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Educational Renaissance Vol. 7  (2018)

A Way Forward Toward Professionalizing Teacher  
Educat ion: A Response t o t he AASCU Teacher  
Educat ion Task  Force Survey

Jacob Easley II, PhD.  Touro College, Graduat e School of  Educat ion

     email: jacob.easley@touro.edu

Commentary

The 2016 American Association of State Colleges 
and Universities? (AASCU) Teacher Education Task 
Force undertook a survey of member presidents, 
provosts, and their deans of education to better 
understand the state of the profession. All 
participants represent public institutions of higher 
learning. The results inform recommendations for 
university-based, teacher preparation programs. 
The report recognizes that the national context of 
teacher education has grown in complexity, 
alongside an onslaught of scrutiny. Even still, the 
authors concomitantly suggest that programs are 
not meeting the mark for transforming the 
profession. This sentiment is not new. In fact, it 
has become part and parcel of the critique 

ushered by the pantheon of educational 
reformers. Heeding the critique, a way forward 
toward professionalizing teacher education is 
needed.   Four of the task force?s 
recommendations:  

1. bolster clinical experiences,  
2. ensure strong university-school 

partnerships, 
3. step up recruitment into preparation 

programs, and  
4. build agreements with community colleges

are not dissimilar from the standards that inform 
national accreditation by the Council for the 
Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). 

Abst ract  

Amid countless challenges faced by teacher education, public universities, preparing a large share of 
the nations? teachers, are called upon to a lead the charge of moving the field forward. The American 
Association of State Colleges and University?s Teacher Education Task Force sought to examine current 
conditions among member institutions. Presidents, provosts and deans of education responded to a 
survey with their assessment of the current status of teacher education. The results yielded six 
recommendations for quality teacher education programs. The latter of which stresses 
professionalizing the field. Further examination of the recommendations reveals gaps between the 
current landscape and the recommendations. It is through these gaps that a strategic means to 
advance the professionalization of teacher education is put forth.  Advancing the professionalization 
of teacher education is a collaborative effort of leadership. The process demonstrates and builds 
momentum from positive impact on communities and the profession itself.  It is undergirded by an 
ethical imperative. 

mailto:jonidegner@gmail.com


EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

In fact, the relationship among these 
recommendations can be easily reduced to dyads, 
whereby partnerships with school districts and 
clinical experiences comprise one pair and student 
recruitment with community colleges constitute 
another. The components of each dyad function 
together, though not wholesale, as mechanisms 
for strong clinical experiences and meeting 
program recruitment aims.   

These dyadic recommendations are significant 
given that of the 187 deans surveyed, 128 
responded to the question regarding national 
accreditation status. Of these 128, 80.4% indicated 
that their programs are currently accredited by a 
national agency, NACTE, TEAC and/or CAEP. Some 
25,000 education preparation programs 
nationwide undergo accreditation or state review 
for quality assessment (Sawchuk, 2015). Today, 
nearly half of all programs are nationally 
accredited (Sawchuk, 2016; AASCU, n.d). Given that 
the dyadic recommendations are addressed 
vis-a-vis the CAEP Standards, it can be easily 
understood that a great number of teacher 
education programs are responding accordingly 
(See Figure 1).

Figure I. AASCU Recommendations and Dyadic 
Relationships with CAEP. 

 However, the final two recommendations: 

5. actively participate in policy discussion 
about teacher preparation and 

6. develop a broad strategy for 
professionalizing teacher education,

suggest that even the path toward national 

accreditation falls short of transformative practice 
for continuous improvement. This omission also 
underscores a gap, a critical correspondence 
(Easley, 2011; Robertson, 1996). Critical 
correspondence can be understood by the 
contradiction or flaw in the theory of action 
guiding a particular reform, that when made 
explicit, can drive social change. 

This paper addresses a means for the 
professionalization of teacher education by 
mechanizing these critical correspondences. These 
are fodder for a way to elevate the profession, 
structurally, socially, and politically. Advancing the 
professionalization of teacher education is a 
collaborative effort of leadership. The process 
demonstrates and builds momentum from 
positive impact on communities and the 
profession itself.  It is undergirded by an ethical 
imperative. Moreover, professionalization is 
iterative and is an investment in continuous 
renewal. 

