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QtongreS'S' of tbe ilniteb
WIDnsbington,
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November 9; 1999
President William Jefferson Clinton.
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
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Dear Mr. President:
We write to you today to ensure that teache~s that are hired under the Class Size Reduction
program are "fully qualified," as defined in H.R. 2390, the Democratic substitute to H.R. 199 ,
the Teacher Empowennent Act. While the class size reduction program funded in the FY 99
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act requires the use of
"highly qualified teachers" to reduce class size, there is no further definition. However, a
consensus definition of a "fully qualified teacher" was reached during House consideration of
teacher training legislation, and it obtained strong support from the House Democratic Caucus.
We encourage you and the conferees to include this provision into the Class Size Reduction
program. It is consistent with the Administration's efforts to improve the quality of teaching in the
Title I progr~, and other Administration and state efforts to improve the recruitment and training
of high quality new teachers.
The link between teacher quality and student achievement is well documented. Goodteachers who
know their subjects can help students make enonnous gains. Like you, webelieve that smaller
classes will help students achieve at higher levels, but we also believe that smaller classes lead by
fully qualified teachers would lead to even greater gains for our students~ The inclusion of this .
provision will ensure that only high quality teachers are hired for this program and the success of
this very important initiative. The success of the Class Size Reduction program, like every other
education refonn, ultimately rests on the quality of the teacher in the classroom.
The Clinton Administration and New Democrats have been partners in reforining public education
through standards-based refonns, accountability, 'and competition. We applaud your leadership on
this issue which is so vital to our nation's success in the New Economy, and look forward to
continued work with you in strengthening public education.
Sincerely,
Cal Dooley
Member of Congress
'2//. /J
I ~
Ron Kind
.'
Member of Congress
Davis
ember of Congress
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
�86
1.
"(F) firie arts (music, dance, drama, and
2
the ':visual arts).
3
"(3)
4
FUT.lLY
QUALIFIED.-The
term
'fully
qualified'
. "CA.. ) when used with respect to an elemen·
5
6
tary or secondary school .teacher, means that·
7
the teacher ·has obtained ·ccrtifieation or passed
8
the State licensing exam and holds a license;
9 .
and
"(B) when used 'with respect to-
10
II
"(i) an· elementary school teacher,·
12
. means t.hat the. teacher holds a bachelor's
13
degree and demonstrates genel'al knowl·
14
edge, teaching skill, and subject matter
15
knowledge required to teach at the eh~men-
16
tary school level the academic 'subjects de
17
scribed in subpai·a.graphs (A) t.hroug·h (D)
,
18
of paragraph (2); or
19
"(ii) a middle or secondary school
20
teacher. means that the teacher holds a
21
bachelor's degl'ee and demonstrates
22
level of competency in all subject areas. in
23
which he or she teaches through
-IIR 2390 IH
a hig'h
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87
1
"(I) a high lcvel of performance
2
on a ngorous academic sub,ject area
3
test; or
4
"(II) completion of an academic
5
major in each of the subject areas in
6
, which he or she provides instruction.
7
' "( 4)
HIGH-POv"'ERTY
LOCAL
EDUGATION,,\L
8
AGENCY.-The 'term 'high-poverty local educational
9
agency' means a local educational agency in \vhich
10
"(A) the percentage of children, ages 5'
11
through 17, from families below thc poverty
12
level (as defined by the Office of Management
13
and Budget and revised annually in accordance
14
\'lith section 67:3(2) of the Community Services
15
Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applica
16
ble to a family of the size: involved for the most
.,
17
recent fiscal vear for which satisfactorY data
18
are available is 33 perccnt or greater; or ,
"
,
,
"(B) the number of such children exceeds
19
20
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10,000.
"(5) LOW-PERFOR)!ING LOCAL EDUCATION_-\L
22
AGENCY.-The
23
cationalagency' means
·RR 2390 IH
term
'low-performing
local
edu
�-'
Preliminary Agenda
PRESIDENTS' SUMMIT
ON T,EACHER QUALITY
Hotel Washington
515 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC
Wednesday, September 15, 1999
3:00 to 6: 15 pm
Registration
Washington Room Foyer
5:00 to 6: 15 pm
Opening Session
Washington Room
Welcome
Terry Dozier, Special Advisor on Teaching
U.S. Department of Education
Remarks
Richard W. Riley
U.S. Secretary of Education
Setting the Context
•. Compelling Research on Effective Teachers and Their Impact
Daniel Fallon, Professor of Public Affairs
University of Maryland-College Park
• Audience Q&A
6:30 to 8:00 pm
~/'RecePtion"
.
Indian Treaty Room
Old Executive Office Building
Thursday, September 16, 1999
Washington Room
8:00 to 8:30 am
Coffee and Breakfast
8:30 to 9:15 am
Remarks
Washington Room
Senator James Jeffords (R-VT)
Se'nator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
�9: 15 to 10:45 am
Panel Discussion
Washington Room
Local Challenges. Local Solutions·
What kinds of leadership do local schools and districts expect
higher education to provide to improve teacher quality and teacher
education? What is the role of college and university presidents?
In this panel, a university chancellor will raise these questions with
higher education leaders and panelists who work with teachers in
our public schools. Why is teacher quality so important? Why is
the leadership of college and university presidents so important?
Wh';lt's missing?
Moderator: Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Panelists:
Tom Mooney, President
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers
Roderick Paige, Superintendent
Houston Independent School District
Margaret Cozzens, Provost
University of Colorado-Denver
Diane Natalicio, President
University of Texas-El Paso
Joseph Wyatt, Chancellor
Vanderbilt University
10:45 to 11 :00 am
Transition time
11:00 to 12:30 pm
Small Group Discussions (As Assigned)
From Example to Action
Each session will begin with a case study designed to provoke
discussion and generate concrete steps that presidents can
implement on their own campuses to address the issues raised.
Three small group sessions will each be held twice. Participants
will be assigned to groups and have the opportunity.to attend two
of the three discussions.
.
�·
.
1) Mission and Structure
For higher education institutions, the.overarching challenge is to
bring the preparation of teachers back to the position it once held
in American higher education - as a core mission function that
involves all segments of the campus and has the active support of
top university leaders. What is the role of college and university
presidents in elevating teacher education on university and college
campuses?
GROUP A
Facilitator:
Resource:
GROUP B
Facilitator:
Resource:
Caucus Room
Linda Bunnell Shade, Chancellor
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Michael Timpane, Senior Advisor
RAND Corporation, Washington, DC
Council Room
Norman Francis, President
Xavier University
. Ed Crowe, Director
Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement Programs
U.S. Department of Education
2) Partnerships
Preparing teachers who are ready for the challenges of today's
classrooms requires the commitment and action of the schools of
education and the arts and sciences as well as the active
involvement of local schools. How can presidents use partnerships
to improve teacher education programs?
GROUP A
Facilitator:
Resource:
GROUP B
Facilitator:
Resource:
Parkview Room
Susan Cole, President
Montclair State University
Charles Coble, Vice President, University-School
Relations, University of North Carolina
Suite 331
Betty Siegel, President
Kennesaw State University
Marsha Levine, Director
Professional Development Schools, NCA TE
�3) Accountability
Taking responsibility for high-quality teacher preparation requires
that we find appropriate ways to measure whether we have
succeeded. As accountability for teachers and the institutions that
prepare them increases, what is the role of presidents, both inside
institutions and in the larger community, in promoting
accountability?
GROUP A
Facilitator:
Resource:
GROUP B
Facilitator:
Resource:
12:30 to 1:45 pm
Suite 334
Christopher Dahl, President
State University of New York-Geneseo
Calvin Frazier, Senior Consultant
Education Commission of the States
Suite 820
Sister Joel Reed, President
Alvemo College
Saul Cohen, Regent-at-Large
New York State Board of Regents
Lunch
Washington Room
Panel Discussion
Presidents and Statewide Systemic Change
What role can college and university presidents play in the broader
context to improve teacher quality? How and why does a president
become an advocate for improved teaching and teacher education
beyond his or her own campus or system? These and other
questions will be posed by a university chancellor to his colleagues
representing three university systems that are working beyond their
own campuses to have a positive impact on teacher quality.
Moderator: Charles Reed, Chancellor
California State University System
Panelists:
Stephen Portch, Chancellor
University of Georgia System
Molly Broad, President
University of North Carolina System
Donald Langenberg, Chancellor
University of Maryland System
�ir,-........-----______________________________________
/
1:45 to 2:00 pm
Transition time
2:00 to 3:30 pm
Small Group Discussions (As Assigned)
Repeat of the morning topics
3:30 to 3:45 pm
Transition time
3:45 to 4:30 pm
Next Steps and Closing Remarks
Washington Room
Secretary Richard Riley
The 1999 Presidents' Summit on Teacher Quality has been made possible by the U.S.
Department of Education and a grant from BellSouth Foundation
�\
IZ-~~ I i:Yf-NIS Accepts
9/9/99
.11.,.
Benjamin F.
Tuskegee University
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
State
• Hayward
• Fresno
Lesh·Laurie
Shade
JnI\/."",ITV
~
~
of Colorado
University of Colorado
at Colorado Springs
McClenney
Page 1
�••
Accepts
Page 2
9/9/99
�Accepts
University of Maine at
Farmington
9/9/99
li'-I
President
Jrll\f. . r',IfV
of Maryland
Springfield College
IWr'AAil'll"J<
MargaretA.
IIVI~i~~'~C;nusetts
College
Lesley College
Minnesota State
University. Mankato
ident
,~
Malcolm
Joe A.
celior Dale F,
Lee
Nitzschke
~
~
~
State College
~
Page 3
�Accepts
9/9/99
Anselm College
~
jPresident
!
J. Barton
President
Ronald L.
Kean University
~
!Susan
President
R. Barbara
iMontclair State
!University
Gitenstein
~
of New Jersey
i"-'l
President
John
President
~
Kappner
President
New Mexico
University
!Bank Street College of
!Education
i"-'l
Jackson
Evers College
Augusta
Edison O.
i"-'l
David A.
CUNY Hunter College
Ii?]
Molly
President
Carol A.
Corbett
Broad
~
Kent State University
~
Ohio State University
Ii?]
Page 4
�Accepts
9/9/99
University
University of Texas at
Brownsville
In"'Ar<mv
of Texas at
President
G.
,Merten
Robinson
IWI"",,,,n:h,
College
Ie State College
Page 5
~
�Accepts
Buchanan
IlJrI,ve.snv
9/9/99
of Wyoming
Page 6
.
�I
;.
Observer Accepts
.1
ASSO(:lal:10n of
IAnnArll"'-"l:n
Council on
Education
:AnnAru"!:!:n
Council on
Education
IAnnerlC"-"ln
Federation of
of American
IASSO(:latlon of Governing
Officer
Il::A",""um'"
Director
oell~oum
Leslie
Robert
Kronley
Foundation
BeliSouth Foundation
Foundation
It:.xec!JtI~'e
Director
II::OU(';<'IU~1fI
Division,
Corporation of New
IPrt",r"m Officer
Corporation of New
Page 1
9/9/99
�,<
Observer Accepts
9/9/99
~
Philps
ii?J
DeWitt Wa lIace-Reader's
Digest Fund
~
i
iFord Foundation
Suzanne
R
Day
Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee
Subcommittee on Children
Flores
Paul D.
nd Catherine T
r Foundation
nd Catherine T.
r Foundation
Lingenfolter
<
Koplik
Board of
Education
Ferrandino
Magrath
Association of State
ities and Land-Grant
National Council for
IAccreditation of Teacher
Education
~
ii?J
i
iMurray
Splele
Page 2
�Observer Accepts
Page 3
9/9/99
�10% professional development set-aside in Title I: key points
• Setting aside 10% of Title I funds for professional development would be a powerful vehicle
for accelerating the;Pace of reform in our nation's highest poverty schools, which is the
primary objective of the amendments in the Administration's Title I reauthorization proposal.
• Research indicates that qualified teachers are the most important in-school factor in
improving student achievement (Ferguson, 1991; NAS, 1998), and that high-quality
professional development focused on academic content improves instructional practice and
contributes to increased student achievement (Cohen and Hill, 1998; Kennedy, 1998).
• Data from the National Assessment of Title I indicates a need to increase funding for
professional development in high-poverty schools. For example, in 1998, only 37% of
teachers in schools enrolling 60% or more low-income students reported that they felt very
well prepared to implement state or district curriculum and perforniance standards.
• District 2 in New York City has had a highly-regarded professional development program in
place since the late 1980s. Independent research has shown that this. sustained, intensive,
content-based, collaborative program has contributed to significant improvements in student
achievement. In 1996, District 2 funds were spent on: (a) compensating teachers for time
spent in professional development activities, and compensation for substitute teachers who
replace teachers in the classroom while they are engaged in professional development
.
activities, (b) contracting for consulting services, either in the form of direct delivery of
instructional support to teachers and work with groups of teachers in schools or in the form
of summer workshops, (c) supporting a Professional Development Laboratory, and (d)
.
purchasing materials for use in professional development activities.
• In FY96, District 2 spent $2.3 million on professional development, or approximately $105
per student.
• A 10% set-aside for professional development in Title I combined with Title II Teaching to
High Standards formula funding would significantly improve the ability of high-poverty
districts to put in place professional development programs that replicate elements of high
quality programs like District 2's. Two examples:
• Atlanta, Georgia
:::::> Estimated allocation of Title
n formula funds, per child*
:::::> Title I set-aside, per poor child
:::::>
Title II formula funds + Title I set-aside, per poor child
$25
$66
$91
• Gary, Indiana
'.:::::> Estimated allocation of Title II formula funds, per child·
:::::> Title I set-aside, per poor child
:::::>
Title II formul~. funds + Title I set-aside, per poor child
I
*Does not include Title II competitive funds administered by States
$27
$93
$120
�Consider the problem of teachers
who are forced to teach subjects they
,
\ haven't studiect, Georgia, for example, allows teachers to spend up to '
'half their time teaching subjects out
of their field. Administrators often
consider teachers to be interchange
able parts, so they're comfortable as
signing a gym teacher to teach math,
for example. Richard Ingersoll, a pro
fessor of sociology at the University
of Georgia, compares this to a hospi
tal''S asking a podiatrist to, perform
brain surgery. More money won't end
these practices or make administra
tors treat teachers with respect. '
Some school districts have created
their own shortages. Some schools in
By John Merrow
Oakland, for example, didn't have
enough science teachers last year.
'Lt's
pu,t President' Clinton's,' ,Oakland's personnel office claimed
warning about the im- that it couldn't find qualified teach
,
pending .teacher short
ers, but I've met several certified
age in perspective, AI- SCience teachers who tried to apply
,
,
most every President ' for jobs in Oakland but couldn't get
since Harry Truman' mterviews. More money won't make
has sounded the same alarm, and
bureaucracies competent. ,
Teacher training is also a weak
somehow we have survived. Is the
danger real this time, or could this be
link. Most education schools train fu
another false alarm? '
ture teachers in lecture classes and
It's true that we will need 2.2
have them spend time with children
lion teachers over the next decade ' in real classrooms only in their last.
semester. Researchers, inclu9ing
be,cause of rising enrollments, the Im
Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor
mment retirement of many ·teachers
of education at Stanford, found that
and legislation mandating smaller
classes.
' ,
the best way to train teachers was to
It's also true that some parts 'of the' have them spend more time in
schools working with master teach
country are having difficulty finding
ers.
teachers, 'particularly those who
But this is one problem that can be
te~h math, SCience and special edu
solved with a better use of resources,
cation. As a result, many districts are
Universities regularly divert tuition
~iVing out emergency' credentials to
fill these positions. New York City has ~ pald by education majors into areas
like nursing, engineering and medi
10,000 such teachers, and in some
cine, Only about half of the tuition
schools in Oakland, Calif., half the
paid by education majors is used for
facul,ty is on emergency certification.
their training. Universities have no
Often school districts simply asSign
incentive to stop siphoning money
current faculty members to teach
from education schools, and addition
subjects out of their regular field of
al Federal money won't change that.
knowledge. By some estimates four
It's time we took action, A 1998
million students are being. taught es
survey of college freshmen .found
sential subjects by teachers who nei
that more than 10 percent of them
ther majored nor minored in the sub
,wanted to become teachers. We
jects they're teaching.
haven't seen that kind of eagerness
None of these facts, however, justi
to teach Since the early 1970's, Alter
fy the solution proposed by the Presi
native certification programs, which
dent and others: spending hundreds
train people to teach as 'a second
of millions of' dollars on recruiting
career, are turning away applicants
and training. Money may attract peo
for lack of space, In other words, '
teaching appeals to young and old,
We should act to see that the profes
sion itself is deserving of their ex
citement.
Money
'B
Can t uy I
G00d ''
':
Tcea'cher's
mil
\
The Clinton plan '
ignores education's
Core problems.
John Merrow, a former public school
teacher, is the host and executive
producer of "The Merrow Report," a
program on public television.
pIe into teaching, but the' odds are
they will be badly trained. The odds
are, even greater that they will be
assigned to the toughest schools and
- - - - ,~-_ _ ~he_mosLriifJ1r:llltsr.heih,lles",A!I.~a_re_
v'
suIt, according to a Department o f ' - - - - - -
Education study of teacher retention
22 percent will leave the teaching
profession within three years; from
30 to 50 percent will leave within five
years.
Simply put, nothing short of a com
plete overhaul will solve the problems
of the public schools. Extra money
alone will just keep the current medi
ocre system in place.
MO!,!DA'i', AUGUST 23,1999
�• .: ".I
'City on a Hill' May Not Have Room for All
Heir" (front page, Aug. 17): '
To the Editor:
You compare Gary L. Bauer, the
. Re "Casting Himself as a Reagan
i . . . ".
conservative Presidential candidate,
Heir" (front page, Aug. 17):
You report that Gary L. Bauer, the to Ronald Reagan.
Among their differences, you note
conservative Presidential candidate
that Mr. Bauer measures 5 foot 6 in
who borrows lines from Ronald Rea
height, while Mr. Reagan measures
gan, favors Mr. Reagan's compari
son of America to a "shining city on 6 foot I,' a difference that makes it Affordable Electricity
a hill." In fact, this comparis~n did , necessary for Mr. Bauer to "some
, not originate with Mr. Reagan but
times strain to be noticed."
As a liberal Democrat I am by no To the Editor:
'with John Winthrop, the first gover
An Aug. 17 news article on fuel cells
means a supporter of Mr. Bauer, but
nor of the colony of Massachusetts,
highlights the growing need for clean,
, who famously called Boston "the city
1 question your relating his height to high-quality and reliable sources of
on a hill"in a 1630 sermon aboard the
his political recognition.
. The venerable James Madison, , electricity. However, you fail to men
Arbella as it sailed to America,
who was twice elected President,
tion' that use of fuel cells is impeded by
,. Winthrop, a Puritan, seems like
'ly a political role' model for, Mr. was even shorter than Mr. Bauer: 5
policies that allow utility companies to
ANTHONY SCARIANO "
charge unjustifiably high rates to use
Bauer as Ronald Reagan. He, too, . foot 4.
