Developmental Science Seen Lacking in Education Schools

Education programs should more explicitly train teacher-candidates in the rudiments of developmental science, and need policy support from states and the federal government to do so, asserts a report released last week by a panel convened by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

“There’s just been an explosion of knowledge in development science over the last 10 to 14 years,” said Robert Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. “We know so much more about 4-year-olds’ capacity in math, or the skills progression that leads to confident literacy, or the way making material relevant engages an adolescent.”

Mr. Pianta co-chaired the panel, commissioned by the Washington-based NCATE , which accredits about half of the nation’s education schools. It included experts in teacher education, developmental science, and early childhood. Developmental science consists of the science underpinning the biological, emotional, ethical, linguistic, psychological, and social development of children and adolescents, and how those fields interact. It also incorporates cognitive science—how children learn to...