The Selection and Preparation of Mathematics Teachers :: Education Teaching Essays

The Selection and Preparation of Mathematics Teachers Teacher preparation is a vital component of any educational system. Evidence from research shows that there is a 39% difference in the achievement levels of students who have most/least effective teachers. The federal government also recognizes the importance of the classroom teacher. The recent No Child Left Behind legislation emphasizes the role that teachers play in achievement. In order to meet the requirements of NCLB, states and universities will have to change the way that teachers are prepared. Carefully selecting and properly training teachers and then giving them the authority to teach students as they see fit will go a long way to resolving the low achievement of American students. On the flip side, giving low ability and poorly trained individuals the opportunity to teach has produced several decades of low student achievement. Many of these academically unmotivated teachers demonstrate little content knowledge or curiosity and have been among the most flagrant violators of scientific application of educational research. Witness the indiscriminate use of trivial tests (learning styles, right/left brain, multiple intelligences, etc) that pretend to classify students in scant minutes. Worse still is that the learning theory behind these fads may in fact be even more suspect than the test. The current generation of American teachers firmly believes that lecture is a universally poor method of instruction, standardized tests are fatally flawed and the group learning is much superior to individual learning, all without scientific justification. If America is to close the achievement gap with other industrialized nations it must be willing to set aside political correctness and educational faddism to place competent teachers in the classroom. There is constant pressure for education departments to find new pedagogy, criticize the old pedagogy and generally churn the academic waters so that their existence can be justified. Teacher preparation programs need to focus on only those aspects of educational research which have been proven to produce achievement gains and stop experimenting on prospective teachers and their dependent students. The primary reason I am pursuing a doctorial degree in mathematics education is to have the credentials needed to teach mathematics pedagogy courses to prospective teachers at a four year institution. I feel strongly that my experience as a teacher and the intellectual training I am now acquiring will let me make a positive contribution to the cause of producing competent teachers. The area of teacher preparation is being extensively researched and is currently a high profile issue in education.