Clinical practice and
partnership are central to high-quality teacher preparation, and
although a variety of delivery models can coexist, they all must
incorporate key principles to be effective, according to a report
released today by a commission of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).
In the report, A Pivot Toward Clinical Practice, Its Lexicon, and the Renewal of Educator Preparation,
the AACTE Clinical Practice Commission describes a “cacophony of
perspectives” across today’s teacher preparation programs regarding what
constitutes clinical practice. The commission calls on the field to
pivot from its “divergent understandings of terms, structures and
quality” to embrace a shared direction going forward.
“In recent years, teacher preparation programs have been expanding
candidates’ experiences in the schools in a variety of ways and labeling
them all ‘clinical practice,’” said Rodrick Lucero, vice president of
AACTE, who chairs the commission. “Many of these efforts have resulted
in thriving, mutually beneficial partnerships between preparation
programs and local schools that serve as laboratories of practice and
innovation – but others have not. The commission has worked to identify
what makes programs successful in order to assist others in
strengthening their own.”
The commission’s recommendations come in the form of 10 essential
proclamations for effective clinical preparation, each supported by
multiple tenets and a narrative explanation. The proclamations address
topics from pedagogy to partnership infrastructure to valuing expertise,
citing a combination of professional moral imperatives and
research-derived evidence. The report also recommends a common lexicon
to define the concepts and entities engaged in clinical preparation, and
a summary brief is available highlighting the proclamations and tenets.
Nearly 40 individuals serve on the commission, representing PK-12
schools, universities and education organizations from California to
Connecticut, Iowa to Alabama. A full roster is available at http://aacte.org/cpc.
AACTE convened the commission in 2015 to help define and advance
clinical practice in teacher preparation. A wide spectrum of models had
sprung up following the 2010 report of the National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education Blue Ribbon Panel that called for
clinical practice to form the foundation of teacher preparation. In
addition to clarifying the parameters of high-quality clinical practice,
the commission sought to identify model protocols, solutions to common
roadblocks and relevant research to aid partners in crafting stronger
programs. These resources will be rolled out later this year.
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