User:Kgrr/Transforming Teacher Education

Who is currently recruited to teach?
Teaching is probably one of the largest professions in the United States. Teaching continues to be a preferred career choice by many college students and graduates. There is no shortage of individuals interested in educating the youth of our country; the shortage occurs in the number of individuals who are able to reach their goal of becoming a teacher.

Teaching in the public K-12 system requires a college degree and some additional training. Several states require teacher candidates to pass one or more standardized or competency tests. Some states, such as California, require a basic skills test, a subject matter competency test, and an English Language Learner test. In addition, some states require a fifth year of practicum teaching, which is done without pay and supervised by an experienced teacher and a college supervisor.

Current practice in teacher selection and recruitment is best described as a multi-tiered, class-based teacher selection system. Suburban schools recruit credentialed teachers who demonstrate strong communication skills and are nurturing. Because of the extensive and costly requirements for achieving a teaching credential, most teachers are White and middle class, and  they lften select suburban schools, because the student population resembles a familiar community of learners, reminiscent of their own childhood learning experiences. Urban school districts, where many students are of low socio-economic status and often minorities, hire teachers who lack experience in an urban school environment and lack experience with a culturally diverse population. A larger proportion of the teachers hired in urban public schools have little teaching experience, and are afforded fewer professional development opportunities for issues such as cultural relevance and diversity strategies in teaching. Many of the teachers recruited to teach in urban districts leave within a few months or a year. Their flight from urban schools can be attributed to numerous sources including: their lack of preparedness for teaching in the urban classroom environment, lack of support, lack of supplies, and the presentation of alternate employment opportunities. Urban public schools are not often afforded the opportunity to hire individuals from urban environments who entered the field of teaching and have a vested interest in educating urban youth. Whereas, suburban public and private schools generally hire teachers with a background similar to their students. Nationwide, private schools are free from credentialing laws and other requirements. These schools are able to hire individuals who demonstrate an interest in teaching and a willingness to spend time nurturing the students academically and socially. Most private schools hire college graduates, but are not required to do so. They are able to hire whomever they deem appropriate for the position.

Urban school districts around the country are faced with an immense challenge in the area of teacher recruitment and retention. Teacher recruitment techniques used by public school's Human Resources departments include: the internet, newspapers, public advertising, college fairs and teacher fairs. Programs, such as "Teach for America", recruit potential teachers from private and public universities, however the pool of accepted recruits are primarily White. The absence of minority teachers has been attributed by some to greater opportunities in other careers and a low respect factor associated with the teaching profession. Others, such as Cole (1986), highlight the increase in racial disparity between the population of students and teachers, stating that there are African American, Latino, Asian, and other minorities who would enter the teaching profession but are kept out by stringent rules and requirements that serve as organizational barriers between the classroom and these individuals. The question as to whether there is an issue of low recruitment of minority teachers or a barrier for minorities looking to enter the field of teaching has gained great notoriety since the 1980's. Failure to pass basic skills and other standardized testing has made more than half of the minority candidates ineligible to step into the teaching field. By ethnicity, White teacher candidates pass the Praxis at the highest rate and African American at the lowest. The teacher application pool is disproportionately White prior to testing and current testing practices further create homogeneity in the teacher candidate pool. Though stringent rules and specific passing scores on standardized tests are enforced, they are not empirically proven to increase effective teaching in the classroom and have often been arbitrarily determined.

In 1977 minority teachers constituted approximately 12.2% of the total number of teachers. By the end of the 20th century, the national teacher population was approximately 90% White and 74% female. Yet nearly 35% of the students in classrooms are minorities: 16% African American; 14% Hispanic; 3.8% Asian/Pacific Islander; 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native. Today, about one third of all students in the United States are children of color. It is predicted that if current trends continue, by the year 2020, students of color will make up approximately 46% of the public school population while less than 5% of the teachers will be of color.

