Teacher training faulty, study says
The damning review comes from Arthur Levine, former president of Teachers College at Columbia University. But some Utah education leaders say teachers aren't expected to be churned out classroom-ready and that it is the districts' job to help them to continuously learn.
"They are coming as adequately prepared as they can be ... but if we just thought we could hand them some classroom keys and textbooks and pay no attention we would be doing a poor job," said Bryan Bowles, superintendent of Davis School District.
"We have to realize that they know up to a point as much as they can learn in a four-year period of time, and we have to continue to work with them, mentor them ... help them to grow and to improve, it's a non-ending process," he said.
Dave Sperry, former dean of the College of Education at the University of Utah, said he believes that new teachers coming out of Utah colleges and universities today are well prepared and said schools have made a number of improvements over the years.
He said education really doesn't have a differentiated staffing model like in most professions — first-year teachers are expected to do the same thing a veteran teacher is doing.
But just like in any other profession, you can't expect someone new to the job to be completely prepared, he said.
"I have felt very confident in the student teachers that we've received, and the U. is continuously adapting programs to make sure their students come to the classrooms prepared," said JoAnn Price, principal of Washington Elementary in Salt Lake City.
Washington is a professional development site where educators work collaboratively with students coming out of the U.
"To generalize I would say they are doing a good job — but they are somewhat weak in areas of planning and preparation," she said.
Levine's report, released Monday, comes as public schools are under federal orders to have a qualified teacher for every class. It casts doubts on the most basic aspects of how teachers are taught. Teacher quality has a huge influence on whether students pass or fail.
The coursework in teacher education programs is in disarray nationwide, the report says. Unlike other professions such as law and medicine, there is no common length of study or set of required skills.
Then there are a host of other problems: low admissions standards, disengaged college faculty, insufficient classroom practice and poor oversight, according to Levine's study.
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