 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Find more Kappan articles in the Building a System of Quality Assurance for the Teaching Profession Moving into the 21st Century The continuum of teacher preparation and development described in this special section represents a new collaboration on the education scene, Mr. Wise points out. OUR NATION'S economy and the American workplace have changed dramatically in the past 40 years. The skills needed for successful living have altered radically, primarily as a result of the technological revolution and its impact on most jobs and professions. Technology is changing the way we work and live. When we come into the office, we check our voice mail and e-mail. We send paper documents over the phone lines. We use a vast network of computers to search for all manner of information, from reports issued by education organizations to the latest White House initiative. But American schools, by and large, are still geared to produce students for a nation that, in many ways, no longer exists. Schools of education must provide school systems with prospective teachers who can help students function in our new society, and that means that the teachers themselves must gain new skills and new knowledge. For too long, teacher preparation and licensing have been hostage to the status quo. Some promising reforms, such as yearlong internships and the concept of the professional development school, have been developed, but they are still not the norm. Most systems find change difficult, and education is no exception. We must find new incentives to stimulate change throughout the system. The field has begun to rise to the challenge. Since the mid-1980s, education has engaged in unprecedented standard-setting for students - and for teachers. Standards for what beginning and experienced teachers should know and be able to do are now being developed. The new standards emphasize teacher performance, and this emphasis is leading to more rigorous teacher assessment than ever before. Out of the various sets of standards and emerging assessments, a system is beginning to evolve. To ensure quality in teaching, it is time for the profession to develop and embrace a system of quality assurance that is already used by other professions. Such a system is composed of sets of standards within three interconnected systems:
All education reform efforts will be strengthened by a system of quality assurance that lasts throughout a teacher's career. The idea of teacher preparation and development as a continuum from preservice preparation to certification* is the basis for a proposed extension of teacher preparation into three phases:
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) are each developing and implementing standards and assessments that teachers will meet along the path of preparation and continuing development. The three mechanisms - accreditation, state licensing, and board certification - can become a coherent system for quality assurance for the teaching profession. For the first time, all three organizations are working together to develop complementary standards, so that preparation standards reflect the skills and knowledge needed for state licensing examinations and so that both accreditation and licensing help candidates and teachers build the skills needed for success on board certification assessments. Implementing this new system of teacher preparation and development is the challenge at hand as we move into the 21st century. How do we change entrenched systems and ways of operating? How do we incorporate professional development schools into the mainstream of teacher preparation? What incentives can be used to encourage professional accreditation of schools of education? As states strive to develop performance-based licensing systems, what mechanisms can be put in place to help teachers and teacher preparation programs adjust? How can school districts encourage board certification, so that the system develops a cadre of these recognized professionals in a reasonable time? The articles in this special section on quality assurance provide a glimpse into current and future efforts to create a coherent system of teacher preparation and development. Linda Darling-Hammond provides a compelling overview of the status of the teaching profession today. She summarizes and explains the groundbreaking recommendations of the report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, released this fall. The report provides a blueprint for developing this coherent system. Jane Leibbrand and I discuss how changes in licensing and the beginning of board certification are transforming and will continue to transform the accreditation of teacher preparation institutions.
Gordon Ambach, executive director of the CCSSO, provides a comprehensive overview of the efforts thus far to develop mechanisms and methods for the licensing of teachers.
In the article on the NBPTS, by Mary Catherine Buday and James Kelly, teachers describe the transformations in their teaching practice as a result of National Board certification. The continuum of teacher preparation and development represents a new collaboration on the education scene. For the first time, the national accrediting body for teacher preparation, the state licensing authorities, and a new national certification body are cooperating to create a system of quality assurance for the teaching profession. The goal is a high-quality teaching force for all of America's students, so that we can create a better future for all of America.
ARTHUR E. WISE is president of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Washington, D.C. He is co-author with Linda Darling-Hammond and Stephen P. Klein of A License to Teach (Westview Press, 1995), which provides an in-depth discussion of performance-based licensing. |
|
Last modified
January 17, 2008
This article appeared in the November 1996 issue of Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 8, No. 3. |
