Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 22, 2011
As improving educator effectiveness tops the national dialogue on accelerating the achievement of U.S. students, much more than 120 education leaders from about the country gathered in Chicago lately to discuss innovative new initiatives and practices in teacher preparation and evaluation.
The two-day conference, ?Preparing Efficient Teachers for Tomorrow?s Schools,? hosted by the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson, puts the spotlight on educator effectiveness from the perspective of state education agencies, school district leaders, classroom teachers, faculty and administrators from colleges and universities and leaders from national education organizations, such as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as nicely as the U.S. Department of Education. Conference participants came from 26 states and the District of Columbia.
Dr. Yong Zhao, the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon, emphasized his belief that our teacher workforce ought to be prepared to compete globally as well as teach internationally. He emphasized that while globalization presents fantastic challenges, it also supplies a wonderful chance to rethink education worldwide.
Woven all through the sessions was the impact that the new Stanford Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Guidelines will have on achieving the objective that all students are taught by an successful teacher. Jennifer Wallace, executive director of the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board, described her state?s implementation of the TPA in what she described as a ?short accelerated timeline.? Wallace reported that the state was already changing their teacher preparation curricula to support the adoption of the TPA.
Stanford University?s Dr. Ray Pecheone, one of the developers of the TPA, provided a national overview of this new performance-based assessment, its development and implementation. Vital to the achievement of TPA, he stated, is understanding that ?human capital development is much more than a policy issue ? it is a understanding framework.?
Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Alexa Posny supplied participants with an overview of the commitment of the department to improving teacher effectiveness. She described national initiatives that address the challenge making use of a framework of accountability, alignment, recruitment and retention.
Also providing a national perspective, Dr. James Cibulka, president of NCATE, updated attendees on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the consolidation of NCATE and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council into a single accreditor for reform, innovation and research in educator preparation, and how this organization will leverage efforts, such as the TPA, to drive education reform.
Two leading state education leaders provided a view of their state initiatives to boost teacher effectiveness. Indiana?s Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett described outlining how his state is implementing ?accountability-driven reform.? He said Indiana?s approach has been to set high expectations at the state level, but allow neighborhood schools and districts to figure out how they are going to meet those expectations. Bennett said, ?Local leaders can be innovative and respond to their students? requirements, but they will be held accountable for achievement.?
Kentucky?s Commissioner of Education Dr. Terry Holliday described his state?s pioneering efforts to boost teacher effectiveness. Created in collaboration with teachers, the state?s new teacher evaluation plan now provides a continuous loop of feedback for all state teachers as they are faced with the challenge of implementing the new Widespread Core State Standards in their classrooms. The state ?sunsetted? all of its master of education programs, creating colleges and universities develop new programs that draw the connection in between teacher preparation and student achievement. To date, there are 12 Teacher Leader master degree programs in Kentucky that are mapped to the state?s new rubric for teacher effectiveness.
Pat Deklotz, superintendent of the School District of Kettle Moraine in Wales, Wis., and her colleague Magee Elementary School teacher Terry Kaldhusdal, immersed participants in a classroom exactly where a very effective teacher engages students in guiding their own studying with a multimedia presentation. Kaldhusdal, the 2007 Wisconsin State Teacher of the Year, mentioned, ?Teaching nowadays is like a 1950s television. It requirements to be far more like virtual reality.?
In closing remarks, New Hampshire?s Commissioner of Education Dr. Virginia Barry highlighted the themes of the conferences, ranging from accountability at all levels of education to personalization of learning for students and teachers. Summarizing the discussions of teacher recruitment and retention, Barry concluded that to guarantee continued improvement in teacher effectiveness, colleges and universities should rethink their teacher preparation programs and recruitment methods to reflect nowadays?s emphasis on utilizing data to inform instruction and initiatives, such as the Common Core State Standards.
In addition, other education leaders who presented at the conference included:
Peter Auffant, Collegiate Academy Principal, Chicago International Charter School ?
