Message from the President
Recently, the National Research Council released “Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy,” a report culminating six years of study by a panel of 24 distinguished scholars. The panel concluded what many others have reported: that there is not enough data and research to draw conclusions about which approaches to teacher preparation are most effective or how to design better ones.
We welcome the growing national interest in expanding research into what aspects or characteristics of teacher preparation programs lead to improved teacher effectiveness and student success. At NAAC, we believe that the impetus for non-traditional pathways grows from the understanding that there are myriad factors that impact excellent teaching, including characteristics of the teacher candidates, the school setting they are placed in, the characteristics of the students to be taught, the timing and method of delivery of instruction in the teacher preparation program, the amount and focus of instruction provided, the formal and informal support available to candidates, and so much more. Therefore it is critically important that multiple pathways to preparation exist to meet the array of needs demanded by specific communities for teachers that will be most successful in their unique settings.
We also believe that quality should never be compromised in the pursuit of more efficient school staffing; quality must be a focus of every non-traditional and traditional teacher preparation program. This belief is at the core of our initiative to develop national Quality Indicators for Non-traditional Teacher Preparation Programs. We welcome the opportunity to work with researchers to continually seek new evidence that refines our vision of quality and supports best practices in the preparation of all teachers.
- Becky Washington
NAAC President