Examining accreditation as a critical 
correspondence, it is assumed that the policies 
and processes surrounding national accreditation 
of teacher education will yield a stronger 
profession. Unfortunately, accreditation is acted 
out one program at a time. Even when the results 
are positive and affect the home institution and 
P-12 partners equally well, these results tend to 
rest at a local level. It is an unlikely story of a single 
program?s accreditation altering teacher 
preparation nationwide. The social process for 
professionalization requires more.

A Way Forward

To be fair, national accreditation is one strategy to 
convey program quality to future candidates, 
policy makers, and the community at large. Yet, 
the limited one program at a time approach offers 
a new critical correspondence. Through the 
recognition of its limitations, a new way forward 
may be offered. To advance the latter two 
recommendations of the AASCU task force, we 
must embrace the interconnectivity of the first 

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EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

four to achieve greater professionalization of 
teacher education.  

Similarly, engagement in policy discussion is 
inherently required for maximum 
professionalization. Teacher educators and even 
teachers themselves must accept the charge of 
advocacy and become agents of change to shape 
policy for the cause of professionalization. Yet, the 
development of strategies for ongoing 
engagement in policy work is complex and 
requires systemic and networked action. Educator 
preparers will need to leverage the merits of their 
programs for micro level policy within their 
individual institutions and their collective networks 
across programs for shaping state and national 
policies. As a way forward, educator preparers 
have at their disposal the vantage of networked 
leadership for policy work and program 
development, the ability to leverage institutional 
research, and the moral imperative of equity work. 
Taken together, the development of these levers 
extends the mechanisms of standards and 
accountability that define program approval and 
accreditation acted out one program at a time for 
broad range professionalization of teacher 
preparation.  

  

Net worked Leadership 

Network leadership, as defined by Easley & 
Tulowitzi (2017), encompasses the practice of 
convening leader stakeholders at all levels to work 
collaboratively and democratically. Within these 
networks educational leaders are tasked with 
fashioning systems of educational effectiveness 
and continuous improvement that inform 
professionalization through the auspices of policy, 
research, and practice. Though leadership itself 
engenders a hierarchical structure, the 
democratizing effect of networks levels hierarchy 
for shared learning and decision making. 
According to the authors, the positionality of 
influence is shifted within networks, which 
includes state leaders, ?to leverage responsive and 
equity policy for practice? (p.16).

According to the AASCU survey, 40% of deans 
indicate that state departments of education do 
not regularly consult their peers across the state 
on policy issues. The same group reports that 
when consulted, feedback is infrequently used to 
shape state policy. This is particularly telling given 
that state policy guides teacher licensure and an 
inordinate number of program elements. Though 
varying across states, state policy drives program 
approval processes, accountability, credit hours, 
curriculum content, and much more. 

Networked leadership is a means for addressing 
the uneven relationships across programs with 
state departments of education. In fact, the New 
England Board of Higher Education?s Commission 
on Higher Education and Employability (2017) 
recommends that higher education intuitions, 
employers, data providers, and other stakeholders 
launch collaborations to address common 
concerns. Though their agenda rests with the 
employability of college graduates, their proposal 
engenders the value of networked leadership. 
Within the same region of the nation, the 
Connecticut Association of Public Schools and 
Superintendents (CAPPS) advances a 2018 public 
policy agenda for fostering equity, excellence, and 
innovation. Not all agenda items are commutable 
to teacher education. Yet, networked leadership is 
largely possible when institutions coalesce on 
common ground. One priority of CAPPS is to 
address state government?s unfunded mandates 
and the resulting, unintended consequences. This 
is one priority familiar to teacher preparation 
programs within the state. The American 
Association of Colleges for Teacher Education 
(AACTE) state chapter of deans and directors has 
begun to develop networked leadership with 
CAPPS and the Connecticut State Department of 
Education to address policy in a coordinated 
manner, thereby advancing a way forward through 
networked leadership.  

 

Leverage Program  Im pact  for  Public Good  

 We must be honest. There are mixed feelings 

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EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

among the public about the value of a college 
degree. Entangled within the debate is another 
line of argumentation that questions the quality of 
traditional, university-based teacher preparation 
programs. Lynn Pasquerella (2016), President of 
the Association of American Colleges and 
Universities, penned a Washington Post opinion 
asserting by tit le that ?higher education should be 
a public good, not a private commodity.? Debates 
like these challenge the professionalization of 
teacher preparation, calling for a meaningful and 
inspirational response? one that is deemed merit 
worthy both for the public and profession. 
Pasquarella urges, ?It is important, now more than 
ever, to respond to accusation from politicians that 
college education?  . . . ? has become irrelevant 
and illegitimate.? 

