Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers: The Role of Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Programs in Massachusetts

Thursday, November 19, 2009
3:30-5:30 pm

Omni Parker House Hotel
60 School Street
Boston, MA

Join the Rennie Center for the release of new research on the status of alternative teacher preparation in Massachusetts and considerations for the future.

Session Overview

Watch an Excerpt from Arthur Levine's Keynote Address

View a clip of Arthur Levine's keynote presentation at this event on the Rennie Center's YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/RennieCenter

In recent years, research has come to light confirming what many parents and educators already believed: that the quality of a child’s teacher is the single most important variable in a child’s educational experience. In an effort to better prepare teachers for the challenges of today’s classrooms and in response to projected teacher shortages, alternative routes to preparing teachers have proliferated in Massachusetts, and across the nation. While the vast majority of Massachusetts teachers are trained through traditional teacher preparation programs, both the number of alternative route programs and the number of teachers completing them has grown significantly.

Join the Rennie Center for the release of Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers: The Role of Practice-Based Teacher Preparation Programs in Massachusetts, a report examining the characteristics of alternative teacher preparation programs in the Commonwealth, including the type of candidates they attract, and issues associated with the expansion and sustainability of these programs. The report - the culminating product of a year-long project sponsored by the Trefler Foundation - highlights gaps in knowledge and areas for improvement, and lays the groundwork necessary for a deeper look at issues associated with: drawing exceptional candidates into the teaching profession; filling vacant positions; measuring teacher quality; and holding teacher preparation programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they prepare.

The event will begin with a presentation by Arthur Levine, President of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and former President and Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Rennie Center Research Director, Dr. Lisa Famularo will then present the Rennie Center’s report. Next, Professor Susan Moore Johnson of the Harvard Graduate School of Education will lead a discussion with a diverse array of panelists. The event will conclude with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions of the panelists.

Keynote Presentation
Arthur Levine, President, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

Presentation of Research Report
Lisa Famularo, Research Director, Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy

Respondent Panel Discussion

• Maura Banta, Chair, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
• James Caradonio, Former Superintendent
• Kathleen Skinner, Massachusetts Teachers Association
• Michael Goldstein, Founder, MATCH Charter Public High School
• Eileen Lee, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
• Kathleen D. Gagne, 180 Days in Springfield, Secondary Teacher Education Program, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Kate Shepard, Practitioner Co-instructor, University Park Campus School (UPCS)

Moderator

• Susan Moore Johnson, Carl H. Pforzheimer, Jr. Professor of Teaching and Learning, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Director and Principal Investigator, The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers