Five Year Teacher Education Programs: Potential Impact on Rural Schools.

Overview & Synopsis

Cries for reform in teacher education are based on reports of declining student test scores and criticisms that colleges of education fail to teach values held by conservatives and recruit below average students. However, reforms may cause hardships for rural schools because of the historically lower status of rural schools. The recommendations made by the Holmes Group for improving the quality of teaching and teacher education may cause problems in the small and rural schools. First, the recruitment of teachers for rural schools is difficult because the main source of rural education personnel, rural youth, is poorly educated; second, most of the research institutions eligible for teacher education are located in urban areas; third, rural schools need generalists with several minors, rather than specialists as suggested by the Holmes Group report. Rural school teachers are found in survey research to be less favorably inclined toward extended programs, more liberal arts coursework, field experience, and professional coursework, and less likely to agree that the standards in teacher education are too easy. Direct threat to rural schools by reforms in teacher education includes: reducing the numbers of teacher in the pipeline; driving up salaries due to career ladders and teacher shortages; increasing recruitment difficulties due to urban oriented professional institutions. Reform must recognize the unique living conditions and needs of rural communities. (GGH)