Are today’s teachers prepared?
Are South Dakota’s public universities preparing new
teachers for the realities of today’s classrooms? A study
released by the Board of Regents reviews the teacher
preparation programs at five of the state’s public
universities and offers recommendations in four key areas:
technology, university-school teacher education
partnerships, recruitment, and assessment.
- Technology. The report points to the Classroom
Connections laptop project going on at the K-12 level,
noting that it “truly allows teachers and students to
engage in different models of teaching and learning,
models that are appropriate for our 21st century work
world.” The report calls for providing pre-service
teachers the training and experience required to work in
a one-to-one technology environment. This is currently
not being done at most campuses.
- Partnerships. The report calls for improving
relationships between universities and K-12 school
districts. One proposed activity is to develop a common
framework for all school-university partnerships. A
second is to use the Education Service Agency regions to
assign school districts to a university partner.
- Recruitment and retention. The report acknowledges
the need to more actively recruit students into
education programs and offers several possible
strategies including: broadening experiences for
students serving as teachers’ aides and providing
inexpensive programs that lead to licensure for
individuals who have earned a bachelor’s degree.
- Assessment. According to the report, assessing the
impact of teacher education is a growing expectation in
today’s age of accountability. The report calls for
development of a common statewide assessment of the
performance of teacher education programs. It also
supports the development of a data system that links
K-12 and higher education. Ultimately, this type of
system could tie student performance at the K-12 level
to a particular teacher coming out of the university
system.
The complete report will be available soon on the Board
of Regents Web site soon. Visit
www.sdbor.edu.
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