Research on Urban Teacher Education: Are We Getting What We Need?
Dr. Marilyn Cochran-Smith


When people engage in debates about the research base for teacher education …they’re not necessarily talking about the same thing. It’s important to know which approach to teacher education research is operating in which conversations, as well as who the major players are and what the larger political professional agendas are.


Dr. Cochran-Smith started by discussing what the United States is like today versus in the 1920s to put the challenges of preparing teachers into a larger context. In terms of schools, most teachers worked in one-room schoolhouses in small towns and villages. In the first decade of the 21st century, most new teachers find their jobs in urban schools.

Dr. Cochran-Smith focused most of her presentation on discussing four different research areas related to teacher preparation that co-exist and can inform us—best teacher education programs, effective policies and practices, the curriculum of teacher preparation, and efforts where teaching and teacher education are regarded as research or inquiry-related activities.

Research on the best teacher education programs has revolved around the debate about “traditional” and “alternate” routes and pathways, i.e., whether or not there is research-based evidence indicating that university and college-based teacher preparation or alternate routes are the most effective ways to produce quality teachers. The professionalism agenda is based on efforts to establish a professional knowledge base for teaching and insure that every child has a professional teacher. In contrast, there is the movement to deregulate teacher education, eliminate most of the requirements of teacher preparation, and streamline the process.

Dr. Cochran-Smith believes that we are not getting the research in education that we need to improve the preparation of teachers for urban schools. She thinks one reason is that efforts to try to determine the best kind of teacher education are getting in the way since there is so much variability in programs, so many intervening variables, and disagreement about what should count as evidence of effectiveness.

Dr. Cochran-Smith went on to say that the syntheses of research on effective policies and practices do not conclude unequivocally that collegiate teacher education matters most or even at all. However, the research base is thin. Yet, there is no evidence for large-scale elimination of university preparation or of credentialing requirements. There is very little research on the following:
• Preparing teachers for the challenges and demands of urban schools
• The outcomes of teacher education programs and practices
• Whether new teachers use the ideas, knowledge, and strategies they learned in teacher education programs

Regarding the curriculum of teacher preparation, there is a strong research base in some areas related to culturally-appropriate education and the importance of integrating knowledge about diversity, democracy, and social justice throughout urban teacher preparation programs. However, much of this research is not getting put into practice because it is getting undermined or overwhelmed by the political agendas that require focusing teaching and teacher education on students’ and teachers’ test scores.

Another approach to research in education is that teachers themselves function as researchers and learners in their teacher education programs and their classrooms. There are teacher education programs that are more inquiry-oriented and where teacher educators are using local knowledge to revamp courses and field work. However, much of this knowledge is not shared beyond the local context and often is marginalized because of pressure to raise test scores.

In concluding, Dr. Cochran-Smith stated that in debates about the research base for teacher education it is important to know which approach to teacher education research is being discussed as well as who the major players are and what the larger political and professional agendas are. We also need to pay attention to the underlying assumptions about teaching and learning that are attached to the different approaches. In addition, we need to acknowledge that decisions about how to teach and prepare teachers can never be answered just on the basis of research and evidence. They also have to do with ideas, ideals, values, and beliefs about teaching and learning, subject matter, the purpose of education in society, and the resources and opportunities for learning that are accessible to individuals and groups of students.