Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 1, No. 3 | Teachers for a New Era (low bandwidth)

Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced an ambitious new initiative, Teachers for a New Era, to develop excellent teacher education programs at selected colleges and universities. Grants up to $5 million for a period of five years will be awarded to selected institutions on recommendations from a national advisory panel of experts.

Teachers for a New Era calls for bold reforms in current teacher education models. Key among the design features is a focus on the extent of pupil learning brought about by good teaching and on teaching as clinical practice. The initiative also requires a clinical faculty that is inclusive of master teachers and a two-year residency (or induction period) for graduates who are beginning teaching careers. Teachers for a New Era stresses the importance of formal collaboration between schools of education, traditional arts and sciences faculty and principals and classroom teachers. Institutions selected for this initiative will develop methods of evaluating the effectiveness of their programs by calibrating the teaching success of their graduates.

Participation in Teachers for a New Era will be by invitation. Institutions agreeing to the initiative’s conditions will receive funding for an initial three-year period with a contingent renewal for an additional two years. Each award, up to $1 million per year, will be matched by the institution receiving the award. At least 30 percent of the matching funds must be pledged to an endowment that will continue to support the new program.