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Investing in America´s Classrooms: Ensuring Every Child has a Highly Qualified Teacher - Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Time: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
“My administration has set a great goal for our public schools: a quality teacher in every classroom”.
– President George W. Bush
How does the No Child Left Behind Act define a “highly-qualified teacher?”
How have demands on teachers changed over the past 20 years?
How can parents learn if their child’s teacher is trained in the subject they teach?
Teaching is the essential profession, the one that makes all other professions possible. Teachers’ qualifications are of critical importance to the nation as teachers will mold and shape the skills of our future workforce and lay the foundation for good citizenship and full participation in community and civic life. By 2007, America’s public and private schools will educate nearly three million more children than they do today – a total of more than 54 million students. To meet this need, more than 2 million teachers will need to be hired to match the projected enrollment in our elementary and secondary classrooms. More than half of these will be first-time teachers, and they will need to be the best-prepared teachers our nation has ever known.
Research shows that the most significant factor in student achievement is the teacher. Studies also show that verbal ability and content knowledge are the most important attributes of highly qualified teachers. While America is blessed with many fine teachers, we don’t have enough of them, a problem that is especially acute in inner-city schools and in certain subject areas such as mathematics, science, and special education.
Unfortunately, colleges of education -- the traditional route to the classroom -- do not always attract the best and brightest students into the profession, and many new teachers do not feel prepared to help their students meet performance standards in the subjects they teach. In an effort to streamline the process for entering the classroom and improve the quantity and quality of America’s teaching corps, many States and districts have been employing alternative routes to certification that rely on recruiting and licensing individuals with subject-area expertise and experience rather than a traditional education credential.
The April 2003 broadcast of Education News will address questions such as:
- What are the challenges teachers face in the classroom today?
- How can a parent find-out if their child’s teacher is highly-qualified?
- What do the experts mean when they say there is a teacher shortage?
- What does the research and practice show about the need to reform the requirements for teacher certification and licensure?
- In what ways can schools and districts use alternative recruitment strategies to ensure the best in every classroom?
- How can parents and community organizations help ensure teachers are prepared to teach?
- How do I ensure my child has a qualified teacher in the classroom?
- What are the best ways schools and parents can communicate feedback?
*This program was originally scheduled for March 18, 2003. And, "Special Education" has been reschedule for May.
Web Cast
To view live web casts of the new series or archived webcasts of the past Satellite Town Meetings please visit http://www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/
Disclaimer
Permission: Teleconferences produced by the U.S. Department of Education are in the public domain. Use, duplication, and distribution are free and unrestricted. Thank You !
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