Forum Highlights Profession?s Role in Ensuring High-Quality Teachers
© AACTE (published in Briefs, October 2007, pp. 1, 8)
During a recent half-day forum held at AACTE headquarters in Washington, DC, the Association?s Board of Directors and participants from related education constituencies explored the challenge of strengthening the education profession by building accountability for teacher quality that is accessible to all children on a universal standard (see also the President?s Briefing, p. 2).
This discussion, exploring the context for accreditation, was part of AACTE?s continuing leadership to implement Resolution 54 and the Association?s Principles for National Accreditation in Educator Preparation.
The forum was facilitated by Mary Hatwood Futrell, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University (DC).
AACTE President/CEO Sharon P. Robinson introduced the discussion by noting that it is the responsibility of the professional education community to put accreditation in a meaningful context by placing it in the service of high-quality education for all P-12 students.
AACTE Board of Directors member Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford University, CA) challenged forum participants to ?dig in,? highlighting their responsibility to figure out how accreditation and other accountability measures can be shaped in a way that upholds the moral commitments of the education profession. In a wide-ranging discussion, members of the constituent groups repeatedly returned to an underlying agreement on universal standards of excellence for entry-level educators to ensure that every child in America is taught by a highly qualified teacher.
Following the forum, AACTE?s Board of Directors passed a motion committing the Association to work with other constituents in ?creat[ing] an action statement and a strategic action agenda to articulate and advocate for the rights of all students to be taught by well-prepared and effective educational professionals.?
Invited participants represented the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the Center for Teacher Quality.
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