(Not) finding their way around the classroom

This country is dropping the ball when it comes to teaching teachers, an expert said yesterday.

Arthur Levine, the former president of Teachers College at Columbia University, spoke yesterday afternoon at Irvine Auditorium about his report on the state of teacher education in America. The study was published Monday and looks at the "impact of teachers upon students in their classrooms," he said.

The audience, composed mostly of graduate students and education professionals, listened attentively as Levine detailed the shortcomings of teacher education at many of the nation's 1,200 schools that train teachers.

While he said that he did find several excellent education schools - "like this one," referring to Penn's Graduate School of Education - there were broad variations in quality.

After surveying education-school deans, faculty and alumni, he discovered that many schools suffered from curriculum confusion and low standards for entering students. There is also often a disconnect between the education-school classroom and the real-world classroom which leaves many teachers feeling unprepared, Levine said.

The report also questioned the quality of the teachers being produced due to low admission standards and graduation rates.

"We don't have a high enough floor to secure a high enough education," he said.

He added that education schools are considered of secondary importance at many universities.

"Teacher-education programs are used as cash cows to fund other aspects of university life," Levine said.

But he added that he is optimistic about the possibility of reform in teaching schools.

His suggestions include making the undergraduate teaching degree a five-year program instead of four, closing chronically weak schools and creating "teaching hospitals" that fuse learning and research.

Universities should "change education schools from ivory towers to professional schools" to better prepare students for the reality of teaching, he said.

Education graduate student Jeff Kralik said that Levine's report highlighted a key issue in education.

"There are a lot of bad education schools, and I think [that's] not really addressed," he said. "There's a perception that anyone can teach, and not everyone can."

"We need to act," Levine said. "Time is short. If we do [this], the beneficiaries will not only be our education schools but the children of our country."

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