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January 1999		Final Report of the
TEACHER PREPARATION STUDY COMMITTEE
Published by the Iowa General Assembly -- Legislative Service Bureau

Attachment: Recommendations & Findings of the Teacher Preparation Study Committee "Vision for the Desired Future"

AUTHORIZATION AND APPOINTMENT:The Legislative Council established the Teacher Preparation Study Committee and authorized the Committee to meet for three days to address the status of existing teacher and administrator preparation programs and support for beginning teachers. The Council's charge to the Committee read as follows:
The importance of teachers in education reform has been highlighted in several recent reports. The report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, calls for plans to ensure all communities have teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to teach so children can learn, and that all school systems are organized to support teachers in this work.
The report of the Governor's Commission on Educational Excellence for the 21st Century calls for Iowa to continue recruiting, educating, and supporting a force of teachers who are well prepared in content and pedagogy, knowledgeable in research on teaching, and enthusiastic and capable learners. While there is general growing consensus among educators and policymakers regarding these goals, more information is needed to assess the degree to which Iowa already meets the goals, to identify appropriate actions Iowa may take to move more rapidly to implementing the goals, and to project the resources needed to achieve the goals.
The study committee shall address the status of existing teacher and administrator preparation programs and support for beginning teachers. The review shall involve formulating and exploring teacher preparation options, including opportunities to augment or transform the teaching experience in areas such as student teaching, internship, and mentoring. The study committee shall consider proposals for expanding, improving, and retaining the supply of quality teachers to meet the impending increase in demand. The study committee shall issue a request for suggestions for program improvements and provide for review of relevant task force recommendations. The review shall include testimony from Regents institutions, private institutions of higher learning, national and local organizations, administrators, practitioners, and other knowledgeable persons. The study committee shall identify policy options for consideration by the General Assembly.
As the Committee's work progressed, the members agreed to request authorization from the Legislative Council for two additional meeting dates, which the Council granted.
1. Administrative Information.
The Committee met on August 24, 1998, and elected Temporary Co-chairpersons Senator Mary Kramer and Representative Chuck Gipp as Permanent Co-chairpersons. The Committee met on August 24 and 25, September 17, and November 11 and 12, 1998. Members approved the Committee's proposed recommendations by mail on January 19, 1999.
2. August 24 & 25, 1998, Meetings.
a. Presenters. Presenters for the first two meeting dates of the Committee included representatives from the following school districts and organizations:
b. Licensure. Dr. Anne Kruse explained the current licensure requirements, and noted that the Board of Educational Examiners has adopted the following: performance standards for the professional education core, which become effective August 31, 2001; a performance-based endorsement for pre-K through grade three, including special education, which became effective August 31, 1997, and is offered at six colleges and universities currently; a two-year administrator exchange license; the move to a competency-based method of licensure in administration; and rules to satisfy four units of renewal requirements for an educational or professional teacher's license upon successful attainment of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. She recommended allowing the BOEE and the Department of Education to continue their work gathering information about quality teacher preparation, licensure, and appropriate performance assessments, with the implementation of changes by rule; that the state provide funding assistance to implement a statewide voluntary beginning teacher induction and support program; and that the state fund a two-year pilot program to determine the necessity of requiring performance assessments in Iowa.
c. Recommendations From Practitioners. Beginning teacher Vicki Seghal stressed the importance of mentoring programs, noting that she was a beneficiary of the Des Moines school district's mentoring program. Ms. Seghal strongly recommended that classroom management courses and in-service training be offered to students and to practicing teachers. A number of administrators and teachers giving subsequent presentations echoed her appeal for a concentrated effort to provide practitioners and students with more and better information and practical experience in classroom management. Other common themes specified by administrators and teachers presenting that day included the following:
During Committee discussion, most presenters voiced approval for an extended school year calendar and indicated support for merit pay, but expressed concerns about who would do the evaluations that determine who receives merit pay.
d. Practitioner Preparation Program Approval. Mr. Ted Stilwill and Dr. Sandra Renegar described the means by which the Department currently evaluates and approves practitioner preparation programs and then identified new directions toward which the Department is moving educator preparation programs.