Olympia Fields, Ill., Aug. 18, 1999 the grid as backup and impose expen; ,
wanted to legislate morality, work
'sive and unnecessary' requirements
ing to keep Massachusetts theocratic
for connecting the cells.
and banishing one of his colonists, ' ' When H.orne Is History
Gov. George E. Patakiand the New
Ann Hutchinson, for her religious be
York State Legislature can remove
GUY MAXTONE-GRAHAM
liefs.
these barriers by supporting Assem- ,
New York, Aug. 17, 1999 , To the Editor:
Re "For Historian, p,reservation blyman Steve C. Englebright's fair,
Meets Profit" (Big City column, Aug. competition bill and by, working to,
To the Editor:
Re "Casting Himself as a Reagan 19): Landmarking does not decrease change regulatory incentives so utili
property values, Most residences fall
'under landmark review because they ties can begin to view fuel cells as an
, are within historic districts, which opportunity 'to provide clean, afford',
Kissing Can't Hurt'
usuaUyhave relative,ly high values: able and reliable electricity service
------------- i
Yes, landmarking requirements may' rather than as a threat to the bottom
line.
NATHANAEL GREENE
To the Editor:
mean some increased costs for ma
. New York, Aug. 19, 1999
Why are Americans are so 'afraid
terials. But these materials pay for
of the kiss ("The High Anxiety' the!Dselves over time by lasting long
The writer is an energy policy aria
er and by protecting the character of Iyst at the Natural Resources De
Greeting," Op-Ed, Aug. 19)? Tracy
Charlton'S anxiety is a reflection of
the property.
fense Council.
our society's inability to express af
There are also some sources of
fection beyond the cold and imper
financial help for landmarked prop..,
sonal handshake. During a"recenL
erty owners. The New York City Convicts' DNA Cards'
semester in Europe, I was amazed at ' Landmarks Commission has grants
'the way acquaintan<::es greeted each
for facade work, and the Landmarks To the Editor:
other.
Conservancy has lent and granted
Your Aug. 16 editorial "Defects in
more than ill million to homeoWn
Even when I was introduced to a; 'ers, nonprofits, and businesses and the DNA Law" suggests that stain
cards containing offenders' DNA
friend's relatives, I received a kiss
religious institutions.
Preservationists are also pushing blood samples be destroyed upon
on the cheek. 'There is something
analysis to address a "grave civil
in Washington and Albany for home
about greeting another individual
owner tax credits for preservation liberties question." Yet such a strat
with a kiss that creates a relaxed and '
amicable atmosphere.
work.
' PEG BREEN egy would severely impair the future
We should take a,lesson from Eu
' 'President of New York State.'s DNA databank:
ropeans and not be afraid to express
New York Landmarks Conservancy
Since the establishment of DNA
our feelings.
'
,,
Ne\V York, Aug. 19, 1999 databanks over the 'last decade, the
This may just hei~bring about the • '
scientific methodologies for DNA
kinder, gentler New York we have'
analysis of the samples have
been waiting for, , STEVEN HABER'
, changed no less than three time's.lf
Bronx, Aug. 19, 1999
the stain cards are destroyed, the
option for reanalysis of those sam
ples under a changed methodology
would be lost, rendering the existing
database useless. The only option
would be again to collect biological
samples from offenders - a strategy
fraught with legal and financial diffi
culties. Notably, the new law in
cludes enhanced felony penalties and
-civirfines for anyone who intention
ally misuses DNA samples - provi
sions that were included in response
to the civil liberties, concerns you
raised,
KATHERINE N, LAPP
'Director of Criminal Justice
New York, Aug, 19, 1999
as
•
I
~lJc ~ClO !Jork ~inlt~s ,
MONDA Y, AUGUST 23, 1999
;,
·.i.
"
J : ~ ".
'.J"
�have witnessed in the last 25 year a coarsening
"-\rnleri,can life," Hyde said. "There is waning respect
human dignity and new contempt for authority."
While welcoming Republican leaders' endorsements,
Democratic gun control advocates argued there was no
excuse for putting off House action for three weeks or .
more. They fear the National Rifle Association is
already mobilizing opposition and could make
headway while lawmakers are home for the Memorial
Day recess.
"Now is the time to act, before the forces of the
status quo marshal their forces," said Rep. Anthony
Weiner, D-N.Y.
Democratic gun control advocates plan to tum up the
heat on Republicans to act this week by trying to offer
gun control amendments to unrelated bills on the
House floor; by voting against adjourning for
Memorial Day unless gun control measures have been
acted upon; and to collect signatures on a petition to
force these provisions out of committee on the floor.
But none of those steps will succeed unless' some
Republicans cross party lines, and none have signaled a
willingness to do so.
Antipathy to gun control has always been stronger in
the House, where some 179 members received
campaign contributions from the NRA in 1997-98.
Literacy Experts Spell Out Education Plan
By Duke Helfand
Los Angeles Times
Reflecting a growing consensus on the ~eed to link
classroom instruction to academic standards, leading
literacy experts Tuesday unveiled a collection of grade
by-grade skills children should master to become
proficient readers and writers.
Authors of the new guidelines say they are intended
to fill a void in primary. grade classrooms.
Although some states have adopted language arts
standards for all students, most states have focused on
selected upper grades such as fourth, eighth and I Dth.
Many instructors in kindergarten through third grade
have been left largely without guidance despite having
to teach the most fundamental skills ofliteracy.
, 'What you have in this document are expectations of
what children should be doing," said Barbara Foorrnan,
a researcher at the University ofTexas who helped
draft the guidelines. "It gives states that don't have
standards something they can use so they don't have to
reinvent the wheel."
The standards were developed jointly by the
Learning Research and Development Center at the
University of Pittsburgh and the National Center on
Education and the Economy in Washington.
The organizations assembled 22 reading experts to
produce standards from a broad swath ofresearch on
early reading instruction.
Standards recommend that children read and write
daily, sta.rtiDg in kindergarten.
Students would be expected to demonstrate many
skills by the end of each school year.
Kindergartners should be able to recognize and name
letl:ers, distinguish sounds in words, and blend those
sounds as they read 'simple :words. They also should be
able to retell stories that have been read to them and
'Write rudimentary poems and st6i:ies,-eveniftliepieces'
consist of scribbling or letters strung together with
pictures.
First-graders should be able to use the cues of
punctuation including commas, periods, question
marks and quotations to draw meaning from what they
read. They also should be able to read simple stories
they haven't seen before and use dialogue, transitions
and other grammar in their writing.
Second-graders should discuss books daily in peer
groups and with their teachers, comparing works by
different authors and talking about recurring themes ~
stories. They also should be able to introduce
characters in their writing as well as use details about
settings and motives.
Third-graders should be able to discuss the plot and
setting of books, and grasp the meaning of figurative
language such as similes and metaphors. They also
should be able to Write short stories, songs and poetry,
Q"M .
and build on their writing by altering the story line.
Aware that such standards often amount to abstract
,(..,(,/1
. expectations for classroom teachers, the authors of the
LA
standards have included concrete examples of student
A
work that meets the goals.
.
bI/'"
CD-ROM video footage, for example, shows students
reading aloud as they blend sounds to create words.
Dozens of writing samples are provided to match
classroom work.
"Teachers can get a visceral idea of what it means to
meet the standards," said Marc Tucker, co-director of
--=
the project. "It's very important for teachers to
understand the developmental progression of a stUdent
as they go through the various stages of mastering
reading and writing."·
Tucker and other officials released the standards
Tuesday at a Washington news conference. Few state
or school officials had seen the new guidelines, which
cost $45 for the package, but those who did c~lled them'
useful tools for training teachers and improving
classroom instruction.
"I think this work represents the best knowledge
that's out there on how to effectively teach reading and
writing," said Christopher Cross, president of the
CoUncil for Basic Education, a Washington
organization that works to raise standards nationwide.
"Teachers don't feel terribly well-informed about
what represents good work, particularly'in reading.
They are always looking for good examples of
practice."
U-
1v-u,
"Jvrv \
Teacher Standards Are Lagging Too, Study Says
By Richard Lee Colvin
Los Angeles Times
Are you able to read National Geographic? Did you
pass junior-high math? Then you too might have what
it takes to be an elementary school teacher in most
states.
If you managed to pass algebra and geometry, then
you might also be ready to get some chalk dust under
your fmgernails by teaching those courses to high
school students.
At a time when states are striving to make far greater
, demands on students, they are not similarly raising
their standards for what they expect of teachers, a study
to be released Wednesday in Washington, D.C.,
concludes;
~'Millions of children are being damaged daily by
underprepared teachers, because we've refused to
establish high enough standards for entry into the field
of teaching," said Patte Barth, a policy analyst at the
Education Trust, who co-wrote the report.
Seven states have no licensing exams for new
teachers. Only 29 states require prospective high
school teachers to pass tests in the subject they plan to
teach.
'
The content of those tests is "within easy reach of
many of the students the test-takers are expected to
teach," the report said.
In Georgia, for example, an applicant can miss more
.-than half tne .questions on that test arid-stiil earn' a
license. Oregon sets the highest passing mark in the
nation on that test, but aspiring teachers still can miss a
third of the questions.
Passing marks are set low to ensure a sufficient
supply of teachers but also to avoid lawsuits by
dissatisfied job-seekers, the report said.
The Education Trust is a nonprofit group that works
to improve the quality of education for poor and
rninoritychildren. Barth said those children are the
most likely to be exposed to poorly trained teachers.
Most disturbing to the authors was that teachers are
not required to demonstrate that they have a deep
knowledge of key concepts, the kind of knowledge that
enables teachers to help their students attain a similar
�j
level of-understanding. Instead, the licensing tests ,
emphasized simple re,call of fa<;:ts and rote, skills.
"Why should prospective teahers go to college ,if this
is all they need to know?" asked L~Steen, a former
president of the l\1atht;lmatics Associ~tion of America
and an adviser to the study.
,; Steen; 'a math profess~rat St. Olaf College in
' ! Northfield, Minn., said teachers must know far more '
than their students in order to answer their questions .
and be able to "think of different ways of presenting
the material to different ~tudents."
He said states do not require prospective teachers to
take enough math in college and. the tests" don't.
guarantee they lalow anything either." ,
Even the tests' with the. most rigorous questions, such'
as in mathematics, were'judged by, EducaQ.on Trust
analysts to be at a high school level. The effectiveness ~'
of those tests, designed to screen out teachers who lack
expertise iD. the subject they plan to teach, is
. undermined by the fact that states make it exceedingly
easy to pass them. '
But officials with the California Commission on
Teacher Credentialing disputedtJie new report's'
,conclusiori that the tests for, secondary school teachers
are too easy. Candidates for teaching jobs who have'
; completed a California-approved education-related
program do n,ot have to pass any test. Anyone with a .
college degree, however, can get a teIllPorary permit by
passing tWo tests of their. knowledge of the subject they.
want to teach.
Dennis Tierney, director·ofprofessionai services with '
the commission, said that only 40 percent of the test-, '
takers passed one of the two tests in math and only 31
percent passed the other, even after several tries.
".we set the niinimum standards," he acknowleged.
','Obviously, we want teachers to know more than what'
the kids know. But; on the other hand, legally we need
to be careful that the material we're demanding that
they, know be material they will need to know on the
job."
,', '
The Education Trust report said typical reading
passages in the tests required of elementary school
teachers were written on the level ofNational
"
Geographic, which the s~dy's authors said should be
readily understood by students in the fifth and sixth
",
grades.
"
, The study criticized the tt;lsts for high school teachers in
questions require them to
the language arts, saying
"show that they know how to do useful things with ~ ,
what they kno~.'! " ,
The study's .authors say such skills are critical,given
that most states now have written student standards that,
emphasize the ability to apply (~)De's knowledge to solve"
problems and to think and write analytically. ,
Many states waive even those minimal expectations '
.in the 'event that they cannot readily frnd enough
'"
qualified candidates. '
The report's authors recommend that, fQr elementary
school teachers, states'creat~ tests that measure
whether candidates hav,e at least the general knowledge"
required of a four~year college liberal arts program. For
high school teachers; the report reconimends that states
require' passage 'of the most rigorous of the" currently
available tests. "
.'
,
" . ., '
In addition, the authors said, minimum'passingsocres,
, should be raised and states should begin aligning, '
licensing exams with academic standards for students.
But Barth said states willbegin raisIng their .
,
requirements only if the public demands b e t t e r ' ',"
qualified teache~.
"'The only thirig that's going to cut through ." is if the
public gives policy-makers the backbone to say that we .
can't expect kids to meet high standards unless we .
expect teachers to meet high standards," she said. '
no
School Drug Prevention Program~ PrQduce Modest
Success, Study Finds
By Ralph Frammolino
Los Angeles Times
;Although the best school~based drug prevention •
programs are worth the cost, they produce,only
resultS'and are hardly a "silver bullet" in the
government's war on drugs, a new Rand Corp. study
concludes. :
, The study, which focuSed on cocaine use, estimates
that the best of the anti-drug prevention efforts will
curtail a student's use of the substance by an average of
8 percent over his or her lifetime .
a result that, dollar for dollar, compares favorably with
government efforts to shrink demand by destroying "
cocoa leaves overseas or by patrolling the border. .
But the 194-page report released T1l;esday by the'
'" Santa Moruca, Calif.-based policy think tank cautions
agamst expecting too much from prevention programs,
the fun effects of which, it says, can take up to 40 'years
to kick in.
'
, 'The bad news for prevention enthusiasts is that
prevention does not appear to be the hoped-for silver
bullet," the study concludes. "It is not likely that with '
ciment technology, prevention can playa decisive role
in eradicating our current drug problem."
" The report, titled "An Ounce of Prevention, A Pound
of Uncertainty," 'comes as government officials at all
levels increasingly emphasize school-based prevention,
programs as part ofthe'$4o. billion war on drugs.
It's been an uphill battle. After hitting a trough in the
early 1990s, drug use among students is rising, federal
figures show. The number of 12th-graders using
cocaine has nearly doubled, from 1.3 percent in 1992 to
2.4 percent in 1998. "
",:"
The federal government has tried to stem the tide by
, funding a plethora of anti-drug education programs in
. schools, but recent scientific research shows that many
aren't effective, the Rand study says.
However, it focuses on two programs roundly
considered to work Project ALERT and'Life Skills'
.' both of which teach.seventh- through ninth-graders the
social skills to resist the peer pressure.
The Rand study, which involved 7,600 students, was
based on evaluations of the programs in 1993 and
1995. These,evaluations involved 86 schools, including
30 in California and Oregon:
.
The programs have reduced the use ofrnarijuana,
says the Rand study, which inferred an impact as well
on cocaine consumption. Cocaine use tYPically starts
after high school and leads to relatively more deaths,
arrests and lost worker time than other drugs.
.' The study also atterilpts to establish, for the first time,
a cost-benefit ratio that compares the prevention
programs at $67.12 a student
.
, with other government enforcement efforts to curtail
c,ocaine use. The results:'
Students who go through the prevention programs cut
their lifetime use of cocaine by an average of 2.9
percent to 13.6 percent, with'themid-pointbeing' 7.6
percent. After.an adjuStment for the effects over time,
that boils down to a reduction of 3.8 grams per student.
The benefits outweigh the costs. Every dollar spent
on prevention yields an estimated $2.40 savings in
social costs; such as crime, lost workplace hours or
death. .
' . '
, Prevention isn'tneady as cost~effective treating
diugabusers but it has a better pay-off than border
patrols or eradicating cocoa leaves overseas. '.
,
The prevention programs would 'be' implemented in
, all middle schools for $550 million, easily affordable
for the federal gov~rnment. B~t it would take a long'
time to see results: six years to show a 1 percent drop
in the nlimber of, cocaine users, and 40 years for a 7.5
percent decrease,
.
"
.
As such, prevention has a "modest impact" and
should be considered a form of" cheap msurance" for
the next drug epidemic, whenever that may be, said
Jonathan P. Caulkins, lead iese'archer on the stuqy and
a professor ofpublic policy at Camegie Mellon "
, . ".
.
. Unive~ity in Pi~bUrgh.
"It's too late for prevention by itself to be enough t<;>
address the current epidemic," he said Tuesday. "The'
horse.is out of the barn."
as
�.Problems seen for new teachers
Education grads idealistic but unprep~ed,survey finds
By Andrea Billups
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
ON TEACHING
Some findings from a Public Agenda survey of new teachers,
A wide majority of the nation's
su e .
rincipals and college students:
newest teachers enter the profes
Eighty-six percent t new teachers said reducing class size was a
sion with a sense of idealism and
"ve
.
.. improve teacher quality; 59 percent cited
satisfaction about their career
requiring schoolteachers to major in the subject to teach and 52
choice. But their lack of practical
percent cited increasing teacher salaries.'
'.
experience leaves many of them
unprepared Jor classroom reality.
• Eighty-four percent of new teachers said it was a good idea to pay
higher salaries to teachers who work in difficult schools with
A study by the nonpartisan Pub·
'hard-to-educate children; 69 percent support paying more money for
lic Agenda has found that 75 per·
teachers who are highly effective in improving academic performance,
cent of new teachers said they look
but only 44 percent said more money should be paid to teachers who
at teaching "as a lifelong choice,"
cover severe shortage areas like math and science.
and 80 percent said they would
pick teaching again, if they had to
• Fifty-seven percent of new teachers said teaching should not be.
start their career preparations
opened up to qualified. motivated people without formal. teacher
training, while 54 percent of superintendents and principals said it was .
over.
'. The study, "A Sense of Calling:
a good idea.
Who Teaches and Why," was con
• Seventy-four percent of new teachers said all teachers be required
ducted by telephone from Febru·
to have In-depth knowledge 01 the subjects they teach; 79 percent of
ary to April. It looks at issues of
superintendents agreed that subject knowledge was important for all.
teacher morale, preparation, certi·
• Seventy-three percent 01 new teachers said talented teachers are
fication and attrition. Its findings
not enough to turn around schools with low student achievement and
paint an upbeat picture ofthe new·
uninvolved parents.
est entrants to the nation's teach·
• Forty-two percent of new teachers said student achievement is
ing work force at a time when ex·
mostly determined by parental involvement and soc.ioeconomic faCtors;
perts say new teachers are needed
54 percent said teacher quality is just as important a factor in student
more than ever, said Public Agen
success.
da President Deborah Wadsworth.
"People concerned about the
• Forty-live percent of school administrators said teacher training
caliber of individuals entering
programs did only a poor Or fair job of preparing teachers lor the
teaching should be assured that
classroom; 55 percent saictteacher training was good or excellent.
Source: Public
Inca
'
most of them approach their work
with a rare idealistic fervor," Mrs.
Wadsworth said. "At the same teachers how to discipline their colleagues share their enthusiasm,
pupils.
'.
. _. with 98 percent calling their co
time, many ofthem note that all the
New teacher training has been
workers highly motivated and en
enthusiasm in the world' cannot
ergetic:
.
make up for their own poor practi· . high on the agenda of education
cal training or the difficulty of groups in recent discussions on
• Fifty-two percent of school ad
ministrators believe the quality of
improving their profession. Last
working with kids who may be
week, the National Council for Ac
new teachers has improved; only 9
unmotivated and poorly pre·
creditation of Thacher Education
percent $ay it has gotten worse.
pared."
(NCATE) called on the nation's col
The rest say it is about the same.
The graying of the teaching
leges of teacher education to em
• Only 15 percent of superinten
work force and a massive infusion
of new students expected to enter brace higher standards. The coun· dents believe the teacher shortage
in their district is widespread.
U.S. schools over the next 10 years cil recommended that student
teachers spend more time in the Sixty-two percent say the shortage
have been an issue for most school
. districts, which are struggling to classroom in an attempt to learn is occurring only in particular
how to manage and teach children areas, while 23 percent say the
recruit and retain enough compe
effectively.
shortage.is not a problem for them.
tent instructors.
