Preventing Teacher Failure: Six Keys to Success in Moving beyond the "Sink or Swim" Mentality

One controversial aspect of No Child Left Behind is the highly qualified provision. The 2001 act required that teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified by 2006 or school districts would lose federal funding. Virginia districts are still scrambling to hire qualified teachers. Although the federal government has modified the 2006 deadline, two forces compete, the national legislation versus the reality that there are too few well-prepared teachers. Traditional teacher education programs are not producing enough candidates to remedy the shortage; quick licensure pathways are not adequately addressing the problem either. One university's solution is collaboration with surrounding school districts. The authors provide six tested recommendations to help colleges of education prepare successful, long-term educators, enabling school districts to fill vacancies with qualified teachers.