Dive Brief:
- The Massachusetts state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is reviewing how it certifies teachers in order to streamline and simplify the process, WBUR reports.
- At a public forum, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser called the current process a "bureaucratic exercise" and said it wasn't based on research or student outcomes.
- Barbara Madeloni, who heads the the Massachusetts Teachers Association, criticized Peyser and said his "disrespect" for teachers was "breathtaking."
Dive Insight:
Certification for teachers varies state to state, and federal regulation can also differ from individual state requisites. Requirements mandated by federal laws like the No Child Left Behind Act's Title I clause can also clash with state rules, to the frustration of many. Regulatory bureaucracy has led to high-profile resignations. In Alabama, Ann Marie Corgill, who was the state's 2014 Teacher of the Year, resigned citing "inconsistent and burdensome" state regulations.
A number of new "teacher transformation centers" are now popping up, thanks in large part to a push by powerful funders like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Kenneth Zeichner, the Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education and a member of the National Academy of Education, previously noted that “provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act that relate to teacher preparation academies have been primarily written to support entrepreneurial programs like those funded by venture philanthropists.”
It's unclear if that might be a good thing or a bad thing. With the underlying goal of improving student outcomes by improving teacher quality, such centers have a positive mission. Yet critics say shortened or streamlined teacher prep programs like Teach For America or the Relay Graduate School of Education harbor the potential to place individuals in classrooms as teachers before they complete certification requirements.