eSchoolNews (Sept. 19) offers an article summarizing criticisms of colleges of educations based on a recent study. You may have read a similar article in your local paper. Among the many criticisms – school administrators find new hires poorly prepared to deal with a number of practical issues (including the integration of technolgy).
Access the full report – Check out Part II – pursuit of irrelevance (look carefully – there is a link to the pdf).
There is not a great emphasis on this report on the development of skills in the classroom use of technology. Principals and alumni are asked to rate how effectively teachers are able to integrate technology – 46% of principals and 41% of alumni responded with the top two categories of readiness. These values make more sense in the context of other issues that were raised. The only issue associated with lower ratings was preparation to work with students with limited English proficiency.
The overall tone of this analysis is very negative – we need more and more qualified teachers, teacher preparation is poor, those going into the profession are less capable than those entering other programs, teachers need more field experiences, teachers need better grasp of their content area, etc. It is the combination of demands and deficiencies that is disheartening. It is almost as if future teachers need more of everything and then the challenge becomes attracting students with the dedication and finances to take that challenge on.
