College-level courses that reflect this new knowledge will help young teachers make the important decisions about how best to shape their lessons. Spending an extended period of time in a well-run program, under the tutelage of a master teacher, would give young teachers an experience similar to the one that physicians get from an internship. Require a tough licensing exam that would demand college-level competency in subject matter and pedagogy. This would replace the current state exams that are often set at a basic level. Strengthen induction programs.
Teaching is far more complicated than people who have never tried it understand.
And it will become more complex as we go forward in the information age. We owe it to our children to be sure their future teachers are able to meet that challenge. These are ambitious changes, necessary ones, we believe, and they will require a new and unprecedented cooperation between institutions of higher education and public schools. But we already have some pioneer programs, like the ones at the University of Cincinnati and Montclair University in New Jersey, and the work now is to make that excellence universal. All rights reserved.