In addition to the challenges faced by urban districts in recruiting a teaching staff with an ethnic makeup that mirrors that of their student population, the teacher turnover rate is steadily rising for teachers. New teachers have not been prepared by their teacher education program to work in urban schools where jobs are the most plentiful. The situation continues to worsen, by the nineties, the percentage of teachers leaving the field exceeded those entering by 23 percent.

Many critics of the current system question why school districts around the country are recruiting international teachers instead of seeking to create an environment where individuals of color within the United States that are looking to enter teaching are able to do so. Antelope Valley Union High School District in California recruits math and special-education teachers from the Philippines, while the state of California continues to turn away minorities graduating from their universities that are interested in teaching but could not surpass strict testing score and un-paid teaching requirements. Bryan Independent School District in Texas has an exchange program with a university in Mexico developed for the recruitment of teachers. Bryan's program hires between eight to twelve teachers a year whose first language is Spanish, so they can help immigrant students in English language acquisition. The state of Utah recruits teachers from Mexico to assist in the acclimation and learning for bilingual and Spanish-speaking, students. According to the American Federation of Teacher's Report (2009), there are more than 19,000 teachers working in the U.S. with work-immigration visas.

Hiring procedures, teacher recruitment and retention efforts, and the lack of minority teachers entering the teaching field are all indicative of a dire need for change. The planning, research, and implementation of new processes in the area of teacher recruitment and retention could provide for long-term sustainable change in the landscape of teaching.

Who trains them?
Zeichner (2010) answered this question by pointing out that many university teacher education programs are staffed by graduate students, temporary staff, or part-time staff. Many of these individuals do not have a passion for education as a field of study. Others have spent a limited amount of time in teacher preparation programs. Positions that are staffed by individuals with an advanced degree do not have a job requirement stipulating experience in teaching methodology and pedagogy or specific classroom teaching experience. Zeichner (2010) suggests three changes to improve teacher education programs: learn about the community, gain a greater understanding of content knowledge, and use practitioner knowledge to assist new teachers.

The current trend in teacher education needs to be updated. Teacher candidates in student teacher positions must gain maximum experience from university coursework connections and student teaching experiences. Often, students in teacher education programs leave with a toolbox full of theory, but little understanding of the realities of classroom teaching. The United States teacher education system makes the assumption that good teaching practice is best understood through a semester long observation of a master teacher and out-of-context theory.

What are they taught about students and how to teach them?
Critics state that teachers of the 21st century are not always taught enough about students and how they learn. Prior to becoming classroom instructors, teachers must successfully complete teacher education training programs, but they often do not have sufficient background to tackle tougher student achievement issues revolving around diversity. Often, teacher education programs focus on: developing and maintaining learner-centered classrooms, planning curriculum scope, sequence of instruction, and developing individual organization systems for students and classrooms. The 21st century learning program must include more: advancements in technology, in-depth knowledge of critical thinking skills, learning aspects related to problem solving, and multicultural training.

In an effort to prepare teachers for the diversity of students in current public schools, many teacher education programs do require a field experience (student teaching experience) with diverse students who are of low socioeconomic status, and who often speak English as a second language. Although student teaching is mandated in many teacher education programs, according to Sleeter (2008) it is often not lengthy enough to move the prospective teacher from a culture-shocked, egocentric experience to a diversity-focused prospective. A year long experience, as opposed to a semester long experience, would facilitate future teachers in gaining valuable insight into their students' cultures and histories, thus enabling them to be stronger teachers.

Teacher education programs that have diversity and equity in education issues woven meaningfully throughout their program are more successful at preparing teachers for the diversity of the public schools by aiding in teachers' abilities to acclimate to the cultural realities of teaching. These education programs include language development processes and how to shape teaching methods that are built upon students' differing cultural backgrounds, linguistic skills and varying academic abilities.

