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Research
That Matters
Epilogue: Another New Era
As the Carnegie Corporation winds down funding for its Teachers for a New Era project, another new era is emerging in the UW College of Education. Charles “Cap” Peck steps out of the role as director of teacher education in 2009 to take on more teaching and research within the program.
Replacing Peck as the director of Teacher Education and filling the Boeing Chair of Teacher Education is Ken Zeichner, long-time teacher educator and researcher from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
“What distinguishes the UW teacher education efforts from most of what I see around the country are the ways in which various kinds of data are used, the ways in which faculty are making genuine efforts to connect what they teach with the complexities of urban schools, and their clear respect for practitioner knowledge,” says Zeichner. “The theme of doing teacher education in a way that helps schools better accomplish their mission of teaching students is important.”
In the economic context of 2009, it could be a challenge to sustain momentum in such labor-intensive activities as building school-university partnerships, collaboratively teaching in elementary and high schools, and providing induction support for beginning teachers.
UW faculty remain committed to the work they have begun. They have secured grants from the National Science Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to provide scholarships for students to enter math and science teaching, Support from the Martinez Foundation will enable the College to recruit more students from diverse backgrounds into the teacher education program.
“There is a level of creativeness and quality that is present in this work that is rare,” says Zeichner. “Many top research universities have lots of creative and talented faculty, but it is unusual that you find a critical mass of them devoting their talents and energies to teacher education.”
The UW faculty continues to prepare teachers for the new
era of today’s schools.