Currently, prior to approval or reapproval, a team comprised of faculty from other institutions, practitioners, and Department staff spends three to four days on campus reviewing a practitioner preparation program. The team reports its findings to the institution, including whether standards have been met and the institution's strengths. The institution has an opportunity to respond. If standards are met, or the institution has demonstrated adequate efforts are underway to meet the standards, the institution's program is presented to the State Board of Education for approval or reapproval, which may be for up to five years. The state board will not approve any program that refuses to take action to meet standards or correct unmet standards.
In the future, according to Dr. Renegar, teacher preparation must be viewed in relationship to recruitment, selection or hiring, support for beginning teachers, continuing education and development, retention, recognition, and compensation. The preparation must be more "clinically based," with much greater integration of preparation and practice; the new approval process should include assurances that performance standards are met by every candidate for licensure; a consistent assessment should be required of all candidates for licensure and should include knowledge of subject matter, child development, and teaching methods; and include a consistent follow-up with all beginning teachers and administrators and their employers to further determine if preparation has been effective. She provided a list of institutions that require students to successfully complete a basic skills or ACT/SAT test prior to admission to a practitioner preparation program. Dr. Renegar also noted that school districts need to accept greater responsibility for the recruitment, preparation, development, retention, and recognition of quality teachers and administrators.
e. Presentations by Deans of Education. The deans of education for Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, Dordt College, and Buena Vista University provided testimony related to their practitioner preparation programs. The following recommendations were made by more than one of the deans: colleges and universities must be full partners with schools in mentoring, internship, or induction efforts; programs should move toward performance-based assessment through multiple assessment measures; and programs must prepare students to use technology in their teaching. In addition, specific information and recommendations were received by the following presenters:
3. Public Hearing.
At a public hearing held the evening of August 24, 1998, in the House Chamber of the State Capitol Building, members also heard testimony from the following:
4. September 17, 1998, Meeting.
a. Presenters. Presenters for the third meeting date of the Committee included the following:
b. National Teacher Preparation Status and Trends. Mr. Eric Hirsch discussed the nationally recognized importance of teaching skills and knowledge in the success of education reform. He noted that four-fifths of the states legislated teacher policy changes in 1997 and 1998, mainly focusing on three areas: teacher recruitment, preparation, and professional development. His presentation included the following information:
c. NCTAF. Mr. Frederick Frelow described the Commission's findings and identified critical problems leading to slipshod teacher recruitment by school districts, described major flaws in traditional teacher preparation, and set forth a model for a continuum of teacher professional development. In one of the report findings class size accounted for only 8 percent of the proportion of measured variance in grades three through five math test score gains. To make a difference, smaller class size must be combined with other strategies, and qualified teachers are essential -- districts cannot just use aides to reduce class size. He outlined the Commission's recommendations as follows: get serious about standards for both students and teachers, reinvent teacher preparation and professional development, fix teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom, encourage and reward teacher knowledge and skill, and create schools organized for student and teacher success.
d. Iowa State Education Association. Ms. Jolene Franken's presentation included the following observations and recommendations: teacher preparation programs should reflect the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium's standards for beginning teachers; national certification programs need additional support; national certification standards should be integrated into preparation programs; Iowa needs an effective, statewide delivery system for professional development from pre-service through in-service; the state should finance a beginning teacher program and require on-site support of beginning teachers by their preparation program; state regulations must establish high and enforced standards for admission to preparation programs; nationally certified K-12 teachers should be encouraged to move freely between schools and teacher education programs, serving as faculty in teacher education programs; all teacher education programs should be nationally certified; and future secondary teachers should have more actual teaching field-based experience.