Teaching is no longer a matter of memorization, but an application of knowledge, the ability to take knowledge to the next level and the ability to apply it in the classroom. There is a call for innovative methods of teaching and learning, which address the diversity of the student population in the United States. When pre-service teachers graduate from college, the theory and the practice of teaching often do not mesh. Future successes of individuals entering the teaching profession will require a collaborative effort to develop processes for bridging the gap between university teacher education programs and actual classroom practice. This collaborative effort should lead to rethinking how teachers are prepared for, and supported in, classroom instruction.

What are they taught about specific methods for getting across their own subjects?
Teachers are taught many conflicting messages about students. For example, at one point they are often taught that socio-economic level plays a pivotal role in a child's educational progress; but at a different point in their career, or when the "powers that be" decide, they are taught that socio-economic levels are important, but not critical to the success of a student. Teachers are not always taught the truth about students; during their teacher education programs and later in their careers they are at the mercy of a "guiding" educational thought process. Many school systems subscribe to the Ruby Payne, Kayleen Beers, or Kaegan strategies and ideologies, just to name a few leading educational gurus. Interestingly, the gurus determine what educational theory and teaching methodologies potential teachers will be taught, and what they are taught guides the teaching pedagogy they employ throughout their teaching career.

According to Watson & Bradley (2009) instructional strategies (pre-viewing text, highlighting text, determining essential questions, concept mapping, think-pair-share, response cards, thumbs up/down, etc.) are merely introduced theoretically. It is an unfounded presumption that teacher education courses create an environment where teachers-in-training are employing these strategies within their own education. After a cursory theoretical introduction, it is not reasonable to assume that teachers will have the ability to effectively implement these strategies within their teaching methodology with students.

The "empty vessel" idea seems to still be dominant in teacher education programs at many universities. There is much discussion as to how multicultural and multilingual students might be, however there is very little real time practicum with student teaching tasks and activities designed to address diversity within the student population. Teachers are taught what to teach students as though they are empty vessels, and very little is presented explaining how to build upon students' prior knowledge and background. In addition, behavior issues and school violence are rarely a part of teacher training. In order to train today's teachers, it is imperative that school safety issues are addressed. Behavior management is not an offered course in many pre-service programs. Teachers must be prepared to deal with safety issues that arise in a productive manner. Also, pre-service teachers and teachers are taught a great deal about child development (elementary) and pedagogy around content (secondary), but very little time is spent learning how to measure and improve student motivation.

Nothing at the college level prepares pre-service teachers for what happens the day they walk into their first classroom. The fact of the matter is, many of the resources that should be given are unavailable, especially in poverty stricken schools. You learn to teach when you enter the doors of your first class, and subsequently each year thereafter. It is argued by many that the transformation of schools will not take place until teachers at the pre-service level are taught strategies that are best suited for urban environments ( Jenks, Lee, and Kanpol, 2001). Teacher education programs need to properly prepare pre-service teachers for what lies ahead when they enter the field of teaching. Lack of preparation for behavior management and discipline strategies that work in the classroom contributes greatly to the high turnover rate of teachers. Students are failed by the educational system when teachers are not adequately prepared for the challenge of teaching in an urban classroom.

