Chancellor’s Special Task Force on Elementary Education
Problem Statement
As the primary producer of teachers in the Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education constantly strives to improve and enhance the quality of teachers in the Commonwealth. Consequently, the preparation of competent and effective K-6 teachers who teach children effectively is a challenge that the State System recognizes. To address this need, State System colleges of education must prepare excellent K-6 teachers who are effective teachers. To implement this change, colleges of education must imbed content courses, clinical experiences, and authentic classroom experiences into the curriculum. University K-6 programs must also incorporate basic education standards into their courses, teach students to utilize and apply current learning theories, and gather, analyze and incorporate data into their teaching. Pre-service students must be active participants in the classrooms of practicing teachers and must learn to incorporate current learning theories into actual classroom settings. Additionally, pre-service teachers must learn to be continuous learners who constantly read, evaluate and implement current research results into classroom practice.
To accomplish these necessary changes, certain barriers must be addressed and overcome:
- University professors must be active partners with K-6 faculty,
- Universities must be willing to explore, investigate, and implement K-6 pre-service programs that emphasize content subjects and learning theory as the key elements of the curriculum,
- Field experiences and authentic clinical experiences in the public school classrooms with master teachers must serve as the clinical sites for pre-service teachers,
- High-quality courses based on current research in the field and performance-based outcomes must permeate the curriculum,
- Demonstration of the use of data-based research to plan K-6 student courses must be the norm and not the exception,
- Pre-service students must learn to be part of a K-6 performance-based learning team, and
- Graduates of the program must be tracked to assess their ability to cause measurable change in student achievement in the public schools.
To address these barriers and challenges, the Pennsylvania State System will:
- Change the content quality and quantity of courses and experiences currently contained in the elementary and early childhood teacher certification program,
- Design a process to assess and address institutional accountability for the quality of graduates who are certified as K-6 teachers,
- Enrich and enhance experiences that improve the integration of technology based assessment systems into the curriculum,
- Incorporate current learning theories into actual classroom settings,
- Effectively and efficiently incorporate a maximum amount of clinical classroom experiences into the curriculum, and
- Work with programs to develop ways to measure and use K-12 student learning gains as an important way to assess program quality.
Outcomes
The Elementary Education Task Force will develop recommendations that will cause change in the elementary education programs of the State System. Additionally, the recommendations will be used to influence statewide policy decisions for elementary education programs in the state.
Chronology of Events
September 2003
The Chancellor’s Special Task Force on Elementary Education was formed consisting of 20 persons from various areas in education throughout the Commonwealth (composed of a university president, provost, dean of education, dean of arts and sciences, public school teachers and administrators, community college dean, Secretary of Education for Pennsylvania, an elementary education major at a System university, Associate Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs.
January 2004
- Initial meeting of task force – Background of Current Topical Research and Information
Speakers:
- Dr. Vicki L. Phillips (Secretary of Education) Overview of Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Policy in the Commonwealth;
- Dr. Edward Crowe (SHEEO and Teacher Education Consultant) re: A National Perspective – Clinical Pre-service Preparation and Evidence of Effectiveness and Support for New Graduates: Policies, Programs and Measures of Success );
- Dr. Stephen Pavlak (Associate Vice Chancellor for School/University Programs and Jane Bray (Dean of College of Education at Millersville University) – Preparation Programs and Partnership Programs)
March 2004
- Discussion of Highly Qualified Teacher Criteria
Speaker:
- Mary Cullinane (Microsoft School of the Future Architect) – Teacher Education Competency
May 2004
- Classroom Management Discussion and recommendations
July 2004
- Content Recommendations;
- strengthening the relationship between teacher preparation and “real world” needs;
- Role of school board, superintendent, building principal
Speaker:
- Mary Cullinane provided an update of Teacher Competency Wheel and the Microsoft School of the Future Project.
September 2004
- Discussion of Professional Development Schools, Academic Teaching Centers
- Recommendations
Speaker:
- Caroline Allen (National Parent Teacher Association Schools of Excellence Presentation)
November 2004
- Task Force Member Review and revision of all Recommendations to date
January 2005
- First Draft of Task Force Recommendations Document.
March 2005