Similar to networked leadership that is applied via 
a systems approach, teacher preparation 
programs are in need of data armor. It is vital that 
programs systematically collect and report on 
sound and convincing data that demonstrate 
positive impact in the public sector. Much of the 
evidence for national accreditation focuses on 
operational quality, internal to the functions of 
preparation itself. A strategic focus on parallel 
evidence of the program?s contribution to the 
public by way of its design is called to task as a way 
forward. For example, programs that are able to 
articulate the immediate and ongoing 
transformative value of their programs on 
partnering schools and the profession are better 
suited to guide professionalization.  

Drawing from the tenets of social 
entrepreneurship, Martin and Osberg (2015) 
address the value-enhancing approach of any 
enterprise seeking to drive social change. They 
refer to the approach as an enabling 
?methodology? that allows programs with an 
existing asset to generate even more meaningful 
value from said asset to disrupt existing 
equilibrium. Such is the aim of continuous 
improvement. Moreover, networked leadership 
that brings programs together in collaborative 
work stands the chance of adding value 

exponentially. One example of an enhancing 
methodology developed from networked 
leadership through practice and policy advocacy is 
the Professional Development School (PDS) model. 
This model grew out of efforts beginning in the 
1980s to reform teacher education and to 
restructure schools. The Holmes Group, a network 
of education deans from research institutions, 
proposed a methodology for coherent and 
long-term clinical experiences. Through this 
methodology, ?practicing teachers and [P-12 
school] administrators would work collaboratively 
with university faculty to improve teaching and 
learning for their respective students? (Easley, 
Ankrum, McConnell, & Girard, 2017, p. 47) .

The AASCU survey reveals that 88.5% of 
responding deans do not believe teaching is 
viewed more positively than 10 years ago. These 
results cry for a value-enhancing approach. One 
aim of PDS methodology is to apply learning 
sciences to improve the skills of future teachers 
and practicing teachers alike, while simultaneously 
increasing student learning. Programs, like PDSs, 
that embrace systematic methodologies focused 
on transforming the profession during teacher 
preparation exemplify a value-enhancing way 
forward to professionalization. 

Focus on Equit y Work  

The racial achievement gap in the U.S., while 
showing some shrinkage in recent years, persists. 
The core purpose of teacher preparation is to 
ensure that program completers entering 
classrooms have developed the requisite 
knowledge, skills, and commitment to meet the 
academic and socio-affective needs of all students 
in their classrooms. Unfortunately, state polices 
for meeting this aim are uneven. For example, 
despite the growing population of English 
Language Learners (ELLs), there is no generally 
accepted approach for preparing teachers to work 
with this particular group of students (Berdecía & 
Kosec, 2011). Making matters more challenging, 
there are notable inconsistencies across states for 
the knowledge and skills regarding ELLs during 

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EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

teacher preparation (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & 
Levy, 2008). While some states make general 
reference to the special needs of ELLs for initial 
teacher licensure, others make no mention at all.  

The number of non-White and ELL students 
attending public schools continues to grow. In fact, 
minority students represented 30 percent of this 
population in the 1980s, but is now half (Putman, 
Hansen, Walsh, & Quintero, 2016). A recent report 
by McFarland et al. (2017) indicates the percentage 
of multi-racial and non-White public school 
students will surpass that of the White population 
by 2026. These shifts in demographics challenge 
teacher preparation in pursuit of the 
aforementioned aim. 

The racialized teacher gap and the Black-White 
achievement gap, are tip of the iceberg issues of 
equity. Issues of rural education and the 
intersectionality of the socioeconomic conditions 
of the many student populations that have been 
minoritized and marginalized, also shape the need 
for programs to fashion their work based on 
equity. Additionally, the national shortage areas 
such as special education, foreign language, 
science and mathematics (U.S. Department of 
Education, 2016) further compound the 
importance for equity-based programing in 
teacher education. This is particularly telling, as 
trends for many of the shortage areas 
disproportionality reflect equity-based needs of 
particular student groups that are systematically 
placed at risk by ableism, sexism, racism, 
xenophobia, funding inequities, and other social 
and political constraints. 

