Studying Teacher Education

The most recent of the new teacher education reports is Studying Teacher Education: The Report of the AERA Panel on Teacher Education (Cochran-Smith we therefore considered a variety of outcomes. Finally, the panel assumed that there is a loose coupling among research, practice, and policy, which means that teacher preparation policies and practices can be profoundly influenced but never determined solely by empirical evidence. Working from these assumptions, the panel developed three framing chapters and nine reviews of empirical research on (a) the demographic characteristics of the entering teaching force, (b) relationships between demographic characteristics and quality, (c) the outcomes of coursework in the arts and sciences and foundations of education, (d) the outcomes of methods courses and fieldwork, (e) the outcomes of various teacher education pedagogies, (f) the outcomes of preparing teachers to work with diverse populations, (g) the outcomes of preparing teachers to work with students with special needs, (h) the outcomes of accountability processes, and (i) the outcomes of teacher preparation program types. For each area, the panel analyzed the findings, strengths, and weaknesses of the research and also identified needed research topics and methods. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDED RESEARCH AGENDA Just a few highlights of the panel's findings and recommendations are noted here. The panel found that despite growth in alternate routes, most teachers are still prepared in undergraduate programs in public colleges and universities with more majoring in arts and sciences subjects than ever before. College graduates in secondary teacher education have SAT or ACT scores comparable to those of other college graduates, although elementary teachers have slightly lower scores. The research comparing the impact of different types of teacher education programs and pathways (4-year to 5-year programs, traditional-alternate routes) does not point to the superiority of any one path. However, across the research, there is evidence that certain program components and characteristics are related to teacher quality and pupils' achievement, such as consistent vision, strong collaborations between universities and schools, certain course work and school/ community fieldwork, and effective use of certain teacher education strategies. …