More than 900 public and pri;
• Most college graduates under
Shortages and distribution
vate school teachers who have the age of 30 who. did not go into
problems are being felt particu
larly in the areas of math, science taught school for five years or less teaching still hold teachers in high
and special education, with urban responded to the Public Agenda esteem, with 80. percent saying
teaching "provides a more impor
districts fmding it a challenge to pon along with 511 school superin
hire teachers willing to work in tendents. and principals and 802 tant .benefit to.soeil',ty tbm t.he j(ib
.
disadvantaged areas, where' sal-. COUl!ge gr!!.dIUltt~s :mder ,30. T:le they currently hold."
• Nearly eight. in 10 non· .
aries are often lower than those. of· full report is available on the Inter
net at www.publicagenda.org.
teachers agree witlithe statement
fered in the suburbs.
"Thachers are seriously under
Just 44 percent of school admin
The survey found:
istrators surveyed said new teach·
• Eight of 10 new teachers think paid."
ers are equipped to maintain Qrder only those with "a true sense of
• Eighty-nine percent of non
in their. classrooms. and 68 percent . calling" should enter the profes-' teachers believe those who do
sion.
.
blame teacher preparation pro
teach often have to worry about
grams for failing to show new
• New.teachers say their veteran .their personal safety.
J
/
DJc lllooljington euneo
TUESDAY,
MAY 30, 2000
�'\
i
(
'./
which swelled. Mr. Lazio later
went to a hospital, where he reo
ceived the stitches.
.
Hostile territory ;
. "uttle Rock is fretting over (
. new rumors that President Clin·
ton will move his presidential
.
museum, library, and policy cen
ter to Georgetown University, his
. alma mater, if the state courts
disbar him for fibbing about his
relationship with Monica
Lewinsky," Paul Bedard writes in
U.S. News.& World Report
"Skip Rutherford, head. of the
Clinton library foundation, says
donors are complaining that Ar·
kansas has become too hostile.
The city fears losing tourism and'
$16.4 million in revenue bonds for
the project One option: Little .
Rock gets th"! museum and
Georgetown the library and pol- .
icy center.
I
""!
eI
...,
~l:S
~!
~ s·
r=<a:.
a1.0.1
s:>
=
=
'a
g~
c::>
McCain's help
Eight of the 17 Republican con
gressional candidates Sen. John
· McCain has endorsed or cam
paigned for do not support his
legislation to end donations of
unregulated "soft money'~ contri
butions from individuals, unions
and corporations.
.
· .Thio of them, Reps. Clay E.
Shaw Jr. of F10rida and James' E.
Rogan of California, actually
voted against the House version
· ofhis bill, the Associated Press
· reports.'
On the other hand, 16 of 17
. Democrats in the races where the
· Arizona Republican has
intervened support the son
Lazlo falls, rises
money ban legislation named .
after Mr. McCain and his Demo
Rep. Rick A. Lazio fell and cut
I:ratic co· sponsor, Sen. Russell D.
his lip during a Memorial Day
Feingold of Wisconsin.
parade yesterday, and it took
The only Democratic holdout is
eight stitches to close up the
Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan.
wound.
But his McCain-endorsed GOP
Mr. Lazio, who recently re
ehallenger, Republican National
placed New York City Mayor Ru
Committee member Chuck Ybb..
dolph W Giuliani as the GOP. .
ItlSO opposes a son-money ban.
Senate candidate, stopped along
In.addition, Mr. McCain
the parade route in the Long Is
doesn't even mention the McCain
land town of Babylon to shake
Feingold bill on the Web site of
hands. He was sprinting back to
his new organization, Straight
rejoin the march - as he had
'fldk America. The site had high~
done several times before when he lost his footing and fell' . lighted four other issues -- taxes,
on his face.
.
~iocial Security, education and na
tional security - but the entire
He got up, brushed himself off
section was dropped last'week
and kept walking, but he apafter inquiries from the Associ
. peared slightly dazed. The top of
his lip on the right side of his .
ated Press. Spokesman Thdd Har
tis said the Web site was being
mouth was cut and bleeding, the
Associated Press reports.
redone.
Someone ran ahead to a deli
Mr. McCain said in an inter
and got a cup of ice and some
view with AP writer Jonathan D.
napkins, and he finished the
Salant that he is supporting "re
march while dabbing at his lip,
formers" even if they don't be·
Inside
Iieve in campaign overhaul.
and through the Chamber of .
Commerce 2000 PACs," said Cook
spokesman Richard Kuchinsky.
. Cook's charge
Saying that Mr. Cook "put prin'
Following last week's vote to
ciple over politics" when he
grant China permanent normal
turned down the money from the
trade relations, at least one
political action committees, Mr.
House member now claims he
Kuchinsky said he didn't know .
was offered.$200,OOO by
how many other congressmen
multinational corporations to
had received similar offers of
change his no vote 'to yes, World
money in exchange for a favor
.NetDaily.com reports.
able vote on the bill. Mr. Ku
"I'have turned down over
chinsky did not identify the.
$200,000 in multinational cOrpO- . "multinational corporations:' but
ration PXC money if I would
said they want to build factories
change my vote:' Rep. Merrill
in China so they can take advanCook, a Republican who rep·
. tage of lower wages.
.
resents Utah's 2nd congressional
district, told reporter David M.
Hillary's secret
Bresnahan.
"I came to Congress for a rea~ , ;
Hillary Rodham Clinton is rais
son, and there is not enough
ing tens of thousands of dollars at
money in the world to sway my
secret private fund-raisers from
vote. I will not sell out America's
cronies of Yasser Arafat, even as
interests," Mr. Cook said.
she publicly courts Jewis~ voters,
The congressman said he was
according to a story in the For
delivering on a promise to his
ward, a Jewish-American news
constituents not to support "this
paper.
kind of action or the regime in
Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to
China." The offers of money came march through the Big Apple in
from "multinational corporations
the Israel Day Parade on June 4.
"But'lhe Forward has learned
that on May 12, Mrs. Clinton at·
tended a private fund·raising re
ception at the Washington man
sion of Hani Masri, a close
associate of Mr. Arafat. The,
event, which sources say raised
more than $50,000, was closed to
the press, which wouldn't have
known about the event anyway,
since it wasn't listed on Mrs. Clin
ton's public schedule;'the news'paper said.
.
. A week later, on May 19 -the
same day that New York City
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani dra·
matically announced his with·
drawal from the Senate race Mrs. Chnton quietly slipped into
Virginia to attend another fund
raising event, reporter Eli Lake
said.
;
This time, sources told the re
porter, she brought in more than
$70,000 at the home of Rafat
"Ray" Mahmood, a Pakistani
.American real-estate developer
who was in Islamabad during
President Clinton's visit to Paki
stan earlier this year. Again, the
fund-raiser was closed to the
press and not listed on Mrs. Clin
ton's public schedule.
Mr. Mahmood said he' supports
Democrats and has no views on
. foreign policy other than that he
supports peace. He said he had
been in Pakistan on' a family va
cation that coincided with Mr.
Clinton's visit.
Thank you
"Look for a snowballing of.
thank-you fund-raisers for key
House members who, brows fur
rowed, announced - shortly be
fore the big vote - that, after
deep soul·searching and medita·
. tion, they'd back normalizing
trade relations with China," Na
tional Journal says.
"Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New
York Democrat, a potentially piv
otal undecided member until sev· •
eral days before the May 24 vote, .~
will be recognized next month for.
his (eventual) clearheadedness.
His camp{lign war chest will pre- ,
.. sumably be topped off at the
event, which is being orches
trated by Bergner Bockornv, a
lobbying firm that represents the'
Business Roundtable," the mag
azine reports.
"Separately, Rep. Martin Frost,
Texas Democrat, emerged from
the undecided's den, sniffed the
air, and - just before he publicly
embraced China - called
Motorola Corp. to see if they
. could help arrange a money bash
for him. No promises, but don't
be surprised if Frost is accommo- .
dated, sooner rather than later."
Bush's ad 'posse'
Texas Gov. George W. Bush is
forming a "Park Avenue Posse" to
help produce television advertiSe
ments for. his Republican pres
idential campaign .
His top media strategist. Mark
McKinnon, said Sunday the cam·
paign has recruited New York ad
vertising executive Jim Ferguson
to head up a group of Manhattan
ad men to advise Mr. Bush's
team, based in Austin, Texas.
Mr. Ferguson is President arid
creative director of Young &
Rubicam Inc., one of the nation's
most prominent advertising
firms. Mr; Ferguson and his reo
cruits will work outside their
agencies on a volunteer basis, Mr,
McKinnon told the Associated
Press.
• Greg Pierce can be reached
at 2021636-3285 or bye-mail
(Plerce@·twlmail.com).
�':. ,,>
f'i)J.- --u
. _ r~.
((,1:J.
1~ ..~
BY lAMES TRAUB
At Queens Cqllege, Shaking Up Is Hard to Do
The president of the
'. school has some
revolutionary ideas to . \
transform his campus
into a high-profile' '.
university. There'.could
be some casqalties.
·LAST.SUMMER. ALLEN L SES
soms, the. president of Queens
. . ,¢oiJege, came up with the kind
of radical, oot-of~the·box pro.
posal you don't often hear trom ofricials
<lt the City UniversIty of New York: ,a
merger between' hiS c~lIege and nearby
Queensborough Community. CoJlege to
form the University' of Queens, a new' en':'
tity with remedial students at the t.o'it~~
and doctoral cand,idates at the top. '
The plan got a remarkably frosty re~
ception. The chairman of C1.J.NY's board
of trustees, Anne A. Paolucci, whom Gov.
George E. Pataki had Installed to lead a
wave of reform, dismIssed the idea as a
distract ion.
.
'
Mr. Se~s?ms~.s,:":.,!~.~ !~~~~,~y,,,m~rp;~~~~ls.,
were. and' r~m~.ln,' somewh,e,re between
:," : ; " - " _ _ '
; .
' .
1":.t.&r6MkNlfI,.'TbqHrwVIWkf1mH'·
skeptical" and hostile. 'A high~ranKing Allen Sessoms shOt-\.'$ a model of Queens College featurinJ: (he ncw biology ccmer. (ronl. to be h~aded by (I celehraled AIDS resCQrcher.
CUN YoWcJnt calls hil)1 a hOl dog; a social
scientiSt at Queens refers to him as an op
Thereafter. he served as a diplomat in
Mr. Sessoms graduated from Theodore
Queens; it was fadng a new round\of.re-,,4,_
Piuts a'nd MexicO Clt~/ Mr: Sessomsl' who,,· ,R:!JOSevelt ,Hlgh Sch~i. wh~re. he says;
ducUons. and th'e faculty was hoping "that'"", ~ '""
portunlst. c,'
.,"
"
, " d f: .
In a way,' Mr. Sessoms Is a symhol of Is married to' an economist'and has two" only "dummJes" failed'togradu~te with a the new president would lise his prestige
the changes heing thrust uPon the CUNY children, then spent two yeat's as academ
Regents diploma signifying a college~pre to defe~d the system and demand a l'esto~
colleges from the outside: from Governor ic vice president at the University of Mas
parntory course of study. When he gave ration of funds as a moral right.
But Mr. Sessoms views the language of
Patak!, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and sachusetts before being htred at Queens in the commencement address at Roosevelt
members of the board of trustees, who 1 9 9 5 . '
in 1996, he says, he was told proudly that moral rights as a self-defeating indul·
have been demandIng that the system
Mr. Sessoms talks about the open ad
114 students were graduating in a gence. The taxpayers were sending
raise its academic standards. even at the missions idealltke sOmeone who has just school of 4,000 sfudents. Barely a dozen CUNY a inessage. he concluded, and the
cost of its historic commitment to open flown in from Paris. "If you want to go to had Regents degrees.
message was. "II doesn't work~ it's been
admissions, Mr. Sessoms is the rare {n~ the Sorbonnc. and your French isn't good
"The problem;" Mr, Sessoms says, dead (or 15 years." It was time, he ar..
sider who identifies with these external . enough, you go to the Alliance Fran
"lies not with the teachers nnd admin
gued, to listen to ~he taxpnyers.
rorces of change; he hl1s come up with one caise," he said last month in a conver~ istrators, but with the larger social un~
In fact, Queens College is not one of the
initiative after another designed to raise satian in his oUice, overlooking the cam
willingness to demand achievelt!ent and schoo is that has given open admissions a
Queens's profile and distinguish it from pus. "If you can't, Lough~ there are no ex· to stigmatize failure" - ·an \~!.'~pUp~ had name In some quarters. Atong with
the other CUNY college"s, The system has cuses, J don't see the point in making the ness, he ~lieves, CUNY has perpetuated. ' Hunter and Baruch: it tsgenerally consid
reacted to him as if he' were a foreign case that people should hepermiued to do
Mr. sessoms, 52, is n brisk and seU-eon ered one of the best of CUNY's tl senior
body In Its midsi.
things they're incapable of doing. It does~ fident figure with the strong handshake colleges, Th~ campus was origInally n
:'The problem with people at CUNY is n't help them, it doesn't help the Institu.. and solid upper body of the track athlete home for wayward boys, and Mr, Ses
they're very passive," says Herman Ba~ tion, and we can't anord ie"
he was in high school nnd college. He is soms's 12th·f)oor office looks out on a
ditlo, a board member nppointed by Mny~
That sits pretty nat on the tOOlhbrush, the kind of
who professes:lxifrJe grassy commons surrounded by severa!
or Giulianl and a strong supporter of Mr. aB right. Words Uke "incapable" are ta
ment that
cannot
what is per
quaint, Mission·style stucco buildings,
Sessoms's. "They like to maintain the sta~ boo inside CUNY; people who use them rectly obvious to him. He has only gOQd The conege drawS on the immigrant pop.
tus quo."
are branded reactionary, ~Htist or cven
things to say about Governor Pataki, and ulation in Queens, as wen as' on middle
In background. Mr, Sessoms is not part' the ultimate weapon - racist. But Mr. he seems to view New 'York's famously class studenrs in Nassau County. Almost
of the system; hiS sense: of \J{hat is right Sessoms has one incalculable advantage combative mayor, widely despised inside twcrthirds of the 13,000 undergrac;1uates
and normal comes rrom elsewhere. A /'over CUNY's usual critics: he is black, CUNY, as something of a role model. are white, and one~third are Jewish; there
graduate of Union College. he earned a and he was raised, as he o~1en reminds "Rudy Giuliani has demonstrated that he are twice as many Asian students as
Ph.D. in physics from Yale in 1911, taught visitors, in the ~uth 'Bronx. His father doesn't have to be loved," Mr. Sessoms blacks, By contrast, among the 200,000
at Harvard for seven years and then nm a bodega. and his mother was a nurse. says, "He only has to be successful."
students at CUNY, 33 percent are hlack,
joined the State Department. where he ne~ He is a product of the bygone, pre-open
Mr. Sessoms has some of the Mayor's 29 percent white, 26 percent Hispanic and
gotiated nuclear nonproliferation agree~ admissions era or no excuses.
penchant for the harsh truth, "The only 12 percent Asian, The conlroversies that
ments in Imn, Iraq and the Soviet. Union,
"If you were misbehaving in school," thing that matterS in public policy doc~ roil the system h[we only occasionally
he recall~d. "yo'ur parents knew ahout it uments is the budget IIn'e." he says. Over touched Queens. The campus is not a hot·
James
u contribuling wrHer for
hefore you got home, The teacher was the last 20 years, CUNY has suHered dev
bed of anything'. save stu~y.
The New Yorll Times Maguzine, is the n·u· someone to be respected, and if there was astating budget cuts that have reduced
Mr, Ses!'loms says he foun.d Queens to
a probJcln in the school. it was the kid's the number of ful1~time faculty by more
tho,. of "Cily on (! Hi;l: 'fcstinR, the Amer
/
ican Orca,:" at CilY College...
Continl-ted on Page 14
than half. When Mr, Sessoms nrrlved at
fault."
t,.
see
w
.'
EDUCATION LIFE 13
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Queeris College
, Continued j:"rom Page 1.1
vive in regular 'courses. But at a
campus like City College, whcl'c
be a good college· missing the op
portunity to be great, One of his
first initiatives was'to l'nise the
'."
students arrlve with far more SC~
bar ot admission, above the
CUNY' minimum- mandated for
much higher. Mr. Sessoms
shrugs. "They go there and they
the senior colleg~s: he made the
S,A.i.'s ma.nd~tory. raised the
required grade--potnt average
from the low 80's 'to 85 and stead~
iiy increased the minimum numbel' of high school academic
get completely. blown' out," .he'
says, "ot' they' get th'etr grades
inflated, so they're completely
credits requirc~ to 16 from 10.
Many members of the Queens
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of life Equally importilnt, the values and prindples you (lequire here will forever enrich you as a person,
no nl~l!cr whm calling you roHow. It~ something to think about when choosing a college,
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10;
rioliS academic prohlems. the
casualty rate would sure1y be
misled. Who have you helped?"
lJ of Q. us they ·call,.Mr. Ses
soms's proposaJ on cumpus, was
designed in part to solve the
problem of ad~issions_ slansJ
faculty thought that Mr. Sessoms ards.: Since the community col~
was taking on a nonexistent Is- leges'wOlf,!! still be permitted to
sue.
offer. reffi:~lial couni~s under 't.he'
"Admissions standards are board's plnn. Mr, Sessoms would
not the problem." says Barbara be able to offload his remedial
Bowen, an associate professor of students onto the lower rungs' of
English and the head of the col* the new university Yflth no loss of
lege's chapter of the faculty and. enrol,lment or, therefore, of sta{C
staff union: "The problem is un.- revenue, He would thus raise
dertunding,"
standards without 'sa-criCking nc-
Inside CUNY, selecltvUy is al~ cess, The key element of the
most olways seen negatively. as plan, though, is that the unlvcrsi~
Ihe kinder face of exclUsionism:' ty'would alSo offer doctoral de"If you drastically raise stand- grees, which the colleges '~re
ards there may be a rather se¥ currently prohihited from doing
vere decline in the nuinber,c:>f mi,', .~l?y{~.taJ~ J~~~~~~~~y;:g-:,!f~",~~42.~,~~i!t~lI
n'oritles'" wl"\O grRdu'at~/" s'~y~~ QHecn~. c~peciaJly in the 5cl~
Dean SaVClgC. an economist at ences, are already doing doctor
Queens. In fact, Queens's fresh- al research on campus, but their
.man enrollment fell sharply af~ degrees arc, awarded by the
ter the first year of the new Graduate Center. ri CUNy·wide
standards, though the numbers body located in Mnnhattnn.
have since started to creep back.
Mr. Sessoms insists that 1he
Mr. Sessoms is proud of the fact. proposuJ has a gOOd chance of
that applications increased 10 gaining the approva~ of both the
percent last year. desp'te the CUNY board and the state lcgjs~
more stringent requirements. In lature. but it would be no'tribute
a .guide to be published early to his sense of hflrd~headed real~
next year by the Stanley Kaplan ism if he actuaUy believed that:
organization, Queens was rated In a recent presentation to the
one of the most attractive Insti~ board, he put the cost of creating
'tutions . for African~Amcrlcan the universjty at $26 million,
students nationwide. "We're Since Queens's curre;t budget Is
starting." he says, "to (ook like a $68 million, that's a lot of mnncy
normal place,"
at a time of ret renchmcnt.
