Re: 2 million teachers in 2007!

["John C. Park" <park@UNITY.NCSU.EDU>]

> 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???

Nope.  The states control the standards for teacher licensure, and I am
still teaching in the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Education in the College of Education and Psychology.

There is a wide variety of ways undergraduate programs can be structured to
meet state requirements.

At North Carolina State University, we have grades 9-12 teaching licensure
programs which require 56 semester hours of science.  We have grades 6-9
teaching licensure programs which require 48 hours of science and
mathematics.  None of the sciences or mathematics are taught within the
college of education and psychology.  Remember that states and accrediting
agencies determine the requirements.  The colleges and universities
structure their programs to meet these requirements.

If the prospective teachers do not know the science after completing our
program, is it the fault of the college of education?  I do grow weary of
the constant bashing of colleges of education, and I believe the listserv
could be more fruitful without it.

John C. Park
Science Education
North Carolina State University