Improving Teacher Preparation: What the Reform Reports Recommend.

Overview & Synopsis

This publication reviews and examines similarities in the writings of major teacher education reform advocates, including John Goodlad, The Holmes Group, the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and the Academy for Educational Development. Based upon a compendium of recurring themes, the report provides the following recommendations: (1) schools of education must model the good teaching that they advocate; (2) improvements in teacher training must reflect the teacher's need to understand the learner, the process of learning, the influence of culture upon learners, a strong underpinning of subject-area and pedagogical-content knowledge, and the ability to model critical thinking; (3) continued research into the practice of teaching is needed; (4) efforts must be made to strengthen and integrate the clinical experience of teachers; (5) schools of education need to regulate more stringently the selection of teacher education candidates and recruit underrepresented populations into teaching; and (6) improved teacher education should extend beyond the walls of the university, embracing collaboration with local schools, state policy makers, credentialing organizations, and others. (LL)