Earlier this year, after relent~
Mr. Sessoms argues that th,e U
less prodding from the Mayor. of Q would be eligible for the
CUNY's board passed a plan great pots of Federal money that
, that would phase out all remedia· go to .susfain doctoral resenrch,
Hon from the senior colleges thus he1ping Salve' Queens's per~
o'ver three ycors. and eliminate petonl money problems, But the
it immediately at Queens, Hunt·
indivJdual colleges already
er. Baruch and Brooklyn. (The ceive millions in Federal grants;
ruling has been stalled by a court Frances: Degen Horowitz, the
inju'ncUon,) Mr. Sessoms is one president of the Graduate Cen~
of the few college presidents to ter, says that Queens tags far be
have openly embraced the hind schools like City or Hunter
board's plan, even though about because its faculty is simply not
half of entering students at competitive,
Queens oow fail one of the as·
"SInce the placement of doc
sessment tests that determine toral studems is heavUy depend·
remedial placement. Mr. Ses~ ent on the repuration of your fac~
soms says he feels confident that tilly," Ms. Horowitz rnrtly nOles,
intensive tutoring wouid allow .11·
most aU of these students to sur~
Continued un Page 16
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Continued From Page 14
Dr. Montagnier. he could be a
"'the new university could, not public relations boon lor Queens.
Mr, Sessoms has also hired a
possihly serve its students as
well as the Gra~uate Center former CBS executive, Thomas
does,
F. Leahy. to serve as direclOrof
','For people who don't know a a new media .and communica
lofabout higher education:' she tions school and to raise $10 mil..
adds: "these" - here she pauses lion to get it gotng. 1n addition, he
to insert tin o(f~the~record adjec
has brought in the Center ror
tive ....;.,. "representations sound Educational Innovation, a gr~:mp
very impressive; when you dig of rormer school administra
behind them. the facts don't sup- tors, to create a kindergarten
through-secand-grnde la'borato-
port it.~' ' . '
,'
Mnny -faculty members Com
ry school in conjunction with
platn t~t the Idea was sprung on Queens's education school. as
them. "The University of Queens well as a program to 'train prin~
is exemplary or an approach that cipals and supe'rintendents. Mr,
Sessoms may reason that If he
has caused a lot of problems,"
Ms. Bowen suys,' "Sessoms has keeps throwjng things at the
waH, at least some wtll sUck.
shown.disregard for the academ~
[[ Js hard to Imagine, though.
ic structure or decision-makin&.~·
But the u,or Q I; certainly not' that Mr. Sessoms will ever be ac
dead.- Neithe:r the Mttyor nor'the cepted inside CUN.Y. In an !n
Governor. ha"s weighed tn on'the tensely moralistic pJace, he is al~
plan, "and one board member, most perversely unSenttmen"ral
John C~l~ndra. says he and some . and marker:.oriemcd. He justi
Uke--minded colleagues are ea
nes his iniUntives.in terms of fi~
to hear more details. Mr. Cal~ nancial -opportunities .rather
andr'a hiuds ~r. Sessoms ror than larger lntellectual PUT
causing a debate on some. runda-' pOses, UThe only thing that mat
"mentaF;ts"sues~"[hat..,l have:. Oeent ters-IS, ~oneY,.~,,~e..s~Y~._~.r!!"Yl?l,I~~'""N
t~ke~ f'or granted ror years.
have a choice hctwcen love and
Whether or not MI'. Sessoms money, lake money:' This is not
gets his doctoral program, he the kind ot clarion call to which
has . alre~dy begun [0 raise academics are prone to respond.
Ms, Bowen says he represents
Queens'ifprofile. His biggest suc
a whole trend tn university man
cess story to date is the new Cen
ter for Molecular nnd Cellular agement: remaking the universi
, Biology" to be headed by Luc ty along neo-lioorlll lines, align
Montagnier;'-" "the celebrated ing the university with the mar
French ,AIDS 're;earcher, 'This ket. Public, universities are, in
spectacular coup was largely en~ fact, increasingly hard·pressed
gineered. by Bernard SaUck. a to justify their budgets to a skep
docto.r.tumed..entrepreneur who ticaJ public. Ms. Bowen believes
pursued Dr. Montagnier nnd that Mr. Sessoms represents a
phenomenon that CU~Y has
gave the college $3 million to H
nance a chair and help build the largeJY:~esifted until now,
In any cnse. Mr, Sessoms, an
center, Dr, Montagnter's com
ambitious, restless man with a
mitment has allowed Mr: Ses
soms to rai~e $20 miHian rrom golden reflume and a persona I
the state and city governments story thaes hard to trump, may
and, he says, $10 million from not be long for Queens. Within
pharmaceutical companies. It months afteT his arrival, he was
has' also attracted n leading reported to be on the short list
AIDS researcher in the hehav~ for the presidency of Northeast~
toral sciences. Construction is ern University; only after the
expected to begin this month.
news leaked out, at the end or the
Other AIDS experts say that process, did he ask to have his
Or. Montagnier Is more of a star name removed. ThaT incident
than a cutting..edge figure, but was the source of a reputation
Mr, Sessoms has no qualms for opportunism that he has nev- .
about playing the celebrity er shaken.
game. He has persuaded George
Mr. Sessoms !:>ays he has been
approached for about 25 college
J. Mitchell. the former Dem
ocratic Senntor from Maine, to presidenCies, and has said he
serve as a senior fellow and su
wasn't interested. But asked if
per guru in a new center for ~n he would consider another offer,
ternational rclalions. It didn't he smiled roguishly and said,"lt
sound as if Mr. Mitchell would he depends on the place,"
•
ger
�tJ
I
I
\' i
,.
'f
.'
r~"
The nation's
education colleges,
pressuroo to raise ad·
missions standards and
improve curriculums.
are looking for ways to
help future teachers
pass muster today,
BY RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD·
,/
ACULIT MEMBERS AT MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE
In Crown Heights, Brooklyn, huddled one morning this·
semester in the education department's Africana Re
source Center, a small conference room lined with
stacks of multicultural books.
The occasion was one of the college's "teaching cir~
des," meetings among faculty members from various
departments - on this day, chemistry. English and
math - aimed at flnding ways to strengthen programs
in the face of a looming crisis; Medgar Evers's teacher
education program. like many other colleges' through
out the state, faces decertification unless it improves,
The dominant topic at the meeting was Uteracy. Ev..
eryone talked about getting students to "write across
the curricufum," a buz.zphrase here and elsewhere that
means giving students more reading and writing as
signments in all classes, even science and math.
Randal C, Archibold
New York Times.
22 November 1;.1998
','.
is an
education reporter for The
Then the discussion turned, as it often does, to th~
ture and to the hurdles the school must overcome to I
pare tomorrow's teachers.
!< Many students do not know how to do the simplesl
gebra. and that's true of science majors~ too," said J
Flowers. a professor of physical sc1ence and compt
. science.
"So many of my students come to us without hm
read a whole book," saId Zala Chandler, an English
erature professor.
"They are afraid of math; they are afraid of aritho
Ie; ['m not saying anything about geometry," said
tyana Flesher, a math professor, >Iit they carry thi!
dtude to the classroom. you w1l1 maybe have kids 1
don't know geometry."
Sharon Simmons. the chairman of the education
partment. js familiar with such laments, given the I
that many 01 the students throughout the college C(
from some of New York City's most academically t
rior schools in some of its poorest neighborhoods.
�'.
.'-~
at
New York State's Report Card
S~arting -n lDfr), an educalron schOOl wi!~ ho pllt on threo,yoM pu)balion nnd'stand!o lose occrer1itat~on il le~s t~f.ln 80 ,'~! .,
percent of its }lwdu<110S pass Ihe {cnuircn certification exam£;. 0010\\1 :lre some 1996~97 passing rt'ltes for th~ee group~ of
tests, Ad le::3ChcfS mtls! take tho l.A S.T. (Libm.1J Arts and Sciences Test) anti A,T.S,~W (Assessment 01 Teaching Skijls~' .
Written}. The C.S.T (Conlont SpecJ;llly Test) IS fCQuilct1 of leachms soeking certification in 0. parlicular specialty; teachers in
bilingual proflfZHilS PHJst pas!'> the LP.A (Language Proficiency I\ssessrnent)
,:.
.,'
LAST
. ..,'
'prep~ring,for medical·board iests:"
H : l)eboratf Hoyle, 38. chose Medgar E,Ycrs
",]
C'tty Col1ege~ where she folt
arnong
2:500 education students. Like'
of
.s'
CST
CST sf
ATS·W LPA $
lAST.
ATS·W
N.Y. Inst: of TeCh. - MetrO'Cen!er .' ,.46%
N,Y, Insi. 01 Tech, - Old We?tbury
New York University
Nia~pra .Un'versity
Nyack
College
84
'02
94
Pace lJniversHy - Pleasantville
LPA s
57%\;" 20%
'79,
91
95
96
78
Pt;lCC UniveJsity- New~York City
89
00
85
92
98
100
100
'$'
",91>
~~~~ Shha~i~~r~:~h:: ~ she :~,:;:~'~;~~·~~r~~~!..~,C~~,~;iY"~I'l';;:~>i'·:::!.
she quit. a speech class
sentntion to her classmates, .
the episode and chats freely, n
to a closcDknit, nurturing at
After gradmuing in June, she
memary school teacher. But
· dream was being rrayed by the CCJ'til;lcalliOJI
: railed to prepare thc first time sllc ItOOI. t1len1 In, Fel
,ary. figuring her class work would stand her
', .. stead, She' failed the )theral arts and' science
three points, crushing her spirit. "I was sick:- she
1'1 could not believe 1 failed the exam,
"B~i- h:did show me my ~akness:' she added.
· Medgar Evers we are ta'ught to write essays a ~
way, witn'an introduction, a tbesis and three .Hnm•.;.,,:i
detaBs. bu't-;ihat's not what they wanted. H was more
like sUl1,frnprize what you read and then give your
•
· ion;'~ Ms, Hoyle passed the exam on her second try. ' ~ •
e,:jml':
As elsewhere, students at Medgar Evers did
, ter on ttie portion that was 'focused on teaching
and subject area than on the'ptlrt designed to'
knowledge. ~f the liberal arts.:,An\some
Hons did'~elative(y well on aU lhe'exnms.
liberal arts·and sciences exa.m. For ininance, at,
College. w~o5e students are drawn heavlly fr~m
, and suburban Long island. 88 pe·rcent passed,
There is'no easy measure of w'hefher teachers
,tunlly less ~b)e. slnc~~~~h:~:;:: ~~~: '
, radically changed. '
abliHy so much as genera~ knowledge
heard after recent poor showings' at
New York and ~~~~"~~~~::.2::~
"I
••
Future Accountability: A National Sampler
Many stalos are fe-examIning their standards tOf reachers, here afe some new plans of action.
GeorgIa
Ncx: jaiL
educElliofl
studonts zd s!"to
un!versitios must
taka oelditionnl
courses in
reading, malh,
".- '"
(I
Marytand
~.!; J
Na:<:1 year.
siuden:s mus!
tnl-.e ,cxtr:1
readlflg
IIlslrUClion,
~~~~Ct1
I
New
Mexlc0,--J
Proposed
law~ )\'ou~d [jony
Federa! student
aid tt, schonls
~~t~ l~r than
graduating
teachors passing
the slate eX.1m, •
~
~ nver8ge In
IIbGrot artr. arll
the subject lhoy
pass the S!<lle
~h~1~:~I~~~h,
~~n. or iI will
raiSing the
passipg ~core Or;
jls COrlilicalion
nCCHXfilfltion
OXJm.
,24 November J, 1998
Texa&
70% 01 a
rrain:ng
program's
nraduating
toachers m~Js!
HIGHER
EDUCATION ACT
Last
..
'
..
�..
·
'
the jncreasingly diverse student population.
"I'm sure you are aware of the national profile of
teachers:' Dr, Shujaa said. "White. female, suburban:'
"I
FYOU NEED A LOT OF TEACHERS BUT DON'T
want to pay much. what do you do?" said Richard
Soder, a professor of education at the University
the poor performance of students on that state's teacher
certification exams, '<Education programs have a ret>
mation tiS a place for dum-dums/' he said. and are con~
sidered "the laughing stock by serious scholars:'
He added, "We ought to take that to he~rt.·'
An additional problem is that universities do not tend
to pour' money tnto their educational programs, which
are relatively Inexpensive to run, requiring Httle In the
way of equipment and other resources in comparison
with. say, chemistry.
"These places are cash
If New York State's new requirements were in effect
cows." said Linda Darling~
Hammond. director of the Na~
today; at least two dozen education colleges would lose
.tional Commission on Teach~
accreditation, including four campuses of CUNY, the main ing and America's Future.
based at Teachers College at
supplier of teachers to the city's public schools,
Columbia University,
The National Center for
pay. the average beginning saJary remains welJ below
Education Statistics reports that education professors
that for fields like business and computers.
are paid. on average. $11,000 less a year than their peers
It has always been a struggle to attract top~flight
in other departments. And col1egcs spend about $100
teaching candidates. Even within universities, support
Jess per student credit-hour on education programs
and respect for education programs go Jacking.
than for engineering. though tuition is generally the
According to a 1997 National Center for Education
same.
Stadstlcs report. based on 1992-93 data, students in edu
Unlike medical or law schools. education programs
catton programs tested into remedial college courses at
are also not required to be certified or accredited by a
higher rates - 18 percent took remedial math, com~
profeSSional board, although there is a move to change
pared with 11 percent of majors tn the humanities and
that. Of the 1,300 teacher-educatton instituttons, about
social science, and 13 percent took remedial English,
500 have been accredited voluntarUy by the National
compared with 7 percent of humanlttes and social scl
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, a
cnce majors. Education students' entrance exam scores
Wnshington~based professional organization that con
arc also lower, with about half as many education ma~
ducts rigorous reView of their faculties, curriculums
jors in the top quartile as humanities and social science
and student populations.
majors, .
Two states, North Carolina and Arkansas, require the
of Wnshington in SeatUe. who has studied teacher~traln..
lng and hiring, "You go to women and make sure the
traIning is not significant, because they might find
grounding for areas where [hey make more money."
Indeed, the public school teaching work force of 2,7
million nationwide is more than three-quarters female.
And although SOme states are seeking to raise tcacher
",
Top: At Medgar Evers College, a student fiUs in her'
John SUber. the chairman of the Massachusetts
Board of Education, put it rather tartly during a sum~
mer meeting of education school deans smarting over
daiiy "Learning Log" in a course on how to leach read~
lng. Above, far left: Christine Dalby. an education stu
dent at the University of Texa.... gelS hands-on class
room experience. Above. left: Prof, Nancy Lester teach~
es reading at Medgar Evers. Above: Jack Craven di·
rects "Science and Math Methods" at Queens College.
council's accreditation, and several others. including
New York, now strongly advise It, saId Arthur Wise, the
group's preSident. Only four institutions in New York
State - Fordham, Hofstra. and Niagara universities
and the State University College at Buffalo - are ac~
credited by the council.
F
OR YEARS, THE MAJOR CROP TO SPROUT
from the baked earth of far west Texas has been
cotton, grown on great big farms that splash
green and white on the otherwise brown and crimson
moonscape.
.
Now the folks "up at the college" - the University ot
Texas at El Paso - are trYing to seed something else
entirely, aU In the name ofooner educating the farmers
and working-class resldents along the Mexican border,
The university, recognized by the United States De
partment of Education in its "Promisjng Practices" re
port on teacher education in September, is growing a
teaching hospital, but one that aims to turn out teachers
rather than doctors, And. to carry the analogy further,
the E.R.'s where the interns apply theory to practice are
schools like H.D. Hilley Elementary. right in the middle
of a cotton field in nearby Socorro.
There, Maribel Alarcon. a student teacher, huddled on
a recent day with a pack of sixth graders who measured
and snipped and folded their multicolored construction
paper 'nto origami. all in' the name of geometry,
"00 you see the triangles?" she asked as they twisted
Continued on Foge 30
EDlJCATION,j.JFf.': 25
. \ '1
�···'iJ~Yo~'Wtl~ti~ :Te~~W?·
lIIe City UniverSity of New York
Announces in coilaboration witb
.
The New York City Board of Education
Continued From
Te~ching Opportunity
~rogram Scholarships·
Who Call AppIJ fer 'IOPS1
lOPS is funded by a grant from the Jewish Foun
.. Uighly qualified CUNY juniors and seUlors, m8jor~
jng in rhe sciences. mathematics. foreign languages,
reading. and hUingu~ and special education.
dation for Education of Women, with additional
'lOPS will pmIde:
For additional information wrice to
.. Intensive summer orientation program following
completion of bacculaureate degree
Dr, Louise Mitref
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The CilY University of New Y~rk
.. $2,500 summer program stipend
...
.. Fun-time teaching job in New York City pubtic
schools upon completion of summer program
.. Preparation for New York SUlle Teacher
Certification Examination
Tough Tim~s
support frorruu Community, Trust and other
foundallons.
533 East 80th Stroe!
New York. N.Y. 10021.
.. Mentor suppor1 and orientation in school during
first year of leaching
~~
win be required to teach in the
New York City public school system for a mi~mum
of two years following complelion of master's
degree. The program is open to current students
from all CUNY !eruor colleges
.. ..
,
:"'.
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25
and turned their frogs and
wha1es to find the shapes. "Is
there a parallelogram in there?!'
Taking a breather. Ms, Alarcon
summed up the value 01 the
classroom experlence: "On cam
pus we got a Jot at theory, but
here we have hands-on practice
with the ktds, This gives us rcal
approaches,"
it is such approaches that edu~
cators hail as the wave of the fu .
ture ror education schools, which
have been looking inward to find
ways [0 improve rhe way they
themselves teach.
Education students. Hke [hose
with other majors. usually spend
the first couple of years taking ~
college·s core requtrement o(
arts and seiences courses, like'
English and math, with the last
two years, devoted to education
classes. In this latter period, they
have traditionally done an B-to
12-week "student reaching" ex
perience at a school, and also·
taken courses that focus on' the
ory, methods of instruction and,
tn many cases, multlculturaltsm,
Most campuses devote consid
erable class time to teaching s~udent--<:entered learntng."a method
of instruction that discourages
teachers from standing i!1. ~ro,nt .
;.'
of the classroom to leeiure; io~
stead. they are taught to engage
youngsters tn group discussions
and activities that encourage rhe
children to ask questions and find
their own answers, with guidance
rather than ins[ruc~ion from the
reachers,
"Don't be a sage on the stage,
be a guide on the side." is how
Stephanie HadSey. an EI Paso
student. put It.
"The old way was teaeher~direeted, where rhey don't ask kids
to do anythtng, .. · said Carmen
Ratchford. another student, as if
recalHng n bad memory. "Bur,
they just Je<:ture' and stand up
there in the front of the class,"
Or, as their science~education
teacher: Sally Blake, ciplalned:
"Do you want kids that' can do
rote memorization;, or~' do you
want ones that can think? You
want ones that can thirlk:"
In her class, it is not mlusuallo
~ee s'tudents doing the vc'ry acttv
tties they would' require of their
pupils. One day last month, for In
stance, her students found them~
selves dOing a minute's worth of
jumping jacks, but not to Umber
up, They broke' up into groups of
three: one student <ltd the Jacks;
another eounted them; and' a
third reeorded the time at inter
val~ ~hr:ou,ghout tht? ~l!1ut~, r'~.!"""t:.::,'i
~
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1
�gO:.l1 was !o menSllre the ch::mg~
illg nl1C ovcr limc. und prepnrc a
hal' graph showing Ihe n.~~mlls. Tn
mosl cn.ses, the pncl~ of Ihe jac.ks
The rer>ort did nOl suggest
~\b.('lItdf)nirlg: theory and method
ology (,ourscs, and 10 strong pro
RmlTIs like EI Paso's, striking (l
slowcd over Ihe COUl'foIC of lhc halance is key.
millulc.. "U·s something physical,
Even EI Paso, though, has not
:'IS opposed to word prohlctllfi,"
been immune to the drive 10 raise
Professor Blake said.
