Teacher Licensure Research Articles

Academic Procrastination by Undergraduate Students

Sixteen students participated in a study on reasons for academic procrastination. Sources of the concourse included free-writing by university students, academic literature, magazines, newspapers, web sites, and the researcher's personal experiences. The Q sample of 42 statements was structured around seven elements cited in the literature as influencing academic procrastination: task aversion, perfectionism/fear of failure, decision-making difficulties, self-handicapping strategies, emotions (e.g., defiance), pragmatic concerns, and time management skills. P-set members were undergraduates studying for teacher licensure at a regional campus of a large public university in the United States. They completed Q sorts and wrote explanatory responses to follow-up questions. Thirteen Q sorts became defining sorts in a four-factor solution. Data generated by PQMethod were interpreted in light of students' written comments. Procrastinating for Pleasure included students who were candid about preferring social activities to academic work. Perfectionism at a Price included students who wanted to do high-quality academic work but for whom procrastination exacted an emotional toll in anxiety and self-doubt. Limited by Life included students whose demanding family and work circumstances restricted their time for academic pursuits. Delay by Design included students who deliberately and positively built academic procrastination into their time management strategies. Interpretations of the data and implications for future research are presented.

Teacher Preparation via Online Learning: A Growing Alternative for Many

There is increasing use of distance-learning technologies to deliver alternative teacher licensure and certification programs for those areas of shortage such as rural and urban areas and those content areas for which it is difficult to find highly qualified teachers. This article reviews those collaborative groups, partnerships, and institutions that are using distance learning to deliver alternative teacher education programs in the United States. Alternative programs being offered via distance-learning technologies and methods will continue to grow with the demand for such programs. With the advent of charter teacher education colleges, this will become an option for those who are teaching without the proper teaching credential or those wishing to fill the high demand area voids.

State of the States 2005: Legislatures Act Upon Licensure, Insurance, Salary Supplements

State of the States 2005: Legislatures Act Upon Licensure, Insurance, Salary Supplements

Teacher Licensing in U.S. Public Schools: The Case for Simplicity and Flexibility

Discussions of teacher quality in U.S. public schools have tended to focus on teacher licensing. Reformers from diverse perspectives have proposed "raising the bar" for licensing by various means (e.g., harder licensing exams, more coursework, graduation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education teacher-training programs, elimination of emergency or provisional licensing). However, all of these proposals assume that teacher licensing plays an important role in determining teacher quality and performance. In this article I argue the contrary. Raising the bar for teacher licensing in ways that have been proposed is unlikely to have any significant short- or long-term effects on student achievement. Moreover, by shrinking the applicant pool for vacancies, these restrictive proposals may have the perverse effect of lowering average teacher quality, particularly for high-poverty or rural districts that already face thin applicant pools. A preferred approach is to swap regulation of inputs for accountability for outputs, that is, a more flexible licensing regime that relaxes entry barriers combined with greater accountability for student achievement gains. Such a proposal is based on a simple economic principle: Welfare is more likely to be improved if state regulators focus on what they can measure (student achievement), not what they cannot (teacher quality).