Is there a difference between the selection and training of teachers for richer and poorer youngsters?
Private schools extend educational concerns beyond the classroom and hire teachers based on a candidate's: commitment to advancing the moral and intellectual formation of students, academic credentials, teaching and coaching experience, and additional extracurricular interests. What a private school is really looking for are teachers who can teach. Research has shown that good teachers are professionals blessed with superb verbal abilities. Put another way, they know how to communicate their subject extremely well. That has little or nothing to do with certification. Coming in right behind superb verbal abilities is experience. A private school principal will value these two attributes far more than he will mere teacher training or education courses (www.about.com). Private schools hire teachers who are passionate about what they teach, but are not necessarily licensed in that area; however, they do normally require a bachelor's degree. Private schools will hire a teacher without the certification required by public schools and most state education authorities take a hands off approach. The bottom line is that private schools can hire whoever they wish. Private schools are generally exempt from meeting State licensing standards. For secondary school teacher jobs, they prefer candidates who have a bachelor's degree in the subject they intend to teach, or in childhood education for elementary school teachers. They seek candidates from among recent college graduates, as well as from those who have established careers in other fields. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Ed.). Teachers that are selected to teach students in public schools are subjected to stringent rules and regulations by the school board, state, and federal government. All 50 States and the District of Columbia require public school teachers to be licensed. Licensure is not required for teachers in most private schools. Usually licensure is granted by the State Board of Education or a licensure advisory committee. Teachers may be licensed to teach the early childhood grades (usually preschool through grade 3); the elementary grades (grades 1 through 6 or 8); the middle grades (grades 5 through 8); a secondary-education subject area (usually grades 7 through 12); or a special subject, such as reading or music (usually grades kindergarten through 12). Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11 Ed.). Many studies have been conducted observing teacher and student interaction, but the value of a teaching certificate qualifying a teacher as effective is also questioned. According to (Abell, 2000) in a study of Maryland teachers, having a teaching certificate does not always ensure quality teachers. Although the research about teacher certification lacks substance, its impact on who can teach in (Maryland) classrooms is both tangible and troublesome. The State's insistence that teachers be fully certified is costly; the benefits are purely speculative. Maryland’s hands-off policy toward private school teachers contrasts with its active regulatory role a propos other facets of private schools. The State imposes substantial restrictions on private schools (see box) but, other than a criminal background check and a bachelor’s degree, private school teachers do not have to meet any State criteria to determine if they are qualified to teach. Perhaps this dichotomy indicates that even the State is ambivalent about certification’s value.

As Aus and Blake (2003) indicate students in high-poverty schools are twice as likely (20% versus 11%) to learn from inexperienced teachers,⁵ teachers who have 3 or less years of teaching, or teachers who are not certified.

Public schools around the nation are forced to adhere to employment practices that require a teacher to hold a credential, while most private schools are not. The majority of private schools, where the elite send their children, do not require their teachers to hold a teaching credential. They have the ability to hire teachers based on their knowledge of the specific courses they are teaching, and their classroom presence. In spite of their non-standardized approach to hiring, they turn out well-rounded and well-educated students. Since public schools do not have such leeway with hiring, the few qualified (credentialed) White middle-class teachers that are available, tend to seek positions in suburban areas. It seems unfortunate that urban schools that are in desperate need of permanent teachers do not have any degree of flexibility in their hiring practices. Many feel that the national push for standardized competency testing of teachers actually has a hidden agenda to prevent a majority of would-be non-white teachers from successfully making it into the teaching field. It is well known that standardized tests, as they are written today and in the past, are skewed to such a degree that those who are wealthy and White score higher on the exams. Yet, these exams are used by approximately 43 states nationwide for teacher credentialing. There has never been any link shown between high scores on these tests and true competency in the classroom, nevertheless, there is an incessant push for more and more standardized competency testing of teachers. With the rise of standardized testing in teacher credentialing the teaching force is becoming increasing White (Epstein, 2005).

How long do people stay in teaching?
According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (2009), some estimates indicate that over a third of the nation's teachers leave the profession within three years. From 1987 to 2004, the number of teachers leaving the profession YEARLY?? rose from 140,000 to 250,000; an increase of 110,000 teachers. This trend was not due entirely to retirement. More recent research suggests that approximately 46 percent of teachers leave teaching by the end of their 5th year. There are important factors identified as reasons for teachers leaving the profession. According to the annual 2004-2005 follow-up survey of teacher attrition and mobility from the U.S. Department of Education, factors for leaving the teaching profession included: retirement, family issues, pregnancy/child rearing, salary/benefits, job dissatisfaction, and interest in moving into a better job either inside or outside of education. Many of these same teachers were concerned about issues such as: low salaries, student discipline problems, lack of support, and little opportunity to participate in decision making. Interestingly, similar reasons were attributed to teachers leaving the field in the years of 2000-2001. Other reasons cited for leaving the teaching field were dissatisfaction with: amount of available planning time, heavy workload, and lack of influence over school policy.