.
slamlnrds. The education prow
Other educntion courses Iypi
grmn hilS l't1ised ils minimum
ca.lly involve classroom manttge
grtldc point avernge for admis~
ment and diversity.
sion (and sttiying in) 10 2.5 from
Downsrairs from Professor 2,25, and is requirIng Its I.5f)(I siu~
Blakc's class. Virginia Gonzalez dents to lake additional math and
teaches "Critical Pedagogy;' sdcnce classes. E1 Paso has mel
whose reading lisl includes tilles the new slnte requirement, post~.
like "ppdagogy or the" Op· ing a 1f{ percent overall success
pressed," hy Paulo Frcire. In this rate 011 the certification exam,
class, she said, rhey learn (0 re~ and about 70 percent for each mi·
SpeCl students' viewpoints and to norily group, including Hlsp..1n~
!1ecome mindrul of the displaYfi of ie$:, the largest group on campus,
cultural diversity seen in a class~
The education program has re.
room, like Hispanic immigrants' slructured in the last few years,
reluctance to question authority with the Centerpiece the drive to
figures, like teachers.
increase preparation in the field.
.< As a critical theorist, you are
1" keeping with the leaching~hos~
constantly deconstruciillg," shc pUrl I model, seniors ;;Ire called in~
!ells hel' pupUs, "You are crea1« ternS and .spend about GOO to 100
ing a learning space for your stu
hours in Ihe field double whut
dents. You are not defining them they used fo - at 25 "partner"
.
and saying, 'You sit here and this schools.
is what you do.'''
They arc like Christine Dalby.
Across the country, schools are one of 13 Interns spending {his se~
reducing the number of such mester at Ascarafe Elementary
courses, which have drawn ridi
School.
cule (rnm conservative scholars
"I could not imagine not having
like Mr. Silber, who would rather this experience," said Ms. pathy,
sec cducation studenrfi spend who found an answer to man~
morc f ime Icarning EngHfih and aging cL."'tssroom discipHne In
Reszel's
sixth~grade
marh tl1a~ learning,what he calls Rellce
overly'" soft; touchy~teely apM room. "At ·the heginning of the
~ 'proaches,
. clnss, she didn't discuss rules or
"We arc moving .away from allY thing likc thaI. Instcad, shc
the Mickey Mouse courses that works 011 the point system, whcre.
always focus on development and they get points for good behavior,
method and not enough on con· It's aU pqsitive reinforcemenL"
lent," said Richard Kunkel, dean
But reality oftcn clashes wilh
of the College of Education at Au
the high ideals espoused in the
burn University in Alabama and lecture hail.
executive director of the Holmes
Colleges can instillln thelr stu
Parlnership. a consortium of 120 dents the best theory, the latest
universities seeking ways to im
methodology. but the effect of the
prove teacher educauon, "G()()(j teacher reform movement hons
training has a balance of content down to what happens when
and practice."
schools send cheir new recruits
Arturo Pacheco. the dean of EI out to face veteran teachers and
. Paso's education school. defends administrators suspicious of dlf
lhe method courses as necessary ferent ways of thinking.
to give teachers a grounding In
Take'Ms. Hadley, the enthusi~
how to approach their students astic imern determined not to be
and develop lessons, Nonethe~ a "sage on the stage."
less, the college in the last few
One day she was helping a vet~
years has scaled hack on s.uch Ol~ eran teacher at an elementary
campus classes in favor of a school wirh an exercise in which
field-hased approach. "'re~1cher!' the pupils had to read a passage
are now prepared more like doc
and then answer queSTions ahout
toni and nurses, and Jess Uke phi· it. Taking the initiative, Ms, Had~
losophers or historians," he said. ley Raw an opportUnity to make'
Increasingly, med1cal schools lhe lesson ., more connected to
are seen as models for teacherw reat~)jfe experience," she said.
preparaHmi programs. whrch arc 'fhe passage dealt with de
driven more and more hy the veloping a "world calendar." a
need to strike a better halance reconfigured 3G4-day calendar
hetween teaching theories of in which numbered days of the
learning and givIng education month fall on the same weekday
students more practical, clhticaJ each year.
experience in elementary and
So Ms. Hadley had the stu~
secondary classrooms,
dents design their own cal~
The National CommiSfi!on on endars,
Teaching and America's Future
"They thought it was neat,"
recom mel1ded such an approach she s,Hd< "Their hit"lhdays fell
in a report last year,
the same day every year.'·
that field ex:perience
in
But inevitably, theory humps
creased to a full school year in
imo practice. What feedback did
stead of the typicaJ haH year. hut she get from the more tradition~
nnder close supervlsion from in
bmmd ciassroom teacher?
structors or "mentor teachers!'
"She called me a twil,"
•
Our Accelerated Ed.D. Program will
allow you to complete your studies in
just 11 weekends and two four-week
summer sessions over a two-year
period, 11,is non-traditional program is
open to K - 12 educational admini
strators who need a flexible schedule
that won't interfere with career
responsibilities:
Asa Seton Hall Ed,D. graouatc, you will
be armed with valuable credentials that
will give you the decisive eoge in an
increasingly competitive job market. A
cohort approach will build on shared
experiences and the expertise of a
seasoned faculty and nationally
recognized authorities in the
educational field.
.
.
The next program begins April 1999.
For more information, contact the College of Education and
, Human Services at (973) 275-2728, or e-man; execedd@shu.edu
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http://.....-vrw.nyll.OO11/cdlrralimt/pro/
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REPORT Of iHE '
;: , ,:,' ' K-16, IEA(JIfUER,
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. Strengthening
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REPORT Of iHE
1(-16 lEACHER
EDUCATION
IASK fORCE
AMERICAN
, , fEDERAllON
OF IEACHERS
APRil 2000
....
�.AFT K'!'16. ilEA(HIiR f£DUCAifUON tASK fORCE
'.
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. ··:jn ·,·Q98 iri resporise to a re,conimepdation: iii the AFI'policy:resoh:Jtibn' '.
liThe Union Role 'in Assuring Teacher Qual1ty,tI AFT President Sandra .'
Feldman appointed a task force to study a variety of issues related to
teacher preparation, .
The task force focused its work on three interrelated issues: entry/exit
standards (including licensure) for teacher candidates; the clinical
experience (including induction of new teachers); and the curriculum,
in regard both to subject matter and pedagogy,
:'Fablerof,::Gontents·
....
.
:'.
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Members 01 the 1t-f6 reacher Education rasle force
".
.~~.
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Antonia Cortese, Co-chair
New York State united Teachers
Irwin Polishook, Co-chair
Professional Staff Congress
(City University of New York)
Catherine Becker, President
Montclair State Faculty
Professional Staff & Librarian Association (New Jersey)'
Douglas Hartman, former President
Colorado Federation~of Teachers
Jerry Jordan, Administrative Direcfor
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
Nora Lawson, President
Alabama State University Faculty-Staff Alliance
Tom Mooney, President
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers
William Scheuerman, President
United University Professions (State University of New York)
Mitch Vogel, President
University Professionals of Illinois
Norma Jean White, Vice President
Chicago T~achers Union
Bibliography
42
StaH to the rask force
Appendix A: Alternative Certification
45
Joan Baratz-Snowden, Deputy Director
AFT Educational Issues Department
Larry Gold, Director, AFT Higher Education Department
Diana Rigden, Consultant
Executive Summary
5
Introduction
1:2
Teacher Education
16
Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirements 18
Teacher Education Emry Requirements 18
The Education Curriculum 20
The Arts and Sciences IVIajor 23
,.
Clinical Experience: Pre-service Student Teaching 24
Exiting Teacher Education and Entering the Profession 28
','1
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Induction Programs ic)!" Beginning Teachers 31
Recommendations
33
Roles
38
Responsibilities
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confluence of forces-the calls for high student
achievement for all children, demands for
accountability on the part of educational insti
tutions and stakeholders, new federal legisla
tion' recommendations of a prestigious commis
sion and new research findings-ha\re all served to focus the
public's attention on teachers and the quality of instruction. '
Couple this with the current and even larger looming teacher
shortage and it be~omes clear why renewed attention is being
paid to teacher preparation.
As the issue of tt::acher quality has attracted more attention,
so too has it attracted varied proposals for achieving that end.
One policy thrust calls for weakening the professional schools
that educate teachers through the deregulation or elimination
teacher training and licensure" This view holds that there is
little beyond subject matter that any teacher need know, and
that that "little" can be learned on the job. The AFT holds a
diHerent view. We believe that the best way to bring an ade
quate supply well-trained teachers into the classroom is not
by avoiding collegiate teacher education, but rather by
strengthening'
bringing higher quality, greater resources
and much more coherence to the way teacher education
screens and prepares teacher candidates.
F?EPORT
or THE
t<-16 TEACHER EDUCATiON TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
5
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1998, the AFT created a' task force composed of K-12
and higher edu::ation leaders to examine issues related to
improving teacher education. This report presents their find
ings and recommendations.
In general, the task force found that while some education
programs at colleges across the nation have taken significant
and crearive steps to reshape curricula and raise standards,
many programs are still beset by serious problems that must be
addressed. These include:
..-'"
ira difficulty
in recruiting the ablest students-"-prompted in
large part by low pay, poor working conditions, and lack
respect for the profession as well as the low esteem in which
teacher education courses are held at many universities;
inadequate standards for entering and exiting teacher edu
cation programs;
itjj
underinvestment by the university in teacher education;
I:i
poor coordination betwee.n teacher education and liberal
arts faculty;
~"little
consensus about what should comprise the pedagogy
curriculum;
III
difficulty, within a four-year program, in finding enough
time and the proper balance of coursework in liberal arts,
pedagogy and a major in an academic discipline;
mil lack
of standards for clinical programs resulting in haphaz
ard recruitment and training of supervising personnel, along
with inadequate collaboration among the protessionals con~
cerning program goals, student oversight and assessment;
and
"~
~
clinical experiences that often are too brief and do not re
quire students to take sufficient responsibility for instruc
tion.
In light of these fIndings, the task force calls for an urgent"
national commitment to bring higher quality, greater
resources and more coherence to the way higher education
screens and prepares teacher education candidates. To that
end, we make the following 10 recommendations tor reshap
ing teacher preparation.
11. REqUIRE (ORE UBIERAR. ARTS C:OIUIRSE$
The task force calls on education and arts and sciences faculty
to establish core courses in the liberal arts and sciences that
college freshmen
sophomores are required to take in order
to be admitted into a teacher education program, and on col
lege presidents to support the faculty in this endeavor. These
courses must provide broad exposure and a sound foundation
in the range of subjects and information relevant to K-12 stu
dent standards.
6
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3. INSinUllE A NA1DOtl4iAl ENTRY TIEST
The task force calls upon leaders in the profession to develop
a national voluntary test-not imposed by the federal govern
ment-to be used by states or higher education institutions to
select candidates who want t~~nter teacher edllcalilln. This
test, which would generally be administered by the end of the
sophomore year, would require students to demonstrate col
lege-level proficiency in the core subject areas of mathemat~
science, English 1anguag~s, and history/geography-sociaf
studies.
4. Rl£qWl~Iii!E AN AUDIEMUIC MAJOR
The task force calls upon all institutions of higher education to
require an academic m.:ijQLin addition to pedagogical studies
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATtO!'! TASK f-ORCE
AMERiCA!'J FEDERATION OF TE,A.CHERS
7
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2. IlNI51TIlI'WlllE IHIUilHlER ENTRY (Rn'IERIA
The task force calls tor raising entrance standards for teacher
education programs by requiring a 2.75 grade point average at
the end of the sophomore year as an initial requirement, to be
phased up to a ~rade point average.
...
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGtHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND If-,JDUCTION
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It must also be comprehensive enough to prepare
prospectIve teachers to help thelf students meet the new, more
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demandmer - e ucatlOn stan ar s.
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50 DEVIER.OP (ORI CURRICUILA aN PEDAGOGY
The task force calls for congressional funding to enable the
teaching profession to reach. agreement on, and 'recommend
that colleges adopt, rigorous core curricula in pedagogy based
on the best research into how students learn and on the con
tent-specific teaching methods shown to be effective with stu
dents. This could be done under the auspices of a respected
body of scholars and educators-such as the National
Academy of Sciences, the learned societies or a specially
assembled body.
6. STRENGTHEN IHIE (UN.CAIL IEXPlERBIENCE
The task force calls for strengthening the clinical experience of
traditional teacher preparation programs by building on suc
cessful models. These models should include the following
characteristics:
Iiil The
cooperating classroom teachers with whom prospective
teachers are placed are chosen on the basis of excellence
determined by a peer review process; these classroom teach- .
ers should be adequately trained to assume this responsibil
ity, and well rewarded for undertaking
m ducation ,faculty are freed to spend more time with their
E
students at their school placement sites and to receive pro
fessional advancement and other rewards for doing so..
i13 Clinical
supervisors-the college staff who serve as the
prospective teachers' link between the college campus and
the K-12 classroom-are chosen on the basis of excellence
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
8
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t e egmnmg to the end of the ch111ca1 expenence to devel
op explicit goals for the process and develop criteria to assess
the performance of prospective teachers.
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'7 ~NSinUilE A RIGOR@US iEXn/UCIUIISURIE TfEST
, The task force calls on the teaching profession under the aus
pices of a respected body of scholars and educators (such as the
National Academy of Sciences, the learned societies or a spe
cially asse~bled body) to develop examinations in suQject
matter and pedagogy-to be taken by all prospec~chers
prior to li~.e.IlS.ur.eju tiielrteactimg fIeTa:Currentstate teacher
te;ting requirements vary greatly and often are characterized
by low-level content and low passing scores. These new
examinations should aim for a level of rigor that is consistent
with what entry-level teachers in other high-performing
countries are expected to 'know.
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IAKIE.A faYE-YEAR VIIEW
The task force recommends that teacher preparation be orga
nized, at a minimum, as a five-year process. This may take the
form of a five-year university program0lUfi11g which the stu
dents have opportunities early in pre-service training to
observe and work in schools; in the tlfth year, prior to gradu
ation, the students receive an intensive clinical training intern
ship, conducted in close collaboration with the public schools,
for which they are compensated. If the university program is
only four years, it is essential that the school district institute,
at a minimum, a yearlong internship and mentoring program
for new teachers.
REPORT OF 1HE K-16 TE/l..CHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
9
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teachers regardless of whethei they have completed a four- or
a five-year program. This must include a quality selection
process for identif)ring and training mentor teachers; adequate
training and compensation for these mentors; and time
them to genuinely teach, support and evaluate beginning
teachers.
.,v... .
11 00 REqUIRE HIGH SllAINDARDS
[fOR Al.llERINAiliVIE PROGRAMS
task force calls upon those state departments of education
that recognize alternative routes to teaching to require, at a
minimum, that to be admitted to an alternative-route program
students must pass state teacher-testing exams in the appro
priate content areas. In addition, such programs must provide
pedagogical coursework to alternative route candidates, mon
itor their performance in the classroom, and provide necessary
services to support their development .of effective teaching
skills and strategies.
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K-12 students. In addition, NCATEneeds to spell out quil':" .
ity standards for smdent teaching and other clinical experiences that include criteria for who may be a cooperating
teacher or supervisor, and what role the university plays in
training and coordinating such personnel.
iii
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iii
University presidents must make the preparation of high
quality teachers an institutional priority. This should be re
flected in funding for teacher education commensurate with
other professional training, in greater support for clinical ex
perience programs, in strengthening relationships between
the arts and science and education faculty, and in realigning
the faculty reward structure to encourage greater involve
ment of faculty with their schools and community.
The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education (NCATE) must articulate higher standards
subject-matter knowledge and academic performance re-
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K-12 union locals must assume greater responsibility for
the quality of the clinical experience by working with
district and the higher education instimtions to identif)rand
train excellent teachers to serve as cooperating teachers.
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In order to implement these recommendations, the task
force calls upon responsible parties to do the following:
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High'er education unions must use their good offIces to
strengthen teacher education, to promme greater communi
cation and coordination between teacher education and
other faculty, to ensure contractually that the instimtional
reward system favors clinical work in the schools, and to
encourage the hiring of excellent clinical faculty and coop
erating teachers.
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State legislatures, Congress and foundations must make
funding available to put into pElce the reforms mentioned
above so as to enable excellent teacher education to become
the norm, not the exception.
Strengthening teacher education will take political will,
money, culture and attitude change at the universities and the.
public schools, and greater seriousness of purpose among
involved in the policies and practices related to the preparation
teachers. The best answer to high-quality teaching is pro
fessionalism: High-quality professional training, high stan
dards for entry into teaching, a strong induction program for
beginning teachers, competitive pay, administrative support
and continuous opportunities for professional growth.
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BUILDING A PROFESSION
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTiON
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN H:DEP,ATION OF TEACHERS
10
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s we enter the 21st century, various forces
combined to focus public attention on teachers
and the quality of instrll:ction: These include
calls for higher academic achievement for all
children; demands for accountability of e9uca
tional institutions and stakeholders; the recommendations of
the National Commission on Teaching, and America's Future;
and new research findings, which demonstrate that teacher
quality is the single most important school variable affecting
student achievement.
The urgency of recruiting and training quality teachers is
underscored by demographics. Student enrollments are at an
all-time high at the same time that
teacher work force is
aging, and large numbers of teachers are likely to retire in the
next few years. Indeed, more than 220,000 new teachers must
be hired nationwide each year in the foreseeable future, ifthe
country IS to'meet the educatIOnal needs of an ever-burgeon
ing student population. These students, the most diverse ever
in our nation's history, will be required to meet higher stan
dards for student achievement than ever before. Schools in
tural and urban settings struggle to hire qualified teachers to
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STREf'lGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
12
". meet ~he n~eds of these students, and even wealthier suburban:~. ,:
'. . ' speCial education teachers they need: This bllrgeoningdemand '
for new teachers and an increasing demand for high quality in
the teacher work force have put a spodight on the preparation
of teachers.
For more than half a century, researchers, policymakers and
the education community have grappled with the wide range
of problems that beset teacher recruitment and preparation:
difficulty recruiting the ablest students; underinvestment in
teacher education;
of coordination between colleges of
teacher education and the arts and sciences faculty; and inad
equate pre-service time for teacher candidates to acquire the
content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and clinical
rience they need to be successful in the classroom. Despite
such impediments, as well as state requirements that are con
stantly changing, education faculty at colleges and universities
around the country have produced many thousands of capable
teachers.
As the issue of teacher quality has garnered increasing
attention, so too has it attracted diverse "solutions" for achiev
ing it. One thread "reform," paradoxically, calls for weaken
ing the professional schools that educate teachers through
deregulation of teacher training. For 'example, Ballou and
Soler (1998) suggest: "The federal government should break
the education school monopoly on teacher preparation. Any
federal funds set aside for training should be available to any
program that trains teachers, not just schools of education.
Independent, non-profit groups such as Teach for America
and individual schools should be eligible to use the funds for
'on-the-job' training, or in other ways they see tiL" Since then,
the Fordham Foundation has issued its manifesto (1999) callfor the deregulation of teacher education and, in a separate
earlier report, questioned the need for teacher licensure
(Ballou and Podgursky, 1998). The Sylvan Learning Cemers,
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RFPORT OF THF K-16 TEACHER mUCATION TASK FORCE
AMFRICAN rmERATION OF TEACHERS
13
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�online universities and a number of other vendors have estab-
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strengthening it-by bringing more professional Control,
'. hig;~e; qu~iry? g~~a~er r.esources, and much more coherence to
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.n'ating, teachereciuc~ti~n.A ~umber of coii~gi;i:e.teach~r edu-' .
