Educating and preparing teachers to meet the needs of all students
This summer VCU School of Education dean Andrew Daire testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. Dean Daire updated committee members on the measures taken by VCU School of Education to ensure future teachers graduate from VCU prepared to educate children in a rapidly-changing commonwealth. In his testimony, Daire encouraged committee members to support national programming and initiatives similar to ones being enacted in Virginia. Below, Dean Daire shares an excerpt from comments delivered to the congressional committee.
The teacher shortage that has plagued Virginia and the nation for years, especially in high needs and urban schools, is a topic that is constantly at the forefront of our thinking in the VCU School of Education (VCU SOE). It is a problem that impacts the entire educational system, with trickle down effects into our economy and society with serious negative effects on diverse and low-income populations.
Dr. Martin Haberman, founder of The Haberman Educational Foundation, said “Completing a traditional program of teacher education as preparation for working in [urban, high-needs schools] is like preparing to swim the English Channel by doing laps in the university pool.” Not everyone wants the challenge of swimming the English Channel and not every high-needs school is the English Channel. But we must do our best to find and prepare those who are up to the challenge – that is our charge at the VCU School of Education.
It’s imperative that programs better prepare teachers to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse K-12 student population. We know that the most effective and successful teachers understand their students’ broader cultural contexts and approach teaching in a student-centered way. Woven throughout our programs are strategies to address the needs of more racially, ethnically, linguistically and economically diverse student populations.
Attention to these items is critical to improving student achievement and teacher retention.
To further improve teacher preparation and create pipelines that address the teacher shortage, the VCU School of Education is currently focusing on the following initiatives:
- Providing earlier and extended opportunities for in-classroom experience, which often comes too late. VCU’s RTR (formerly the Richmond Teacher Residency Program), supported by the Teacher Quality Partnership program, addresses this problem. RTR’s intensive, year-long experience places teaching candidates in high-needs schools under the mentorship of master teachers. RTR has had positive impacts on teacher retention, student performance, and diversification of the teaching workforce. Additionally, we have successfully leveraged our TQP award into additional funding commitments from the state legislature, local school districts and corporate philanthropic entities to ensure sustainability after our TQP award ends. To provide early classroom exposure, VCU SOE also has launched Substitute Teaching the VCU Way, which recruits and trains students across campus to substitute teach in high-needs school districts.
- Preparing teachers for reality. The intersection of poverty, economic immobility, and insecurity in housing, food, and safety have a real impact on the academic success of underrepresented minority and generationally poor students. Our teachers must understand these factors.
- Focus on teacher retention as well as recruitment and preparation. America’s public schools are hemorrhaging teachers. Hardest hit are those serving low-income and minority students—forcing schools to hire unprepared, provisionally licensed teachers and spend millions of dollars each year that they can’t afford on recruitment and retention. This has a severe impact on student achievement. We are addressing this by providing two years of professional development and support for graduates teaching in Title I schools; and we are designing a residency program for principals in high-needs schools.
- Expand pathways to teaching. This is key to addressing teacher shortages. One pathway at VCU is RTR. Another is the VCU Pathways to Teaching: Career Switcher Program, which equips and support second career professionals for the transition to teach in high-needs schools. We are also excited to offer five new undergraduate degrees in teaching this fall.
The research is clear. The quality of the teachers in our schools is the most important school-based factor in student achievement.
As we consider improvements to teacher preparation programs, immediate and innovative action is required to address the challenges in high-needs and low-performing schools. The challenges faced by many students and schools are not average and will not be met with average efforts.
As the late John Stanford said, “The victory is in the classroom.” We must prepare teachers to meet the needs of all students.
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