Stanley Teacher Prep offers lessons from early childhood education
By Sue Sava
Just as every child is on a developmental trajectory that is nurtured and guided by the adults around them, so is every educator. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to most of us in the field. We understand human development to apply to all beings – from the youngest toddlers in our early childhood centers to the most veteran educators among us.
Despite our knowledge of human development, many current models for teacher licensure offer a “short cut” into the career of teaching that bypasses the established best practice of the gradual release of responsibility. Take a test and become a teacher. Besides undermining the importance of careful training to impact the lives of future generations of Americans, this model also fails to reflect the notion of a developmental trajectory for becoming a teacher.
When applying a developmental lens to this issue, denying preparation to teachers entering the field is akin to withholding early childhood opportunities before kindergarten. In these parallel experiences, we have the powerful option of laying a strong foundation from which a learner may grow, experiment, risk, challenge, and succeed.
In both instances, we may choose to proactively invest in human capital, yielding greater impact over time. Just as the research demonstrates the effects of a rich and supportive early childhood environment on later learning, the research on teacher optimization proves greater returns relative to retention in the field with investment in early teacher education.
We need to invest early in our nation’s teachers, as we are learning to do for our youth. As a growing body of research demonstrates, teachers who participate in high-quality clinical preparation experiences are more likely to demonstrate effectiveness in moving the needle on student achievement. Graduates of the Stanley Teacher Preparation Program – one of the first clinical models in Colorado – have achieved remarkable rates of student growth in schools that are highly impacted by issues of poverty.
Clinically trained teachers are also more apt to stay in the field than teachers who enter the profession through a “trial by fire” method. The Stanley Teacher Preparation Program has impressive longitudinal data. Almost 90 percent of Stanley Teacher Prep graduates are still in the field seven years after completing the program; 94 percent are still in the field after five years, compared to the national rate of 50 percent.
In order for our students to thrive in the global classrooms of the 21st century, this nation needs to invest early in the careers of teachers who then remain in the field, so that this investment in our future pays off.
Colorado has an opportunity to demonstrate significant and meaningful leadership in this arena through an examination of teacher licensure requirements that acknowledge the developmental needs of children and teachers alike, and by raising the bar for teacher training and professional development that reflects the serious and complicated commitment that is required to be an impactful teacher.
Sue Sava is director of the Stanley Teacher Preparation Program.