AFT Convention Backs Reform

Controversial Report that Calls for Testing New Teachers Gets Full Support of the Union

The American Federation of Teachers convention voted to back a resolution calling for more rigorous standards and preparation for new teachers

July 4, 2000

AFT CONVENTION BACKS MOVE TO REFORM TEACHER TRAINING AND INDUCTION

PHILADELPHIA - The 3,100 delegates to the American Federation of Teachers convention, in a nearly unanimous decision, voted to back a resolution calling for more rigorous standards and preparation for new teachers. The convention's support lends added weight to a report the AFT released in April entitled Building a Profession: Strengthening Teacher Preparation and Induction. The report, the work of a task force of AFT members from higher education as well as elementary and secondary schools, calls for:

Expanding teacher preparation programs to five years and improving induction for all new teachers. The fifth year should be devoted to observing and working in schools under the guidance of an experienced mentor, either as an internship or as the fifth year of a university program.
Developing two rigorous national tests for new teachers, one for entry into teacher education programs and the other for teacher licensing. The first exam would be administered at the end of the sophomore year and would require students to demonstrate college-level proficiency in the core subjects (mathematics, science, English and history/geography-social studies). The second examination would be required of all prospective teachers prior to licensure. Current state teacher-testing requirements vary greatly and are characterized by low-level content and low passing scores. The new examinations would be similar to those offered in countries with high standards for entry-level teachers.
Strengthening the teacher education curriculum. Developing a core pedagogy based on the best research on how students learn. Requiring a core curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences and requiring all teacher candidates to have an academic major in addition to liberal arts coursework and pedagogical studies.
Raising entrance standards for teacher education programs. Students would ultimately be required to have a 3.0 grade point average. The current requirement is generally a 2.5 GPA and basic literacy.
Setting higher standards for alternative teacher certification programs. Passing a state teacher exam in the appropriate content areas would be required for individuals who enter teaching through non-traditional routes. In addition, states should provide pedagogical training and classroom assistance.
Building a Profession: Strengthening Teacher Preparation and Induction has been hailed by state and national government leaders from across the political spectrum, and by editorial writers and leading educators, as a blueprint for overhauling teacher education and certification. Both President Clinton and Vice President Gore have voiced support for the report's findings. However, some teacher educators and others have expressed reservations about adding rigorous testing and a fifth year of college at a time of national teacher shortages.

AFT President Sandra Feldman in her keynote address to the convention said what makes this proposal strong and unique is, "licensing standards are based on national standards, because, to get equal educational opportunity for students across the states, we need to set standards for teachers equally high across the states." She told delegates that by passing the resolution they would be sending the nation the message: "The AFT will be in the forefront of making teaching a more effective and genuine profession in the 21st century."

AFT Vice President Antonia Cortese who served as the co-chair for the task force that authored Building a Profession said, "Now that we have the strong support of the full union behind us, we can begin the task of seeking support from state education commissioners, deans of schools of education, university presidents and school superintendents." Added Cortese, "We have already received overwhelming support for our recommendations, and we should be able to make an announcement about where we go from here shortly after the start of the school year."

Many of the report's recommendations are already being negotiated by AFT affiliates in school districts and universities across the country.

In Cincinnati, the teachers union, school district and the University of Cincinnati have collaborated on teacher preparation for more than 10 years. The university program requires a high GPA (3.2) and an academic major for admission. The fifth year of the program replaces the average 10-week student teaching experience with an internship. Cincinnati has nine "professional practice" schools for training new teachers, a career ladder program that fosters and rewards highly trained mentor teachers, and a system for paying interns so that the fifth year will not be prohibitively expensive.
In San Antonio, collaboration between the district and Trinity University requires students to attend three practicums, each totaling 36 hours of observation and practice. During the following one-year internship, the student assumes all the duties of a teacher under the close supervision of mentor teachers. New Jersey's Montclair State University has a similar program.
In Toledo, Berea and Cincinnati, Ohio; Rochester and New York City; Minneapolis; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pa.; and Poway, Calif. peer review programs have been operating for more than a decade. Although these programs tend to screen out a higher percentage of unsuccessful beginning teachers than more traditional evaluations by administrators, the percentage of teachers who stay in teaching after the first year is significantly higher. According to a study by Education Week, "Quality Counts 2000," almost 20 percent of college graduates who enter teaching leave within three years. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that fully half will leave teaching for other professions after five years.
AFT's Building a Profession: Strengthening Teacher Preparation and Induction can be found in its entirety on the Web at www.aft.org/higher_ed/reports/k16report.html.

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The American Federation of Teachers represents more than one million K-12 teachers, higher education faculty and staff, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, nurses and other health care professionals, and state and municipal employees.

Sourced from: American Federation of Teachers