Integrating the Social Studies Component in CBTE: A Response to Accountability.

Overview & Synopsis

The teacher education program at the University of Houston is described which stresses accountability and competency based teacher education. Accountability is defined as a process for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of education through measurement of progress toward specified goals. Objectives in Houston's teacher preparation program are competency based, criterion-referenced, humanized, and personalized. Assumptions concerning social studies teaching are set forth within this general framework of teacher training assumptions. The four-semester, elementary level competency based teacher education (CBTE) program introduces the student to basic teaching skills, provides knowledge about the foundations of education, offers field experience, and teaches students to organize information for elementary school pupils. In addition to describing the teacher education program at the University of Houston, the paper argues that competency based education is the most promising technological process for professional development of teachers. CBTE is a process which helps students develop teacher competencies, holds them accountable for demonstration of these competencies, and holds faculty accountable for assessing student competencies. The process of identifying competencies for a CBTE program involves development of assumptions which can be assessed and developed through properly designed instructional systems. (Author/DB)