Reform in Teacher Education: The Response to Accountability Is Collaboration

Good teaching is more important than ever before in our nation's history (National, 1996). As the United States prepares to enter the 21st century, the debate over how to solve problems within our nation's educational system targets many areas. One these areas is teacher education. This article presents an historical context teacher education reform, describes the author's professional experiences as they relate to the reform movement, and suggests some ways university teacher educators can respond to the reform movement in the areas teaching, research, and service. Teacher educators are faced with great challenges. With great challenges also come great opportunities. Historical Context Reform Up until the mid 1800's, teacher education did not exist in the United States in any formal or structured sense. While education existed in private homes and schools, churches, and apprentice type locations, teachers consisted individuals whose primary occupation was something other than teaching (Urban, 1996). As the notion free, universal and tax supported education spread across the United States, student enrollment in grew. These schools were, and remain, under state control. This growth in student enrollment resulted in a need trained teachers. Institutes that trained students to become teachers began as (Urban, 1996). These schools were, and remain, under state control. As the efficiency the common schools increased, more students graduated and wanted to extend their educational opportunities. Therefore, the number students in normal schools increased. Normal schools gradually developed into institutes higher education and the content knowledge required teachers and the curriculum teacher education became more and more specialized and scientific. Departments education in other universities had to claim their territory separate from the liberal arts where they started. Teacher educators initially had a great interest in improving teaching in the common schools. However, to compete with the prestige the sciences, agriculture, engineering, and medicine, more and more attention was given to educational research and enhancing the prestige the university. In addition to research, grants, publications, and presentations, professional enhancement and prestige were gained through obtaining accreditations. These accrediting agencies established standards and procedures by which individual teacher education programs were to be evaluated. Teacher education remained under state control. However, these accrediting agencies had a great influence on teacher education the regional and national level. When Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, teacher education suddenly began to be seen as both the cause of and the cure for a growing number society's problems. First, it was the lack training in science and math. Then, it was the desegregation schools. Then, it was the moral development students. Then, it was drugs and student rights and dress codes and gangs and low test scores and handicapped students and learning disabled students and non-English speaking students, etc. As public schools took on more and more educational responsibility, society looked to teacher educators solutions. However, most the teacher educators had become teacher education researchers. Instead investing their time and energy into training teachers, they conducted research. This resulted in too many people telling too many different things about what should happen out there in the public schools. And they all believed they were right. Therefore, solutions were tried and then discarded when the next set solutions arrived on the scene. There was considerable effort, just not enough results. Dismayed the mediocre educational system that existed in the United States in the early 1980's, a national commission declared the nation to be at risk (National, 1983). …