Private Colleges Get an ‘A’ in Teacher Training

California is finally turning long overdue attention to the need to provide high quality preparation for its teachers. Curricular reforms, new assessments and smaller class size will do little to improve teaching and learning in school if teachers themselves are not well-prepared.

To address the growing need for an expanded but high-quality teacher work force, the California State University system recently proposed a revamping of teacher training, as well as recommitment of resources to it. One recommendation was for a better integration between undergraduate education, where teachers study the subject or subjects they will teach, and the professional studies portion of the program, typically done in a fifth year of study.

CSU might look to the private, independent colleges and universities for some successful models of this practice as well as other strategies for preparing teachers.

Increasing numbers of would-be teachers are selecting the independent colleges and universities. Among the new teachers prepared in California, about 38% were prepared by the 43 independent institutions accredited to offer teacher education programs. The percentage is growing, as the independent colleges have responded to the challenges of producing more, but also highly skilled, teachers.

A recent report identified the contributions of the independent colleges and universities to teacher education in California, and highlighted the connections between subject matter and professional programs as a strength.

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Students are often identified early in their academic programs, given opportunities to become involved in school settings, and introduced to teaching while they are studying the subjects they will teach.

The market-driven nature of the independent institutions, which are largely tuition-driven and more expensive than the publicly supported institutions, causes a constant rethinking and updating of curriculum content, teaching practice and service to students. Our education schools and departments simply cannot afford to become out of date or irrelevant, or to provide poor quality instruction.

As a result, students experience learning in small classes, where their development is nurtured and supported by highly qualified, caring faculty who excel at teaching. Intensive and well-supervised field experiences are crucial to their learning. This personal attention to teacher candidates is a model of exactly what we want for our elementary and secondary students and what we expect our teachers to provide once they step into their own classrooms.

All higher education institutions--public and private--need to continue to reexamine their commitments to teacher preparation and the practices designed to produce the numbers and the quality of teachers we need. We are prepared to work with the public institutions to provide the high quality work force needed to propel California schools to excellence.