BACK TO CLASS: COMMISSION STUDIES TEACHING PROCESS

Educators in Missouri are taking a look at improving teaching in the state, the next in a line of reform movements concerning public schools.

In October, the Commission on the Future of Teaching is expected to present a final report and recommendations to the State Board of Education.

In the past, Missouri has looked reforming school financing and curriculum. Teaching was the next step, said Susan Zelman, deputy commissioner of education.

The Missouri Commission is patterned after a national commission that studied teaching. Annette Morgan, a former Missouri state legislator, was on that national study group. She co-chairs the state commission with Robert Bartman, commissioner of education in Missouri.

The state is one of 10 selected to receive grants and pilot studies based on the national report.

Among the commission's 100 or so members are two Southeast Missouri State University deans.

Dr. Martin Jones, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Dr. Shirley Stinnis-Williams, dean of the College of Education.

University and college representatives dominates the panel. Nearly half the representatives come from higher education.

But Jones said this reform effort is surprising down-to-earth.

"I was personally very pleased with the kind of specificity of many of the recommendations," Jones said. "They weren't theoretical and fuzzy but pointed and pragmatic."

Once the final report has been presented, meetings are planned across the state to get reaction from parents and others interested in teacher reform.

The end goals could range from subtle changes in practices to new laws in the state.

"This is not a window-dressing act," Jones said. "This is a serious response to the national report."

The group has been studying issues raised by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

In a report last September, the national group said too many teachers were unqualified in the subjects they taught. In Missouri, 15 percent of high school math teachers, 23 percent of high school science teachers and 20 percent of high school English teachers lacked at least a minor in that field in 1990-91.

While Stinnis-Williams and Jones agreed that teachers should be trained in the subjects they teach, they also agreed that the scope of the commission is much larger.

"The real essence of what we are doing is defining teacher preparation for the 21st century," Stinnis-Williams said.

"We need to take the best of what we have done and combine that with what we know we need to do in the future."

The group is divided into seven sub-committees looking at teacher preparation, certification, recruitment, induction, professional development, rewarding teachers and redesigning schools.

Jones and Stinnis-Williams both served on the teacher preparation sub-committee.

One recommendation, Stinnis-Williams explained, is that every teacher training school have an outside national accreditation.

"That way no politics and no special favors can get in the way," she said.

Southeast's teacher training program recently completed such an accreditation process.

"The preliminary report shows we passed with flying colors," Stinnis-Williams said. "So we don't mind this recommendation at all. Some smaller colleges have a little problem with this because they fear they may not stand muster."

The draft recommends aggressively recruiting teachers in high-need areas like math and science.

"We are looking at developing pathways into the teaching profession for recruits including those experiencing mid-career changes, down-sized executives, and retired military personnel," Jones said.

The preliminary report also recommends an independent standards board for teachers. "We have standards for students," she said. "We believe there should be a standards board for teachers by which they can measure their level of preparation and performance as a teachers."

The board should be independent of the state education department, she explained.

"We want to ensure that teachers in Missouri prepared to teach wherever they go," Stinnis-Williams said.

Southeast graduates, she said, should measure up with the best teachers in the nation. "We want that for all the teachers prepared in the state."

Better teachers will lead to better schools and better educated children, and that is the goal of the reform effort.

"We want every child to have the very best," Stinnis Williams said.

Who is serving on the commission?

The Missouri Commission on the Future of Teaching was appointed in February and includes about 100 members. Robert E. Bartman, commission of education, and Annette Morgan, former state representative from Kansas City, are co-chairing the panel.

The group includes teachers, legislators, business leaders, public school officials, private foundations and representatives from public and private higher education institutions.

Included in the group:

15 teachers.

45 representatives from colleges of universities, including 27 deans or chairmen of teacher training.

16 representing professional associations

More than a third are from the St. Louis area

13 from Kansas City area

12 from Columbia or Jefferson City

3 from Southeast Missouri (all from Southeast Missouri State University)

Key points and issues

concerning teaching in Missouri

according to Missouri Commission on the Future of Teaching

-- The single most important factor in improving student achievement is a skilled, competent teacher.

-- Missouri is a leader in its commitment to professional development of educators.

-- The Excellence in Education Act of 1985 requires each teacher to have a professional development plan and each district to have professional development committee. It also requires assistance for beginning teachers including a mentor and follow-up assistance from the college or university they attended.

-- The Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 set in motion a series of education reforms, including development of statewide performance standards for students and a new assessment program. A new funding formula was enacted to assure greater equity in the allocation of basic state aid to local school districts. Most districts have benefitted from the funding increases approved since passage of the 1993 law.

-- The Outstanding Schools Act mandated that a percentage of state education funds be spent on in-service training.

-- The success of our school reform efforts depends on our ability to create the conditions in which teachers can teach and teach well.