December 1998 Report Says New Teachers Need STW Training
T he teachers of tomorrow may not be adequately prepared for incorporating school-to-work (STW) concepts in their classrooms, says a new research report available from NWREL.
In Teacher Preparation and School-to-Work: A 25-State Survey of Higher Education, Dr. Tom Owens and Matthew Clifford of NWREL and Dr. Robert Keller of the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) report findings from a study designed to determine how teacher education programs are preparing students for teaching school-to-work concepts, such as workplace-related competencies, career education, authentic assessment, and contextual learning.
The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 provides states with federal assistance for developing statewide systems to ensure K-12 students a seamless transition from secondary education to high-quality employment or further education. Typically, School-to-Work program grants allocate a significant part of their budgets to providing professional development activities—usually inservice training and summer seminars—to teachers, counselors, and administrators from participating schools. But what about the preservice level, the place where the future teaching workforce takes shape?
Because little is known about efforts at this level, regional representatives for the U.S. Secretary of Education asked the two regional laboratories to design and conduct a study to find out what colleges of education are doing to prepare preservice teachers for working in STW environments. Led by Owens and Keller, the study surveyed deans or representatives from 185 colleges of education in 25 states.
Survey findings show that there is limited awareness, understanding, and acceptance of school-to-work concepts in institutions of higher learning in the states surveyed. Data suggest that teacher education administrators believe their graduates are well-prepared to provide school-based learning but are not as prepared to connect school and work. Respondents also believe their graduates are not well-prepared to facilitate work-based learning opportunities for students. But despite this disparity, most schools indicated no plans to expand the STW emphasis in their teacher preparation programs.
"Teacher education program support of school-to-work is critical in sustaining the momentum of school reform, and yet few of the teacher education programs completing the survey say they are adequately training preservice teachers in STW concepts," note the authors. "Identifying and disseminating best-practice teacher education models, supporting the development of model programs, and information sharing may help teacher educators see the benefits in STW implementation and design better teacher education programs."
The authors suggest the following activities to help preservice teachers learn more about school-to-work:
• Integrate methods classes so that preservice teachers write curriculum in cross-curricular teams
• Engage preservice teachers in work-based learning opportunities in a business or an industry so they become more knowledgeable about the places their students will eventually work
• Engage preservice teachers in applied or action research in schools, the community, or a business so they experience authentic contextual learning
• Involve business and industry representatives and school personnel in the instruction of preservice teachers, by co-teaching a class, guest lecturing, or talking with preservice teachers about what is expected of high school graduates
The research report includes a copy of the survey that was sent to schools in conducting the study, and eight tables are provided to illustrate and describe the survey findings. The authors also provide conclusions and further recommendations for future action.
To order a copy of Teacher Preparation and School-to-Work: A 25-State Survey of Higher Education, please go to the Document Order Form in this newsletter.
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