. cation programs have been working to deepen the content
knowledge of teacher candidates, strengthen their instruction
al and assessment skills, and provide them with rich clinical
experiences. Too otten, however, the costs of these reforms
result in relatively small programs funded by special grants and
available to only a limited number of those entolled in teacher
education.
The American Federation ofTeachers believes that the way
to improve teacher preparation is to develop policies that
strengthen teaching as a true profession with all the classical
attributes of a profession-and to admit up front that many of
those attributes are not characteristic of teaching today. As the
late Albert Sh;lI1ker, former AFT president, said in 1996:
To be considered a true profession, an occupation must: h,lVe a distinct
body of knowledge-acknowledged by practitioner and consumer alike
that undergirds the profession and forms the basis of delivering high-qual
services to clients; define for itself the nature of training required of
those who wish to enter the field; require rigorous training to acquire the
knowledge and skills necessary to practice the profession; control the stan
dards for entry into the profession; have its practitioners be a major voice
in determining working conditions; have its practitioners exercise ind~pen
dent judgment about Client needs to ensure those needs are met; evaluate
the performance of practitioners and remove from the profession those
whose performance fall below standards; require that practitioners contin
ue to learn about advances in the field; induct its members into the profes
sion in a systematic and rigorous fashion; and have the respect of the
er society.
This focus on strengthening professionalism marks the
findings and recom~endations of this AFT K-16 Teacher
Education Task Force. In our view, the best way to bring an
adequate supply of well-trained te\lchers into the classroom is
not by avoiding collegiate teacher education, but rather by
';.. '.' dates. today~wh~th~r \h6S~'~~rtd'i~hi~e~"t';;rietht6ti'gh:'~~~:ai~: .:.;./';":;;-:;:.:~y:~. :
tional four-year programs or alternati\re foures.
I,
The charge to the K-16 Teacher Education Task Force,
1'"
composed of AFT leaders from K -12 and higher education,
,,>
was to examine issues related to improving teacher prepara
!t . -"
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t'
exit standards (including licensure) for teacher candidates; the
clinical experience (including induction of new teachers); and
i
the curriculum, in regard both to subject matter and pedagogy.
.
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To learn about these issues, we conducted extensive literature
reviews, analyzed state policies and surveyed teacher training
l. ,
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institutions. This report presents the findings from that
,
research and formulates a set of recommendations to strength
L·"
en pre-service teacher licensure and entry into the profession.
Addressing these issues with a sense of seriousness and
urgency is necessary ifwe are to improve the quality teacher
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preparation' and produce teachers who are well prepared to
deal with the ch~lllenges of the 21st cenmry classroom-i.e.,
preparing a diverse student body to meet the high academic
standards necessary to function in a hirrhly technical, ever
;:,
.
changing, democratic society. Even as we begin, however, we
must emphasize an in1portant truth. No package of teacher
education reforms can be expected to ensure a continuing supof qualified teachers unless it is coupled with high-caliber
inductiop programs, b~r salaries and.i.g"lproved worki~g
conditions.
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BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATiON AND INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAI'J FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
14
15
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Teacher Education
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full-fledged professionals, prospecrive teachers must go
through seven steps.l These are:
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The entry standards students must meet in order to be ac
cepted into the college's teacher education program at the
end of the sophomore year.
The courses in pedagogy students take during their junior
and senior years as teacher education students.
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CIiiil he preparation of teachers is routinely an under
graduate, four-year program of university courses
that includes (1) course-taking in the liberal arts
and sciences, (2) a major or minor in one of the
arts and sciences disciplines and/or
teacher education, including a Eeld experience in the schools.'
For candidates preparing to teach in elementary schools,
knowledge of the subject matter is usually acquired through
the initial liberal arts requirements. Candidates planning to
teach in the high schools now typically major in the discipline
they intend to teach. Programs vary regarding their expecta
tions for candidates intending to teach in the middle grades.
Some programs expect candidates to minor in two to four
"core" subject areas (mathematics, science, history, English, the
arts); others require a major in one discipline. In response to
recommendations made by the Carnegie Forum (1986) and
the Holmes Group (1986), some teacher education programs
have instituted a "Efth year" model, expecting all candidates to
complei:e :;t baccalaureate degree before progressing into an
intensive year of education courses and school-based clinical
expenences.
time they become
From the time they eHter college until
is;
The academic subject major required of many teacher can
didates today.
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The classroom-based clinical experience required by virTU
ally all teacher education programs prior to graduation.
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exitllicensure requirements at the end of the teacher
education program.
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The induction period, during which classroom novices be
come full-Hedged professionals.
v
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The task force investigated each of these processes and
found promising practices but also many ways in which
existing system falls short of meeting the needs of the profes-
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About 5 percent of the current teaching force entered the profession
through an alternate route. These teachers tend to be older than tradi
tional candidates, have experience in other cireers, and have a greater per
centage of minority members and individuals with science and math
backgrounds than do candidates who enter through traditional routes.
Nonetheless, these alternative-route candidates need clinical experience
and pedagogical knowledge to be successful in the classroom. While this
report does not discuss alternative routes, the AFT believes that such
candidates must pass the same licensure tests as other entrants and must
have serious supervised cIi'nical training during their initial
years. Appendix A presents a brief overview of current alternative-r"oute
and practices.
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BUILDING A PROFESSION
STRENGTHENING TEACHFR PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEJ\CHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
16
17
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" The folio~ing' sections describe what the· task force discov":
ered, step by step,
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Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirements,
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All students must take a core of required liberal arts and sci
ences courses when they are admitted to college, The breadth
quality of this coursework is of crucial importance to pro
spective teachers, particularly for most elementary and many
middle school teachers who receive a great deal of their con
tent preparation in these required courses, In too many cases
today, however, the task force found that colleges lack a fully
coherent or rigorous general liberal arts and sciences curricu
lum in the first two years for prospective teacher candidates,
Typically, students sample widely among the varied disciplines
based on any variety of personal considerations, This mayor
may not be appropriate for most college students, but it is cer
tainly a problem for teacher candidates.
,
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teacher preparation program to take an introductory course or
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two in teacher education and, usually require students to pass
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these courses with at least a "C," However, as we have also
(,'
learned, the breadth and quality of the liberal arts coursework
may not be suflicient to meet the challenge of preparing good
teachers, Also, in the absence of a consistent grading policy, it
. :,':!:
is impossible to tell what level of achievement a particular
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grade point average reflects,
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Indeed, completion of two years of general education in
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many. two- and four-year institutions-even with a 2.5
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GPA-does not necessarily ensure that a teacher candidate
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has mastered basic literacv skills, For this reason, more than
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two-thirds of the states require demonstration of such basic
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skills on a pre-entry test into the teacher education program:'
:'
Sadly, there is nothing very rigorous about these tests, For
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example, an analysis of the widely used Pra.'Xis I test conclud
,
ed:
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Teacher Education Entry Requirements
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Students are generally admitted into the college\teacher cd,u
cation program at the end of their sophomore year. Today,
entry into teacher education is driven primarily by diverse
institutional standards based on state accreditation standards
teacher licensure requirements. The National Council for
the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standard
defines the minimum requirement for entry into the teacher
education program for many states and institutions of higher
education: basic literacy as demonstrated by a proficiency test
and a 2.5 GPA or "C" average in coursework,2 Indeed, every
state, except Louisiana, requires students entering teacher
preparation to have at least a 2.5 GPA. (In Louisiana, the
requirement is 2.2.)3
Il!J None
of the literacy assessments-reading, mathematics
and writing-exceeded high school level, and "at least two
2
A 25 GPA is a standard criterion tor entry into other undergraduate pro
fessional programs such as business, nursing and pharmacy on most uni
versity campuses,
-' We learned from our interviews that some campuses have recently raised
the minimum GPA expectation of ,ll] teacher candidates to 2.7 or 2.75
a higher standard than in other protessional schools on campus. Several
colleges of education differentiate GPA expectations by program area
raising the score for candidates eager to enter programs (such as elemen
tary education) that have more applicants than can be accepted into the
program,
• Twenty-tive states require that students p,t~s some torm of n:nional or
state basic literacy test, and an additional 14 states require [hat individual
campuses test for such skills,
BUILDING A PROf'ESSION
STRFNGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE: K-16 'IIACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERic/\N FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
18
19
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�thirds of the mathematics items were judged to be middle
school" level.
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"The basic literacy e.xams showed little complexity; rather
the test items tended to require only simple recall or the
application of a set procedure .... [WJe found the tests to be
far less difficult than either the SAT or ACT" (Education
Trust, 1999);
Furthermore, individual states and institutions generally set
very low cutoff scores for demonstration of mastery.
The ducation Curriculum
E
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A central component of virtually every teacher education pro
gram is coursework in pedagogy, in effective methods of
teaching. Debate about the relevance and rigor of pedagogy
coursework has raged for decades. Critics have asserted,
among other things, that there is no special content beyond
subject matter that teachers must know, or that pedagogy
instruction is too isolated from subject-matter instruction.
Classroom teachers, on the other hand, often criticize their
training as leaving them unprepared to deal with the demands
of the modern classroom.
The most pervasive criticism is that, unlike preparation pro
grams in medicine and law, which focus on the content of their
fields and applying that content to the benefit of clients,
teacher preparation too often focuses on the learning process,
denigrating the content of what is' to be learned (Urban,
1990). Indeed, Christopher Lucas (1997) chronicles the con
cerns of critics who for the last half-century have continued to
conclude that teacher education is generally not an intellectu
al pursuit.
.
Teacher education coursework has also been widely criti
cized for its redundancy. In her analysis of teacher preparation
coursework, Harriet Tyson (1994) found that "there is plenty
BUILDING A PROFESSION
STREl\lGTHENING T[ACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTiON
20
of scholarly and anecdotal evidence for a lot of redundancy
within and among the courses that furure teachers are required
to take. The same topic, worthy though it may be, appears in
the introductory education course, the educational psychology
course and the general course on teaching methods."
To PUt it plainly, there is no consensus among academics as
to what a core curriculum or-educatIOn ,coursework should
include-no body of.l:gowled~~I:Qfus~_i2_Q.has determin
ed that all teacher c;ndidates need to knOw. In the absence of
an agreed-lipan-core,
course content that teacher candi
dates receive at different colleges, and even from different in
structors at the same college, can vary tremendously-not just
in nuance, but in basic essentials. It is litde wonder that many'
teachers say their teacher preparation program did not prepare
them for teaching. Nor is it surprising that research continues
to document the limited impact of teacher education on the
perspectives, beliefs and practices of teacher candidates
(Feiman-Nemser and Remillard, 1996).
In 1990, John Goodlad recommended that education
research "must bear the stamp of scholarly effort and approval
and not be hunches and conjectures." He advocated that the
knowledge base be "codified and transmitted" and made read
ily accessible and bona fIde. This has not yet happened. In
deed, Henry Holmes, dean of the Education School at Har
vard University in the 1920s, failed in his attempt to identi:f)l
"a set of fundamental principles around which to organize the
professional curriculum" (Feiman- Nemser, 1990), and no one
has yet been successful in accomplishing this task (Grossman
and Richert, 1988; Barnes, 1990; Carter, 1990; Scardamalia
and Bereiter, 1990; Kramer, 1991; Feiman-Nemser and Re
millard, 1996). But, even if there is no current consensus on
the core content of teacher education, advances in research on
the process of learning and in efTective teaching practices sug
gest that the raw material now exists to develop such a core,
certainly in fIelds such as reading.
R[PORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION T/\SK FORCE
AMERiCAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
21
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't;1~i.S\i'~':~!:;:~!~f~:J~~~::f::~~2~~~i:Jd~:t~ri~~tJygff~r(;;!"'f~'cc,,;1}~~~~%~'~~~~{i1~~itli;~WJi~if~l~~¢~~;*j;~~~~0;~;t;~~;';';S,;t::~~!'
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tea~hing is a. ~lghly compl~x,context-speC1fic en.terpnse; cou:petmg defimtIOns of teachmg; and state regulatIOns and pohcies.·
Complex nature of teaching. Education researchers often
focus on the nature of teaching as ambiguous, complicated
work that requires judgment, action, and the continuous ability to reflect and revise decisions on the basis of one's observations and insights. Teaching is intera_ctive, and teachers "do not
draw on knowledge one domain at a time; rather, they weave
together different kinds of knowledge as they reason about
what to do and take action in particular situations" (FeimanNemser and Remillard, 1996).
This focus on complexity, however, has seldom been
matched by research aimed at establishing continuities that
can be drawn uponto improve teaching. When teacher knowledge is viewed as "experiential, procedural, situational, ,and
particularistic" (Carter, 1990), creating a coherent professIOnal education program becomes very difIicult. With no widely
acknowledged principles to guide the process of how one
learns to teach, any method that has worked in a classroom for
any teacher becomes equal to any other method.
Competing definitions of teaching. Faculty in professional
education programs define requirements and select courses
based on philosophies of teaching and what the purpose of
schooling is. These can be very different from faculty member
to faculty member. National accrediting agencies expect
teacher preparation programs to describe their mission and to
demonstrate how courses and requirements align with this
vision. But because each institution does this for itself, the
"core curriculum of educational coursework" will vary signifI
cantly among programs.
State regulations andpolicies. New regulations and policies
that address teacher preparation have recently been the focus
';
..
I.
ments ?f educatIOn. Because 'th~re, IS n~ conse_nsus within. the' . ' "'I~:<;';~~~
profeSSIOn, two somewhat confllCtmg VIews ot teacher edw;::a-.
,:>
tion drive these state mandates. In many cases, the new poli2. /.:;.i;
cies reflect a widely shared attitude among the public that
;-~',.: ;:::;
intelligent, college-educated people can learn all they need t o ' . :
know about teaching either on the job or during a single sum;,;:.::
mer of well-planned instruction. When this view of teacher
~-J ;.:" :_~
education dominates the decision-making process, the regula
., .
tions not only reduce the number of courses and hours a
teacher candidate spends in a professional education program,
they also limit the influence of the teacher education program
both on the campus and in the preparation of future teachers ..
A second, somewhat contrary, view of teacher education
held by many policymakers is that educational experts will not
create a suitable program for future teachers without guidance
from the state. Teacher education does not need to be deregu
lated; rather, the requirements-curricul~m, clinical experi
,
ence and testing--need to be specifIed by the state. As a con
1~.
' sequence, states mandate specific courses for teacher education
"
.
programs and stipulate the number of hours future teachers
:'"
must enroll in certain courses. These mandates are rarely con
.;:..
sidered in terms of their impact on a coherent course of study,
and teacher education programs are required to change or add
courses in an almost ad hoc fashion.
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The Arts and Sciences Major
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A battle has raged for years over how much time in teacher
education should be devoted to pedagogy and how much to
subject-matter knowledge. This question has taken on even
greater saliency in light of the K-12 standards movement,
which makes it even more important that teachers have a deep
knowledge of the subjects they teach.
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BUILDING A PROFESSION
STRENGTHEf'JiNG TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
zz
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REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHFRS
-'1'
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23
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i"':"'!;,' ig;p8rl.s~>Jt;~~"r)'ber o.f.i~11;i,,:,tj6~s5f~~;,\~g. ~n.'O~~~:T;",.,\<c,~.,ti~~s~.~gardless.~f .the .grad" level the c~n didare e;<pects to
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level. On the bas1s ot 1994 data, the Nanonal Center f o r ,
Education Statistics (NCES) has noted that fewer of the
newest teachers are majoring in education. According to Edu
cation /ifteek (Jan. 13,2000), 38 ~~w.require an aca~em~
ic major .QLits...equivalent for prosI2ecti\~ secondary~achers.'
This is a step forward, although ~~~ent of high
school teacher candida~ continue to major in ed~~ation
ratherthan an academic subject. Recently, there has been a
push both in statehouses and on college campuses to require
elementary teachers as well as high school teachers to have an
academic major. Some universities have instituted an interdis
ciplinary major for elementary teachers to ground them in a
number of the core subject areas they are expected to teach.
The education major, however, is still the norm among
mentary school teacher candidates: 83 percent continue to
n1.i"jor in education, and ~nly ~1 sta~ an academic
subject major for elementary school teachers:
"
Clinical Experience:
Pre-service Student Teaching
'i
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The school-based clinical experience is a central component of
the initial preparation of teachers; it offers them experiences
with srudents and teachers in classrooms and other school set
5
"j
--'
6
The 12 states that do not require a subject-area major for high school
teachers are Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisi
ana, I\1aryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and West Virginia.
It should be noted that much or the concern about teachers not knowing
their subject matter comes from hiring practices and school assignment
policies, not from teacher education candidates who graduate without a
major in the tield they intend to. teach.
gram-whether housed m a small rural liberal a,rts college or '. 1;;:,::
in a large multidepartment college of education at a m~jor::' '.~
state university-requires at a minimum a 10-week student'.,.
,.
teaching exp~rience for all elementary, middle and high school
teacher cand1dates. And surveys of students and teachers indi
.,,'
cate that the clinical experience is often considered the most
important aspect of teacher education.
,
The typical student teaching experience involves three
loosely linked staff supervising the novice-the academic fac
ulty, the clinical supervisor (sometimes referred to as "clinical
faculty") and the cooperating teacher. The academic faculty
have as their main responsibility providing theory and meth'
ods courses to teacher candidates. Given their responsibilities·
on campus and the university reward strucrure, academic fac
ulty rarely observe student teachers, or, for that matter, the
:....
c~operating teacher. The job of on-site observation, supervi
l·
S10n a~d counseling of the student teacher is largely left to the
V't
supervIsory faculty, who often are retired teachers and other
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school personnel working on an adjunct, part-time basis, The
cooperating teacher is the teacher in whose class the student is
..1
place~. This is the individual whose teaching practices are
~
m?st mfluential for the student teacher, and the person who
I, '
has the most direct and continual opportunity tor observing
the student teacher as that srudent performs various teacher
functions-from tutoring a child, to preparinglesson plans, to
teaching the entire class.
.
In add~tion to the student-teaching experience, many pro
grams ofter teac~er candidates school-based experiences prior
to student teachmg, such as visiting schools and observing
teachers and students. Some programs ofter one-year intern
ships o~ appren:iceships in lieu of traditional stude;1t teaching.
These mternshlps combine school-based instruction in teach-.~
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BUILDING A PROFESSION
STRENGTHENiNG TEACHER PREPARATION AND ii'lDUCTiON
24
..
REPORT OF THE K-16 TE;\CHER EDUCAnON TASK FORCE
AMERiCAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
I.',
25
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ing
and '~ss~~s'~e~t
experiences and practice teaching.
The ways in which the clinical portion of teacher prepara.
tion is designed vary as widely as the size of the programs a n d '
the nature of the institutions. In this report, the term "clinical
experience" encompasses field-based observations and schoo1
based experiences such as assistin a teachers in the classroom
,
,?'..
"
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and tutoring students, student teaching and internsh~ps. These
experiences can occur in schools with which the campus has
informal connections based on ,convenience, strong partner
ships or contractual relationships such as the Professional
Development School (PDS) model.
