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Millersville Does Its Job Preparing Future Teachers

According to recent research from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, most teachers do not reach their most effective peak until at least three years into their career. New teachers coming out of Millersville follow similar developmental patterns but do have a distinct advantage over most other new teachers due to the amount of time they have already spent in the classroom as part of their preparation.

Dr. Jane Bray

“Institutions of higher education are in the midst of a significant change in how they prepare teachers,” said Dr. Jane Bray, dean of education at Millersville University. “Many institutions are moving toward a more clinical approach and are reorienting their preparation programs around clinical experience.”

Prior to becoming certified, education students at Millersville must meet the following preparation criteria including extensive clinical practice, content-specific pedagogical instruction and strategies and practice in teaching diverse learners. The University’s preparation program focuses its efforts on all of these points in particular.

“The significant change and reorientation of the clinical component and other program improvement changes are a result of an increased understanding of the need for strong preparation to provide foundational support for a teacher’s effectiveness,” said Bray.

The data systems that all 50 states have agreed to build as a condition of receiving stimulus funding are intended to identify more ways to use data to track progress and growth of our young students and to assist teachers in making the best teaching decisions possible. Millersville works to provide opportunities for teacher candidates to understand, analyze and utilize this data in their lesson planning.

“Our teacher candidates must have the opportunity to be inside pre-K -12 schools, participate in the classroom, be able to teach the content and be prepared to teach all learners in diverse populations and in all classroom environments,” expressed Bray on the education Millersville imparts on its students.

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