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Executive Summary
Teachers for a New Era
A national initiative to improve the quality of teaching
Recent research based upon thousands of pupil records in many different cities and states establishes beyond doubt that the quality of the teacher is the most important cause of pupil achievement. More than ever, the nation needs assurance that colleges and universities are educating prospective teachers of the highest quality possible. The knowledge base for teacher education is better understood today than in 1983, when an alarm was sounded through release by the Department of Education of the famous report, A Nation at Risk. During the past generation agreement among teacher educators has been growing on essential principles for excellence in the standard route by which students in higher education come to earn credentials enabling them to begin careers as teachers. A well supported, widely adopted, fully integrated approach, however, has been elusive.
Carnegie Corporation of New York and other funders are now undertaking an ambitious reform initiative, Teachers for a New Era, to stimulate construction of excellent teacher education programs at selected colleges and universities. Success will require radical change in allocation of resources, academic organization, criteria for evaluating participating faculty, internal accountability measures, and relationships with practicing schools. At the conclusion of the project, the selected institutions should be regarded by the nation as administering the best programs possible for the standard primary route to employment as a beginning professional teacher.
Teachers for a New Era is organized by three design principles described in detail in an announcement and prospectus.. First, a teacher education program should be guided by a respect for evidence, including attention to pupil learning gains accomplished under the tutelage of teachers who are graduates of the program. Second, faculty in the disciplines of the arts and sciences should be fully engaged in the education of prospective teachers, especially in the areas of subject matter understanding and general and liberal education. Finally, education should be understood as an academically taught clinical practice profession, requiring close cooperation between colleges of education and actual practicing schools; master teachers as clinical faculty in the college of education; and residencies for beginning teachers during a twoyear period of induction.
Participation in Teachers for a New Era will be by invitation. A national advisory panel will advise the funders including Carnegie Corporation of New York on institutions to be selected. Institutions that agree to the conditions specified in the prospectus will be awarded up to $5 million for a period of five years, to be matched by equal funds provided by the institution. At least six awards will be made, staggered over three years, beginning with two awards in the 2002 fiscal year. An independent research organization will assist the national advisory panel by providing descriptive and evaluative analysis as necessary.
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