Professional Issues.

Overview & Synopsis

Various problems in the education field require the attention and efforts of the North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NCACTE). Public and professional criticism of education at all levels, shifts in educational policy at the national and state levels, and new perceptions of the goals and role of education have produced an unsettling but challenging situation for the association. There are several issues, critical to the continued improvement of education, that must be faced by NCACTE. The first is the development of a sound conceptual base for teacher education programs that promotes higher quality in teacher education graduates. The second and third issues are related and deal with changing the focus of staff development efforts from individual faculty improvement to program improvement, thereby gaining control of the professional education of teachers. The fourth issue concerns the organizational framework and funding of NCACTE in terms of long range objectives. NCACTE should adopt an active leadership role in addressing the new priorities in education such as life long education, educational technology, and program evaluation. Recommendations to enhance NCACTE's leadership potential involve a name change, changing the financial structure and priorities, and creation of an executive director position. Also suggested are increased cooperative efforts with the state department of public instuction and other educational agencies and the creation of an institute for research in education. (FG)