| TO: | Members, Indiana Professional Standards Board |
| FROM: | Legislative Committee |
| DATE: | April 28, 1999 |
| SUBJECT: | Adoption of Generalist Standards for Teachers of Early and Middle Childhood Action |
At the March 17, 1999, meeting of the Board, the
Legislative Committee presented information about the Draft Program Standards
for Elementary Teacher Preparation of the National Council for the Accreditation
of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Committee's recommendation that they
be adopted as Indiana's generalist standards for teachers of early and
middle childhood.
As you will recall, earlier this spring we encountered Senate Bill 457, which
would have mandated course and credit hours in reading instruction for elementary
teachers. During work on that issue, the Legislative Committee reviewed the
draft NCATE Program Standards. Language in those standards was useful in
helping the bill sponsor understand that focusing on teacher competencies
will do more to improve the teaching of reading than focusing on the courses
they take.
The Legislative Committee recommends one substantive change in the draft
NCATE Program Standards related to the teaching of reading: moving one sentence
related to the teaching of reading from an explanatory paragraph into Standard
2a. We have done so in part to address legislative concerns, and we think
our recommendation has helped move the legislative focus away from credit
hour mandates and toward what institutions are doing to prepare effective
teachers of reading. There are also three editing changes: the words "Teachers
of Early and Middle Childhood" have replaced "candidates" throughout
the document; content area subheads have been added under Standard 2; and
the Board-adopted standards are cited for Middle Childhood Teachers, instead
of the draft standards, in references under Standards 1 and 3. Finally, the
Preface, at page -iv-, contains an updated explanation of how the Generalist
Standards were created; the remainder of the Preface is identical to that
used in the first 17 sets of standards.
The legislative context is not the only relevant factor in making this recommendation.
Both the Licensure Committee and the Comprehensive Standards Document Advisory
Group (CSDAG) have identified a need to develop content standards for generalists,
and a need for more specificity regarding reading as a theme in the standards
for teachers of Early Childhood and Middle Childhood. We also know that many
institutions have asked if they can use the draft NCATE Program Standards
now, since they have been monitoring them from initial drafts last year,
and value them as a strong statement on content relevant to preparing teachers
of early and middle childhood.
The Committee's recommendation that the Board adopt the Generalist Standards
for Teachers of Early and Middle Childhood includes a recommendation that
these standards be reviewed again within the next year, for several reasons.
First, NCATE may make changes before its Program Standards become final this
fall. Second, our Standards Review Cycle Committee will soon recommend the
criteria and process for reviewing standards. One criteria may be changes
in state K-12 proficiencies, and we know the Indiana English/Language Arts
proficiencies are now under revision. Third, we have adopted draft standards
before, such as the draft INTASC standards in 1994, with the caveat that
we can change them any time, to reflect Indiana needs. Because of these factors,
it seems appropriate that the Standards Committee, which will begin work
this fall, should consider the review of the Generalist Standards after the
CSDAG completes its work on the comprehensive standards document.
It should be noted that the full text of the draft NCATE Program Standards,
which can be found at http://www.ncate.org/specfoc/stdsrept.htm, or through a link at the
IPSB web site under New System Update, contains information beyond the standards
being recommended. The portion being recommended in the attached document
appears on pages 11-32 of the draft NCATE Program Standards. The other portions
of the full text of the draft NCATE Program Standards break down in this
manner:
| Cover through page 10: | Introductory material which is relevant to the use of the draft NCATE Program Standards as applicable to accredited institutions, but which are not adopted by the Indiana Professional Standards Board in this recommended action, and which are not attached to this memorandum. | |
| Pages 33 through 70: | Supporting material which is relevant to the use of the draft NCATE Program Standards as applicable to accredited institutions, but which are not adopted by the Indiana Professional Standards Board in this recommended action, and which are not attached to this memorandum. |
Legislative Committee Recommendation:
The Legislative Committee recommends that the Board approve the attached document as the Indiana Generalist Standards for Teachers of Early and Middle Childhood, and that the Board ask the Standards Committee to consider the review of these standards upon completion of work by the Comprehensive Standards Document Advisory Group.
Indiana Professional Standards Board Action:
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| Attachment: | Preface Proposed Generalist Standards for Teachers of Early and Middle Childhood |