June 24, 2002

ISU's involvement on national committee
reaffirms university as leader in teacher education

Jack Maynard Dean, School of Education

Diana Quatroche associate professor, elementary and early childhood education

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Indiana State University’s participation as a cooperating university on the National Academy of Education (NAE) Committee on Teacher Education (CTE) has reaffirmed that the School of Education is doing things right when it comes to educating teachers.

Diana Quatroche, associate professor of elementary and early childhood education, has been serving since last fall as ISU’s institutional liaison to the project.

“Serving on this committee makes me feel very good about our program,” Quatroche said. “When you look at the knowledge base that this committee suggests is important, they are things that we already include in our program.”

ISU is one of seven universities in the country chosen to serve as cooperating universities on the committee. The others are New York University, Stanford University, the University of Georgia, the University of Texas at El Paso, Vanderbilt University and Xavier University of Louisiana. Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University and John D. Bransford of Vanderbilt University are co-chairs of the Committee on Teacher Education.

Funded by a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the Committee on Teacher Education brings together researchers, teacher educators and practitioners from around the United States to reach a consensus on the essential knowledge base for new teachers. The group’s “Statement of Consensus” lists the main purpose of the group as providing “teacher educators, research and policy makers with clear guidance on central ideas that should guide teacher education curriculum.”

The cooperating university liaisons have met twice with the Committee on Teacher Education, most recently in New York City. The main issues the Committee on Teacher Education is evaluating are:

• why teacher quality makes a difference;

• what are the understandings that support the development of a teacher;

• the link between preparation of teachers and how teacher practice affects learning of children;

• and what do teachers need to know to make good decisions

“What they’re basically talking about are best practices,” said Dean of the School of Education C. Jack Maynard. “It’s a consensus on best practices from some of the best minds in the country.” Maynard has said ISU’s involvement on the committee is an excellent opportunity for the university to demonstrate a leadership role in the field of teacher education. “It’s not by accident that we were invited here,” he said, adding that his hope is that ISU will continue to receive reaffirmation that it is “doing the right work,” but that the School of Education will also bring new ideas from its participation.

For example, NYU invites its education graduates back to campus periodically on Friday evenings for networking. It’s a great way to continue to support new teachers after they’ve graduated, Maynard and Quatroche agreed.

The NAE Committee on Teacher Education is in the process of writing parts of a report that is expected to be put into a book and made available for purchase. The university liaisons, along with CTE members, review and respond to drafts of the report.

The main volume will be for educators and researchers. Volume II, an executive summary, will be for policymakers and the general public. The first volume is expected to be released in about a year. The committee’s work is expected to be complete by Dec. 30, 2003.

Chapters in the report are expected to include:

• Why and How Teacher Quality Matters

• Issues that Inform Curriculum Development in Teacher Education:  What Teachers Should Know, Be and Be Able to Do

• Social Context and Purposes

• Learning and Transfer

• Child and Adolescent Development

• Language Acquisition and Development

• Content Knowledge and Pedagogy

• Assessment

• How Teachers Learn and Develop

• Issues in Curriculum Design

• Issues in Assessing Teaching

• Issues in Transforming Teacher Education

The liaisons and CTE members responded to two drafts at the June meeting — content knowledge and pedagogy, and child and adolescent development.

“The interesting part is that although there is a lot of discussion around topics, issues and ideas, people agree on the main principles,” Quatroche said.

Some of the cooperative university liaisons talked about the importance of portfolios, for example, and how they should be utilized more — something ISU has been doing for years. Committee members also discuss the need for more clinical experience before students graduate.

“Indiana State has so many clinical settings so often and so early,” Maynard said. “by the time a student gets to their student teaching, they’ve already been in six different clinical settings.”

Quatroche and Maynard agreed that a teacher’s knowledge of subject matter is important, but there are so many more things a teacher needs to know to be successful.

“The committee realizes that content background is very important, but to succeed in the classroom everybody needs to know how to teach effectively,” Quatroche said.

“It’s not A or B — content or pedagogy — you can’t succeed without both of them,” Maynard said.

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Contact:
Diana Quotroche, associate professor, elementary/early childhood education
eequatro@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer:
Jennifer Kearns, assistant director, Public Affairs
(812) 237-8037 or devkearn@isugw.indstate.edu

Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu