Potential Impacts of Charter School Strategies on Teacher Education

• In Event: Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Innovative Initiatives in Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper analyzes the application of charter school techniques in teacher education, especially in two new programs, the Relay Graduate School of Education and Match Teacher Residency. I describe how their approaches to teacher preparation differ from traditional university teacher education programs by immediately applying techniques in the classroom, employing experienced practitioners rather than academic professors, using a “no excuses” approach, and focusing on immediate needs that must be met to ensure measurable success in students. I also raise caution regarding the ways in which charter-inspired teacher preparation programs overlook the contributions of theory to good teaching, jeopardize teacher flexibility, propose new understandings of the professional practice of teaching, and threaten the more overarching educational purpose of educating for democracy.

Author

• Sarah Marie Stitzlein, University of Cincinnati