Many teacher education programs in the United States (US) face increasing demands to better prepare teachers for entry into and retention in urban schools. Through a US Department of Education grant, a university–school partnership was formed to develop a community‐based model of teacher preparation that placed pre‐service teachers in urban schools for a full year. Based on questionnaires and interviews with university teacher education faculty, and both pre‐service and novice classroom teachers who took their first jobs in urban schools, this research considers the common concerns and disparate roles that the three groups considered paramount in preparing new teachers for urban schools.

The university’s role in preparing teachers for urban schools

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Teaching English language arts methods in the United States: a review of the research

In 1995, Smagorinsky and Whiting published the results of a national study of methods classes, which were examined through collection and analysis of methods course syllabi Their landmark project still exists as the only study aiming to comprehensively study how English teachers are taught to teach in middle and secondary schools Since then, much has changed in education, and members of the NCTE CEE Commission on the Teaching of English Language Arts (ELA) Methods have regularly discussed the Smagorinsky and Whiting study and the need for more current data The authors of this article, all members of the Commission, embarked on a national study to meet this need The study on which this article is based emerged from our desire to understand how programs and teacher educators viewed preparing English language arts teachers for a changing world and to address the chal- lenges resulting from these changes As a result of preliminary discussion in the Commission meetings, we also considered how challenges and changes in the discipline over the past 20 years were curricular, cultural, and political, and aimed to design a study that would capture these dimensions of changeChallenges in English teacher education throughout the last two decades have been curricular: States developed K-12 standards and assessments and expected teachers to both align local curriculum and ensure students score at proficient levels on new assessments With the advent of the Common Core State Standards, pressures for "college and career readiness" (CCSSI, 2010) have prompted English teachers to include more nonfiction texts in their courses, to teach reading strategies as opposed to literary analysis, and to require students to write to prompts similar to those found on essay examsChallenges in English teacher education have been cultural: While the percentage of White and middle-class teachers grew larger, more students of color and children of immigrants entered classrooms, even in communities with relatively little demographic diversity (Baber, 1995; Boutte, 1999; Burbank et al, 2005; Nieto, 2003; Sleeter, 2001; Villegas & Lucas, 2002) Increased technology and its use for communication also prompted changes in textual production and consumption in private, civic, and working lifeChallenges in English teacher education over the past two decades have been political: The new standards were accompanied by legislation (eg, NCLB), and the attendant growth of accountability measures at K-12 and university levels held individual schools and their teachers accountable for student performance on state measures to an extent never seen before At the same time, political attacks challenged the efficacy of traditional programs of teacher certification, and ongoing attempts have been made to link K-12 student performance to the programs that prepared their teachers (US Department of Education, 2014; Zeichner, 2010)This article reports findings from a questionnaire that formed part of a larger study of English teacher preparation programs This questionnaire, distributed to English teacher educators across the United States, sought input about the field of English teacher preparation in the twentyfirst century Considering subject-specific methods courses as the primary location where secondary teachers develop subject-matter-specific pedagogical content knowledge (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008; Shulman, 1987), we focused much of our questionnaire on ELA-specific methods courses However, recognizing that such courses operate within a programmatic and institutional context, we also questioned respondents about where and when teacher candidates learn about various topics, if they do so outside of methods courses The questionnaire aimed to capture how the day-to-day practices and pedagogies of English teacher educators changed-throughout the two decades since Smagorinsky and Whiting's (1995) study Our research questions were as follows:1 …

How English Language Arts Teachers Are Prepared for Twenty-First-Century Classrooms: Results of a National Study

