Teacher Training Showcase

Preparing to Become a Teacher So you're thinking about becoming a teacher! Teaching is one of the most demanding careers one can choose, yet it is also one of the most rewarding.

Choosing to teach is choosing to make a difference in the lives of children-to help them learn to read, solve a math problem, or discover how plants grow. Teaching is about conveying a love of learning and discovery, and giving children the tools they can use throughout their lives to make their own discoveries.
Today's teachers must be ready to play a variety of roles in the classroom: educator, motivator, guide, counselor, coach, and disciplinarian.
Teachers must be prepared to work as part of a team, combining their efforts with colleagues, supervisors, and parents to create the best possible learning environment for their students. In addition, teachers must continually educate themselves-learning about new advances in education, new technologies, and new ways to inspire students to reach their full potential.

Adults with a Degree
If you are an adult with a bachelor's degree already, you will be able to enter a postbaccalaureate program designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills you will need to enter the classroom as a well prepared teacher. Most teacher preparation institutions offer these postbaccalaureate programs, either leading to a teaching license or a master's degree and a teaching license. In addition, these programs will ensure that you have the relevant content knowledge for the subjects you plan to teach. For example, if you majored in business but want to teach math to high school students, the institution will need to see transcripts of the coursework you have taken to determine your knowledge of mathematics. If you did not major in the subject you would like to teach, most institutions will require you to take a test that helps the institution determine whether you need additional subject matter courses, in addition to internship/student teaching, and related courses. Most states now require a major or the equivalent of a major in the subject to be taught.

High School Students
If you are a high school student who has determined teaching to be a possible career, you will normally apply to a college, and then as a sophomore or junior to a teacher preparation program. As an undergraduate, if you are preparing to teach secondary school, you should major in the subject area you want to teach (English, mathematics, biology). If you would like to teach early childhood or elementary education, you will most likely major in that area and take courses in the liberal arts area as well to ensure a well-rounded education. A few states require that future elementary education teachers have a major in a subject matter area, and either enter the elementary education program as an undergraduate or during a fifth year. Most teacher preparation programs begin in the junior year, and courses run through the end of the senior year, alongside courses in your major and any electives.
There are many programs from which to choose. You'll need to develop some criteria for your selection of school. Some criteria are obvious: public or private; your financial situation and scholarship/loan availability; the size and composition of the student body; rural/suburban/urban environment; active student organizations. All of the above are important considerations to help you narrow down your search.

What to Look for in a Teacher Preparation Program
Whether you are an adult with previous job experience or a high school student deciding on a college, once you have some idea of the type of school you'd like to attend, it's time to focus on what to look for in a teacher preparation program. Following are some questions you may ask about the institution:

• Does the program require and provide a firm background in the liberal arts and, especially if you are entering as an undergraduate, in the subject matter knowledge you plan to teach?

• Does the program familiarize candidates with P-12 student standards in the discipline for which the teacher is preparing?

• Professional associations have developed P-12 student standards, as well as teacher preparation standards, in the major subject matter areas. Are the teacher preparation programs designed using these standards developed by the relevant professional associations, i.e. is the math education program centered around the standards of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics? A list of these subject matter associations is at http://www.ncate.org/ncate/conslist.htm.

• Does the institution provide adequate opportunity for the candidate to learn how to teach under the supervision of a variety of veteran teachers?

• At what point does the candidate gain actual supervised teaching experience in P-12 schools?

• What types of clinical experiences lead up to this teaching experience and how often do they occur?

• Does the institution prepare candidates to use technology to facilitate teaching and learning?

• How well is technology integrated into the coursework? Ask for specific examples.

• How are teacher candidates evaluated on their performance by the institution? Who participates in the evaluation?

• What percent of the candidates pass the state licensing exam?

• What has been the feedback of local school principals and teachers on the graduates of this program?

These questions have already been answered for you if the institution is professionally accredited through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. NCATE, the teaching profession's accrediting body, promotes quality in teacher preparation programs by measuring teacher preparation institutions against national standards set by professionals in the field. NCATE's standards are the expression of consensus of education stakeholders who have come together to answer the question, "what's important in teacher preparation today?"
As a teacher who graduates from an NCATE accredited program, you will know:
the subject matter you plan to teach a variety of ways to teach it so that all students learn, and be able to encourage students' ability to think critically and develop problem solving skills, create supportive environments that encourage active interest in learning, manage a classroom of students who vary in learning style and who are from different backgrounds, integrate technology into instruction, and
explain why they are using a particular teaching strategy based on research and best practice.
You will gain these abilities through in-depth study of the teaching field, including research on which instructional decisions are based; supervised clinical experiences that develop skills in classroom management and understanding of learners' needs; and ongoing assessments of practice through a variety of performance measures. You will experience a strong clinical program; usually programs will send candidates out in the P-12 schools early to determine how well candidates interact with children in a tutoring/small group leader role. Candidates and faculty can determine at this point whether teaching is indeed a good career choice.
Quick-entry, four or six-week training programs that promise to prepare teachers for today's classrooms cannot adequately do the job. Developing teaching skills, for example, the ability to diagnose individual learners' needs, takes time and supervised experience.
After determining to which teacher preparation institutions you will apply, adults returning to school to gain credentials for a license or a master's degree will need to submit an application, transcripts, and submit other documents the institution requires (i.e. test scores).
High school students apply to the institution itself. Usually in the sophomore year, students apply to the school or college of education at the institution. Application to the college of education may require several rounds of interviews, in addition to essays, review of grades, recommendations, etc.

Editorial supplied by "National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education" (NCATE)

NCATE is a non-profit, non-governmental alliance of 33 national professional education and public organizations representing millions of Americans who support quality teaching.

NCATE currently accredits 552 colleges of education with 100 more in candidacy. The 552 institutions produce two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates. There are 1,200 colleges of education in the United States. NCATE accreditation is a mark of distinction, and provides recognition that the college of education has met national professional standards for the preparation of teachers and other educators.

In NCATE’s performance-based accreditation system, institutions must provide evidence of competent teacher candidate performance. Teacher candidates must know the subject matter they plan to teach and how to teach it effectively so that students learn.

An independent study by the Educational Testing Service shows that graduates of NCATE-accredited colleges of education pass ETS subject matter and pedagogy examinations at a higher rate than do graduates of unaccredited colleges of education.

The National Conference of State Legislatures issued a report that calls NCATE a cost-effective means to upgrade quality in schools of education. The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a blue-ribbon commission, recommends that all colleges of education be professionally accredited through NCATE.

View NCATE’s website at http://www.ncate.org to identify NCATE accredited colleges of education.