I am a second grade teacher going into my fourth year of teaching, and I have just read OBama's K-12 plan. One component called for changing the way teachers are educated, prepared for the classroom, and evaluated before receiving their license. Specifically he suggested that:
"Teacher preparation programs will be further strengthened if they are guided by a high-quality, nationally-available teacher performance assessment that measures actual teaching skill in content areas. Barack Obama will fund the development of such an assessment, which, unlike current examinations used for licensing, will do more than merely measure basic skills and subject matter knowledge via paper-and-pencil tests. It will collect evidence about how prospective teachers plan and teach in the classroom, evaluate student work, and adapt their teaching to student learning needs."
I believe that a good start to preparing teachers more adequately for the classroom is to require that all programs place teachers into a FULL YEAR internship, rather than a 9 week student teaching rotation. There is SO much more to the job than the average person realizes, and exposure to a full year is much better than an isolated 9 weeks. In addition, more states should follow those like PA and NY, who no longer give a Praxis III test, but instead have teachers create a portfolio that demonstrates their skills through lessons taught in the classroom of their student teaching. I feel that a test developed to collect evidence about how prospective teachers plan to teach in the classroom, evaluate student work, and adapt their teaching to student learning needs would be better given to someone AFTER their first year. As someone who DID spend a full year in a classroom as an intern, I still feel that there was so much that I learned that first year. Could I have taken a test like OBama suggests before entering a classroom of my own? Sure! But would it have truly reflected the practices and beliefs that guided me in the classroom that first year? No way! There is just too much that you learn that first year that even the BEST program cannot prepare you for. It is really the first year that molds you into the teacher you become. Most states give teachers a 3 year probationary license where they are required to fulfill certain criteria before given a continuing contract. The test that Obama suggests could be one of these criteria. I also know that some districts expect portfolios from new teachers demonstrating the qualities and best practices they have used in their classroom throughout the year. This is a more realistic form of assessment that would better gauge teachers’ readiness. In reality the probationary period is a joke. There are MANY teachers who should not be in the classroom but are kept regardless. If this 3 year period were truly considered a probationary period, almost like an extension of a teacher’s education, I feel like you would truly end up with the cream of the crop and help those who fall short to improve their practices.
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