Marilyn JohnstonProfessor

Ohio State University

All descriptions of educational reforms are embedded in:

political and cultural contexts, research agendas, funding policies, and teaching practices both inside and outside teacher education

the value orientations of individuals, institutions, and governments

narratives that are never a matter of pure description or linear progress

and . . .

Many streams of activities/perspectives coincide in any given period.

Ideas resurface in cyclical patterns, reflecting the political context in which they exist.

Ideas that move across cultures always require cultural adaptation.

is influenced by my attachments to:

Dewey’s pragmatism and progressive education historically social constructivist and socio-cultural theories currently issues of social justice and multicultural and democratic education

National policies vary enormously as they are put into practice:

--state--school district --school building --classroom level

Standards make general statements about scope and sequence and reflect broad principles and ideologies.

Implementation of standards and evaluation of learning determine whether standards are used to enrich or constrain the curriculum, whether they provide rich learning or narrow training.

professionalization deregulation

professionalization

standards/ standardization

knowledge base

authoritative discourses

individual autonomy

deregulation

democratic goals

theoreticaldifferences

internally persuasivediscourses

collegiality & collaboration

Three strands:

policymaking

outside theprofession

reformwithin theprofession

research within theprofession

Three strands:

policymaking

outside theprofession

reformwithin theprofession

researchwithin theprofession

my opinion:

This is national policy making tied to political agendas and naïve conceptions of teaching and learning.

Following slides from: www.nclb.gov/next/overview/presentation/index.html

Secretary of Education, Rod Paige’s Annual Report – 2002

“ Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge”

goal: to dismantle teacher education as we know it

(Cochran-Smith, 2002, Grossman, 2003)

Argues that academic standards for teachers are low, whereas the barriers that keep out “qualified” persons are high.

Secretary Paige continues:

states must transform certification requirements “basing their programs on rigorous academic content, eliminating cumbersome requirements not based on scientific evidence, and doing more to attract highly qualified candidates from a variety of fields.”

40 states have adopted alternative certification options

alternative certification is most appealing in times of teacher shortage.

“In some areas teachers are better prepared than ever, while in schools that serve the greatest numbers of poor and minority children, more and more teachers are underqualified.” (Grossman, 2002)

Alternative programs are resource and labor intensive and often have high dropout rates.

There are inconsistent research results on recruitment and retention related to alternative certification (Wilson, et al, 2001)

Three strands:

policymaking

outside theprofession

reformwithin theprofession

research within the profession

Marilyn Cochran-Smith divides the history of research in teaching and teacher education into 4 periods, each with a different question:

--attribute question – early 1950s to 1960sWhat are the attributes of good teachers and teacher education programs?

--effectiveness question – 1960s to mid-1980s What are the strategies and processes used by effective

teachers? --knowledge question – 1980s through 1990s What should teachers know & be able to do?

Research on Teacher Knowledge

formal and practical knowledge (Fenstermacher, 1994) pedagogical content knowledge (L. Shulman, 1987) case knowledge (J. Shulman, 1992) craft knowledge (Grimmet & MacKinnon, 1992) knowledge in action (Schon, 1983) reflection on knowledge (Griffin, 1984; Schon, 1987; Zeichner & Liston, 1987) local knowledge constructed through teacher research (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) & action research (Noffke, 1997)

Fourth question:

outcomes question – late 1990s to present

What outcomes should be expected from

good teaching and good teacher education?

Three strands:

policymaking

outside theprofession

reformwithin theprofession

research within the profession

the context for changemid-1980s

Two national major reports that were critical of education, particularly teacher education:

1. A National At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform (1983) National Commission on Excellence in Education

2. Carnegie Report (1986) Carnegie Commission

Described teacher education as:

o irrelevant and lacking a scholarly knowledge base

o lacking connection with the schoolso poorly preparing teachers in the academic

areas

Holmes Group (1986, 1990, 1995) proposed: strong undergraduate preparation in the subjects

that they teach graduate level professional education close connections with school-based educators

(Professional Development Schools - PDSs) in centers of collaborative inquiry and professional development

deep understanding of children sensitivity & adaptability to context & culture

Original member of the Holmes Group Moved to a graduate certification program (M.Ed.) Redesigned teacher education programs and

curriculum Established Professional Development Schools

(PDSs) for all certification programs – year-long school placements for students

Only faculty teach courses—consequences for program & student numbers

Reform within the profession is influenced by:

teacher education knowledge base

movement toward standards for teacher education

professionalization of teaching

Within the ProfessionMovement toward Standards

1996 – What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future (Report of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future -- NCTAF)

1997 - $23 million from Dept of Education to support implementation of NCTAF recommendations

1997 – Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality

1998 - Promising Practices: New Ways to Improve Teacher Quality (U.S. Dept of Education, 1998)

2000 – Studies of Excellence in Teacher Education (Darling-Hammond)

NCTAF Recommendations

reinvent teacher education & professional development

get serious about standards for students & teachers

place qualified teachers in every classroom in America

support & reward teachers’ continuing development of knowledge & skill

create schools organized to support and sustain student and teacher success

“We propose an audacious goal for

America’s future. Within a decade-–by the year 2006—we will provide every student in America with what should be his or her educational birthright: access to competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success.” (NCTAF, 1996, p. vi)

Performance Based Assessment for Teacher Education

National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Moved from inputs to outcome-based assessment From curriculum oriented standards to performance-

based standards Focus on what teacher candidate know and are able to

do

Interstate New Teacher Assessment & Support Consortium (INTASC) Board compatible standards for entry into the teaching

profession Concurrently ETS (Educational Testing Services) has

developed the Praxis Assessment Series—Praxis I, II, III

Performance Based Assessment for Teachers

National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)

The mission is to: o maintain high and rigorous standards for what

accomplished teachers should know and be able to do (performance standards),

o provide a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards,

o advocate for education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified teachers.

1992-2002 – 24,000 teachers certified

Moving away from training and competency models to more constructivist learning approaches

Recognition of prior knowledge, teacher decision-making and career-long professional development

Emphasis on collegiality, collaboration, networks, self-study, teacher research, action research

Emphasis on issues of equity & social justice—effects of poverty and issues of race, class, gender, disability, and difference.

,

professionalization

standards/ standardization

authoritative discourses

a knowledge base

individual autonomy

deregulation

democratic goals

internally persuasivediscourses

theoreticaldifferences

collegiality & collaboration

Three strands:

policymaking

outside theprofession

reformwithin theprofession

research within the profession

Government Funded Studies

Department of Education funded 2 studies:1. Wilson, Floden & Mundy (Feb, 2001)

review of research on teacher preparation

2. National Research Council (2001), chaired by Richard Shavelson, reviewed research on the science and practice of national scientific research

within the profession movement toward

standards and professionalization

performance-based assessment for teachers & teacher education programs

Advocacy of multiple approaches to research

Peer-reviewed use of data and research results/interpretation

outside the profession movement toward

accountability and testing continuing critiques of

teacher education & support for alternative paths to certification

requirements for scientifically-based research

selective use of data and evidence