The landscape of public schools is changing. Nationally, nearly one third of school age children are cultural minorities versus only 16% of the teaching force (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). Projections for the next twenty years estimate dramatic changes in national demographics with 61% of the population increases occurring among members of the Hispanic and Asian communities (Hodgkinson, 2002). In response to changing demographics, teacher education programs have been limited in their ability to produce substantial numbers of teachers from racial, ethnic, and language minority groups (Clewell & Villegas, 1998; Hodgkinson, 2002; Kane & Orsini, 2005; Villegas & Lucas, 2002; Su, 1997). Schools in general and urban schools in particular, suffer from a shortage of minority teachers in their teaching force. On a national level, the number of minority teachers is diminishing, while the number of minority students continues to grow (Hodgkinson, 2002; Stanford, 1999). Despite general agreement that increased numbers of minority teachers would be beneficial, traditional teacher preparation programs have had difficulties attracting applicants, assisting them through programs, and launching them into successful educational careers (Villegas & Lucas, 2002). This problem is particularly acute in one metropolitan area of a western state. This major urban region has undergone a rapid and dramatic shift in its demographics with an increase of 117% in minorities between 1990-2000 (Perlich, 2002). Thus, in those years, one in three new residents was a minority person and the Hispanic population more than doubled. The primary urban school district reported that 53% of its students were from non-majority populations; however only 3% of its educators were from non-majority populations (2007 district census data). Barriers, specifically language barriers, academic coursework, and the perception that the university is inaccessible to minorities, have limited a local research university in attracting teacher candidates from these populations. Calls for increased numbers of minority teachers have come from a variety of sources and been justified in a number of ways. Educators in general (Haberman, 1996), minority educators (Banks, 1993; Gay, 2002; Hollins, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 1995), and teacher educators (Grant, 1994), have all recommended increasing the number of minority teachers in schools. Arguments for increasing the number of minority teachers include: (a) serving as role models for minority students (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Clewell & Villegas, 1998; Villegas, 1997), (b) providing more culturally relevant instruction (Foster, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 1995), (c) bridging differences between minority students' homes and cultures and schools (Genzuk & Baca, 1998; Morris, 2004), and (d) in general, providing alternate perspectives on appropriate and effective practices for all students (Banks, 1993). In response to the need for diversifying the teaching force, districts are increasingly tapping into an existing community of educators. In 2004 there were approximately 1.3 million paraprofessionals in public schools. Of that group, 75% were employed in elementary schools where over half of the paraprofessionals worked with children receiving special education services (United States Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007). Further, within many communities across the United States, the number of paraprofessionals who are non native English speakers far exceeds native English speakers. In many major urban and rural communities, 60-75% of paraprofessionals are from racial and language minority groups. Paraprofessionals represent a growing segment of district employees seeking professional licensure. National preparation programs through the American Federation of Teachers, national testing programs, and state initiated portfolio programs offer a variety of options for meeting the stipulations set under NCLB legislation and for attracting paraprofessionals into the teaching profession (Burbank, 2008; AACTE, 2004; Keller, 2004). …

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Expanding Teacher Preparation Pathways for Paraprofessionals: A Recruiting Seminar Series.

Background: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s (UWM) Urban Teacher World Pre-College Academy works with American high school students to explore what it means to be an educator in the urban context.High school students from underrepresented groups reside at the UWM campus to work with university faculty, staff and students to explore careers in education. In so doing, the participants experience education beyond the traditional classroom. Aims: One of the School of Education’s recruitment initiatives, this program encourages students of color to explore potential careers in education.Twenty-one high school students read, wrote plays, created multimedia art, and performed together to investigate what it means to be an educator in the 21 st century. Attendees identified potential careers and university majors leading to occupations in the field of education. Arguments: Through close mentoring relationships between high school students, college students, and university faculty and staff, pre-college programs attract underrepresented people to the field education. These relationships support underrepresented people to identify as successful college attendees. Given the teacher shortage and the lack of success to recruit people of color to the ranks of professional educators, pre-college programs are another route universities should consider. Conclusion: This collaboration addressed the School of Education’s goal of increasing the diversity of its student body and thereby increasing the diversity of the teaching profession.

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Urban Teacher World: Teacher Recruitment from Theory to Practice.

A critical problem facing educators today is the inability of our teacher education system to produce substantial numbers of teachers from racial, ethnic, and language minority groups. However, there is little research on partnerships that link the roles of institutions of higher education with those of school districts whose goal is to grow their own members of the teaching profession. A Professional Development School (PDS) partnership sought to integrate the goals of both groups by providing high school students with an understanding of teachers and teachers' work. High school participants in an urban Teaching Professions Academy (TPA) engaged in course work, teaching experiences, and visits to institutions of higher education. The success of TPA was in the ability of multiple stakeholders to provide different forms of support and insights into the program.

University‐district partnerships and the recruitment of tomorrow's teachers: A grassroots effort for preparing quality educators through a teaching academy

Ken Powell

Papers

University‐district partnerships and the recruitment of tomorrow's teachers: A grassroots effort for preparing quality educators through a teaching academy