Clinical Preparation, Partnerships, and Improved Student Learning

Posted by on January 18, 2010

In search of a redesign for teacher college accreditation

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has convened a panel on Clinical Preparation, Partnerships, and Improved Student Learning to look at scalable ways to improve in-the-classroom training, Inside Higher Ed reports. The panel will also examine ways to strengthen relationships between districts and the colleges and universities that prepare their teachers. The NCATE accredits more than 600 colleges and programs nationally that graduate two-thirds of new teachers, and the panel’s recommendations will form the basis for revisions to the council’s accreditation standards. NCATE is undertaking what its president James Cibulka called a “redesign and transformation” aimed at making teaching a more respected profession, with heightened preparation standards. The panel, he said, will “identify what the best practices are in strong clinical preparation and in preparing teachers to more effectively teach diverse learners.” After this week’s sessions, the panel will meet again in April before issuing a final report, a timeline Cibulka said is accelerated because change is badly needed and the national environment is “ripe for change.” Among the ideas under consideration: career-long professional development, and the restructuring and rebranding of teaching as a practice-based profession like medicine or nursing, with an induction period akin to a doctor’s residency.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/05/teachers

Related: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/05/18ncate.h29.html?tkn=OYBF19jttoWeajyBnvYHNthv7uqjoAlRWamq