Report Suggests Scrapping Current Approach to Teacher Ed

On the policy front, the National Center on Education and the Economy has just released a report from their New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. Titled “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” the report recommends (among other things) that current policies regarding teacher education “be scrapped” and replaced by state agencies that can contract with any group(s) they wish to provide teacher education. Also recommended are grade ten tests that would channel students into particular educational or vocational paths and shifting the “ownership” of schools from local school boards to independent contractors. Given the NCEE’s influence in the past, this may be a report worth looking at. (Note that only the executive summary is available on the web.) And after you’ve read the summary, you might also want to read Jerry Bracey’s critique.