BOSTON, November 24, 2014 – Teach Plus, a national nonprofit that works to improve results for urban students through teacher leadership programs, released the following statement in anticipation of tomorrow’s teacher preparation announcement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan:
“Improving how we prepare our nation’s teachers is both essential and long overdue since the vast majority of practicing teachers do not feel that their program adequately prepared them to meet the demands of the classroom and serve all of their students in their first year of teaching,” said Teach Plus CEO Celine Coggins, citing a new Teach Plus poll of 1,020 teachers from 35 states in which over three-quarters of teachers (77%) said that they were not fully prepared by their preparation program to be highly-effective and meet the needs of their students.
The teachers who responded said their programs would have been stronger had they offered:
- More instruction in classroom management (55%)
- Differentiating instruction (53%)
- Teaching English language learners and special education students (47%)
- Longer clinical practice (39%) with more meaningful feedback (40%)
“If we truly want to prepare future educators, it is imperative that they are able to engage in strong clinical practice and are taught by people who understand the complexities of teaching,” said Marisol Castillo, a 9th grade English and world literature teacher at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., and an alumna of the Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellowship.
With many teachers deeply concerned about this issue, a group of Teach Plus teacher leaders has developed an agenda for changes they believe are needed to improve teacher preparation. This includes setting a high bar for entry into teacher preparation programs and into the profession; making a robust clinical experience the foundation of preparation programs; creating a tiered licensing system; and improving the caliber of mentors.”
