Scott Imig

What do Beginning Teachers Need to Know? An Essay

Do we prepare teachers for the schools we wish all children could attend or do we prepare teachers for the schools where they are most likely to find a position? The authors address the often-asked question What do beginning teachers need to know? by making the case that we must prepare teachers for the disparate conditions found on the educational landscape. Public policy decisions, economic conditions, and the teaching profession itself have created two systems of schooling in America. One system values the professionalism of teachers and believes education is broad in its definition. The other system offers a myopic focus on test scores and defines teaching as nothing more than content delivery. Schools of education must become agents of change by preparing teachers steeped in the realities of modern schools but aware of the power of an individual teacher to impart change.

Keeping our teachers! Investigating mentoring practices to support and retain novice educators

For this study the researchers used data from the 2006 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions survey to investigate the possible relationship between mentoring and intentionality with respect to beginning teachers’ intentions to remain in the profession. The sample consists of 8838 teachers who were mentored during their first two years of teaching. To determine whether the quality of mentoring is related to teachers’ intentions to stay or leave the profession, mentor matching, degree of support, and frequency of interactions were variables examined. Beginning teachers who were matched by grade level, who received assistance with the supports investigated, and who met with mentors at least once monthly for the specified activities were more likely to commit to remaining in the profession than their peers who had received less support.

The teacher effectiveness movement : How 80 years of essentialist control have shaped the teacher education profession

The locus of control in teacher education has been outside the hands of those who educate our nation’s teachers for more than a century. Essentialists have long controlled the agenda for public schooling in America, and it is evident as well that their influence has prevailed in both the form and function of teacher education. The authors suggest that the contest between progressives and essentialists regarding teacher education has been repeatedly decided in favor of the essentialists. The current attempt to recast teacher education to focus singularly on effectiveness of classroom teachers in raising the test scores of their students is a not-unanticipated result of this enduring contest.

Teacher education in the United States of America, 2011

Teacher education in the USA is faced with an uncertain future. Unprecedented efforts on the part of government, philanthropic foundations, social entrepreneurs, professional societies and others are reshaping the enterprise. Warring camps have emerged to promote decidedly different visions for teacher education, with university-based teacher education challenged for its cost, focus, effectiveness, structure and format, and ideological orientation. Teacher education has become a topic for national debate and the array of alternative models and structures and those who represent them make it difficult to predict a likely outcome. Research remains inconclusive regarding directions to be pursued and the appeals to expertise and professionalism are largely ignored by policy makers and others. Traditional coalitions of supporters have fractured and there is a decided absence of political and professional support for traditional teacher education. The authors identify half a dozen challenges that confront the schooling of children and youth and appeal for teacher educators to lead efforts to address each of these needs.

Developing Culturally Aware School Leaders: Measuring the Impact of an International Internship Using the MGUDS.

Developing globally minded citizens has become a national push and a stated priority for many higher education institutions in the United States. This article focuses on one university’s efforts to develop globally minded school leaders who are accepting of and comfortable with diversity. The University of North Carolina Wilmington has created an international practicum for master’s and doctoral-level students in the Educational Leadership Department. This study focuses on the outcomes of this international practicum. Data from this mixed methods study are presented on participants’ shifts in attitudes about cultural diversity as measured by the Miville-Guzman Universality Diversity Scale survey and interviews. The article also provides suggestions about processes and experiences necessary to support and facilitate participants’ shifts to embrace diversity and global perspectives.

Thriving as a New Teacher, in a Bad Economy

Abstract Even during turbulent economic times, novice teachers can be successful by infusing practical strategies.

What Is High Quality Teacher Education

US teacher education is experiencing unprecedented governmental intrusion at both the state and federal levels into every facet of teacher preparation. Initiatives by both the Bush and Obama administrations have intensified the accountability expectations for all providers. There are competing narratives regarding what constitutes high quality teacher preparation with so-called “reformers” competing with “traditionalists” to influence public policy. While no one is sure of the outcome, enrolments in teacher education courses and programs are plummeting at the same time that elementary and secondary teacher job satisfaction is rising. An unintended but pervasive teacher shortage may be the consequence of such actions.

Evaluating school leadership development through an international experience

In this study, we examine the impact of a study abroad experience on a group of students in an educational leadership doctoral programme. The researchers sought to measure the impact this experience had on diversity awareness of six pre-service school leaders. By using a qualitative exit interview and the quantitative Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale both pre-post to measure diversity awareness and shifts, the researchers were able to explore shifts in perceptions over time. It was found that every student experienced shifts in not only how they viewed diversity but also how they defined diversity.

Teacher Certification and Credentials: From a Focus On Qualification to a Commitment to Performance

An often-repeated phrase among educational researchers is that the variance in teacher quality within a school is greater than the variance among the schools in any district. This same principle certainly applies when analyzing teacher certification in the United States and around the world. It does not, however, minimize the great policy and practice differences that exist between and among international countries with regard to educating and certifying teachers. Initial licensure, for example, is good for life in Japan, Hong Kong and England but in the United States, where each state has separate requirements, most teachers must renew their licenses throughout their career. Additionally, though most American teachers are required to pass a licensure examination after graduating from a teacher preparation program, teachers in Singapore and the Netherlands are under no such obligation (Wang, Coleman, Coley, & Phelps, 2003). While these differences are great, a closer look at teacher certification within the United States reveals countless systems and policies operating in often-contradictory ways. In the United States, a system of teacher licensure is administered by the 50 states. Each of the states awards licenses to candidates who fulfill requirements established to ensure that all teachers are qualified to teach. Teacher licensure places a premium on prospective teachers meeting a set of prescribed criteria set by the state. It is a system that relies on candidates obtaining a baccalaureate degree, meeting state recognized standards, perhaps fulfilling specific course requirements, having a satisfactory grade point average, completing student teaching (also known as internship) requirements, and passing a state-administered or state-authorized tests that may include assessment of basic skills, subject matter knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge. Some states have additional requirements, but all expect that teacher candidates will fulfill what are viewed as minimal qualifications to teach the children of the particular state. It is a system, however, in flux as the system moves from one dependent upon prospective teachers meeting a set of qualifications for teaching to one that embraces successful performance by beginning teachers. This shift in emphasis is profound and carries with it enormous consequences for schools and colleges.