Are potential teachers being driven away by 'education' reform? Indiana college deans say 'yes'.
11/10/2014

 

A pair of articles were published over the past few days that really struck our eyes…and our hearts. The dean of Ball State’s teachers college reports that enrollment for its teacher education program is down a shocking 63% since 2009. Additionally, the dean of Indiana University’s School of Education says that their teacher education program has shrunk more than 30% over the last decade.

 

The pair of local articles follow a nationwide look at big drops in teacher-prep enrollments nationwide by Ed Week a few weeks ago.  

 

So, what is causing this decline in students choosing not to become educators?

 

Both school deans point to the lack of respect for the profession of teaching that has evolved over the past decade.

 

IU’s dean, Gerardo Gonzalez, points his finger squarely at the corporate education “reform" movement.

 

If Indiana continues down the "education reform" path, Hoosiers will soon face the same problems bigger states are already experiencing. The research is incontrovertible that regardless of the type of institution a student attends, the single most important school-based factor for improving student achievement is the quality of the classroom teachers and school leaders.

 

Gonzalez recommends ditching the ideologically driven “reform” movement and instead focus on actual research-based reforms like increasing teacher pay, recruiting the best and brightest into teaching, raising professional standards for teacher and school leader preparation, providing teachers professional development, and designing better and more reliable accountability systems.

 

To address a short-term hurdle for future education students, the NEA has focused on the rising cost of education and student loan debt. As a part of NEA’s student debt awareness week, it has launched a series of nationwide events called “Degrees Not Debt”. The goal of the events are to raise awareness of repayment options that students have, as well as tips on how they can lower their debt payments.

 

Indiana Student Education President Bianka Teeters is organizing “Degrees Not Debt” events on campuses around the state. For more information on having an event, Bianka can be reached at bmteeters@bsu.edu.