together at a local elementary school to offer
a combined teaching-methods course that integrates both math and reading. We
need to do more of this.
While Levine's report has shown us that teacher education may be in troubled
times, the collective input it provided should make us want to roll up our sleeves
and get back to the important work of advancing teacher-education programs
nationally.
DAVID WHALEY is associate dean for teacher education, College of Human
Sciences, Iowa State University.