The Near Impossibility of Testing for Teacher Quality

The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandated that a highly qualified teacher be in all our nation's classrooms by academic year 2005-2006. To accomplish this laudable goal, each state must define what it means by a highly qualified teacher. States are permitted to use teacher licensure tests to demonstrate to the federal government that their teachers are highly qualified, that is, capable, competent, skilled, trained, practiced, and so forth. The theory of action behind the policy is that if America's teachers were of sufficiently high quality, then education would improve. But all this appears to be political spectacle (Smith, 2004); pure theater with no other purpose than to look like something positive is happening, whereas it is not. The way to recognize spectacle is through analysis of the slogans and policies promulgated by politicians. For example, although the call is to ensure highly qualified teachers, there is no evidence to suggest that teachers, as a group, are not now highly qualified. Perhaps this legislation is designed in part to scare ordinary citizens into thinking that millions of unqualified teachers are in charge of their children, although the 3 million teachers we now have in our schools appear to be overwhelmingly qualified to be teaching. How do we know that America's teachers as a group are competent, skilled, and qualified to teach? One way we know is from the evidence we collect on how well our children are learning, because the ability to promote learning in children must be part of the criteria applied when we designate a teacher as highly qualified. Evidence of learning is obtained from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), from which there is evidence of growth for all racial and ethnic groups among 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds in all three of the subject areas regularly tested: reading, mathematics, and science. In fact, on the NAEP reading tests, scores for 9-year-old African Americans place them approximately 2 years ahead of where their parents scored when the tests were first introduced (Berliner, 2004) The quality of our teachers can also be inferred through the performance of American 9-year-old students in reading. On Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) tests, U.S. students performed remarkably well. Despite the Bush administration's criticism of reading instruction in the United States, PIRLS shows White American students performing better than those of the highest performing nation in the world; all U.S. students, combined, placed about third in the world statistically; and even America's minority public school students scored above the international average (Berliner, 2004). These results raise questions about the claim that we lack qualified teachers of reading (for more on how the premise of a failing school system cannot be supported, see Berliner, 2004). Certainly America's poor and minority students do not do well in most national and international assessments. In particular, it is these students who need access to more qualified teachers in their schools. However, it is hard to make the case that America's teachers in general are not qualified, as implied by the NCLB legislation. Additional examination of the federal requirement for highly qualified teachers reveals that no means are offered to accomplish the desired goal, suggesting that nothing is expected to happen. Moreover, the language used to rally the politically faithful is kept purposely ambiguous, with the term highly qualified providing no concrete referents for anyone to understand what is so ardently being promoted. Furthermore, demands for highly qualified teachers must take into account the relationship between teacher quality and the pay and status of teachers in our society. Attracting high-quality teachers--whatever that might turn out to be--may be more difficult than imagined by legislators, given the economic and social status of teachers in our society. …

A Case Study of a Competency-Driven Alternative Route to Teacher Licensure in an Urban “Hard to Staff” School System

Nationwide, the increased interest in teacher quality has been “the” topic of debate for educational policymakers, leading to a research focus on teacher certification. With the proliferation of alternative routes to teacher licensure, there is growing controversy surrounding the manner in which teachers are trained to obtain the level of quality required by state mandates and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) guidelines. A continuing debate addresses an essential question: Which teacher preparation programs best prepare future educators for the challenges of instructing students in their core subject classes—those grounded in the conceptual framework of traditional college teacher preparation and/or those guided by the premises of alternative teacher preparation programs? In response, an alternative-route-to-teacher-licensure program, a particular Transition to Teaching partnership, was reviewed. A descriptive portrayal, this report unfolds in five sections: First, scholarship that has previously addressed and assessed teacher preparation work through alternative routes to teacher licensure in K-12 settings; second, a description of the Newport News Public Schools and Old Dominion University partnership; third, the case study method; fourth, programmatic features that depict a competency-driven program for newly hired teachers on an alternative route to teacher licensure; and last, assertions that predict both the viability and sustainability of alternate routes to teacher licensure nurtured within urban school-university partnerships.

Where are They Coming From? Beyond the Demographics of Individuals Seeking an Alternative Route to Mathematics and Science Teacher Licensure

Predispositions toward teaching are comprised of more than merely a person's age, gender, content specialization, and ethnicity. This study went beyond examining the basic demographic information of alternative-route teacher candidates to include individuals' views of schooling, childhood, teaching, and curriculum. The purposes of this study were to identify the characteristics of the candidates who applied for an alternative route to certification and to obtain a detailed account of the candidates' perceptions of life, childhood, and schooling; their views of teaching; and their orientations toward curriculum prior to entering an alternative-route program. The demographic and professional characteristics of candidates interested in pursuing a career teaching mathematics and science in a high-poverty, urban school district were examined.

