Prominent Education Legislatures on Teacher Quality

• Published in: The Hispanic outlook in higher education Vol. 17; no. 16; p. 29
• Main Author: Peggy Sands Orchowski
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paramus The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education 21.05.2007
• Subjects: Castle, Michael N; Education reform; Legislators; Miller, George (politician); No Child Left Behind Act 2001-US; Quality of education; Skills; Teachers; Teaching methods; United States > US
• ISSN: 1054-2337; 2471-6448

"It's a subject that educational academicians hate Io deal with as it touches the realm of policy and politics. But the question of teacher quality underlies even issue in educational reform." said Ron llaskins. senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., as he opened a panel discussion in March on "Excellence in the Classroom: Improving the Quality of Teaching in America's Schools." The target of the two legislators' sharpest criticism was the nation's schools of education. "They are dismal in terms of preparing the individual who is going into the teaching Held," [Michael Castle] summed up. "They fail to prepare teachers for what they are getting into." "Schools of education nml to do better ahout elevating the profession of teaching," said Castle. "1 mean, they need to talk about benefits people going into teaching get that few want to talk about. They need to discuss the intangible benefits of teaching, such as doing something important that can affect another person's life and the nation's progress. And they should point out the many tangible benefits that teachers get that main college graduates increasingly will not find in other professions, such as tenure, lifelong health insurance, and most especially, time to pursue things that are personally interesting."