tkt8763-01: "Teacher Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications of Teachers" (fwd)

["Larry S. Anderson -- NCTP" <lsa1@ra.msstate.edu>]

For your edification....

--Dr. A
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 07:52:48 EST
From: Bonnie Bracey <BBracey@AOL.COM>
To: COSNDISC@COSN.ORG
Subject: " Teacher Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications             
    of Teachers"

Yesterday in a White House meeting we learned about the report, " Teacher
Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications of Public School
Teachers.'


  Only 1 in 5 full-time public school teachers said they felt well qualified
to teach in a modern classroom, according to a new report, and Secretary of
Education Richard W. Riley said that represented "a cry for help."

  The report, "Teacher Quality: A Report on the Preparation and Qualifications
of Public School Teachers," said only about 20 percent of more than 4,000
teachers surveyed nationwide said they were confident in using modern
technology or in working with students with disabilities or from diverse
backgrounds. Less than half reported feeling very well prepared for the
challenges facing public schools.

  This information would be very helpful to the local funders who usually buy
the technology but who forget to get the technology funding, or give the
teachers time, to learn the pedagogical use, of the technology.

 Only one in five teachers told a national survey they felt well prepared to
work in a modern classroom.

Specifically, only about 20 percent said they were confident in using modern
technology or in working with students from diverse backgrounds, with limited
proficiency in English or with disabilities. Overall, less than half of
American teachers reported feeling" very well prepared" to meet many of the
challenges facing the nation's public school classrooms.

While virtually all teachers reported participating in some professional
development activities, those involved in short term sessions, less than eight
hours, gave these experiences low marks. However, those engaged in more than
eight hours of training were far more likely to conclude that their teaching
ability was improved " a lot."  Likewise teachers who were involved in frquent
planning and collaboration with other teachers were more likely to report that
it helped.

These data confirm our dramatic need to get serious about better preparing for
and supporting teachers in our classrooms. Now is the time to think how we
recruit, prepare and support America's teachers.

The report focused on several indicators of teacher quality: preservice
learning and teaching assignments, formal professional development; work
environment, and teachers' feeling of preparedness.

Single copies of the report are avaiable by calling 1-877-4RD-PUBS(
1-877-433-7827) the report will also be available on the internet at
http://nces.ed.gov/

These were people at the meeting giving us the administrative perspective.

Tom Kalil, Senior Director, White House National Economic Council
Jim Kohlenberger, Senior Domestic Policy Advisor, Office of the Vice
President*
Linda Roberts, Director, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department
of Education

Linda shared wonderful resources and charts with us on the newly released
report.

Congressional Response:

Rayne Guilford, Professional Staff Member, Senate Committee on Labor and
Human Resources/Office of Senator James Jeffords (R-VT)*
Danica Petroshius, Minority Education Adviser, Senate Committee on Labor
and Human Resources/Office of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
D'Arcy Philps, Professional Staff Member, House Committee on Education and
the Workforce

These are the people you as educators should talk to about your concerns and
interests about technology and education. They can be reached through their
congressmen, on the net. ( Like me you probably do not have a Congressional
Yellow Pages Book).

Teacher Training and the E-Rate:

Cheryl Parrino, CEO, Universal Service Administrative Company
There are still waves of funding that are being sent out. Remember the hold up
on the Erate was the congress. ( Busy doing other stuff now) There was an FCC
audit of the program, and then a GAO audit before the program was allowed to
proceed. Make sure you read the ten reasons to file for this year.


Technology has the power to change learning itself. Because when a learning
experience becomes a voyage of discovery, the learner himself takes charge.
The teacher -- traditionally a facilitator, a collaborator, a fellow
adventurer and counselor -- can now be partially, or even some of the things
we do can be totally replaced as the learner, young or old, interacts with a
technology, a machine, or a repository of facts and ideas that almost
miraculously opens new ideas, new approaches, new avenues to the world.
Technology also lets us simulate new learning situations which in reality
would be too dangerous, too expensive, or just outright impossible. But
without training... none of this will happen.

Resource information
www.ncate.org
Despite the technology changes in society, being a teacher in American schools
too often consists of helping children and youth acquire information from
textbooks and acting as an additional source of expertise. Teachers are
provided role models of this approach to teaching from kindergarten through
graduate school; their teacher education courses provide hints for making
textbook-oriented instruction interesting and productive, and as teaching
interns, they both observe and practice instruction based upon mastering
information found in books.

Teachers may be forgiven if they cling to old models of teaching that have
served them well in the past. All of their formal instruction and role models
were driven by traditional teaching practices.

Remember that Public Education is locally controlled and talk to your local
people. Access, attitude, and the ability to learn the pedagogy are very
important.

Ordering Information

<A HREF="http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999080">NCES
Publication Information</A>
Release Date: January 28, 1999

(NCES 1999080) Ordering Information

The results of this new national profile of teacher quality, the first in a
series of biennial reports, specifically focused on teachers’ learning (both
preservice and continued) and the environments in which they work. Included is
important information regarding teachers’ education, certification, teaching
assignments, professional development, collaboration, and supportive work
environment. In addition, comparisons by instructional level and poverty level
of the school provide information about the distribution of teacher quality.
This information provides a context for understanding teachers’ reports of
preparedness to meet the challenges they face in their classrooms.

Data Source: Fast Response Survey System (FRSS)
Authors: Laurie Lewis, Basmat Parsad, Nancy Carey, Nicole Bartfai, Elizabeth
Farris, Westat; Becky Smerdon, Pelavin Research Center American Institutes of
Research; Bernie Greene Project Officer National Center for Education
Statistics
Cover Date: January 1999
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999080


Bonnie Bracey
www.bracey-pearl-org

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