Online For-Profit Teacher Education: A Critical Analysis of Emerging Trends

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Going for Broke: For-Profit, Merit Pay, and the Cost to Become a Teacher

Abstract

To date very little scholarly research has explored the practices of for-profit colleges and universities and their role in the "business" of teacher education—much of which involves students completing programs and coursework entirely online. Drawing upon publicly available data derived from subpoenaed internal documents obtained from Bridgepoint Education Inc. and other for-profit higher education institutions, as well as testimonies brought before the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, the author critically analyzes and describes the emergence of online for-profit teacher education programs and offers a close examination of one proprietary institution engaged in this business. Implications for the future field of teacher education are discussed.

Author

• Christopher B. Crowley, Wayne State University