David Steiner

Commissioner-Elect David Steiner used his first appearance before the state Board of Regents to make it clear that revamping teacher preparation will be at the top of his agenda.

Steiner, who assumed his new position Oct. 1, led a broad overview of the future of teacher preparation at the Regents' September meeting, calling for a "sea change" in the role and responsibility of schools of education.

Steiner speaks from experience. As dean of education at Hunter College in New York City, he launched a teacher residency program that's more like a clinical model used in the preparation of physicians.

"We need to think of the clinical component as central," Steiner said. For too many of the state's current programs, he said, there is a huge disconnect between what's studied and what's needed in the real world.

"There's a big difference between the ability to write an essay on John Dewey and actually teaching in a classroom in a big city," he said.

The fact that 92 percent of prospective teachers pass state certification tests "suggests that the bar is problematic" and not a good predictor of future success in the classroom, Steiner noted.

A strong proponent of teacher residency models, he urged that teacher prep be revamped to include intensive, hands-on experience and extensive videotaping and mentoring.

He said current prospective teachers spend only one semester in schools as a student-teacher, where supervision is done by "untrained, undercompensated, harried and overscheduled mentors." The faculty member is unlikely to be involved.

Steiner noted that too many teacher preparation programs are viewed as "cash cows" by universities and that faculty research is valued and rewarded by the system - not field work in schools or the community.

Steiner suggested that a greater percentage of the resources generated by teacher prep programs should be used to improve the quality of teacher prep by setting aside lines for clinical faculty, preparing faculty and teachers to use technology and creating a data system that links teacher preparation programs to their graduates.

NYSUT has been a strong advocate for making greater investments in teacher preparation programs and maintaining faculty staffing and workload requirements for full-time faculty in teacher preparation programs.

"We are looking forward to having in-depth discussion about teacher education with Commissioner Steiner," said NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira, "particularly the inclusion of the faculty unions in the future of teacher preparation."

Steiner called for better counseling of prospective teachers, so more students choose to specialize in high-need areas like science, technology, mathematics, special education and English language learners.

Steiner was joined at the table by Debra Colley and Catalina Fortino, co-chairs of the Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching.

Fortino, a professional development expert with the United Federation of Teachers' Teacher Center, said high-quality mentoring would help attract more teachers into high-need areas.

"If a candidate knows they'll get one or two years of quality mentoring, I believe more will be encouraged to go beyond elementary education certification," she said.

Regents said changes in teacher education are "long overdue," but took no action after the discussion.