UW students laud teacher education reform

As a new curriculum in the School of Education‘s secondary teacher education nears its two-year anniversary, payoffs are proceeding from a decision made long ago by UW–Madison planners: To transform, instead of tinker.

The new program, years in the making, is “the most significant change in secondary teacher education since the School of Education was created,” says Alan Lockwood, a professor of curriculum and instruction who helped coordinate the overhaul.

“The old program was a dense bramble of requirements created by adding new courses over time as the state changed the requirements for teacher certification,” says Lockwood. Now students can take a thoughtfully developed and bramble-free road to certification.

“This is the right way to set it up,” says UW–Madison senior Jennifer Kuehl, who’s in the first wave of curriculum changes for middle school and high school teachers-to-be. The new program began in January 1996, and Kuehl’s cohort will complete the four-semester program in December.

The concept of a cohort is key to the new curriculum. Formerly, students entered various subgroups in secondary teacher education and were relatively isolated from each other. But now each new cohort of about 80-90 enters together and stays together.

“Being in my cohort has been great,” says Kuehl. “We’re even talking about having a joint graduation party in December. We’ve been able to talk to each other about what we’re doing and really get to know one another.”

The new program has doubled the time spent in student teaching – and doubled the benefits of plunging into real professional life. Kuehl spent last spring semester teaching geometry and advanced algebra at Madison West High School and this semester is teaching math at O’Keeffe Middle School.

“Because of my two semesters, I’ll be certified in grades 6-12,” she says. “Before this semester I thought I only wanted to teach in high school, but now I’m not so sure. It’s opened up career options for me.”

The ramped-up teaching has also been a blessing for Craig Thome, who’s finishing his fourth semester like Kuehl. “My best learning has been in the classroom as a student teacher,” he says.

He too enjoys having a cohort. “It helps you form relationships more easily,” says Thome. “Having a cohort is better than having a different bunch of people thrown together in each course.”

Other features of the new program:

• Course work and field experience emphasize teaching learners from diverse backgrounds.
• Methods classes are taught during student teaching semesters so students can use their knowledge immediately in the classroom.
• All required courses are associated with practica so classwork and teaching can interrelate. Courses result from collaboration among Educational Psychology, Educational Policy Studies, and Curriculum and Instruction.
• Grades are no longer the sole criterion for admission. Instead, applicants will also be evaluated on nonacademic factors such as experiences with young people.

The old program was hardly poor. Indeed, it has been routinely rated in the nation’s top five and this year is ranked No. 3 by U.S. News & World Report.

There are kinks to be worked out in the new program, says Lockwood, “but we really believe that this new approach has made us even better in preparing teachers for tomorrow’s classroom.”