Teacher-Prep Rulemaking: Is Consensus in Jeopardy?

Stephen Sawchuk:

The panelists charged with rewriting federal teacher-preparation rules faced a grueling day today during which major tension points emerged with little resolution, all of which served to call into question whether they will be able to reach consensus by Thursday.

You don't have to take my word for it: During some of the breaks, I spoke to a handful of negotiators--they all, reasonably, wanted to speak on background since the process isn't finished yet--and by and large, they weren't optimistic:

"It seems doubtful." "Probably not good." "I don't know." "I think the answer is probably no."

If the panelists don't reach a final consensus, the U.S. Department of Education gets to go it alone when writing the regulations.

Some of the tensions that emerged today have been brewing under the surface for a while, but as of the last session, there at least seemed to be agreement on the Education Department's proposal to classify their teacher-preparation programs into four categories: "low performing," "at risk," effective," and "exceptional," based on a mix of input- and output-based measures.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 5, 2012 2:06 AM
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