Philanthropies Seek Teacher-Training Models

By Jeff Archer

The Carnegie Corporation of New York has invited four of the country's leading teacher education programs to join a new initiative aimed at reinventing the way colleges and universities prepare teachers to work in the classroom.

Under what's being called the Teachers for a New Era project, each participating institution will receive up to $5 million over the next five years to support several key improvements. Those include increasing involvement in teacher training of both practicing K-12 teachers and faculty members from the arts and sciences, giving teacher-candidates more experience in the classroom, and monitoring graduates once on the job to see how well their students perform.

Although Carnegie serves as both the coordinator of and largest single donor to Teachers for a New Era, the effort also is being underwritten by the Annenberg, Ford, and Rockefeller foundations. After an extensive review of education programs across the country, invitations were offered late last month to Bank Street College of Education in New York City, California State University-Northridge, Michigan State University in East Lansing, and the University...