The Planning Context for teacher education and human development….

Declining international competitiveness of US students in reading, math, and problem solving,

the failure of NCLB to narrow the achievement gap

general concerns about teachers - merit pay, failure to evaluate teachers effectively (The Widget

Effect), puch for educational vouchers and charter schools as alternatives to public education

competition from a growing number of alternative certification providers, e.g., The New Teacher

Project, and Teach for America

blame being attached to COEs by the Ed Secretary, community and colleagues

critical shortages in the teaching workforces, especially in STEM areas

Higher Education – the research doctorate Vs the Professional Doctorate

The millennials!!

Radical change in students’ use of technology and implications for teaching and learning

Grade creep across the US and the principle of ‘grade entitlement’

The growth of distance education

Issues around insuring that students are properly certified for their profession

Open source teaching – see www.openstudy.com and ‘academic badges’

Perhaps even senior leadership by ‘business’ CEOs

Financial/economic threats - global recession - shrinking education budgets

Arne Duncan, Secretary for Education

Federal Interest in Education

Investment in Innovation (I3)

Race to the Top

Recent Bill on AK/AI

Re-authorization of ESEA

Changes to NCLB

and

Criticisms of teacher education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrzuQn6KB0A

For some early views from the Secretary, view this video

Recent PISA results have added to national concerns about

failing in the international ‘race to the top’.

Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center

for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish

Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in

Finland? Provides challenging international comparisons

A country of 5.3 million; consistently scores higher in the

OECD Program for International Scholastic Achievement;

based on equity; no private schools.

The growth

of for-profit

universities

and impact

on marketing

and

recruitment

Teachers are important but we are

experiencing an unprecedented focus on

teacher quality, especially teacher

evaluations, students’ academic

outcomes, even merit pay and the

problems that attend determining who

should be paid for what outcomes.

• Increasing emphasis on Teacher

performance and evaluation (Lucy S,

CLASS etc)

• St. academic results not

engagement

• T. Influence math best

• Families influence reading best??

• Student evaluations of T. consistent

and reliable (instruction; control)

• Uses value-added measures (T

impact on learning)

NCLB

Failure to close achievement gap

Restrictions on the curricula

Over-emphasis on testing

Politicization of education

Alternative

certification

programs as

competitors

to Colleges

of Education

Challenges to Families and Children Changes in nuclear families

48% of US adults are married

Marital transitions (Hetherington)

More young adults living with parents

%-wise fewer children Vs increases in 65 years+ group

Significant increase in child homelessness

Unemployment/poverty – 48% adults - low income or in poverty and 67% of children in this group

Average unemployment time is 40 weeks

The ‘working poor’

Household debt is increasing

Housing equity below mortgage levels

Health care costs > 16% of personal consumption

Baby boomers do not have enough to retire on

16% of elderly live below the poverty line

Federal debt > $15 trillion

Mental health issues on the rise –vet PTSD, teen suicide, workplace stress, millions of work days lost to untreated depression

Personal Safety and

Mental Health Youth crimes totaled

238,000 in 1990

GLBT 2009 survey –

hostile school climate; 61%

felt unsafe; e-bullying for

53%; 19% physically

attacked; 2/3 do not report

incidents

Hazing, female athletes,

and the ‘code of silence’

Finally, despite the gloomy overview

I have provided, these challenges

make our life exciting and rich – so

this final page underscores the

privileges we enjoy in our jobs in

universities……

We have great

students who

become

excellent mental

health and

development

professionals,

teachers,

researchers, and

academics

We enjoy scholarship and

the opportunity to

contribute to the stock of

knowledge

And we have the honor of being

able to contribute to the lives of

infants, children, youth, adults,

families, and our communities

We also get the chance to

play, travel, and keep

learning!