Visions for Teacher Educators

It is well documented that the achievement of P-12 students is enhanced by improving the quality of the teachers in their classrooms. In the same way, the quality of the teachers will be enhanced by improving the quality of those who educate the teachers in preservice as well as inservice programs. This volume significantly contributes to the critical conversation about the quality of teacher educators. The chapters outlining the Standards for Teacher Educators and the clarifying indicators powerfully define and further expand on the operational definition of a teacher educator's role - a much needed contribution to the field. -- Robert L. Fisher, Chair, Commission on the Assessment of the Teacher Educator Standards The editors and authors of this book have compiled an important resource for teacher educators that contributes to the conversation about their professional roles. The content of this book enriches the dialogue about the professional knowledge and dispositions for teacher educators and provides a vision for the possibilities in the profession. Visions for Teacher Educators is essential reading for all teacher educators as they consider the role that standards play in their collective professional lives. -- Boyce C. Williams, vice president, Institutional Relations of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education In Visions for Teacher Educators, Klecka, Odell, Houston, and McBee engage the academic minefield of professional standards in teacher educator preparation and practice. The editors have assembled an august conclave of teacher education researchers to assess, benchmark, critique, and detail the pros and cons of national professional standards. The composite chapters provide fundamental fodder for rethinking and reconceptualizing the core competencies of professional preparation of teacher educators, the pedagogical science of teacher educator practice, and the epistemological nature of the field of education as we know it, have known it, and/or might know it. This book will become a part of the expanded canon of contemporary research literature on the future of teacher educator preparation, the dynamics of teacher educator practice, as well as research on teacher educators, teaching, and teacher education. -- M. Christopher Brown, II, coeditor of The Politics of Curricular Change, and professor and dean, College of Education, University of Nevada Visions for Teacher Educators makes a significant contribution to the field of teacher education by tackling directly and unapologetically the issue of standards for teacher educators. The collection of chapters starts with a concise history of teacher education and ends with a compelling challenge to continue the conversation around the nine ATE standards. Meshed between these sections are chapters that not only provide new insights and perspectives into the standards movement but that also raise hard-to-ignore questions about the consequences, intended and untended, of applying such standards. The book is well-written and organized in such a way as to make it a must-have resource for teacher educators and anyone else with a vision for teacher education. -- Annette D. Digby, EdD, dean, Thayer School of Education, Wingate University, Wingate, NC