Re: 2 million teachers in 2007!

[Joseph Bellina <jbellina@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

I can only speak for Indiana, and then not in an official way.  At least
on paper the state is moving in the right direction.  It is one of the
few states that accepted the AAAS's recommendations for k-12 as their
own.  The result is an increased interest in inquiry based learning,
which is how I have gotten into the process.  I am thoroughly sold on
Lillian's work and her text Physics by Inquiry for teaching eled majors
and inservice teachers, and as a first course for secondary ed majors in
math and science...I gotta tell you, its a work of art...I know there is
not silver bullet, but this thing is damn close....or at least that is
how I see it.

The state has always said that it did not want content courses designed
for ed majors.  On the other hand, these students who are mostly adverse
to any physical science could take the bio course for liberal arts
students to satisfy the science requirement.  This year the state has
moved to a more content driven mode which seems to mimic something done,
I believe, in Connecticut...anyone from there know about it?

As I said above, I am not in any position to say what is really
happening in the rest of the state...I only know what the goals seem to
be.

I hope you didn't mind my poking you Herb, sometimes I'm not sure that
people want a real answer, or are just taking a position.  Thanks for
clarifying.

joeOn Thu, 12 Aug 1999, Herbert H Gottlieb wrote:

> On Thu, 12 Aug 1999 13:14:29 -0500 Joseph Bellina
> <jbellina@SAINTMARYS.EDU> writes:
> > Is this a ligite question for which you want an answer, or a posture?
>
> This is NOT a posture and I am very much concerned. For a long time we
> have
> been hearing that "schools of education" ....especially graduate schools
> of
> education, should be discontinued and replaced with conventional BA and
> BS curricula
> with the addition of a "methods" course or two to qualify a beginning
> teacher.
>
> In the recent past, a college student could take watered-down "education"
> courses and
> earn a grade of A with minimal work or a grade of B which was tantamont
> to failure.
> I had heard that this is no longer true, that schools of education were
> being discontinued or upgraded with much higher standards for both grades
> and certification.
> Am I correct???
>
> Herb Gottlieb from New York City
> (Where  in the "olden days" a grade of A was only given to 5% or less of
> the enrolled students.)