When looking at the trend of individuals entering teaching; surveys suggest that 32%-47% of states across the nation have mid-career age individuals as prospective teachers, as opposed to those fresh out of college. Many of these individuals have been in the work-world in areas such as: technology, finance, law, and management. As prior professionals, they have had the opportunity to work in a setting where they were respected, well-equipped and well paid. Within urban areas, teacher retention is lower than in other locations. There were some disturbing statistics revealed by the University of Chicago's consortium on Chicago School Research's Study, The Schools Teachers Leave. According to the report on the plight of teachers in Chicago, more than half of all teachers in the Chicago public school system leave within five years. In high-poverty areas and highly populated African-American schools, half of all teachers leave after only three years. Some of the reasons indicated as leading to the high levels of teacher turnover were lack of parent responsiveness in elementary schools, students' misbehavior, and safety problems in the high schools.

The National Commission Report and others like it provide a stark outlook regarding the future of teacher recruitment and retention efforts. If PUBLIC?? universities truly understood the impact of their actions on the future of quality educators, they might provide greater access to alternatives programs for teacher education.

Critiques of teacher education
Critiques from professionals in the field of education who work with and supervise new teaching candidates are diverse. Many feel that candidates display a lack of training and preparation for teaching impoverished students, as well as multi-cultural and multi-linguistic students. Many feel that teacher training courses do not sufficiently address how to vertically align coursework and differentiate instruction for students. As Darling-Hammond (2006)⁷ demonstrates; teachers share that they are not ready to face the challenges of urban schools, with only about 20% of teachers reporting they feel confident in working with students from diverse backgrounds or students with disabilities.

Additionally, little information is provided in teacher education programs on the hiring and evaluation processes for public school teachers and the practices and skills necessary for successful teaching interviews. Very few incentives for remaining in the field of teaching are evidenced in teacher training programs. Lastly, no consistently defined teacher education program exists for all fifty states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington D.C.

Teachers' lack of training in cultural relevance when they exit college with a B.A. is all the more reason why cultural relevance should be a prominent part of teacher education programs. While it would be difficult to inform teachers about every single culture that exists; states should look at their student demographics and better align teacher education coursework to target those student populations. For example, there are many students of Haitian, Mexican, and Cuban heritage attending school in Florida. To prove more effective, Florida teacher education programs could require multi-cultural coursework that provides teachers with cultural information enabling them to better work with Haitian, Mexican, and Cuban students. Creating such requirements may seem like more work, but it would mean prospective teachers actually have to learn about the cultures of their future students and not teach based upon personal stereotypes or pre-existing biases. While it would take a lot of work and effort to revamp teacher education programs, in the end it would be worthwhile and the change would provide a necessary experience for future teachers.

Knowing what critiques exist of teacher training programs, yet doing nothing to address these critiques and remedy the problems, is more serious then the issues themselves.

What do other countries do?
International schools that department of defense children, diplomatic children, and the children of the wealthy attend are accredited by U.S. accreditation groups, such as WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges). These schools are transplanted American public schools considered private in their respective international location. One consulting company for international schools, ISS (International Schools Services), places both American and Canadian teachers and administrators. For the most part, the only difference between these international schools and public schools in the states is their location. As a result of this set-up, the responsibility to become involved in the community and culture of the country is left to the American and Canadian teachers and administrators. Involvement in the community and culture of the country is not something that would be required. If an American teacher abroad worked in an international school with American curriculum, the teacher could choose to surround himself/herself only with Americanism.

