The central challenge: Teaching teachers

The most volatile issue in education is evaluating, rating and replacing low-performing teachers. Building on legal success in California, groups of black and Latino parents, supported by reporter-turned-reformer Campbell Brown, are suing other states, claiming teacher tenure and “last in, first out” layoff guarantees violate their children’s right to education and equal protection.

But these activities, as important and controversial as they are, mask a far broader teacher-quality problem: schools of education.

We can’t — and shouldn’t — fire our way to a great teacher in every classroom. Changes to tenure and layoff policies affect a fraction of ineffective teachers. Meantime, schools of education produce 150,000 to 200,000 new teachers each year. We need to make sure those teachers are equipped to succeed while we consider how to respond if they don’t.

NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS LOSE ROUND IN FIGHT FOR TENURE

The goal should be to identify high-quality teacher preparation programs according to their graduates’ K-12 job placement, classroom success, retention and reported satisfaction. Teacher education programs that get good results should get more resources and more students, and be freed from onerous regulations. Those that don’t should get time and support to turn around or face reduced government aid.

While we’re years away from that ideal teacher preparation program rating system, there is something we can do now. Our best bet to improve teacher quality quickly and on a wide scale is to push schools of education to root their programs in student teaching, with theory as a supplement, as opposed to the other way around. Teach Plus works with thousands of teachers who were on the receiving end of ineffective preparation programs. These teachers overwhelmingly recommend giving student teachers at least a year of paid clinical practice where they have responsibility for all classroom tasks and are under the supervision of an effective mentor.

Under the current system, about two-thirds of new teachers report their school of education programs leave them “unprepared for classroom realities.” Principals and superintendents report similar percentages among novice teachers.

All things being equal, you do not want your child in a rookie teacher’s classroom.

All the research indicates there is a sharp increase in teacher effectiveness in year two on the job as opposed to year one and a small increase in year three, with performance then leveling off for a while. So it would be a vast improvement to replicate more closely the year one, on-the-job learning experience while prospective teachers are still enrolled in schools of education — rather than retain the current sink-or-swim scenario.

New Jersey’s Education Department is trying to extend its student-teaching requirement to a full year prior to graduation. A number of New Jersey colleges of education oppose that, citing cost and disruption.

Schools of education in New Jersey and beyond should embrace much-needed disruption, rethink and adjust curriculums accordingly so as to not extend the length of programs or increase student costs, and, most importantly, ensure that quality student-teaching placements with well-trained, enthusiastic and effective mentor teachers are the centerpiece of teacher preparation.

It can be done. New York and New Jersey’s Relay school of education bases its teacher prep program in clinical practice. Students don’t graduate until they prove they can raise K-12 student achievement. Every school of education should follow that example.

The best way to stop the backlash against ineffective teaching and prevent more education lawsuits and the strife that comes with them is to overhaul teacher preparation programs so our teachers are equipped for success in the classroom from day one.

Dannenberg is director of strategic initiatives for Education Reform Now, a think tank and advocacy group. Cain is executive vice president for policy at Teach Plus, a national nonprofit organization.