To Touch the Future: Transforming the Way Teachers are Taught (1999)

To Touch the Future: Transforming the Way Teachers Are Taught (1999)
By the American Council on Education, Presidents' Task Force Report on Teacher Education

This report was prepared by a 36-member task force commissioned by the American Council on Education (ACE), an organization of colleges and universities from all sectors of higher education. It includes summaries of recent research findings concerning teacher preparation, as well as a 10-point action agenda with specific policy recommendations for presidents of teacher education institutions. The recommendations are as follows:

• Take the lead in moving the education of teachers to the center of the institutional agenda.
• Clarify and articulate the strategic connection of teacher education to the mission of the institution.
• Mandate campus-wide reviews of the quality of institutions' teacher education programs.
• Commission rigorous, periodic, independent appraisals of the quality of institutions' teacher education programs.
• Require that education faculty and courses are coordinated with arts and sciences faculty and courses.
• Ensure that their teacher education programs have the equipment, facilities, and personnel necessary to educate future teachers in the uses of technology.
• Advocate for graduate education, scholarship, and research in the education of teachers.
• Strengthen inter-institutional transfer and recruitment processes.
• Ensure that graduates of the teacher education programs are supported, monitored, and mentored.
• Speak out on issues associated with teachers and teaching and should join with other opinion leaders to shape public policy.

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To download the full report, click here.

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