Reform Ideas in New Book Aim for Teacher Excellence

"Improving teacher quality is a necessary - indeed the key - ingredient for improving our nation's schools," write editors Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway in "Creating a New Teaching Profession." Goldhaber and Hannaway argue that without bold reforms, the future economic well-being of the United States is at risk.

An unmistakable sense of urgency runs throughout "Creating a New Teaching Profession," with the top scholars and practitioners who coauthor the book underscoring that current systems for training, hiring, retaining, and rewarding teachers not only are imperfect, but are detrimental to building the best teacher workforce possible. Contributors to the book propose such major reforms as remaking longstanding teacher training systems and using private-sector approaches to modernize recruitment and compensation.

High-profile education leaders, including New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, respond to the proposals, putting the ideas into real-world context and offering political and operational perspectives.

"Creating a New Teaching Profession" tackles its topic from every angle and finds that any successful effort to boost teacher effectiveness must be ambitious and multifaceted, with changes everywhere from professional education programs to retirement packages.

"Creating a New Teaching Profession," edited by Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway, is available from the Urban Institute Press (ISBN 978-0-87766-762-9, paperback, 321 pages, $29.50). Order online at http://www.uipress.org , call 410-516-6956, or dial 1-800-537-5487 toll-free. Read more, including the introductory chapter, at http://www.urban.org/books/newteachingprofession .

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Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Programs: MA

Over the past decade, alternative teacher preparation programs have proliferated across the nation -- and in Massachusetts -- in response to projected teacher shortages and in an effort to better prepare teachers for the challenges of today's classrooms. While the vast majority of Massachusetts teachers are trained through traditional teacher preparation programs, both the number of alternative route programs and the number of teachers completing them has grown significantly.

National research comparing alternative and traditional routes to teaching offers little empirical evidence to guide policy changes. Yet there has been a shift in teacher preparation programs toward: longer and more intense field-based experiences; closing the gap between theory and practice; partnerships between preparation programs and local school districts; and accountability in teacher preparation. It is within this context that the Rennie Center embarked upon a project to examine the role of alternative routes to teaching in Massachusetts. As part of this project, the Rennie Center convened a diverse working group, which examined the characteristics of alternative teacher preparation programs in the Commonwealth, including the type of candidates they attract, and examined issues associated with the expansion and sustainability of these programs. This report is the culmination of the Rennie Center's year-long project.

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers: The Role of Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Programs in Massachusetts highlights gaps in knowledge and areas for improvement, and lays the groundwork necessary for a deeper look at issues associated with drawing exceptional candidates into the teaching profession; filling vacant positions; measuring teacher quality; and holding teacher preparation programs accountable.

The final section of the report puts forth considerations for policymakers, K-12 school and district leaders, and institutions of higher education. The report encourages the state to facilitate and encourage communication and collaboration between those that train teachers and those that hire them, and provide teacher preparation programs with access to the state data system so they may more easily evaluate their programs. The report also encourages K-12 district leaders and deans of college and university departments of education to create lend-lease programs that would allow expert teachers to work as adjunct professors in schools of education without forfeiting their role as K-12 teachers as a way to bring both the clinical and contextualized knowledge of schools and districts into teacher training.

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College certificates/associate's degrees up 28%

The total number of certificates and associate's degrees-- postsecondary awards below the bachelor's degree-- increased 28 percent to a total of 1.5 million between 1997 and 2007.

Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), this Statistics In Brief released by The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences describes changes in the number and types of awards conferred over the decade between 1997 and 2007. "Changes in Postsecondary Awards Below the Bachelor’s Degree: 1997 to 2007" reports on changes within fields of study, the types of institutions that confer subbaccalaureate awards, and differences in awards by gender and race/ethnicity. Other findings include:

* Certificates and associate's degrees constitute a large and growing segment of U.S. postsecondary credentials; in 2007, almost 40 percent of undergraduate credentials conferred in postsecondary institutions participating in federal financial aid programs (Title IV) were below the bachelor’s degree.

* While community colleges still account for the largest share of these credentials--58 percent conferred in 2007--the share conferred by private for-profit institutions increased from 24 percent in 1997 to 29 percent in 2007.

* Health care is the most common field of study, accounting for 31 percent of all awards in 2007, and increasing 68 percent over the decade studied.

* Women earned a majority of all certificates and associate's degrees (62 percent in 2007); and the rate of increase in awards to women surpassed that for men.

* The rate of increase in subbaccalaureate awards conferred over the decade was highest for Hispanic students (74 percent), followed by Black students (54 percent); in contrast, awards to White students increased 11 percent.

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