Gail Desler

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  Gail commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  What Makes a Good Teacher Preparation Program?

  Clay,
  
  I'd like to respond to your questions by describing my daughter's credentialing experience, since she completed her program recently (three years ago).  In California, Education is not an undergraduate major, which, I agree with you, is a good thing. Teacher candidates are required to have a content area.  In my daughter's case, it's science.  She has a bachelor,s degree in geology, a master's degree in paleontology, and field experience with an environmental group.
  
  She very much valued the strategies, resources, and guidance provided by her university science and ELL instructors. But the technology component for her credential program was definitely lacking. She tested out of the first part, Microsoft Office. The second part involved creating content in TaskStream, a fee-based website that most likely not a single pre-service teacher continues subscribing to once they complete their program. Too bad she did not have the opportunity to start developing her PLN as part of her program. Also, as a geologist, she had plenty to offer in terms of real-world use of technology, such as Google Earth for marking water wells that were no longer safe for drinking water.
  
  Her student teaching experience was a short one because, due to a shortage of qualified science teachers, she was asked in the second term to take over a full load as an intern. Fortuanately, she's at a site with an outstanding and very supportive science department; so learning under fire worked out fine in her situation.
  
  She's now completing her second year (3rd if you count the internship) at her site. So while her teacher prep was for the most part useful, she's had to commit to way too many hours of professional development for non-tenured teachers via the BITSA program, a requirement in California. Not only has she found the content to be of little relevance to her teaching assignment, but the program prevents her from attending a series of university-sponsored science in-services and has also made it difficult for her to fully participate in meetings and events at her school site. And to top it off, she's never been asked to evaluate the program.
  
  But, of course, in California right now the biggest challenge for new teachers is being able to survive the budget cuts.