Review of research and interviews with deans reveal a near
ly universal agreement on what a good clinical-experience pro
gram should look like. In excellent clinical programs, candi
dates should be able to:
III
link theory and practice;
II
observe and learn from the diverse teaching styles demon
strated by excellent teachers in a variety of settings;
II
III
III
learn daily classroom and school routines and the details of
how to manage a classroom, from the simplest routines such
as arranging furniture, leaving notes on the chalkboard and
calling the roll, to handling interruptions and maintaining
discipline;
learn how to design instruction and' curriculum to achieve
student learning in core subject areas;
learn how to assess student learning and how to use the .
results of those assessments to plan instruction;
• observe and learn from' school faculty engaged in content
based professional conversations about teaching and learn
1
earn to obse~ve students and their work to judge how well
they are learl11ng and to give appropriate feedback to ensure
that all students learn; and
i1iI1earn to work with colleagues ro establish a school climate
that suppOrtS and encourages student learning.
Il!I
In recent years, colleges' and the education faculty have
developed many excellent clinical training programs that
achieve high results. They are characterized by a careful choice
of school sites, clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers, as
well as continual interchange among·the professionals around
the goals of the experience and the standards that students
must meet. The problem, unfortunately; is that programs off
ering such a: high level of personal attention are not widely
available, serving only about 20 percent of teacher candidates
nationwide. Facing large numbers of teacher candidates and
insufficient resources, most programs still fall far short of what
is needed. Indeed, it is not surprising to learn that:
student-teaching experience is too short to adequately
prepare teafher candidates to assume full responsibility for a
classroom.
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Student teachers are often placed in schools because they are
close to campus or to the students' homes, or because of a
school's willingness to participate, rather than its academic
excellence.
cooperating teachers who are responsible for mentoring
the student teachers placed in their classrooms are frequent
ly selected haphazardly by principals with little input from
the university or the teachers in the schools.
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BUiLDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
26
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REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION or TEACHERS
27
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COURSIEWCRK MA$lERY
.~' C~operatlng'-teachers receive few or no'incenrives fOL'-y.ork
:;;
.. As ~~:h~~e ~ee~;,thebaIa'rice of~cadeinicand::pec:lagogy co~ts'-'
ing with student teachers, and they' are not rrairiedadec.
quately, nor supported by the school or university.
II!
es taken by teacher education students-indeed, the verycon~
tent of those courses-has been a professional battleground
over competing concepts of teaching, In most states and on
most campuses, candidates who take the courses required tor a
teaching license, and maintain a "C" or better (2.5 on a 1-to- '
4 scale) in those courses, are deemed to have given suHicient
"evidence of mastery." As further evidence of coursework mas
tery, some campuses require candidates to pass state licensure
tests, including subject-matter tests, prior to graduation.
As with the GPA entry requirement, there has been some
challenge to the 2.5 GPA exit standard-.questions have been
raised about grade in±1ation and the rigor of the courses. In
response, some educators point to recent research demonstrat
ing that newly graduated teachers often .have higher GPAs
than those of other bachelor's degree recipients. That evidence
can be interpreted to indicate deeper knowledge and better
skills on the part of new teachers (Darling-Hammond and
Cobb, 1996). On the other hand, Robin Henke arid others
(1996) say that the higher GPA of teacher education candi
dates may be the result, at least In parr, of the courses they
took. Teacher education candidates were more likely than
other graduates to have taken education courses, less likely to
have taken advanced mathematics' and calcul~s courses, and
tended to take fewer courses in science and engineering.
Cooperating teachers' evaluations of teacher candidates are
often ignored, or not requested at all.
Iii The
.
supervisory faculty, frequently retired teachers and
principals who are responsible for overseeing the student
teacher placements, have low standing at the university and
are often selected as a result of their availability and willing
ness to accept such low-paid assignments rather than for
their excellence as teachers and mentors.
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III
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Supervisory faculty, like cooperating teachers, are often
untrained and unsupported in their work with teacher can
didates.
.
frequently is far too little coordination al110ng univer
sity faculty, clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers
regarding standards of good teaching and the requirements
. of a rigorous clinical experience.
"
III There
,1".
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There is, in short, a pervasive disconnect among the profes
sionals responsible for the clinical training of prospective
teachers.
;If
ExitingTeacher Education
and Entering the Profession
.,.
Institutional exit criteria revolve around state licensure
requirements. In most states, these requirements include com
pleting an approved program with at least a 2.5 GPA, practice
teaching in a school setting and passing some ki~d of stan
dardized licensure test.'
SU(CfiS$!fUIi. (OMPlLfE11@N
I'
Of. THIE (UNSeAL !EXPERiENCE
Among the required courses are field experiences, including
student teaching. The recommendations of both school-based
7
Assessment requirements for initial licensure' vary considerably among
states, both in terms of what is tested and where the cut-score is seL ETS
produces the Praxis series (formerly the NTE), These tests-basic skills,
pedagogy, general knowl.edge, and subjecr-specific knowledge-arc used
in various combinations bv more than 40 states.
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BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STR[NGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTIOI\J
28
REPORT OF 1HE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATIO[,j OF TEACHERS
29
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programs also are beginning to institute pertormance-based .
assessments of a teacher candidate's kno~ledge and skills and
to use videos, portfolios and special projects as the means to
determine ,tne candidate's mastery. ~n most ~ases, the perfor~
mance-based assessments are exclUSIvely desIgned to demon
strate pedagoo-ical knowledge and skills rather than knowledge
b
of subject-matter content.
rUUI AND UCENSURE EXAMS
Just as every state expects graduating teachers to have a 25
GPA, virtually all also expect teachers to pass some sort of
standardized examination(s) for initial licensure. Information
from the Manual on the Preparation and Certification ofEduca
tional Personnel 1998-99, prepared by the National Associa
tion of State Directors ofTeacher Education and Certification
(NASDTEC, 1998) reveals that:
states;~
II
Basic Skills Exams are required by 40
iii
¥
In sum, the common criteria for exit from teacher education
are not yet sufIicient to ensure that teachers are "models of
educated persons» or to convince the public that teaching is a
profession in which wide and deep knowledge. of a complex
field is required of all practitioners.
General Knowledge Exams are required by 19 states;
.
of Teaching Exams are required by 25 states;
B Assessment of Teaching Performance is required by 13 states;
III
Knowledge
Induction Programs for Beginning Teachers
and
Gil
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Subject-Matter Exams are required by 30 states;
iii
. hard to extract trOn,1 testIng companie<sorsiate::agepties{~'::::::':':
situation th~t will change with the ne\vIy required US. De::l
:/;
partment ot Education State Report Cards, which will pro.
vi?e int~~~~~r:_bot~ cut-scores an~ pass_ rate~~ertheless, It appears that III many teachIng tlelds In many
states, candidates who score at or above sino-le-dio-it percen
<1
l't=. r
b
b
tl es qua I.jlOr a license, and very few states have cut-scores
above the 25th percentile for any field. Further, when states
have teaching shortages, they often waive the testino- re
.
.
b
qUlrement'or lower the passing score. For example, one state
experiencing a shortage of secondary mathematics teachers
issued licenses to every candidate who took the mathemat
ics exam regardless o{the score.
.
;.
Graduation from a teacher education program-whether four
or five years-cannot be considered the end of training for
Six stat~ (Alaska, Iowa, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and
Wisconsin) do not reguire <!n examination for initial teacher
cer!i[Ication..
The current licensure exams pose two serious problems for
anyone concerned about the quality of teachers entering the
classroom:
the tests being offered assess low-level knowled~
skills, not the candidate's command of college-level work. 9
g First,
BUILDING A PROFESSION
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
30
S
NASDTEC includes the District of Columbia as a state.
The qualitY of the licensure exams is the subject of at least two studies,
one from the Education Trust (1999) and one proposed by the National
Research Council of the National Academv of Sciences. The task force
also recognizes that there are Some promising eHorts to reform teacher
testing. The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and SuPpOrt Consor
tium (INTASC) has developed a ~et of standank/or beginning teachers
that could form the basis for curriculum reform and for new and_hetter
standardized tests. Indeed, INT'ASCiSae..YclQJ2ill.g~io~maIl~e2ssess_
merus-rniliecore disciplines and a test for teachina knowledge. The con
. sortium has yet to address the need to develop bet~ teacher candidates' subject-matter knowledge.
~.......
9
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REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERiCAN FEOERA TlON OF TEACHFRS
31
,. .
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subject~matter ki1ow1e.dge,·'p~dagdgiciJ:~cohfet1t:,kll6Wt~dge?:;:-::':::':\h~'f;::~;;::::;:::ae€011llnendahon,S " " .
and clinical training-'do ~ot allow sufficie~t ti~e for teacher '. ,,'. ;':." .....'~:' .' :'., , ~ .'~ '. t' ;:i.. :: :~•..,::: '::';•.:... :~y..:"'. ;. < :·..::<:..>;.::·?·;" .• c~>:.,: ,.
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candidates to develop the skills and experiences necessary for
completely independent practice in their initial teaching
assignments, including the skills necessary to work effectively
with paraprofessionals and oth~r education support staff.
Nonetheless, after graduation most new teachers are assigned
a class, often with the most hard-to-teach students, and then
left to sink or swim on their own. By contrast, other countries
with high-achieving school systems induct new teachers into
[he profession through clinical, real-world training process
es-following rigorous undergraduate academic preparation
by which inductees develop and perfect their teaching skills
under the mentorship of more experienced and skilled col
leagues,
Some school districts, working in collaboration with uni
versity teacher-education programs in some cases, are institut
ing internship programs for novice teachers. These programs
ensure that new teachers have both a reduced teaching load
and a mentor who will assist them as they confi-ont the hard
realities of the classroom. The reduced load allows time for
professional development activities that include observing
master teachers, talking with colleagues about teaching and
learning, and responding to the guidance offered by mentors
who review the novice teachers' practice and recommend
strategies to improve the quality of their classroom perfor
mance. Such programs have been instituted in Toledo, Berea,
Cincinnati, and Cleveland, Ohio; New York City and Roches
ter, N.Y; Minneapolis, Minn.; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia,
Pa.; and Poway, Calif. 'Research indicates that teachers who are
mentored when they enter teaching are more likely to remain
in the profession.
GUILDING A PROFESSION:
STREI'JGTHENII\lG TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
32
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s we have seen, excellent teaching requires a firm
grounding in academic subject matter and in the
art and science of how to convey information
in short, it requires professionalism, just like law,
""""IliiII
~ medicine and any other complex service to the
public. Only individuals who receive top-quality training-at
college and at the work site-and who demonstrate that they
meet high stil11dards-o n paper and on' their feet-should be
permitted to enter the teaching protession. Thus, the task
force calls for an urgent national commitment to bring high'
quality, greater resources and more coherence to the way
teacher education candidates are screened and prepared. To
this end, we make the following 10 recommendations.
10 REQUiRIE CORtE UBEUlLARiS (OURSES
The task force calls on education and arts and sciences faculty
to establish core courses in the liberal arts and sciences that
college freshmen and sophomores are required to take in order
to be admitted into a teacher education program, and on col
lege presidents to support the taculty in this endeavor. These
courses must provide broad exposure and a sound foundation
in the range of subjects and information relevant to K-12 stu
dent standards.
,
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICI\N FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
.
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33
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The task force calls for raisino- entrance, standards tor teacher' '
education programs by ~equir~g; 2.75 grade point average at'
the end of the sophomore year as an initial requirement, to be
phased up to a 3.0 grade point average. This s.hould includ~
the liberal arts and science requirements descnbed !lbove, as
well as one or more introductory education course(s) which
include opportunities to observe real classrooms.
',':'>"C
3. INSTitUTE A NATIONAL ENTRY TIESI
The task force calls upon leaders in the profession to develop
a national voluntary test-not imposed by the federal govern
ment-to be used by states or higher education institutions to
select cand~dates who want to enter teacher education. Tbis
test, which would generally be administered by the end of the
sophomore year, would' require students to demonstrate col
lege-level proflciency in the core subject areas of mathematics,
science, English language arts,' and history/geography-social
..
.'
'
f.
The task force calls upon all institutions of higher education to
require an academic major in addition to pedagogical studies
and general liberal arts courseworkfor an teacher candidates
elementary, middle and high school. The major must be suffi
ciently rigorous to enable teachers to deeply understand their
content. It must also be comprehensive enough to prepare
prospective teachers to help their students meet the new, more
demanding K -12 education standards.
S. DEVELOP CORE CURRICULA IN PEDAGOGY
; . . . . ffi
"
.... ;--f''::
. The task force calls for congressional funding to enable the
teaching profession to reach agreement on, and recommend
that colleges adopt, rigorous core curricula in pedagogy based
on the best research into how students learn and on the con
tent-specific teaching methods shown to be effective with stu-
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
34
don.c .under the auspices of a. respected.
,::body:of:st11;0lars:ana':e;~\1c~tq~~~ti.ch:as,~th!;:J\)jatio.n.~ Acade,~
:1/..•.
'my of Sclences;the,l~arned~o~i~:i:i~s;'8t:~-~p~tlilly\rt;~:ritbiia~;;tY:"~:i::
body.
'
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W,e can no longer toler~te a "do your own thing" pedagogy,
curnculum. Every successful profession has developed a set of
broadly agreed upon understandings about the training need
ed to .enter the ~rofession. This must become a reality for the
teachmg professlOn as well. The task force is not advocatino
the establishment of a mechanistic curriculum that stif1es cre~
:a:'1
ative colleg~ teaching and research. But we know enough now
;%
'0';;'
about learmng ~nd effective teaching in areas such as reading
and mathematlCs to develop, professional consensus about
!u:~
what should be taught to all teacher candidates in these fields.
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studies.
4. REqUIRE AN ACADEMIC MAJOR
,
6. $'Rf£~GilHIlEIi\I1 THE CUNBCAIL EXPIERiItN(E
The, t~sk force calls for strengthening the clinical experience of
tradl,tlOnal teacher preparation programs by building on suc
cessful models. These models should include the followino
characteristics:
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iii The
cooperating classroom teachers with w1.J.om prospective
teachers are placed are chosen on the basis of excellence
determined by a peer review process; these classroom teach
ers should be adequately trained to assume this responsibil
ity, and well rewarded for undertaking it.
E
Education faculty are freed to spend more time with their
students at their school placement sites and to receive pro
fessional advancement and other rewards for doing so.
iii
Clinical supervisors-the college staff who serve as the
prospective teachers' link bcnyeen the college campus and
the K -12 classroom-are chosen on the basis of excellence
in teaching and adult learning, are trained by the education
faculty regarding best practices, and are adequately compen
sated for their work.
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCL\TION TASK FORCE
AMERiCAN FEDERATION OF TEf\CHERS
3S
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sets
ical supervisors '.
f~~ult)r-WOi:k to!:!:ether
the beginning to the end of the clinical experience to devel
op explicit goals for the process and develop criteria to assess
the performance of prospective teachers.
;.:.~:.
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The task force believes the clinical experience can best be
provided in public schools where the faculty embraces the mis
.sion of preparing new teachers, has allocated resources to that
mission, and has developed a professional culture that supports
it.
7. INSTITUTE A RIGOROUS IExnIUCENSURE TIESi
The task force calls on the teaching profession under the aus
pices of a respected body of scholars and educators (such as the
National Academy of Sciences, the learned societies or a spe
cially assembled body) to develop examinations in subject
matter and pedagogy-to be taken by all prospective teachers'
prior to licensure in their teaching field. Current state teacher
. testing requirements vary greatly and often are characterized
by low-level content and low passing scores. These new
examinations should aim for a level of rigor that is consis
tent with what entry-level teachers in other high-performing
countries are expected to know.
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9. Sl'RiNGi'HU£N li\nDU('~ON PROGRAMS·
The task force calls tor an induction program for all beginning
teachers regardless of whether they have completed a tour- or
a five-year program. The AFT will work with school ~dmin
istrators and, through collective bargaining agreements, imple
ment induction programs tor novice teachers that include: a
quality selection process for identifYing and training memor
teachers; adequate training and compensation for these men
tors; and time tor them to genuinely teach, support and eval
uate beginning teachers.
10. REqUIRE HIGH STANDARDS
fOR AlliERNAIaVIE PROGRAMS
The task force calls upon those state departments of education
that recognize alternative routes to teaching to require, at a
minimum, that to be admitted to an alternative-route program
students must pass state t~acher-testing exams in the appro
priate content areas. In addition, such programs must provide
pedagogical coursework to alternative route candidates, mon
itor their performance in the classroom, and provide necessary
services to support their development of etIective teaching
skills and strategies.
8. TAKE A FIVE-YUIt VIIEW
The task force recommends that teacher preparation be orga
nized, at a minimum, as a five-year process. This may take the
form of a five-year university program, during which the stu
dents hav:e opportunities early in pre-service training to ob
serve and work in schools; in the fifth year, prior to graduation,
the students receive an intensive clinical training internship,
conducted in close collaboration with the public schools, for
which they are compensated. If the university program is only
four years, it is essential that the school district institute, at a
BUilDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
36
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATIOi'JTASK FORCE
AMERICA!'] FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
37
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'>-;....t':;:;.~, <: .• '~~;";';';,:'1 ..~::.;~~~:~~.,,:,,~:!,~~~,!,~~
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colleges in different regions of the country; one spent less
.' ,'. thah halfon··.eachteacher·edui::ation gradu~te ,~ompare9 ~p
its engineering graduates, and,the'othei-spei{fH~$s tha-n'one~.,
third on teacher education classes compared' to industrIal.
technology. At research institutions, it was found that only
social work and accounting departments receive less finan
cial suppOrt than the college of education (Howard, Hitz,
and Baker, 1998). Dollars do not tell us everything, but what
they do tell us is extremely disturbing.
r
The task force is greatly heartened by the publication in
1999 of an American Council on Education report, To
Touch the Future, which strongly urges college and universi:
ty presidents to devote greater attention to teacher educa
tion and to restructure resources toward it. Presidents
should help strengthen relationships betvveen the arts and
sciences and education faculty, realign the faculty reward
structure to encourage greater involvement of faculty with
their school and community, greatly increase spending for
the, clinical experience program, and form alliances with
neighboring communities to ensure that the university's
resources are directed toward the development of teachers
who can help their ~tudents meet high academic standards.
!
I'
[
o improve current conditions, the AFT believes
that university officials, school district officials,
college and school distriCt faculty, public and pri
vate grantmakers, and policymaking bodies (such
as NeATE, disciplinary associations and state
agencies) must use all their influence to carry out the agenda'
outlined in this report. The national AFT, as well as each K12 and higher education union, must take up the fight In their
schools and on their campuses. For example:
Il.I
The president ofthe university must make the preparation of
high-quality teachers an institutional priority. Presidents
and boards of trustees must demonstrate that teacher educa
tion is at the heart of serious discussions and decisions.
Recently a foundation president reviewed randomly selected
annual reports from our nation's colleges and universities,
only to discover that the education divisions were not men
tioned in a single one. This is confirmed in the shameful
amount of money spent on teacher education compared to
other disciplines. For example, the task force looked at two
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
38
\',
III
~
,
}
NeATE must strengthen its standards regarding entry into
the profession as well as its standards for clinical practice.
Current entry standards require only a 2.5 grade point aver
age and basic literacy. NeATE should articulate a higher
standard of subject-matter knowledge and academic perfor
mance, particularly as it relates to state standards for K -12
students. In addition, it needs to spell out standards for stu
dent teaching and other clinical experiences that include cri
teria delineating who may be a cooperating teacher or a '
supervisor, and what role the university plays in training and
coordinating such personnel.
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
39
�': ..::>- iii.