Moving the dial on professionalization is largely 
dependent upon dismantling inequities for P-12 
student achievement and wellbeing. Deans 
responding to the AASCU survey highly favor 
performance assessment to a tune of 92.6% as the 
most valid mechanism for measuring student 
achievement. Only 36.9% view current 
standardized testing as a valid measure. Though 
the debates churn, suggesting that standardized 
testing overwhelms schools and question testing's 
value to the teaching and learning process, it is 

incumbent upon teacher preparation programs to 
demonstrate positive impact on schools. Both 
conventional and novel means to explicitly 
bespeak equitable outcomes across groups of 
students resulting from teacher education are 
needed. Collective and impactful actions by 
preparation programs to foster equitable learning 
experiences for P-12 students and learning 
outcomes reflect a way forward in pursuit of 
professionalization.   

Advancing Professionalizat ion

Progress has indeed been made in the field of 
teacher education, yielding standards, roadmaps, 
and commission reports to guide accreditation, 
clinical practice, and more. The findings of the 
AASCU task force on teacher education unearth 
certain critical correspondences. In turn, these 
represent opportunities for furthering the 
professionalization of teacher education. 

Networked leadership engenders democratic 
practice. It requires leaders to be empathetic to 
the needs of other entities, to find common 
ground, and to commit to collaborative learning 
for policy and practice. Networked leadership is 
perhaps the greatest lever for professionalization, 
as it is the conductor for scaling innovation, 
agency, and capacity. Networked leadership can 
also serve as the catalyst for institutionalizing 
effectiveness and improvement in teacher 
education more broadly. Yet, in the absence of 
focusing on the right issues, network leadership 
may benefit some while disenfranchising others, 
thereby hindering the potential for 
professionalization that is just.

Methodology for value-enhancing change is a 
means for social impact via teacher education. By 
virtue of its design, teacher education is a 
community practice. Clinical practice alone is 
community based, generating a footprint on 
student learning and development. While noble, 
such impact is not enough. The core purpose of 
programmatic teacher preparation should 
ultimately be to improve systems for overall 

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EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

educational effectiveness at all levels across the 
P-16 continuum. This includes improving the social 
and political conditions that inform educational 
effectiveness. 

The hardest part yet, is equity work, as it pertains 
to the professionalization of teacher education. It 
is necessary that programs collectively address the 
equity imperative to ensure that all student 
populations and their communities benefit 
masterfully from teacher preparation. While 
networked leadership might dismantle existing 
systems, value-enhancing change might dismantle 
the siloed benefits of educational improvement, a 
focus on equity dismantles implicit biases and core 
status quo practices that advantage some over 
others.   

This outlined way forward aimed to advance the 
professionalization of teacher education, is by no 
means exhaustive. Nor are these three 
suppositions, born out of critical correspondences, 
intended as a panacea individually. This way 
forward is not without its challenges operationally, 
conceptually, and politically. Nonetheless, these 
suppositions, as a collective way forward, has its 
merits for furthering the institutionalization and 
systemization of professionalism in teacher 
education. 

References

AASCU. (n.d.). Preparing teaches in today?s 
challenging context: Key issues, policy direction 
and implication for leaders of AASCU universities. 
Retrieved from 
https://www.aascu.org/AcademicAffairs/Tea
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Ballantyne, K. G., Sanderman, A. R., & Levy J. 
(2008). Educating English Language Learners: 
Building teacher capacity. Washington, DC: 
National clearinghouse for English Language 
acquisition.  Retrieved from 
https:// files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED521360.p
df 

Berdecía, A. I., & Kosec, C. (2011). Cultural and 

linguistic connections: Linking what matters to 
families to what matters for school success. 
Trenton, NJ: Thomas Edison State College.  

CAPPS. (2018). Public policy agenda. West Hartford, 
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http://www.capss.org/page.cfm?p=582&ne
wsid=159 

Commission on Higher Education and 
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http://www.nebhe.org/info/pdf/events/conf
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Easley, J., II. (2011). The audacity to teach: The impact 
of leadership, school reform, and urban context 
on educational innovation. Lanham, MD: 
University Press of America. 

Easley, J., II., Ankrum, J., McConnell, B., & Girard, N. 
(2017). Professional learning through P-16 
partnership design: Emergent lessons learned 
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development. School-University Partnership 
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Easley, J., II., & Tulowitzki, P. (2017). Educational 
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McFarland, J., Hussar, B., de Brey, C., Snyder, T., 
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Mann, F., & Hinz, S. (2017). Condition of 
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https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp
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Martin, G. L., & Osberg, S. R. (2015). Getting beyond 
better: How social entrepreneurship works. 
Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. 

Pasquarella, L. (2016). Higher Education should be 

34

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EASLEY|  A WAY FORWARD  

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