e. Area Education Agency Findings. Ms. Sue Presler and Dr. Ron Fielder described the negative effect the substitute teacher shortage is having on mentoring programs. Experienced and beginning teachers participating in the program need time for collaboration and training opportunities, but schools are not always willing to compensate teachers for their time during nonschool hours and the opportunities during school hours are often dependent on whether districts can find substitutes. During the 1996-1997 school year, Iowa teachers and administrators enrolled in over 36,000 optional staff development course opportunities offered by AEAs, with 18,182 opportunities tied to licensure renewal. Dr. Fielder identified potential roles for AEAs in teacher/administrator mentoring, and provided survey results indicating overwhelming participant support for the staff development courses offered by the Grant Wood AEA.
f. Iowa Association of School Boards' Request. Ms. Susan Donovan asked the Committee to encourage continued state support for formative teacher evaluation and meaningful in-service learning or staff development programs; thoroughly examine the state's licensing process; support the identification of basic skills for beginning teachers and hold teacher education institutions accountable for teaching these skills; ensure continued funding and ongoing commitment to the Department of Education for programs to assist poor-performing administrators and teachers; support the mentoring program item-vetoed from 1998 Acts, SF 2366, by Governor Terry Branstad; support financial assistance to school districts for staff development programs that support locally established goals and standards; consider the needs of districts when recommending changes in teacher preparation programs; and encourage innovative options such as extended school days and school years, and incentives for teacher shortage areas.
5. November 11 & 12, 1998, Meetings.
a. Presenters. Presenters for the fourth and fifth meetings of the Committee included the following:
b. Mount Mercy College Observations and Recommendations. Dr. Jan Rohner and Dr. Arlie Willems cited a need for collaboration between liberal arts and education colleges, and between practitioner preparation professionals and the Legislature. They also suggested that expanded team teaching within school districts could better utilize faculty. Concerns discussed included teacher pay, teacher educator pay, the looming teacher shortage, support for new teachers, and the need for collaborative problem solving. They opined that national accreditation of the program is unnecessary, and that a fifth year of student preparation is impractical and unnecessary. A fifth year of education is more useful after a student has had at least one or two years of teaching experience. Finally, they encouraged the creation of a professional teacher preparation/professional development work group, composed of field and Department of Education professionals, to study teacher preparation and professional development, develop models to address concerns, and recommend methods of implementation.
c. Iowa Reading Association Findings and Recommendations. Ms. Janet Adams and Mr. Clark Goltz recommended that the Legislature fund additional professional development in the area of reading instruction to teachers and practitioner preparation students. They further recommended preparing students in practitioner preparation programs for real-world teacher/student/parent classroom experiences; the expansion of classroom reading instruction to include grades five through nine; and a study to determine whether middle and high school teacher licensure should include reading courses emphasizing methodology for reading nonfiction content books. Five-year programs for reading teachers are discouraged because the cost would discourage students facing high loan repayments and low entry salaries.
d. Criticism of National Trends and Organizations. Dr. Micheal Podgursky refuted many of the studies relied upon by the NCTAF in reaching its conclusions. He stated that there is no systematic evidence that certification by a national accrediting body leads to better prepared practitioner preparation program graduates. Likewise, he finds no empirical evidence proving that certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards leads to superior teachers. The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium's standards for performance-based assessments of teachers, while superior to traditional standardized tests, are vague and the results unreliable. Therefore, the costs incurred by institutions and individuals to follow NCTAF recommendations regarding testing and certification are unnecessary; state boards can be relied upon for regulation. To transfer these regulatory decisions from public to private organizations makes consumers vulnerable, concentrates power within too few hands, and reduces the accountability of schools.
e. Practitioners' Panel. The following recommendations were made during the practitioners' panel discussion:
The panel was divided on the matter of merit pay.
f. Counseling and Media Services Panel. A majority of panelists advised a reduction in the number of hours required to achieve a degree in counseling. The following recommendations were also made during the counseling and media services panel discussion:
g. Professional Educators of Iowa Recommendations. Mr. Jim Hawkins recommended restructuring and enhancing pay plans to compensate professionalism and effectiveness, promoting occupational emphasis through academic and vocational integration, supporting local control for public schools, refusing national teacher certification and testing, and establishing Iowa's teaching standards as an example for the nation.
