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Congress Orders Landmark Study of Teacher Education Programs
As part of the fiscal 2004 appropriations bill, Congress has mandated a wholesale cataloging of the work done by teacher-preparation programs to better understand the academic content and field experiences provided to prospective teachers. Congress intends for existing data to be synthesized on the consistency of required course work, how reading and math are taught, and the degree to which programs are aligned with scientific evidence on the subjects.
ATE President Ed Pultorak recently had the opportunity to speak with Martin Orland, who will oversee this process. Martin is the Director for the Center of Education of the National Academies and a former employee of the United States Department of Education. Martin explained that what will be unique to this project is that new research will be conducted if not enough completed research studies are located to provide adequate information. Previous projects have always included the synthesis and reporting of studies already completed.
The work will be completed by a committee. According to Martin, committee members will be selected based on their experience and appropriate background for project work. President Pultorak did mention that the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) would be willing to help identify individuals that may be very helpful committee members. Martin is currently waiting for the completed executive charge from the Department of Education. Once he receives the full charge (which is likely to be two to three more months), committee members will be identified. The first role of the committee will be to interpret the charge. He indicated that after the charge is interpreted he will have a better idea of what the final project might entail.
Martin was very helpful and friendly in answering President Pultorak's questions. He, in turn, had several questions about ATE. During their discussion, President Pultorak explained about ATE and shared some of ATE's goals and plans. Martin was very interested in the next edition (3rd edition) of the Research Handbook on Teacher Education which should be completed in early 2006. He was also particularly interested in the ATE journal and our two National Academies this year on "Teacher as Researcher: School and University Collaborations." Martin said he would keep President Pultorak informed regarding developments of the Congressionally mandated study which is likely to last three to five years.
Further, President Pultorak had the opportunity to have conversations with other educational leaders regarding what their thoughts were about this landmark project including individuals from National Council forAccreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), and American Educational Research Association (AERA). Most seemed to agree that the initial idea of this mandated study was not positive and in the best interest for Teacher Education. Now, however, many are agreeing that this could be helpful if conducted appropriately. For example, in the March 3rd, 2004 publication of Education Week (Volume 23, p. 13) Arthur E. Wise, president of NCATE was quoted as saying, "We do have a lot of small-scale studies, but the big policy questions have not been well studied. This is very, very ambitious." In addition, David G. Imig, president and chief executive officer of AACTE, was quoted as saying, "The value-added of teacher education is going to be demonstrated if the study is set up in a way that looks at outcomes and . . . the impact on student learning."
This project will be monitored closely, and any new information will be shared with ATE members as soon as it is available. As many of you are aware, Congress has not mandated a wholesale cataloging of conducted research of this magnitude since 1933. This appears to be an ambitious project.
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