Statelegislators, Congress andfoundation leaders must desig- .'
~ate the fonds ne"eded' to enahle colleges tlnd universities to
deliverexcellentteachereducation. Public funds from nation-
state and local sources must be increased to deliver high
quality pre-service training. They must also provide support
for additional post-graduation, on-the-job clinical training
through the development of induction programs for novice
teachers. Corporate and foundation leaders can help
improve the quality of instruction and thus ensure student
achievement by providing grants.and special projects target
ed at teacher education programs.
,.",-
!iii College faculty,
clinical supervisors and cooperating school
teachers must define clear, explicit and shared expectations for
their roles and responsihilities during the clinical experience.
These standards should be reflected in new NCATE stan
dards and incorporated into collective bargaining contracts.
iii School
district unions must assume greater responsibility for
the quality of the clinical experience. K-12 locals need to
make the process of identif)ring cooperating teachers for
teacher education candidates and mentors for novice teach
ers a central part of their responsibility. Collective bargain
ing should address the procedures that would ensure a qual
ity mentor program, rigorous selection criteria, training for
cooperating and mentor teachers, and adequate compensa-.
tion. School districts and K -12 unions both have a profes
sional responsibility to cooperate in ensuring teacher quali
ty by jointly arranging meetings, seminars and other activi
ties.
Ili!I
. institutional reward system favors clinical work in. tht:.
schools,' and that the: hiring and ,trainlrigprotessfor. clinical
faculty meets high standards. The union must work, through:
academic channels, to ensure that the basic liberal arts and
sciences requirements offer students the grounding they
need to be effective in the classroom. The union should
insist that the university not place students in clinical set
tings where the cooperating teacher has not been vetted by
a process that ensures excellence.
Strengthening teacher education requires political will,·
mortey, culture and attitude change both in the universities
and in the public schools, and greater seriousness of purpose
among all involved in the policies and practices related to
teacher rreparation. Good education for our nation's school
children cannot be delivered by declaring pedagogy meaning
less nor by requiring that teachers need only the ~ost superfi
cial knowledge of content to interact with their students. The
best answer to high-quality teaching is professionalism: high
quality professional training, high standards for entry into the
profession, a strong induction program for beginning teachers,
competitive pay, administrative support and continuous op
portunities for professional growth.
.
Higher education unions must use their good offices' to
strengthen teacher education. The campus union can tak.e the
lead in promoting greater communication hetween teacher
education faculty and their colleagues in other departments.
The union, through its contract, can work to ensure that the
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
.
STRENG THENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTiON
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAI'J FEDt'RATION OF TEACHERS
40
41
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�Bibliography..
...;."
American Council on Education. To Touch the Future: Trans
forming the Way Teachers Are Taught. Washington, D.C.:
American Council on Education, 1999.
Ballou, Dale, and Michael Podgurs1..'}'. "The Case Against
Teacher Certification." The Public Interest, no. 132, pp. 17
29, 1998.
Ballou, Dale, and Stephanie Soler. "Addressing the Looming
Teacher Crunch: The Issue Is Q.yality." Washington D.C.:
Progressive Policy Institute, February 1998.
Barnes, Henrietta. "Structuring Knowledge for Beginning
Teaching," pp. 13-22 in Knowledge Base for the Beginning
Teacher, ed ..Maynard Reynolds. New York: Pergamon Press,
1990. .
Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy. A Nation
Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. The Report of the
Task Force on Teaching as a Profession. Washington, D.C.:
Carnegie Forum, 1986.
Carter, Kathy. "Teachers' Knowledge and Learning to Teach,"
pp. 291-310 in Handbook if Research on Teacher Education,
ed. W. R. Houston. New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Darling-Hammond, Linda, and Velma L. Cobb. "The Chang
ing Context ofTeacher Education," pp. 14-62 in The Teach-
er Educator~ Handbook: Building a Knowledge Base for the
. preparation. of1)achers. ed. Frank B. .Murray. San Francisco:
"
..Joss~y~Bass;
1996.~.·,·
,.,
.... :. .
'.
'.
:'.'
The Education Trust.·"NotGoodEnough: A Content Analy
sis ofTeacher Examinations." Thinking K-16, voL 3, issue 1,
Spring 1999.
Education Week. "Q.yality Counts 2000." vol. XIX~ no. 18,Jan.
13,2000 .
Feiman-Nemser, Sharon. "Teacher Preparation: Structural and
Conceptual Alternatives," pp. 212-233 in Handbook if Re
·search on Teacher Education, ed. W.R. Hous·tOn. New York:
Macmillan, 1990.
Feiman-Nemser, Sharon, and Janine Remillard. "Perspectives
on Learning to Teach," pp. 63-91 in The. Teacher Educator~
Handbook, ed. Frank B. Murray. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1996.
Fordham Foundation. Better Teachers, Better Schools. Washing
ton D.C.: Fordham Foundation, 1999.
Goodlad, John 1. Teachers for Our Nation~ Schools. San Francis
, co: J ossey-Bass, 1990.
Grossman, Pamela L., and Anna E. Richert. "Unacknowl
edged Knowledge Growth: A Re-examination of the Ef
fects of Teacher Education," pp. 53-62 in Teaching and
TeacherEducation, vol. 4, no. 1, 1988.
Henke, Robin R., S.P. Choy, X. Chen, S. Geis, .IVI.N. Alt, and
S.P. Broughman. Out if the Lecture Hall and into the Class
room: 1992-93 College Graduates and Elementary/Secondary
School Teaching, with an Essay on Undergraduate Academic
Experiences. Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study,
ED 399898, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Edu
. cation, 1996.
The Holmes Group. Tomorrow~ Teachers. East Lansing,
Mich.: The Holmes Group, 1986.
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STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE K-16 TE,\CHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
42
43
�,~ ~ ~
~'.<
,,,< H.Q~ard,
,
,~~'
RithardD.;R,,!-ndy Hitz, ,and Larry Bake,r","A Na:-, '
'tional Stu'dy' COriiparingthe Expenditures Programs by
Carnegie Classification and wi~h Other Disciplines," pp. 1
14 in Action in Teacher Educatioll:voL 20, no. 3, 1998.
Kramer, Rita. Ed School Follies: The Miseducation 0/ America's
Teachers. New York: Free Press, 1991.
Lucas, Christopher J Teacher Education in America: Reform
Agendas for the Twenty-First Century. New York: St. Mar
tin's Press, 1997.
'
AppertdixA:
.'/
Alternative
Certification
illIanual on the Pr~paration and Certification 0/ Educational
Personnel1998-99. National Association of State Directors
of Teacher Education and Certification, Dubuque, Iowa:
Kendall/Hunt Publisbing Company, 1998.
National Center for Education Statistics. America's Teachen:
,Prrfile o/t< Prrifession. Washington, D.C.: NCES, US. De
partinen t of Education, 1997.
National Council for the Accreditation ofTeacher Education.
Background
Standards, Procedures and Policiesfor the Accreditation 0/ Pro
Teacher preparation programs in the United States tradition
fessional Education Units. Washington, D.C.: NCATE,
ally have been designed to meet the needs of high school grad
1995.
uates who enter college and want to become teachers. These
Scardamalia, M., and C. Bereiter. "Conceptions of Teaching
state-approved programs typically fulfill the college's general
and Approaches to Core Problems," pp. 37-46 in Knowledge
education requirements for earning a baccalaureate degree 'and
Basefor the Beginning Teacher, ed. Maynard Reynolds. New
include a major or minor in education, as well as requirements
York: Pergamon Press, 1990.
such as passing specific tests and student teaching. Upon suc
Shanker, A. "Qyality Assurance: What Must. Be Done to
cessfitlly completing the program, a candidate receives a li
Strengthen the Teaching Profession." pp. 220-224 in Phi
cense to teach.
Delta Kappan, voL 78, no. 3, 1996.
Since the mid-1980s, when three states (California, New
Jersey and Texas) began implementing programs that prepare
Tyson, Harriet. Who Will Teach the Children? Progress and Re
teachers through alternative means, the number of states that
sistance in Teacher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
have some kind of alternative route to teacher certification has
1994.
grown dramatically. In 1999, some 40_sta,tes reported that they
Urban; Way~e ]. "Historical Studies of Teacher Education," '
provide alternatives to the traditional avenue into teaching
pp. 59-71 in Handbook 0/ Research on Teacher Education, ed.
(Feistritzer and Chester, 2000).
W.R. Houston. New York Ma,cmillan, 1990.
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND'INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERICAN FEDtRAfiON OF TEACHERS
44
45
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,About.the Data.
..
":::;::;i.~<:~~lic:::·'Nli'ii6dirl:~''C~'iit~i\f6r·,:,Ediit\~tib'O
, ' .' .'report, Aiternativ~'T;~ch;r "C;rtificati~n:' A ' State-by--'Stat~
Ana~ysis 2000, by C. Emily Feistritzer and David T. Chester
contains the most current data on alternative certification.
But, as the authors note, the data available from the states are
quite limited and have many holes. For instance, only 12 states
track the age of candidates in their alternative certification
" programs.
~;.;
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Evolution ofAlternative Routes
Meeting the needs ofalder candidates and
responding ta shartages
Alternative teacher-certification programs have evolved
order to attract and prepare individuals who already have
undergraduate degrees in tields other than education.
Traditional undergraduate programs don't make sense for
these individuals.
Alternative teacher-preparation routes also have developed
in response to threats of shortages. Existing and anticipated
shortages (the well-publicized projected need for 220,000 new
teachers per year over the next decade) are largely geographic
and subject-matter specific. And, as Feistritzer <).nd Chester
point out, when the estimated annual demand for new teach
ers is examined, it becomes clear that it refers to "newly hired"
teachers, which can mean new to the country, state, district or
school as wel1 as those individuals new to teaching. From the
available d!lta, however, it is difficult to tell what percent of
new hires in any given year are individuals returning to teach
ing or changing teaching positions, what percent are new
teachers prepared in teacher education programs and what
percent are new teachers prepared through alternative routes
or granted emergency licenses. In any case, the Feistritzer and
Chester data do show that the number of alternative certified
Grawi~g interest in'alternative rau~;~'~~';~;2~;:;;;~~~i;Jf1t,;~:~·:t~~;'::~'
Thus far, alternative teacher-certification programs, have
prepared under i..p.IT.cent of tod~s. But,
according to 1999 NCEI interviews there is increasing inter
est in these routes-especially from individuals wanting to
become certified to teach. Officials in 33 states say that inter
est in alternative certification programs among local school
district personnel has grown,' 27 states report rising interest
among state legislators, and 22 states say-interest among uni
versity/college schools of education has increased.
Changing profile afpraspective teachers
What type of candidates do alternative certification pro
grams attract? Existing data (fewer than half the states with
such programs record these data) show that this growing seg
ment of prospective teachers tends to be older and that these
programs attract more men and minorities than traditional
programs. It appears, too, that participants are likely to teach
the inner city or in rural areas.
III
Candidates tend to be ~-the age ranges from
to
50-than participants in traditional programs (Feistritzer
and Chester, 2000). Indeed, the profile of individuals enterteaching has changed markedly. People are beginning
their preparation later in their academic and professional
careers. Nearly three out of 10 candidates who completed a
college-based teacher preparation program in 1998 entered
the program after receiving at least a bachelor's degree
(Feistritzer and Chester, 2000).
programs attract more IT!..e~than traditional pro
grams. Of the 16 states recording such data, most report that
the percentage of male, alternative-certification candidates
51 Alternative
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
. AMERICAN FEDERATIO!'1 OF TEACHERS
416
47
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exceeds the percentage distr~bution of male teachers (27.2 '
percent) in public schools nationwide. For example, South '
Carolina reports that 58 percent of program participants are
male, and Idaho reports that 67 percent of participants are
men (Feistritzer and Chester, 2000; Henke et al., 1997).
iil
;:?'.'
Alternative programs attract more minority candidates than
traditional programs. Only12~ the 40 states with alterna
dve routes to certification report usable data on race and
ethnicity. However, the available data indicate that most
(seven out of 12) states had a proportion of black program
participants that was greater than the proportion ofblacks in
the national teacher work force, which is ~,6_perce~t. Some
states reported even larger proportions of black participants
alternative programs-ranging from 13.5 percent in
Texas to 99 percent in Kentucky. For the states that showed
ethnic breakouts for alternative teacher-certification pro
grams, most (eight out of 12) had a proportion of blacks
equal to or greater than the proportion of blacks in the state
as a whole. For example, Michigan's black population is
roughly 14 percent, but 80 percent of candidates in alterna
tive programs were black (Feistritzer and Chester, 2000;
Henke et aL, 1997; Wright, 1996).
iii The
data also show that most (seven out of 12) states had a
proportion of H~spanjc candidates in alternative programs
that was greater than the proportion of Hispanics among
teachers nationally, which is 3.7 percent. States reported
larger proportions, which range from 5 percent in Arkansas
and Delaware to
percent in Texas and up to 55 percent
New Mexico. For the states that showed ethnic breakouts
for alternative teacher-certification programs, most had a
proportion of Hispanics equal to or greater than the propor
tion of Hispanics in the state as a whole. For example, New
Mexico's Hispanic population is roughly 38 percent, but 55
1
,I
i
.percent ofcanq.idates in alternative programs were Hispaf!ic
(Feistritzer and Chester, 2000; Henke et a1., 1997; Wright;
1~96).
'
, :n alternative programs seem to be more likely
Based on these data, it appears that alternative certification
progra.ms may hold promise as a means of increasing minori
ty representation in the teaching force and supplying qualified
teachers to schools in hard-to-statI urban and rural areas.
~~
QIality Issues
j
Just as working to improve and ensure the quality of tradi
tional teacher-preparation programs is a crucial component in
any. efforts to enhance instruction and student learning, it is
equally important to ensure that alternative routes into teach
ing are of high caliber.
The quality of existing alternative certification programs
varies widely. Few states have programs with well-defined cri
teria for recruiting, selecting, training and licensing prospec
tive teachers. The range of qualifYing criteria, for instance,
varies from requiring a bachelor's degree, passage of a test(s),
screening interviews, and demonstration of content mastery to
requiring just a bachelor's degree to not requiring a college
degree at all. A few examples from Feistritzer and Chester's
program descriptions:
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BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENiNG TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
48
REPORT OF THE K-16 TEACHER EDUCATiON TASK FORCE
AMERiCAN fEDERATION OF TEACHERS
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, . ',tion major in the subject heorshe:iniends to teach, 'or'
coursework requirements for secondary certification), a'
cumulative CPA of2.75 or 3.0 in the last 60 hours of degree
work, three letters of rderence, and an interview with a
selection committee. The applicant must also take the Praxis
I and Praxis II (Specialty Area Examination) to enter the
progra~.
.
. fIfI In Vermont, if a certified teacher is not found to fill a vacant
position by autumn, the district is allowed to select "the best
available candidate" and can obtain a waiver.
III
,
.'
In Michigan, one route requires that candidates possess at
least a bachelor's degree or be currently enrolJed in a teacher
preparation program-which will result in a Michigan
teaching certificate when finished-and have completed
semester hours in a teacher preparation program.
On one extreme are quality alternative certification pro
grams that (1) aim to attract talented career changers and
ers with at least a bachelor's degree in a ~on-education major,
and (2) impose rigorous entry criteria that may include tests,
interviews and demonstrated mastery of content among other
requirements. Candidates in these programs take education
and pedagogy courses the summer before entering the class
room and throughout the school year. They teach
regular school year, but under the close supervision of expert
mentor teachers and become fully licensed once they have suc
cessfulJy met the standards for completing the program. Ac
cording to Feistritzer and Chester, there are only 12 states that
implement one or more programs that meet the National
Center for Education Information's criteria (similar to the
above) for exemplary alternative teacher preparation. In 1998
99 less than 40 percent of the approximately 24,000 individu-
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
50
,.; •
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being exemplary."
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On the opposite end of the spectrum are programs that
require little more than a college degree, if that, and fail to
require education coursework or to provide support in the
classroom. Individuals who enter teaching through such
routes-often referred to as "emergency certification"-are left
to sink or swim. In between these extremes are programs that
may have some, but not all, of the characteristics' essential-to
quality alternative certification programs.
"
.,;
"
~
Selectivity
Data collected in the 11 states that track application and
acceptance to alternative certification programs indicate some
amount of selectivity in determining who enters such pro
. grains. All but three states report accepting fewer candidates
applied to their alternative route program(s).
Connecticut, for instance, 460 people applied to the state's
alternative teacher-certitlcation programs, bur only 180 were
accepted. It is not clear from the data, however, why the can
didates were rejected by the programs. For example, all or
all of the candidates might meet a program's entry re
quirements, but the program might turn many away because of
restrictions related to the program's
That situation would
be drastically different from a program that rejects applicants
because they do not meet stringent entry criteria.
Nearly one-third of all states with alternative certification
programs (13 out of 40) also have a program that can be con
sidered an emergency route. For example, California, a state
that Feistritzer and Chester identifY as having exemplary
programs, implements an emergency certifIcation program. In
some states, emergency certification accounts for filling more
teaching positions than any other alternative route. In 1998-99,
REPORT OF THE K-l6 TEACHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE
AMERiCAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
51
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iii;.· ;
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'California issued ,28,617 emergency teaching permits-va~tly
more than for all other alternati~e routes combined. Louisiana
issued 4,698 emergency certificates (called "temporary teach
assignment")-more than five times the number of its
other alternative certification avenues combined. The emer
gency route is not selective.
Recommendations
Emergency routes where individuals are thrown into the class":
room to "sink or swim" are unacceptable and must be elimi
nated as an "alternative route" to the classroom. But, recruiting
individuals who did not originally prepare to be teachers can
provide a rich source of candidates for the teacher work force.
It is reasonable to develop for these individuals alternative
training programs that accommodate their past educational
and work experiences. Such programs must insist on rigorous
standards for entry (including passing all subject-matter tests
required of traditional candidates) and pre-employment peda
gogical training. In addition, individuals' who enter these
routes into teaching must have intensive support and supervi
sion by expert teachers during their initial teaching experi
ences-"buddy systems" won't suffice.
References
Feistritzer, C. Emily, and David T. Chester. Alternative Teacher
Certification: A State-by-State Analysis 2000. Washington,
D.C.: National Center for Education Information, 2000.
Henke, R.R., S.P. Choy, X. Chen, S. Geis, M.N. Alt, and S.P.
Broughman. America's Teachers: Prcfile ifa Profession, 1993
94. Washington, D.C.: US. Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics, 1997.
Wright, J,W. (ed.).
Universal Almanac 1996. Kansas City,
Mo.: Andrews and McMeel, 1996.
BUILDING A PROFESSION:
STRENGTHENING TEACHER PREPARATION AND INDUCTION
52
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Bruce Reed - Education Series
Creator
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Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36312" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Description
An account of the resource
Bruce Reed's Education Series include material pertaining to national standards and testing; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the 1999 efforts to reauthorize the Act; 100,000 teachers and class size; charter schools and vouchers; education events and forums; social promotion; Goals 2000; HOPE Scholarships; Pell Grants; the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (Ed-flex); education funding and budgets; and various school and teacher issues. The files contain correspondence, reports and articles, memos, polls, handwritten notes, hard copies of emails, schedules, printed material, and memos to the President.
Provenance
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
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133 folders in 9 boxes
Text
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Teacher Quality
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Domestic Policy Council
Bruce Reed
Education Series
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 95
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Reed-Education-finding-aid.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/647429" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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3/7/2011
Source
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647429-teacher-quality
647429