The results of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) study indicate that there is a great deal of comparative data available on many countries and the study show that the U.S. falls short in the education system on many levels. The data from the study is up-to-date and uses several indicators of measurement. These indicators include: 1. To what level adults have studied. 2. Percentage of students finishing secondary education and accessing tertiary education. 3. Percentage of students finishing tertiary education. 4. Profiles of 15-year-old top performers in science. 5. Motivation and attitudes of top performers in science. 6. Participation in education and its marketplace effects. 7. Economic benefits of education. 8. Incentives to invest in education. 9. Social outcomes of education.

The public school system in other countries varies considerably. The amount of time spent in school for many children in other countries is greater than in the states. The time spent in school plays a key role in a successful education.

Regarding teacher testing and licensing procedures, a great variety exists among nations. In the nation of Singapore there are licensing requirements but no testing requirements. In the city of Hong Kong, there are no testing or licensing requirements for teachers at any level. Teachers are only required to have extensive content area knowledge. In China, elementary school teachers only need a high school diploma as long as they can pass testing and licensing requirements and have strong knowledge in the specific content area. To teach in lower secondary school in China, a teacher needs an associates degree and for upper secondary school a bachelors degree. This fact is interesting, because it is frequently suggested how much stronger the Chinese school system is than that of the United States. In the U.S. there are much stricter requirements to get into teaching, yet Chinese teachers and schools are producing more academically prepared capable students. Less than 5% of China's elementary teachers are certified and have at least a bachelors degree, yet their 8th grade science scores where ranked the top in the world and Chinese mathematics scores were ranked third. Meanwhile, the U.S. was ranked near the bottom in student performance in both science and mathematics.

Proposals for Change
The credentialing requirements have created a situation of institutional racism within this country. Programs such as “alternative certifications”, although helpful, will not end the problems that have arisen from the racist practices employed in the teaching profession. There have been many successful uprising which have created significant changes in other institutionally racist practices in this country. Epstein (2005) promotes “organized resistance” to change the current exclusionary practices of credentialing. There was a major lawsuit filed on behalf of 40,000 individuals of color who were denied employment in California based on scores on the CBEST. Although the lawsuit was not successful, there were changes made in the testing to prevent future lawsuits. These types of organized resistance are needed to make permanent changes in the representativeness of the teaching force in America. Although there are claims that education is a priority in this country, universities and society in general look down on educators. Due to the current negative attitude towards educators and the lack of prestige associated with degrees earned by people in education, the majority of promising individuals who attend college do not choose to pursue a degree in education. Since the academically strong students are not in education, neither are the strong educators. After getting the universities on-board with the idea of placing some emphasis on the teacher education programs, it is necessary to have rigorous standards in-place for individuals who are in the programs. There also needs to be a focus on redesigning the field experience of pre-service teacher education students similar to the way a surgeon in training practices performing surgery. There also needs to be training in child psychology and development beyond the cursory level currently utilized in teacher education programs. The final recommended ingredient in this new plan for improving teacher education is to create financial incentives for public schools to hire newly trained teachers in groups of seven or more so that they can benefit from being engaged in a high energy community. This will provide them with individuals to work and grow with, and help keep them in a particular school long term (Engel, 2009). Incorporating multiple field experiences, preferably including cross-cultural community based options, would provide prospective teachers with greater understanding and sensitivity towards students’ capabilities, strengths and interests. Case studies of teachers who participated in cross-cultural community based field experience showed a considerable shift in classroom teaching style from a banking style of teaching to a more engaging style of teaching that bridged academics and culture. (Sleeter, C. E. Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education 54 (8), 1947-1957)

In addition, cross-cultural community based options should be designed to extend teaching and learning beyond the school in order to include the family, and community in the knowledge development of students. According to Boyle-Baise (2005) community oriented teacher education programs prepare pre-service teachers to become culturally responsive with funds of knowledge, or the consciousness of the cultural backgrounds, personal identities, and local contexts of the students they serve (p.447).

The following people have contributed to this article. Veneschia Bryant Jeffrey Burris ThyJuan Harris Eddy McLachlan LaVoreen A. McPherson Kathryn Mendoza Tamiquia Simon