New Vigor Propelling Training

NCATE Study Part of Effort To Revamp Teacher Prep

Washington

With conversations about the best ways to evaluate teacher performance proliferating across the nation, preservice preparation could be the next stop on the teacher-quality continuum to receive a similarly high level of scrutiny.

New models for preparing teachers, such as the yearlong apprenticeship or “residency” model, have received attention from policymakers in recent years. Now, a report commissioned by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education , released Nov. 16, adds the voices of a diverse array of stakeholders, including representatives from the traditional university-based programs that prepare the majority of the nation’s teachers.

It calls on education schools to make supervised, structured classroom-based experiences the foremost component of teacher preparation, with aspects like coursework supplementing that training. All programs should also document that their candidates improve...