GOOD POLICYMAKING’S ROLE IN 21ST-CENTURY TEACHER EDUCATION

SHERYL D. PANGAN

Policymakers can make a big difference to the quality of teacher preparation. Here’s how:

• Raise admissions standards. This way we can surely get quality and high caliber future teachers.

• Make student teaching meaningful. Teacher candidates need to learn from the best. Student teachers should be only placed with mentor teachers of demonstrated ef f ect i veness.

• Align teacher supply with what schools actually need. Programs routinely produce twice as many elementary teachers as will be hired.

• Inspection. Establish high-stakes, on-the-ground inspections of institutions. These would be much more public and would be done by trained former Pre-K–12 school leaders and teachers. Aspiring teachers review the results of these inspections, and policymakers should limit slots at poor performing programs.

All of these strategies establish an important and unambiguous principle: teacher education exists to serve the needs of Pre-K–12 schools and public financial support should depend on its ability to do so.

— oOo— The author is Teacher II at Sto. Domingo Elementary School Mexico South District