The reform of public education unleashed in 1983 by The Nation at Risk, the Report of the National Commission on Education, continues unabated. But the focus of school reform has shifted as policymakers and educators grow in their knowledge and skill in producing effective, long-term change. Currently attention is being given to improving the preparation, induction, and development of teachers and school administrators.

Reforming School Administrator Preparation. Recent actions by the North Carolina General Assembly, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, and the State Board of Education have resulted in significant changes in the initial preparation of public school administrators. The old administrator training programs in public universities have been eliminated. Eight universities are now authorized to offer new master of school administration (MSA) programs that require a year-long internship.

The General Assembly also funded the Principal Fellows Program that supports carefully selected students who are willing to devote two years of full-time study, including the internship, in pursuit of the MSA. Finally, the General Assembly created and supports the NC Standards Board for Public School Administration, which is now defining the standards for effective school administration and soon will administer examinations that will be required for licensure as a principal or superintendent.

Reforming Teacher Education in North Carolina. Teacher preparation reform has been the focus of a number of committees and task forces since the mid-seventies in North Carolina. One significant report entitled The Education of North Carolina's Teachers, released in 1987, made a number of forward-thinking recommendations, a few of which achieved sustained funding. One of those is the Model Clinical Teaching Program (MCTP), which operates on ten public university campuses and at two private colleges. The MCTPs developed different innovative designs for teacher preparation that have documented the capacity to recruit, prepare, induct, and retain effective teachers. This success led directly to the support of the General Assembly in 1995 to create the Clinical Schools Network at East Carolina University and a network of Professional Development Schools serving UNC-Wilmington and UNC-Pembroke.

Driven by its commitment to change and bolstered by the successes achieved in the MCTPs, the Deans' Council for Teacher Education met and hosted two statewide meetings with public school educators in 1996 to examine ways to further improve teacher preparation. These meetings resulted in the January 1997 document entitled, A Proposal to Establish University-School Teacher Education Partnerships in North Carolina. The proposal describes a bold vision for redesigning teacher education.

Further encouraged by the recently released Report of the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future entitled, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, the schools, colleges, and departments of education in The University of North Carolina are committed to collaborating with their public school partners to establish University-School Teacher Education Partnerships in North Carolina. In December, 1996, the Deans' Council published its own very positive response to the National Commission's report and re-affirmed its commitment to use the knowledge base of research and the wisdom of practice to design and implement these partnerships at University of North Carolina constituent institutions throughout North Carolina.

The plan for creating the University-School Teacher Education Partnership Network in North Carolina is closely aligned with recommendations of the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, the North Carolina School Improvement Panel, and many other national and state studies. It also incorporates recommendations by the UNC Deans' Council on Teacher Education in their response to the National Commission's report.

North Carolinians can and should take the lead in creating new 21st-century models for the preparation of teachers, administrators, and other educators. With the support of the Governor and the General Assembly, we can produce the high-quality school professionals we want and need in North Carolina and, in so doing, we will serve as a model for the nation.

In North Carolina, 16% to 20% of new teachers leave after the first year. Currently about 35% of all teachers drop out of teaching by the end of the fifth year. Insufficient preparation, difficult teaching assignments, multiple class assignments, and a general lack of support are usually identified as major factors that cause beginning teachers to leave the profession. Those who remain often feel isolated with little opportunity for collaboration with other teachers or for continuing professional development.

Implementing this plan will address many of the concerns cited by teachers by better preparing them to teach and by better supporting them during their initial years in the classroom. Establishing a statewide network of University-School Teacher Education Partnerships will create clinical settings in "professional development" schools for the preparation, induction, and continuing professional development of educators. The proposed partnerships would be conceptually similar to the linkage between teaching hospitals and medical schools for the preparation of physicians.

The University of North Carolina General Administration has presented to the Governor, the Advisory Budget Commission, and the General Assembly an initial request for $1,899,750 for each of two years to support this fundamental transformation of teacher education in North Carolina. The need is compelling.

The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation grant and university funds are supporting local and statewide meetings of university, public school, and community teams to meet and develop a common core of understandings and a framework for the reform of teacher education.

The framework for change is being designed around the five Guiding Principles, but tailored to the specific Partnership programs developed by each public university.

Each University will assemble Planning Teams consisting of teachers, building level administrators, superintendents or other central office administrators, university teacher education faculty, the director of teacher education, business and community leaders, and deans.

Representatives from the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Community Colleges, area private and independent colleges, and others will also be invited to participate in the planning process.

Workplans: Each Planning Team will develop a two-year workplan for creating (or expanding) University-School Partnerships in 1997-98 and 1998-99 that address the five Guiding Principles described earlier. Each workplan will include descriptions of:

• How the goals and objectives of the Partnership relate to the knowledge base and conceptual framework of the preparation programs for teachers, administrators, and other educators;
• Roles, relationships, and responsibilities of all the key stakeholders, which may include private colleges, businesses, and community groups;
• The Partnership curriculum, planning process, delivery system, and evaluation strategies;
• How the Partnership will attend to issues of diversity;
• Ways in which technology will be utilized to address the goals of the Partnership;
• Proposed resource commitments for the Partnership including current and expansion funding;
• Timelines for implementing the Partnership goals in 1997-98 and 1998-99; and
• Expected continuing activities and required resources after 1998-99.

Pending funding by the North Carolina General Assembly, the UNC General Administration, in consultation with the State Superintendent for Public Instruction, will establish a National Review Panel of recognized experts in teaching and teacher education; $50,000 will be allocated for each of two years to support the work of the National Review Panel. The responsibility of the Panel will be to evaluate the clarity and strength of the Partnership plans as outlined in the Planning Phase.

The review process, to be completed by August 15, 1997, will involve University-School Partnership presentations of individual plans to the Review Panel.

Proposals judged "acceptable" by the Review Panel will be eligible to receive Pilot Implementation funding. Distribution of the additional funds will be based upon student enrollment in teacher education programs at the Universities. The National Review Panel will have the flexibility to return plans for clarification and revision before making final recommendations.

Only plans approved by the National Review Panel and the UNC General Administration will receive expansion budget funding for pilot implementation: $1,849,750 total by September 1, 1997.

Evaluation of Plans: Representatives from each Partnership will meet as a group with the National Review Team to ensure consensus on expectations and protocols. The National Review Team will assess each Partnership workplan for congruence with the Guiding Principles and make recommendations for improvement. Examination of all materials by the Review Team, and revisions and pilot implementation by the Partnerships will be completed by June 30, 1998.

Evaluation of Partnerships: The National Review Team will visit each campus and selected school sites during the Full Implementation Phase. The team will assess the progress and success of the University-School Teacher Education Partnerships in implementing their activities and meeting the goals set forth in their approved plans. Findings will be reported back to the UNC General Administration and to the Partnerships for the purpose of supporting universities and schools in the change process, by June 30, 1999.

A plan for an annual audit of the Partnerships will be developed in collaboration with the National Review Panel. Elements of the audit are likely to include the scores of pre-service teachers on Praxis tests and other performance measures, the results of follow-up surveys of graduates, performance review data from employers, the results of surveys of employer satisfaction, and employment and teacher retention data. Many of those same measures are likely to be included in the evaluation section of the Partnership plans.

Universities will be expected and supported to strengthen the Teacher Education Partnerships continuously as new knowledge of teaching and learning emerges from research and from "best practice." Extended graduate level preparation of teachers in professional development schools recommended in the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future will likely emerge as support for the reform continues.