License to Teach

A License to Teach speaks directly to the quality-of-education debate now focused on public schools. The authors show that reform of teacher education and licensing are needed to ensure that teachers are prepared for the classroom. A well-conceived licensing system that supports high-quality teacher preparation would ultimately support the more demanding learning goals now expected of students and would give parents and policymakers greater confidence that teachers are being prepared to practice their profession responsibly. The authors propose a comprehensive plan for licensing analogous to those in other professions. An extensive analysis of licensing examination and preparation grounds specific proposals for new assessments for teachers based on complex, real-life teaching tasks. The book also describes the kind of rigorous preparation program teachers should experience along with a well-designed and supervised internship in specially-designated professional development schools. This book offers much-needed, practical advice on how to prepare and evaluate teachers for the challenging work they must accomplish. Agreement on standards for teacher preparation and licensing—among teachers, policymakers, and lay people—would go a long way toward improving the quality of education for children while also strengthening and improving the teaching profession itself.