Series Introduction: Helping Our Teachers
5:28
Lesson Plans: What Makes A Great Teacher?
Harvey teaches 33 squirming, fidgeting first-graders at Oakcrest Elementary School in Landover, Md.
Career Changers Find Way Around The Classroom
()Until a year ago, Beverly Harvey was more familiar with balance sheets than attendance sheets. Harvey had spent 25 years in the banking industry before switching careers and becoming an elementary-school teacher.
Series Overview: What Makes A Teacher Qualified?()
September 26, 2009 Everyone from President Obama on down seems to agree: a good teacher can make a huge difference in the life of a child. What is a good teacher and what goes into making one? Over the next year, NPR will examine how teachers are evaluated, rewarded and disciplined.
What Should Go Into A Teaching Degree?()
September 30, 2009 The majority of classroom teachers are trained in traditional colleges of education. But that training has come under intense scrutiny. Critics say too many teachers leave poorly prepared for the enormous changes taking place in the real world of teaching.
Programs Train Teachers Using Medical School Model()
April 22, 2010 What if we prepared teachers the same way we prepare doctors? A handful of teacher "residency programs" already exist. One, in Boston, treats schools like teaching hospitals, where seasoned instructors, just like seasoned doctors, train the next generation.
Michigan Teaching School Tries Something New()
January 3, 2010 In an effort to reinvent itself, the University of Michigan is cutting the number of classes students must take in favor of more hands-on time spent in the classroom. Teachers-in-training also do "rounds" in schools, much like medical students do in hospitals.
Nontraditional Teachers May Be In Mich.'s Future()
December 6, 2009 If you're a teacher in Michigan, odds are you attended a teaching college. That's because the state requires nearly all teachers to get traditional training. But the promise of federal funds is pressuring Michigan to loosen its rules and hire teachers with alternative certification.
'Teach For America' Teachers Learn On The Job()
November 23, 2009 New science teacher Tim Cooper trained with Teach For America for five weeks before flying solo in the front of his own classroom. Cooper couldn't wait to get into the classroom, so the group's short but intense training program working for him.
