Transforming Teacher Education to Reform America’s P-20 Education System

Summary

Moving beyond reform, teacher education programs need to be transformed to better prepare teachers, school counselors, and administrators to teach, guide, and lead in this complex society. Educators must have the skills, knowledge, and commitment to be part of the leadership team that assumes the responsibility for carrying the mantra of the transformational process. This mantra will require faculty to remove the silos within schools and across university campuses and collaborate with one another and key community members to prepare prospective educators who will inherit the responsibility for redesigning America’s schools for the realities of more interactive, interdisciplinary learning environments. This article briefly reviews the history of reform and describes several potentially transformative initiatives currently under way to redefine and strengthen teacher education programs.