Educational Leadership Commons^™

Contemporary Testing And Assessment: Critical Issues In Context, Peggy A. Pruisner

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Envision the distress of a patient suffering from an extremely high fever. Imagine, too, the physician's inappropriate response, "This is a serious illness. We must rush to design a better thermometer!" Analogous to this medical faux pas is our approach to contemporary assessment problems in American education: refining testing and assessment is important to the continual improvement of our system, but it is certainly not the panacea to all of our educational ills.

Prerequisite to improving wide-range accountability to high standards through assessment is the facilitation of educational transformation and change. We are painfully aware that our traditional system is …

Issue Area Two: Use Of Technology In Assessment, Monitoring, And Reporting: What Are The Implications Of Total Learning Management Systems For Classrooms And School Districts?, Floyd Winter

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The topic of this conference, "Challenges Facing Student Assessment in the '90s," highlights one of the most interesting areas of education today. The continuing discussion and dialogue at the local, state, and national levels on the assessment of student achievement has generated many questions.

The papers in this section address the use of technology in the overall transformation of American education. Participants explored many facets of student assessment, emphasizing on the use of technology in assessment, monitoring, and reporting. Questions also developed on the implications of total learning management systems for classrooms and school districts in reporting student achievement. Participants …

Assessing Readiness Of Students To Start School: How Do We Know When Kids Are Ready To Learn In A School Setting?, Bruce C. Amendt

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

I believe the questions for this issue on readiness should be: Should we assess and screen children from school attendance based on the results of readiness testing? Should schools accept all age eligible children?

I believe readiness testing should not be utilized to deny access to children. Schools should be prepared to provide an appropriate education to all age eligible children. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) stated it best in their appropriate practice statement:

In public schools, there is a place for every child of legal entry age, regardless of the developmental level of the …

Gesell And Vygotsky: Alternative Approaches To Readiness, Melissa L. Heston

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The concept of "readiness" has a long history within the realm of developmental psychology and an almost equally long history within the realm of education. This concept can be traced to the early work of Arnold Gesell and his colleagues who collected extensive data on the developmental advances of children (Gesell & Ilg, 1949). Gesell placed heavy emphasis on the role of biological factors including genetics in determining the rate at which individual children progressed through a universal and hierarchical set of developmental milestones. The environment, provided it fell within the extremely wide range of normal environments, played little role …

No Single Accountability, Linda A. Fernandez

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Requirements for public school accountability have increased dramatically in the decade since the publication of the A Nation at Risk report. Schools have risen to the demands of accountability through a multitude of methods such as instituting and institutionalizing standardized tests; and tracking statistics of attendance, drop-outs, and credits earned; systematically informing and educating the public in understanding measures of student achievement. In spite of, or perhaps related to, increasing communication about education to the public, the demand for school reform has increased in urgency in recent years. Accountability does not guarantee approval.

Executive Summary, David Else

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

It is not surprising that the relationship between superintendents and boards of education has become frayed. ''The current pressures to improve schools and increase their accountability to the public have been one of this century's longest and most sustained periods of national attention," according to Stanford professor, Larry Cuban (cited in Goldstein, 1992, p. 15). He further noted the attention has been all negative. Often boards of education and superintendents are viewed as the persons responsible for American education that does not fare well in world comparisons, higher taxes, a struggling economy, and a host of other educational ills. The …

The Relationship Of Leadership, Socioeconomic Status, And School Size In Developing School Culture: A Study Of Elementary School Principals, Janice Marie Ott

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Schools are being called upon to restructure, to make fundamental systemic changes which require a change in the culture of schooling. Little is known about how school culture develops. What role do leaders play in shaping culture? What influences do building size and the socioeconomic status of the students have on the culture?

The purpose of this study was to explore these relationships and to cluster and describe the culture profiles among Iowa elementary schools. A survey of a random sample of 250 Iowa elementary principals provided perceptual data from 214 respondents.

Based on the Competing Values theoretical model, four …

A Closer Look At Teacher Education, Timothy Hoffman

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Teacher preparation programs have received a great deal of criticism over the past three decades. In his book Teachers for Our Nation's Schools, Goodlad (1990) raises many familiar concerns along with a few new ones. However, I would like to begin my comments by questioning one of Goodlad's main points about the teacher preparation process.

This paper will look at three areas of concern supported by Goodlad: (a) the gap between subject matter education and actual teaching content, (b) the quality of professional teacher education and (c) the student teaching process. In our school system, we constantly encourage and help …

Focus Area Six: State Relationship, Susan E. Hetzler

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The role of the state in teacher education must be viewed in the context of an emerging model for teacher preparation that places teacher education fully within the intersection of two institutional structures, the Pre-K-12 school system and the system of higher education. This model, "A Teacher Education Program at the Intersection of Institutional Structures," is graphically displayed in Figure 1.