NCLB, IDEA, and Alternative Routes in Preparation of Rural Special Education Teachers in High Incidence Areas

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is without peer in the annals of federal education legislation. Prior to the passage of NCLB, no law had ever inserted the U.S. Department of Education directly into the sacrosanct areas of state and local responsibility for ensuring student achievement, using research-validated practices, and dictating the qualifications of our nation's teachers. Teacher quality and the standard is at the forefront of the NCLB promise (some would say threat) that all students will learn more than they are currently learning; if not, schools and teachers will be held accountable for their failure. As means to increase student achievement and hold teachers more accountable, NCLB applies pressure to every sector of the education community. Nowhere has that pressure been felt more than in special education programs for students with high incidence disabilities in rural areas where one-third of the nation's school districts are located. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the current status of the federal requirements for highly qualified special education teachers who work with students in high incidence disability areas. As adopted in NCLB and the newly reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 04), we analyze the impact of the highly qualified standard on recruitment and preparation of special education teachers in rural areas and address alternative approaches for meeting federal requirements. The Federal View of Highly Qualified Special Education Teacher Signed into law in 2001, NCLB was very explicit about what constitutes elementary or secondary teacher. An individual is considered highly qualified if he or she has obtained full state certification/licensure, or successfully passed state's teacher licensing examination. A highly qualified teacher is certified or licensed to teach in given state and must not have had state requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis. New elementary teachers must hold bachelor's degree and demonstrate subject knowledge and teaching skills in basic elementary school curriculum, including but not limited to, reading, writing and mathematics. Subject matter competency and teaching skills must be measured by a rigorous state test. New middle and secondary teachers must also hold bachelors degree and demonstrate high level of competency in the academic they teach. Subject matter competence must be measured by a rigorous state subject matter test, or by completing an undergraduate major in the subject area, graduate degree, or by completing coursework equivalent to an undergraduate academic major. Effective 2002-2003, the law required that all new Title I teachers must have met the above requirements. Additionally, state's Title I plan must include measurable objectives to ensure that all teachers providing instruction in core subjects (such as English, math, science, social studies, foreign languages, or art) meet the highly qualified definition by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Qualifications for veteran teachers were also specified in statute. Veteran teachers must hold at least bachelors' degree and be held to the same standard as new elementary, middle, and secondary teachers. They may, however, demonstrate their competence in the teaching of academic based on a high objective uniform state standard of evaluation (HOUSSE). (For more information on HOUSSE criteria, see U.S. Department of Education [2004], The secretary's Third Annual Report on Teacher Quality.) Although explicit regarding the expectations for elementary and secondary teachers, NCLB requirements to be special education teacher were nowhere to be found. In fact, it wasn't until December of 2002 that the Department of Education promulgated federal regulations that were intended to clarify that the standard really does apply to all teachers, including special educators (34 CFR Part 200, December 2, 2002). …

Curriculum and Practice in Teacher Education in Japan under the Revised Teacher License Act

Curriculum and Practice in Teacher Education in Japan under the Revised Teacher License Act

Web‐enhanced alternative teacher licensure

College and university teacher education programs are increasingly required to integrate technology into teacher preparation in response to the requirements of national accreditation groups like the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Delivery of teacher education programs through pure distance education methodologies still has critics. A Web‐enhanced approach, with on‐campus courses and Web‐based information and/or testing as a supplement, is suggested as a compromise. An alternative teacher licensure program in career and technical education at Ohio State University uses this approach extensively, with positive results. This case study explores the use of an alternative teacher licensure program, defines the components of a Web‐based curriculum, and illustrates the benefits and challenges of a Web‐enhanced teacher education program. Student and faculty issues and reactions are outlined, along with strategies for integrating Web‐based activities into courses. Suggested future plans for continuing to infuse technology into teacher education are also discussed.

Teen Drivers, Education, and Licensing: A Panel Discussion

Research and education aimed at reducing the crash risk of young drivers has become a top priority to researchers and educators around the world. This panel provides an overview of some of these recent and ongoing efforts. To that end, the purpose of this panel is to: 1) raise awareness of human factors and ergonomics researchers of research needs and problems relevant to teen drivers and education, 2) provide a forum for discussion in this area, and 3) provide a paper summarizing key issues including teenage drivers, driver education, and driver licensing.

Fieldwork Requirements in Special Education Preparation: A National Study

National reports (e.g., A Nation at Risk) and legislation (e.g., No Child Left Behind) call for improved teacher preparation. One area of concern relates to inadequate preparation of teachers for the reality of the classroom. We were interested in determining the role of practicum experiences in special education teacher preparation. Surveys were mailed to randomly selected Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). Faculty responded to questions regarding teacher candidate field experiences. Results indicated that in most cases, faculty and/or staff members in the special education unit are responsible for locating and assigning students to field placements. The most typical response to minimum qualifications for cooperating or mentoring teachers was an appropriate teaching license and at least 3 years of teaching experience. Most cooperating/mentoring teachers are paid an honorarium averaging $147. University faculty members supervise about 12 students each for fieldwork prior to student teaching. However, during student teaching, most supervisors are assigned approximately 7 students. The results of this study present a snapshot of current practice in fieldwork in special education preparation. Additional research is needed particularly to examine the role fieldwork plays in future teacher success.

