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Ready to Teach: Rethinking Routes to the Classroom

McNamara Alumni Center

Minneapolis, Minnesota

October 27

How well is America teaching its teachers? As accountability pressures on the nation's teaching force mount, scrutiny of colleges of education is intensifying as well. During this one-day EWA seminar, journalists and experts will delve into the growing efforts to revamp how aspiring educators are prepared for the classroom and how teacher-preparation programs are held accountable for results.

Here is a tentative agenda for this journalists-only seminar.

7:30 a.m. Breakfast

8 a.m.  Welcome

8:15 a.m. Skills-Building Session

An overview of federal Title II reports for individual states and how journalists might use them to evaluate teacher training.

Allison Henderson, Westat; Stephanie Dalton, U.S. Department of Education

9:15 to 10:15 a.m.

Testing a New Test: Measuring Graduates and Programs

A new system for assessing whether aspiring teachers are ready for the classroom is quietly unfurling across the teacher-licensing landscape. EdTPA, initiated by Stanford University and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), has been field-tested by at least 160 schools of education and 7,000 licensure candidates in 21 states. Minnesota and three other states have committed to it. But pushback to the assessment has flared recently in multiple locales. What is this assessment all about, how will it affect teacher training, and will it be used to hold teacher education programs accountable for the quality of their graduates?

Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University; Kate Walsh, National Council on Teacher Quality; moderator Erin Richards, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Colleges of Education – Embracing Change or Resisting It?

Since normal schools dotted the American landscape in the 1800s, colleges of education have been periodically targeted for criticism about their quality.  And once more, in an era focused on teacher effectiveness, colleges of education are under pressure to reform. While leaders are responding, will education schools transform themselves to the satisfaction of critics? How much reinvention is actually unfolding, and where are changes showing promise?

Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University; Mistilina Sato, University of Minnesota; Teresa Heck, St. Cloud University; Mari Koerner, Arizona State University; moderator Claudio Sanchez, NPR

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Starting From Scratch – Models That Break the Mold

Some organizations have given up on colleges of education altogether and are knitting together new formats and methods of training teachers. Others include urban residency programs, Teach for America, TNTP, and High Tech High’s graduate school. Will these alternative approaches become the new normal, or are they doodling on the edges?

Tamara Azar, Urban Teacher Residency United; Crystal Brakke, Teach for America; Amy Reising, High Tech High Graduate School of Education; Janet Williams, Walden University; moderator Stephen Sawchuk, Education Week

12:30 p.m. Lunch

1 p.m. Lessons Learned About Teacher Ed – Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; introduction by Dale Mezzacappa, Philadelphia Public School Notebook

2 p.m. New Teacher Roundtable – New teachers trained in diverse settings – including traditional and alternative routes – describe their experiences as brand-new teachers and how well they were prepared for what faced them in their new profession.Teacher mentors describe how they work with new teachers and the challenges they face.

3:15 p.m. Topical Tips: Advice on Covering Teacher Training

Erin Richards, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Stephen Sawchuk, Education Week; Emily Richmond, EWA