Historically, state-approved college and university based programs for the preparation of educators have had responsibility for the initial preparation of those who will teach. The state granted a teaching license upon the recommendation of the college or university verifying …

In Memory: T. Anne Cleary

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The monograph, A Dialogue on Teacher Education Reform, is dedicated to the memory of T. Anne Cleary, former Associate Vice President for Student Academic Services at the University of Iowa. Anne died November 2, 1991. Anne's recognition as an outstanding leader in education ensued as a result of her lifetime commitment to learning.

An Argument For Quality Teacher Preparation In Universities That Prioritize The Research Role, David K. Leslie

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

My views regarding the role of research-oriented universities in teacher preparation have been strongly influenced by three different, but related, experiences. First, my undergraduate teacher education preparation was in a five-year program at a California state college evolving from a "normal school" to a "state college." During my master's program, it became a "regional state university." Second, after more than a decade of public school teaching and subsequently completing a doctorate in physical education curriculum, I became chair of the men's professional preparation program at a research-oriented university, The University of Iowa. Third, my department was a pioneer and leader …

Improving The Role Of College And University Faculty In Educating Future Teachers, Larry Jones

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

I'm agreeing with Postulate Four: College and university faculty across the campus should be responsible for setting up the education format of future teachers.

We're in a time where the topic of education is mounting considerable discussion. Much of this discussion centers on how institutions are preparing teachers. College and university faculty are at the heart of supplying districts with teachers. To insure that school districts receive the highest quality teachers possible, colleges and universities need commitment from their faculty that teaching candidates receive a breadth of theoretical, apprenticeship and subject information. This can be achieved if preservice teachers have …

A Proposal For Paideia Ii, Charles R. Kniker

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

This paper argues that effective teacher education programs have a distinctive paideia, or culture, which requires that a specially prepared academic and clinical faculty have responsibility for preparing future teachers. Following a brief background statement, the paper profiles those who are or should be teacher educators, proposes a changed "reward" system and calls for faculty accountability. Second, it reviews the specific tasks of tomorrow's teacher educators. Third, it summarizes areas of expertise that future teacher educators need to facilitate the changed curriculum.

... To The Other Side Of The Desk: The Socialization Of Beginning Teachers, Bonnie Murphy

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

At the end of his five-year study of the education of educators John I. Goodlad (1990a) concludes that:

Few of the future teachers in our sample would begin their important work with a comprehensive grasp of the role of schools, with the ability to transcend subject matter and make it readily accessible to large numbers of their students, with the range and depth of instructional knowledge and skills requisite to promoting some significant learning in all children and youths and with the traits and abilities essential to working with colleagues on school renewal. (p. 190)

These people will be college …

Links With The Rural And Small Schools, James D. Jess

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Two-thirds of Iowa's 425 school districts enroll fewer than 750 students in grades kindergarten through 12. Nearly one-half enroll fewer than 500 students and 49, or 12%, enroll fewer than 250 students. Iowa's statistics on school districts closely mirror those of the United States where we find one-third of our nation's elementary and secondary age school children being educated in two-thirds of our nation's public school systems. The vast majority of these small school systems are located in rural areas that share the common demographics of small size, population sparsity and isolation. School statistics further indicate that small and rural …

Links With The Schools: Enriching The Internship, Pamela Johnson

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Student teaching experiences are generally believed to be the most valuable aspect of teacher preparation. However, satisfaction with the existing student teaching system probably shows that rest of teacher preparation is sorely lacking in application to the "real" world of teaching.

To eliminate the fragmentation between academic coursework and clinical experiences, I advocate a rebirth of the laboratory school concept. Whenever possible, a11 activities connected with teacher training should occur right in Pre-K-12 settings. Ideally, a teacher training institution would be surrounded by several school districts which are true laboratory settings with resident college faculty engaged in teaching.

Links With The Schools, Sharon Ocker

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Postulate Fifteen is about links with schools. There can be no more important component in the preparation of teachers for our nation's schools. Many opportunities exist for improvement of teacher preparation in this area of cooperation with the schools and the professional teachers who staff them. Some important concerns must also be solved if maximum benefits are to accrue for future teachers.

State Relationship - Postulates Eighteen And Nineteen, Michelle Schiffgens

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

"While we talk, the state legislature is passing bills that will render impossible what we are proposing" (Goodlad, 1990, p. 96).

Why bother to go through demanding, time-consuming efforts of program renewal when one must ultimately simply adopt or adjust to state-imposed requirements (Goodlad, 1990).

Instead of rigidly prescribing the details of teacher education, states should give to teacher educators the full authority they need to create exemplary teacher education programs and then hold those educators responsible (Goodlad, 1990).

As a member of a national commission on excellence in teacher education, I heard reverberated across the nation the sentiments expressed …

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

Preface

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) is a unit of the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. The Institute's mission is to promote the improvement of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education throughout the state of Iowa. To fulfill this mission the Institute serves as a catalyst for: informal dialogue on educational issues impacting the schools of Iowa, region, and nation; developing collaborative relationships with individuals and/or organizations external to schools; and education policy development.

