Saturday, April 15, 2000
Tougher teacher training sought
Union wants higher standards
BY James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ATLANTA — With politicians and parents alike clamoring for accountability from schools, those training future teachers should raise standards for potential classroom instructors, a national teachers' union recommended Friday.
Using a joint program between the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public Schools as an example, the American Federation of Teachers released a report calling for teacher programs that include a major in another subject, a higher minimum grade-point average for admission, and a national test teachers would have to pass before becoming certified.
“If we want to consider teaching a true profession, we need to challenge our current and future members to create a body of knowledge and skills that is recognized,” said Mitch Vogel, an education professor at the University of Illinois and chair of the AFT's teacher preparation committee.
More of the recommendations include more classroom time for student teachers, and a five-year approach to qualifying teachers.
The report was prepared by an AFT task force that included Tom Mooney, an AFT vice president and president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. Mr. Mooney will soon leave that office to take over as president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
In its fifth year, UC's Cincinnati Initiative for Teacher Education (CITE) already incorporates many of AFT's recommendations. The five-year program requires students to get their bachelor's degree in another subject and spend their fifth year as intern teachers.
CITE students teach half-days for the entire school year at the same school, and in CPS and West Clermont Local School District, receive stipends of close to $10,000 — about a third of a starting CPS teacher's salary.
Other critics of education schools said that while they shouldn't all be shut down, alternative certification programs should be expanded.
“You have the educators regulating themselves, and a lot of those same regulators are products of those same mediocre education schools,” said Harvard University education professor Jerome Murphy. “So we should have alternatives, much like charter schools, that are administered privately but held accountable to the public.”
A representative of one such alternative said until school districts put the same emphasis on recruiting and development as the business world, it will be difficult to raise the standards for incoming teachers.
“You need to look everywhere for qualified candidates, and that should include the college of education, but also beyond,” said Wendy Kopp, president of Teach for America, which recruits college graduates to teach in poor and inner-city districts for two years.
“These recommendations were framed by teachers themselves who felt they missed out when they came through school,” Dr. Vogel he said. “We'll need a major overhaul and get education professors out of the standard arts and sciences approach and into the field where they can help student teachers and find out what's going on in the classroom.”
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