Aubrey H. Wang et al., Educational Testing Service
September 2003
This 44-pager from the Policy Information Center at ETS reports on how seven other countries prepare teachers and control access to the teaching field, and how these compare with U.S. practices. The focus is on teachers of 8th grade science and math. It's hard to generalize - the countries are so different - but several points struck me: (1) In other lands, prospective math and science teachers must demonstrate "competency in mathematics and science knowledge" before being admitted to undergraduate teacher education programs. (2) "In most other countries, too, university entry is more difficult than in the United States. . .Since entry to teacher education programs usually requires university student status first, the relative difficulty of university entry is pertinent to any comparison of the rigor of teacher education program entry across countries." (3) For entry into graduate-level teacher education programs, "most of the other countries surveyed require an undergraduate degree and, in some cases, a master's level degree in the subject area." (4) Among the seven other countries, only England has "alternate teacher certification." You won't likely reach any striking conclusions from reading this report, but you're apt to find it interesting. You can track it down at http://www.ets.org/research/pic/prepteach.pdf.