This compilation of position papers and issue group consensus reports represent the individual and collective wisdom of Iowa educational leaders on how to …

A Dialogue On Teacher Education Reform: A Collection Of Papers [Complete Monograph]

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

Focus Area One: Institutional Mission, Phil George

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Analyzing the first three Postulates in Goodlad's Teachers for Our Nation's Schools (1990) was exciting and frustrating. The temptation existed to simply agree that teacher education programs are undervalued and inadequately supported. It quickly became clear, however, that the issues were complex and called for careful scrutiny.

Postulate One suggests institutions must view teacher education as "a major responsibility to society." While the Institutional Mission group unanimously agreed this should be the case, there was concern that many institutions either overtly or covertly do not demonstrate this commitment. A significant manifestation of this problem is the failure of leaders to …

Strategies For Strengthening Institutional Mission, Irene Chalmers-Neubauer

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

To achieve Postulate One, the central administration of an institution must first establish a communication infrastructure which promotes a continuous free flow of information from the president's office to the faculty and the student body and from the faculty and the student body to the president's office. Second, a statement of beliefs, also known as a mission statement or philosophy, must be identified. Only then can the faculty set up long- and short-term goals. Third, an established procedure for encouraging dialogue between all participants must be established, perhaps in the form of monthly meetings and working subcommittees. These three points …

Institutional Mission: Acquiring A Mindset For Teacher Education Reform, Augusta A. Clark

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Postulate One reminds the writer of the gap between reality and rhetoric. Is this the way it should be? The answer is "yes." Is this the way it really is? One seriously doubts it.

In addition to the readings for this issue group, I have been involved in dialogue with several of my colleagues on the topic of educating educators. Individuals comprising this small, unscientific sampling include a former dean of a college of education, a former college professor, two coordinators of student teaching programs, and a chairperson of a behavioral science department. My own educational experiences have been primarily …

Time For Change: A New Direction For The Institutional Mission Of Teacher Education Institutions Today, Anne Kruse

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

As the pendulum swings back and forth, so has the emphasis on educational reform in this country. As momentum builds for an avenue of educational reform, the general public continues to doubt if public and higher education are headed in the right direction. They were misled with the "new math." What is "whole language?" Why isn't teaching a respected profession?

The public blames teachers - K-12 teachers - for not meeting the needs of their children. Parents desire their children's needs to be met in every way - mentally, physically and emotionally. Are teachers equipped to handle this? The preservice …

Die Verbindung (The Connection), Orin Nearhoof

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

John Goodlad (1990) posits three bold Postulates (One, Two and Three) as the basis for his reform treatise in teacher education. The basic focus of this paper is Postulate One, as it sets the stage and the background for the development and implementation of Postulates Two and Three. Implementation of these corollary Postulates would elevate teacher education to parity with other campus programs and would serve as a basis for rewards for faculty geared to the nature of the field. It would also establish for teacher education the autonomous organizational identity, budget and decision-making authority similar to that enjoyed by …

Courage And Action, A Results-Oriented Prescription (Carp), James F. Stone

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

This paper is promulgated on the acceptance that the three assigned Postulates are achievable and necessary. Some additional clarification is needed prior to taking a position regarding the assigned issues.

1. Schools and programs for teacher training need restructuring, but systems, institutions, organizations, logistics and other restrictions may demand compromise.

2. The problems of teacher effectiveness may be related to administrative competency to a degree that also requires radical restructuring, training and retraining for administrators if improvement is to be made.

What Do We Want From Our Colleges Of Education?, Steven R. Yussen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

"Programs for the education of the nation's educators must be viewed by institutions offering them as a major responsibility to society and be adequately supported and promoted and vigorously advanced by the institution's top leadership." (Goodlad, 1990, p. 54).

As a new education dean, I can do little but heartily agree with Goodlad's first and primary recommendation. The unit responsible for training new teachers at a college or university must have the unwavering financial, political and professional support and respect of its central administration and other administrators and faculty who have key roles in making sure the unit is successful. …

Meeting The Responsibilities For Preparing Teachers, James A. Maltas

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Postulate Four calls for a clearly identifiable group responsible for all facets of teacher education and for whom teacher education is the top priority. I would agree fully with Goodlad that such a group is essential for the improvement of teacher education in this country.

I would also agree with Goodlad that this group must not be located at the lower end of a university's organizational structure. I would go even further and recommend that this group be at the highest level of the organizational structure. I see this group not just focusing on the training of quality teachers for …

Who Should Teach The Teachers? Reflections On Goodlad's Postulate Four, James Marshall

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

In one sense it is virtually impossible to object to Goodlad's (1990) recommendations for a clearly identifiable faculty in teacher education programs. If such programs are to have coherence and integrity, it seems obvious that someone will have to take charge - admitting students, orchestrating the curriculum, and devising some sensible method of evaluating those students and that curriculum. Too often, Goodlad reminds us, our programs have fared badly with the public and with the academy because they have remained stepchildren: they are the second or third priority of tenure-track faculty or the first priority of adjunct faculty and graduate …