Professional Teacher Development and the Reform Agenda. ERIC Digest.

Overview & Synopsis

To transform and revitalize education and to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to instruct and prepare all American students for the next century, teacher education and professional development have been designated as one of the National Education Goals (added to the original six in 1994). The goal suggests that practicing teachers are key to the transformation of schools. This digest identifies schools of education, teacher licensing, and teacher certification as areas integrally tied to enhanced teaching and therefore essential to professional development. Emphasis is placed on forging new relationships between schools and schools of education and focusing attention on professional development and the establishment of new regulatory policies for licensing and relicensing teachers. It is also pointed out that the term "teacher certification" has recently come to have the same meaning in education as it does in other professions--a designation of advanced practice in a specialized area, based on a voluntary system of application and assessment. The conclusion is that professional development must promote teachers' continuous learning, integrating new knowledge about teaching and learning within the social contexts in which teaching takes place. (LL)