Learning: Inside Scoop
Teacher Quality

From student teachers to veterans, NEA members can do and are doing a lot to improve classroom practice.

The revised federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act sets new teacher quality benchmarks, but it takes more than government edicts to achieve excellence. Every teacher, no matter how good, wants to do a better job, so NEA and its members have led many initiatives to improve the quality of teaching, long before lawmakers took this on as a cause. Here's an overview of how teachers at all levels of experience are improving the profession.

How can student teachers get the preparation they'll need for that first classroom?
Student teachers need strong academic preparation, intensive study in the science of good teaching, and practical experience before they take full responsibility for a classroomful of children.

To upgrade the quality of teacher preparation, NEA helped create the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in 1954 and continues to play an active role in its work.

Before NCATE grants accreditation to a college or university, a board of examiners pays a visit and evaluates the programs using NCATE's research-based standards. About two-thirds of all graduates of teacher preparation programs now come from NCATE-accredited schools (see chart).

NEA also pioneered the concept of partnerships between universities and "professional development schools"-- public schools that work like teaching hospitals. Veteran teachers who work at the school give students the benefit of their practical knowledge. Student teachers, school faculty, and university faculty "go on rounds" together, observing classes and discussing what they see.

NEA has helped create and fund 17 such partnerships since 1995, producing thousands of new teachers well-equipped for the real world.

The NEA Student Program also offers preservice teachers ways to gain valuable experience. The program offers workshops by veteran professionals on such issues as how to deal with unruly students. "We focus on problems that can trip up first-year teachers," says Student Program staffer Malcolm Staples.

How can new teachers become master teachers?
The new teacher's strongest ally is a good mentor, says Gayla Hudson, director of NEA's Teacher Quality division.

"The mentor should be not just an accomplished teacher, but also trained in mentoring," Hudson notes. Mentors and new teachers must also have time set aside for them to work together.

"The number one reason new teachers leave teaching is that they're dissatisfied with the school environment-- they feel it's a sink or swim situation," says Hudson. "A mentor can make the difference."

NEA local and state affiliates have actively promoted strong mentor programs through legislation, bargaining, and informal pressure.

How can experienced teachers improve their skills?
The first step is to set your own standards for what quality teaching is, says Hudson. She suggests comparing your work with standards developed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (on the Web at www.nbpts.org).

NEA was one of the National Board's founding organizations in 1986. To date, 16,000 teachers nationwide have gained certification in one of 24 fields.

Other effective approaches for improving teaching practice involve groups of teachers at a school working together to examine what they do and experiment with changes.

These site-based activities usually include examining a specific question about instruction and student learning. Teachers say the professional opportunity to work with peers is a big benefit.

School districts need to provide time for these teacher-driven professional development activities, Hudson adds.

What does the revised Elemen-tary and Secondary Education Act say about teacher quality?
The new law defines "highly qualified" teachers as those who are fully certified or licensed and competent in the subjects they teach.

New teachers must pass a state test to demonstrate competence in a subject area or, for secondary school teachers, have the equivalent of an academic major in their subject. Teachers already on the job can prove their competence the same way, or the state can create a non-test evaluation of academic competence for them. National Board Certifi-cation is another way to prove competence.

Title I teachers hired as of 2002-03 must meet the requirements. Others have until the end of the 2005-06 year.

So will all teachers really be highly qualified by 2005?
Not likely, says Hudson. It takes more than a law to put a quality teacher in front of a class.

When administrators hire unqualified teachers or assign people to teach out of field, it's not usually because the administrators don't care. In most cases, they simply couldn't hire enough qualified teachers at the salaries and teaching conditions they are offering.

So the success of the new law will depend on the government's willingness to back up edicts with resources.

"Every time an Association wins a pay raise, a class size limit, or a mentoring program, it is helping to improve the quality of teaching by creating conditions that will attract and hold on to good teachers," Hudson says.

"A quality teacher is the most effective agent we have for lifting our children to higher levels of achievement, and that is especially true for children from low-income homes," Hudson adds. "Quality is worth the investment."

--Alain Jehlen

For more:

• On the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, visit www.nbpts.org.

• On the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, visit www.ncate.org.

• On the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, call NEA's ESEA hotline, 866/373-ESEA (3732).

• On the NEA Student Program, visit www.nea.org/students/.

• On mentoring and teacher quality projects in progress now, see pages 16 and 23 of this NEA Today.