Critical Factors Affecting the Success of Paraprofessionals in the First Two Years of Career Ladder Projects in Colorado

The growing number of students limited in English proficiency enrolling in U.S. public schools has led to a critical shortage of bilingual teachers. Districts across the nation have addressed this shortage by employing bilingual paraprofessionals to work under licensed teachers. Currently, school districts work collaboratively with institutions of higher education to develop locally based programs that provide paraprofessionals opportunities to complete the necessary basic education that may lead to a teaching license while they continue their employment as a paraprofessional. This article describes a model that provides social, financial, and academic support to paraprofessionals while they navigate their way through the first 2 years of college. The article also addresses critical factors that contribute to paraprofessionals' success in a college setting.

Improving the Performance of Teacher Candidates: Developing Assessment through Standards

This article discusses how changes in state licensure requirements have led to the successful implementation of a program wide assessment system in elementary education that determines teacher candidate performance competencies. Three major sections are included to describe the impetus and processes for such changes: (a) a description of the reform of a teacher licensure system; (b) an account of how faculty interpreted the new requirements for one elementary education program; (c) and an example of how one course was revised to include performance tasks aligned to standards. Reasons why this university has made significant progress are discussed.

What is a ‘Public School’? Principles for a New Century

Recent developments in the provision of education in the U.S. mean that the old definitions of no longer hold. Mr. Hess offers his suggestions for a broadened definition that will help education regain its status as a shared ideal. THE PHRASE has become more a rhetorical device than a useful guide to policy. As our world evolves, so too must our conception of what public means. James Coleman eloquently made this point more than two decades ago, implying a responsibility to periodically reappraise our assumptions as to what constitutes schooling.1 In a world where charter schooling, distance education, tuition tax credits, and other recent developments no longer fit neatly into our conventional mental boxes, it is clearly time for such an effort. Nonetheless, rather than receiving the requisite consideration, has served as a flag around which critics of these various reforms can rally. It is because the phrase resonates so powerfully that critics of proposals like charter schooling, voucher programs, and rethinking teacher licensure have at times abandoned substantive debate in order to attack such measures as anti-public schooling.2 Those of us committed to the promise of education are obliged to see that the ideal does not become a tool of vested interests. The perception that schooling has strayed from its purpose and been captured by self-interested parties has fueled lacerating critiques in recent years. Such critics as Andrew Coulson and Douglas Dewey find a growing audience when they suggest that the ideal of schooling itself is nothing more than a call to publicly subsidize the agendas of bureaucrats, education school professors, union officials, and leftist activists.3 While I believe such attacks are misguided, answering them effectively demands that we discern what it is that makes schooling and accept diverse arrangements that are consistent with those tenets. Otherwise, growing numbers of reformers may come to regard schooling as a politicized obstacle rather than a shared ideal. While I do not aim to provide a precise answer as to what schooling should mean in the early 21st century, I will argue that are broadly defined by their commitment to preparing students to be productive members of a social order, aware of their societal responsibilities, and respectful of constitutional strictures; that such cannot deny access to students for reasons unrelated to their educational focus; and that the system of available in any community must provide an appropriate placement for each student. In short, I suggest that it is appropriate to adopt a much more expansive notion of schooling than the one the education community holds today. What Isn't Public? Traditionally, schools are deemed to be those directly accountable to elected officials or funded by tax dollars.4 As a practical matter, such definitions are not very useful, largely because there are conventional public that do not fit within these definitions, while there are private providers that do. We generally regard as schools those in which policy making and oversight are the responsibility of governmental bodies, such as a local school board. Nongovernmental providers of educational services, such as independent or educational management organizations (EMOs), are labeled nonpublic. The distinction is whether a formal political body is in charge, since these officials are accountable by election or appointment to the larger voting public. There are two particular problems here. First, how hands on must the government be for us to regard a service as publicly provided? The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Education, and most other state, federal, and local government agencies contract with for-profit firms for support, to provide services, and to evaluate service delivery. …

