Education leaders here have opportunity to improve teacher-preparation programs

Last week, a study from the National Council of Teacher Quality was published by U.S. News and World Report suggesting that Hawaii’s teacher preparation schools are falling behind.

Looking at teacher preparation programs and schools of education around the country, the council asked some major questions — ones that any parents sending their child into a classroom would want answered.

Are our teachers being trained to the highest level? Are they being prepared to enter the classroom to meet the needs of our students?

Nationally, some teacher preparation programs did very well. Unfortunately for our state, Hawaii’s results were toward the bottom of the rankings, just like our public K-12 schools, as we are reminded annually by Honolulu Magazine.

Only one of the six programs in the state evaluated — Chaminade University of Honolulu’s elementary undergraduate program — earned as many as two stars in the four-star ranking system. Chaminade’s secondary graduate program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s elementary graduate program each earned one star.

UH-Manoa’s secondary undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as UH-Hilo’s elementary under- graduate program, earned zero out of four stars.

To put this in context, about 65 percent of the teachers in the state Department of Education are UH-Manoa graduates.

Recognizing that teacher preparation is both challenging and critically important, we must work to make sure our kids are learning from the best trained teachers in the country.

All children, regardless of their economic means, deserve access to high-quality public education that prepares them for college and career. And it is universally recognized that one of the most important factors in any child’s academic success is the effectiveness of the teacher. While some families have options such as choosing private schools, most do not. If we are to succeed, we must provide the best-trained teachers in every classroom.

As a UH alumnus, I am disappointed to see the university treading water near the bottom of any ranking — whether for teacher training or football.

Now, it would be easy to make excuses and pass the buck, point fingers or ask if the methodology was perfect. It would even be easy to ignore the rankings, if our public schools and students were doing well, but evidence suggests otherwise.

Our students and Hawaii’s aspiring teachers — who chose to enter the classroom to make a difference — deserve universities that are willing to do whatever it takes to adapt when they are faced with the opportunity to improve. If not now, when? We have new leadership at the helm, from a new chancellor and school of education dean at UH-Manoa to a relatively new chairman of the state Board of Education and soon, a new UH system president. These leaders have an opportunity to demonstrate that they care about quality above quantity, and that they are prepared to set measurable goals and support progress toward success.

So, what lessons are to be learned from this study?

First, let’s recognize that we are in a rapidly changing world where Hawaii’s teacher preparation programs need to keep pace. Sometimes a harsh outsider’s perspective is tough to swallow, but it can be constructive.

Then, perhaps we need to examine the top-ranked teacher preparation programs across the country. We can see what they are doing to prepare the next generation of teachers and replicate those lessons. We must be adaptive, and understand that our students and our teachers are counting on our universities.

By doing so, we can help to identify the pathway for our state to become home to the most outstanding teachers.