h. State Department of Education (DOE) and Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) Task Force Update and Recommendations. Mr. Ted Stilwill and Dr. Anne Kruse provided an update of the work of the Task Force on Educator Preparation created by Governor Branstad, commented on the need for a strong emphasis on performance-based preparation and licensure, spoke on the need for support for their work in determining the manner in which preparation programs and candidates for licensure must demonstrate that performance standards have been met, emphasized the need for stronger support systems for beginning teachers and greater statewide support for improvement in preparation and beginning teacher support programs, and the need to institute a data-based process to more accurately determine future "supply and demand" issues for educational staff. Mr. Stilwill noted that the Department is working to achieve consistency in the quality of Iowa's practitioner preparation programs. Dr. Kruse suggested the Board needs more time to research options for practitioner assessment as the Board is discovering that available commercial assessments are inadequate. The Board may wish to develop its own assessment and implement it on a pilot basis. The Board is comfortable with letting institutions providing practitioner preparation programs decide who should be admitted to their programs. In addition, the Board prefers a two-year mentoring program, but would also support a one-year program. The advantages of the programs are well known, and a pilot program is unnecessary. A multiyear phase-in of a statewide mentoring program is preferred by the Board. Institutions should gather more follow-up data on their graduates, and if they are not willing to do this, Mr. Stilwill indicated the DOE would be willing to gather the information.
6. Committee Discussion.
Co-chairpersons Kramer and Gipp asked members to contribute ideas for consideration. The information gathered during the discussion was used to develop recommendations for consideration by members. The proposed recommendations were mailed to members for their consideration.
7. Recommendation Approval Process.
By January 11, 1999, a majority of the members indicated their approval of the attached vision statement, recommendations, and findings. The voting documents, including any comments and suggestions made by the members, are on file with the Legislative Service Bureau.
8. Written Materials Filed With the Legislative Service Bureau.
a. Anthony, Rebecca, and John Achrazoglou, Electronic Portfolios: Getting Started. A handout distributed by Dr. Richard Shepardson.
b. Ideas from Tinsman Teacher Preparation Meetings in Davenport, submitted by Senator Maggie Tinsman.
c. Iowa Board of Educational Examiners' 1997-98 Institutional Survey of Teacher Education Graduates, distributed by Dr. Anne Kruse.
d. "Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children; A Joint Position Statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children," distributed by Mr. Clark Goltz.
e. "The Linker," a publication of the Grant Wood AEA, from Fall 1998, distributed by Dr. Ron Fielder. Also from Dr. Fielder, an informational pamphlet regarding the Contemporary School Leadership Program organized by Grant Wood AEA, and an informational booklet regarding the Kaleidoscope of Learning conferences organized by Grant Wood AEA.
f. "National Standards for School Counseling Programs," distributed by Ms. Marti Rolling, counselor, Denver Community School District.
g. NCSL materials: Legisbrief entitled "Teacher Training" by Eric Hirsch, NCSL policy specialist, from October 1997; NCSL State Legislative Report entitled "Teacher Policy: A Summary of Current Trends" by Mr. Hirsch, from February 1998; and "Summary of Teacher Policy Legislation-1998 Session," compiled by NCSL and distributed by Mr. Hirsch.
h. Portions of a bill from the State of Illinois relating to alternative certification of teachers and school administrators, submitted by Representative David Heaton.
i. Practitioner Preparation Program Approval for Iowa Colleges and Universities, prepared by Dr. Sandra L. Renegar, practitioner preparation consultant, Iowa Department of Education.
j. Sparks, Dennis, and Stephanie Hirsh, A New Vision for Staff Development. A handout distributed by Dr. Les Omotani, superintendent, West Des Moines Community School District.
k. "Supportive Beginnings for New Teachers: New Teacher/New Teacher Facilitator Training," by Sue Presler from the Loess Hills AEA 13.
l. "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future," a handout distributed by Frederick Frelow from the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
m. Written comments or summaries from the following presenters:

Attachment: Recommendations & Findings of the Teacher Preparation Study Committee "Vision for the Desired Future"

OTHER INFORMATION FOR THIS COMMITTEE:

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