Improving Teacher Education Programs

Good news for the quality of teacher education programs: the NCATE, which accredits about half of the schools of education nationwide, has issued new standards for reaccreditation. Under the new plan, schools can reaccredit in one of two ways:

1. Commit to raising their performance level on one of NCATE's six performance strands
2. Undertake a major research project on methods of improving teacher preparation

In light of what we know about the general quality of teacher education programs (it's not high), these are welcome steps. In the end, it is the quality of these traditional teacher education programs, where the vast majority of teachers are still spending their time and money, that will determine the quality of our teacher workforce.