Kay Persichette is asking for input on the TED position paper draft.
RE: The National Educational Technology Plan and TED
Specifically the action steps for Teacher Education include
Recommendations for states, districts and individual schools
include:
- Improve the preparation of new teachers in the use of
technology.
- Ensure that every teacher has the opportunity to take online
learning courses.
- Improve the quality and consistency of teacher education
through measurement, accountability and increased
technology resources.
- Ensure that every teacher knows how to use data to
personalize instruction. This is marked by the ability to
interpret data to understand student progress and challenges,
drive daily decisions and design instructional interventions to
customize instruction for every student’s unique needs.
Link
We (Those of us involved in Teacher Education and AECT) need to be sure that we account for and recognize these goals/action steps in planning for sessions in the future. Second question/option would be to try and reflect ways technology is tracking data in accountability efforts similar to what we do at Arkansas Tech with e-portfolios. I am sure others are doing similar measures. We need to move more toward those types of sessions, but I am not sure how recognized the need is.
Link: Teacher Education: TED Position Paper Draft.
TED Position Paper Draft
On January 25, 2005, I sent this to the TED Listserv as a starting point for the development of a Position Paper for the Division…to be shared with membership then with the AECT Board. I am hopeful that TED members will use this medium to provide feedback about critical issues to teacher education in the development of this draft…not post hoc. So, that said, here is my list of the TOP 10 Critical Issues Facing Teacher Education (in no particular order):
1. Teacher quality indicators are implicitly and explicitly defined in these four categories: ability or aptitude; content knowledge, pedagogic knowledge, and teaching credentials (“Measuring Teacher Qualifications”, NCES, Feb. 1999; “Eight Questions on Teacher Preparation: What Does the Research Say”, Michael B. Allen, 2003). Are these reasonable and sufficient categories for the preparation of new teachers? Can we measure these indicators in valid ways among preservice audiences?
2. Teaching is a complex activity that is impacted by a wide variety of constants and variables. Where is the research that captures (or is focused on) complex interactions among and across these constants and variables? (“Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes”, Jennifer King Rice, 2003)
3. The National Education Technology Plan [“Toward a New Golden Age in American Education—How the Internet, the Law and Today’s Students Are Revolutionizing Expectations”]…how SHOULD this affect teacher education in general and field experiences in particular?
4. Examinations for licensure and credentialing…should we support a national requirement and the commensurate centralized bureaucracy that would result?
5. Policy and research (within current federal expectations) related to teacher education are having indiscriminant effects on our ability to know what is working and what is not working in this era of constant change.
6. Differentiated instruction, special needs learners, students with disabilities, and strategies for reaching diverse learner audiences…is there a clear path for teacher education?
7. Bottom-line: accountability has been a major hammer in the school reform “movement.” The same movement appears to have been launched in teacher education, so how should we respond? Is teaching truly a profession? Becoming a profession? Should we advocate for a move to professional schools? [See, for instance, the evolution of our current medical profession.] How do alternative certification options impact accountability and the future of teacher education?
8. What is the result on teacher education of the urban school crisis…on the candidates entering teacher education? On the types and quality of field experiences for urban teacher education programs? On our ability (or need) to target teacher education for urban teacher preparation?
9. The pending shortage of K-12 teachers due to retirements pales in comparison to the pending loss of teacher educators in our teacher education institutions. What should we do about this?
10. Equal access to a quality education from a well-qualified teacher for EVERY child…as teacher educators, what should we be doing to be sure we meet the challenge?
Now, I've gotten at least one member's response that our statement needs to take a much harder and much more PROACTIVE stance in supporting technology use and integration across both preservice and inservice audiences. I support that argument...suggestions for wording? Should our critical issues be hierarchically ordered? If so, in what order? What other critical issues are we missing? Which should be discarded?
THANKS!!!
Kay
Recent Comments