Meaningful Change In Education

11 Pages 2816 Words

. In the near future, efforts to retain educators in the workforce must also accommodate a rate of retirement of senior teachers previously not experienced (Feistritzer, 1998). The magnitude of these combined circumstances yields a demand that exceeds the graduation capacity of personnel preparation programs. Within all of education, shortages in personnel have been reported to be most chronic in mathematics, science, and special education (Boe, Cook, Bobbitt, & Terhanian, 1998). Response to this pressing need has prompted local districts and most states to develop alternate routes for teacher licensing and/or preparation (Feistritzer & Chester, 2001) in an effort to increase non-traditional candidates and decrease formal preparation time.
Critics charge that alternate methods of licensing special educators have undermined both the professionalization of education (Zeichner & Schulte, 2001) and efforts of traditional preparation programs to correct inequities between the supply of teachers and the demand of districts. There is some concern that these alternative programs do not place sufficient emphasis on professional knowledge but sometimes rely almost exclusively on internships and subject matter knowledge (Hawley, 1990; Zumwalt, 1991). Professor (2000) is among those who have challenged the inconsistency of the carefully delineated program standards inherent within accreditation programs that oversee university teacher preparation programs, and the absence of similar governance for alternative programs. That inconsistency needs to be addressed. However, the widespread urgency to increase the pool of licensed teachers has postponed discussions of these inconsistencies as districts and states have scrambled to find teachers. An opportunity has emerged through Teach Institution to define alternate pathways, but possibly more important, develop a strategic plan to transform the preparation of teachers with a mind toward improved effec...