Beyond “Progressive” Reform: Bodies, Discipline, and the Construction of the Professional Teacher in Interwar America

Rose Freistater was twenty-six years old when the New York City Board of Examiners denied her a teaching license. She had been teaching at James Monroe High School, first as a student teacher and then as a substitute teacher for five years, and her work was characterized by the chairman of the biology department in which she taught as “difficult to overstate in its excellence.” But in 1931, Rose stood five feet and two inches and weighed 182 pounds. When she applied for her teaching license that year, she weighed thirty pounds more than the maximum weight allowed by the Board for her height. She was given six months to lose thirty pounds; when she lost only twenty in that time, she was rejected by the Board altogether. Although a number of overweight and underweight teachers were rejected by the Board of Education in the ten years that the standards had existed, Rose was the first to appeal to the state that the qualifications were unfair. When her case reached the State Commissioner of Education in 1935, it was rejected again, and the city board issued a statement claiming, “Other things being normal, a person of abnormal weight is likely to have more absences because of ill health and be less efficient as a teacher than a person of average weight.” Furthermore, it added, “Teachers must climb stairs, take part in fire drills, and be able to handle all real school emergencies. Overweight teachers are less likely to stand the strain of teaching…. Teachers should [be]… acceptable hygienic models for their pupils in the manner of weight.” Finally, overweight teachers, who represented greater health risks than others, “constitute[d] a drain on the teachers' pension fund.” In response, the Freistater family contended that Rose walked the five flights of steps to their apartment several times a day, but her case was closed.

Analysis of the Special Education Program for the Teaching Licensure in Korean Universities

Analysis of the Special Education Program for the Teaching Licensure in Korean Universities

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL INDICATORS IMPORTANT FOR BEGINNING TEACHERS: A SURVEY OF PENNSYLVANIA TEACHERS AND TEACHER EDUCATORS

ABSTRACTThe study investigated the job relevance of 70 knowledge and/or skill indicators across five content areas (Literature, Fine Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science) for the development of a Pennsylvania initial teacher licensure assessment. A random sample of 1,700 teachers and 300 teacher educators was selected from Pennsylvania. Respondents judged each indicator on a scale ranging from 1 (of no importance) to 5 (very high level of importance). Means (and standard deviations) were computed across all survey respondents, as well as for subgroups of teacher respondents. Using a mean of 3.50 as the criterion for job relevance, 24 of the 70 (34%) of the knowledge and/or skill indicators were judged to be important (job‐relevant) enough for consideration in the development of the licensure assessment. These 24 knowledge and/or skill indicators are recommended as the primary content of the test.

State Policy Related to Teacher Licensure

This article is based on a study of the 2001-2002 teacher licensure requirements in all 50 states in the United States. For the study, data were collected on whether states require licensure candidates to pass tests of basic skills, subject matter knowledge, and/or pedagogical knowledge; and whether states use performance assessments in making professional licensure decisions. The main objectives of this article are to examine the extent to which states implemented performance assessments for use in making professional licensure decisions as of 2001-2002, to consider differences among various types of assessments and different ways in which they are used, and to explore challenges to their use in licensure decisions. Despite the promise of these new assessments, few states have implemented them due to concerns about costs; the need to establish evidence related to validity, reliability, and fairness; and the assessments' potential effects on teacher supply.

Possible Tradeoffs in Raising Basic Skills Cutoff Scores for Teacher Licensure

This article traces developments that followed warnings in the 1980s that tests used for admission to teacher education or for licensure may prevent or discourage capable African Americans from entering into teaching. With this alleged detrimental effect of teacher testing still an issue, the reported study used the evaluations of a group of elementary student teachers by their university supervisors and the student teachers' scores on the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) to examine the impact on the teaching effectiveness of newly licensed teachers that might be predicted to result if a PPST cutoff score is raised by one point. The findings of the study are placed in a context of possible tradeoffs in raising basic skills cutoffs for teacher licensure, especially certain negative tradeoffs related to participation of African Americans in teaching.