It is back to school time, and children everywhere are being asked, “Who is your teacher this year?” In this month’s issue brief from Core Education, we explore the data to offer a profile of the American teacher. The demographics of the American educator workforce has changed over the past 25 years, with the ranks Read more about September Issue Brief: The American Teacher[…]
We know that students learn more when they receive high-quality instruction. We also have findings suggesting that some teacher preparation programs produce graduates that are more capable than others. These two pieces of evidence have led many teacher educators, researchers, and stakeholders to conclude that we need better studies of activities and experiences that are Read more about Fostering a New Approach to Research on Teacher Preparation[…]
In the past, it was common for teacher candidates to spend long hours in university classrooms before ever encountering a child. Student teaching was the ultimate capstone where prospective teachers finally had a chance to apply years of accumulated theory. Now, however, teacher preparation programs are reconfiguring themselves to infuse clinical- and practice-based experiences in Read more about June Issue Brief: Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation[…]
Ben Jensen of the The National Center on Education and the Economy examines how the U.S. can improve teacher preparation by learning from Finland, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong and how these top-performing countries prepare teachers for the classroom. These four systems arm teachers with a rich understanding of the subject areas they will teach and Read more about Borrowing Teacher Preparation Ideas from Top-Performing Countries[…]
At a recent meeting of the American Education Research Association (AERA), The Learning Policy Institute presented findings from a comprehensive study of teacher residencies across the nation. There are currently approximately 50 such programs. The best include the following key characteristics: Strong district/university partnerships Coursework about teaching and learning tightly integrated with clinical practice Full-year Read more about Can Teacher Residencies Help With Shortages?[…]
The National Council on Teacher Quality has followed its study of undergraduate elementary teacher preparation programs with a new study focused on secondary teacher preparation, Landscape in Teacher Preparation: Undergraduate Secondary Education. Since rules and procedures for selectivity in admissions, student teaching, and classroom management cut across teacher prep programs at an institution, whether preparing Read more about Landscape in Secondary Teacher Preparation[…]
A new report, Starting Strong: How to Improve Teachers’ Entry into the Profession, from the Center for American Progress explores the challenges facing inexperienced teachers’ entry into teaching, highlights some of the early outcomes of model programs, and proposes an expansion of supported entry programs for prospective and new teachers. Excerpts appear below: When a Read more about Starting Strong[…]
As high school students who are preparing to become teachers develop teaching skills, they deserve recognition for their growth. Micro-credentials (or digital badges) are performance-based assessments that allow rising educators to showcase their growing skills. EdRising offers five free micro-credentials in the following topic areas: Anti-bias Instruction Classroom Culture Collaboration Formative Assessment Learner Engagement Each Read more about Free Microcrentials for High School Students Preparing to become Teachers[…]
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released new ratings for 875 undergraduate elementary teacher preparation programs. The latest Teacher Prep Review found evidence that the nation’s top programs–those that graduate teachers well versed in both evidence-based content and methods of teaching–are not all the nation’s best known elite universities, but include Purdue University, Read more about Landscapes in Teacher Prep: Undergraduate Elementary Education[…]
Teachers of Tomorrow is out with a new infographic on the teacher shortage crisis and the states and content areas that are hardest hit. To shed some light on how we can solve this problem, the organization asked 15 experts passionate about education the following question: What is the single most important thing America can Read more about How to Battle the Teacher Shortage (15 experts weigh in)[…]
States are now deeply engaged in developing plans for their federal education spending for the next several years. Now is the time to rethink systems and strategies and to focus funds and efforts on what matters most for learning: great teachers and leaders for every student and school. Written collaboratively by all three partners of Read more about Building the Educator Workforce Our Children Need Now[…]
A strong body of research, and the example of other nations, supports a relationship between student performance and the selectivity of admissions into teacher prep programs. Therefore, America’s institutions training teachers should set high standards to admit only the best candidates to become the teachers. According to a new report by the National Council on Read more about Within Our Grasp: Achieving Higher Admissions Standards in Teacher Prep[…]
The U.S. Department of Education has released its final regulations governing how states hold their teacher preparation programs accountable. New America’s Melissa Tooley takes a closer look at the potential challenges with implementation, which falls squarely on the shoulders of State Education Agencies: As with the recently-enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), these regulations leave Read more about Teacher Prep Regulations Rise from Dead, Turn Spotlight to States[…]
New data show that new teachers make up a significant segment of the U.S. teaching force, making their ability to thrive (and stay) in the classroom an increasingly critical issue for schools. A new special report from Education Week explores the challenges facing new teachers and the ways schools, colleagues, and other stakeholders can better Read more about How Can Schools Help New Teachers?[…]
To build a world-class educational system, America needs outstanding teachers. But how do we entice exceptional candidates into the teaching pipeline and recruit them in the states and districts that need them most? Why are there teacher surpluses in some areas and extreme shortages in others? In this month’s issue brief, Core Education has assembled Read more about October Issue Brief: America’s Teacher Pipeline[…]
Everybody involved in K-12 education knows that new teachers tend to need a lot of extra support. What they may not fully grasp, however, is just how many new teachers are out there. As a segment of the total U.S. teaching force, their representation appears to be considerable. Nationally, 12 percent of all public school Read more about New Teachers Make Up a Significant Segment of Profession[…]