The Education and Certification of History Teachers: Trends, Problems, and Recommendations. ERIC Digest.

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Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

Academic Standards; College Faculty; College School Cooperation; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education; History Instruction; National Standards; Non Western Civilization; State Departments of Education; State Standards; Teacher Education Programs; Teacher Improvement; United States History; World History

This ERIC Digest reports on the outcomes of a conference of teachers, college history professors, teacher educators, and state and local school board members. The theme of the meeting was that if, according to the standards-based strategy for democratic school reform, all students in every school are to be offered an equally solid and engaging study of history, then all teachers need an equally rigorous preparation to teach them. The problems treated were how to explore conditions under which subject matter mastery can be nurtured among history teachers, and how to determine the changes needed to bring about and sustain those conditions. Conferees recommended that prospective teachers of history in the middle and high school should have a college major organized around main topics and significant questions in specific areas of history and their related areas of study. Conferees recommended that colleges of education reduce the required number of generic methods courses in order to offer more courses by subject experts and experienced practicing teachers. Recommendations were made to history professors that university administrators must establish personnel policies that end the disincentives for history faculty to work with outside departments and to mentor preservice teachers. State departments of education must redesign teacher licensure and expect that certification examinations are rigorous. Local districts need to establish procedures and criteria for evaluating teacher candidate subject area qualifications. College governing boards must insure that changes occur in admissions, core course requirements, incentives for faculty, and department majors. (EH)

1999

ED422267