'I've gotten so much hands-on experience.' – Lana Marchand, a participant in the Academy of Urban School Leadership program Stephen J. Carrera/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

Head of the class: Lana Marchand worked in human resources for six years before deciding she wanted to become a teacher. As part of her training, she’s taking over the lesson preparation and teaching for a third-grade classroom at Dodge Renaissance Academy in Chicago. Stephen J. Carrera/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

Lakeyk Poston is a 'resident' in Debbi Thompson's classroom. Stephen J. Carrera/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

Collaborative experience: Debbi Thompson, a mentor-teacher at Chicago's Dodge Renaissance Academy, has two 'residents' in her classroom who are learning how to teach. Stephen J. Carrera/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

Danielle Silverman is a 'resident' in Debbi Thompson's classroom. Stephen J. Carrera/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

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Teacher training: what's the best way?

Some policymakers say the focus needs to be on improving traditional education schools, while others are advocates of so-called alternative models, which can speed up entry into the profession.

from the March 27, 2009 edition

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Reporter Amanda Paulson talks with Pat Murphy of CSMonitor.com about the Monitor's series on teachers.

Part 1 of three - 03/17/09Change pay, change teaching?

• • Obama pushes to reward great teachers
  
  
• • Pay that accounts for test scores: two views

Part 2 of three - 03/23/09Lessons from most successful schools abroad

• • Why Singapore is another model for teaching excellence
  
  
• • Roundup: Other countries' efforts to develop and support teachers

Part 3 of three - 03/26/09Teacher training: what's the best way?

• • The approach of Teach for America
  
  
• • The research: Both theory and practice are important

Mr. Obama, during his campaign for president, called for 200 AUSL-like programs to be established across the US. His goal is to turn out 30,000 teachers a year through these residencies to work in America's toughest schools.

But for all the accolades they get, such programs are still tiny: AUSL has had just over 300 residents total in seven classes since the program began in 2001.

It's also very expensive. The program puts coaches in the schools and has other administrative costs, on top of the $32,000 payments.

Proponents argue that benefits on the back end – such as reduced teacher turnover and increased student achievement – more than make up for the expense.

"In the long run, if we don't pay the cost to create good teachers, it's penny-wise and pound-foolish," says Linda Darling-Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University in California. "Anytime you let someone go into the classroom before they're ready to be successful, there are all these other costs: of attrition and student failure, summer school, [students being held back a grade], the cost of dropping out."

How university programs run

Still, it is a tough sell. That's one reason some policymakers are putting their efforts into improving the 1,200 university-based teacher-preparation programs, where most teachers still get their training. "It's a big bang for the buck," says Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, N.J., and former president of Columbia University's Teachers College in New York.

Most of these programs include more course work than urban teacher residencies, but they usually require considerably less student teaching – between six and 16 weeks.

Yet some universities are moving toward lengthier and more structured experiences in the field. Stanford University, for instance, runs an acclaimed master's program that is field-based, offers highly focused training, and makes extensive use of mentor-teachers. Schools like Bank Street College in New York and Alverno College in Milwaukee have also received praise.

But all too often, university programs are criticized for being divorced from what students will find in the classroom and for giving inadequate preparation to those planning to work in very rural or very urban districts.

Mr. Levine is working state by state to try to improve the quality of university-based training. In Indiana, where he has done the most work, his foundation is offering universities $500,000 in matching money that they can use to change their curricula. They're also offering those schools 20 fellowships of $30,000 each – similar, in some ways, to the residency model. The fellowships are for well-qualified individuals who make a three-year commitment to teach in high-needs urban schools and who get three years of intensive mentoring from the university.

Doing it state by state, Levine says, is conducive to getting the necessary coalitions on board among government, universities, school districts, unions, businesses, philanthropies, and other key players. And it makes for a more targeted impact. In Indiana, where four universities are participating, the efforts are increasing the number of math and science teachers by nearly 25 percent, according to Levine.

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