Several concurrent trends are increasing the likelihood that short courses, microcredentials, and flexible learning pathways will become a regular and even dominant feature of education and training globally. This policy paper reflects on these trends with special reference to the post-secondary education sector, and explores ways to organize…

In this article, Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing and Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviews Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus and University Professor of Public Service at George Washington University. Trachtenberg shares his views on the traditional four-year undergraduate degree, the…

Extended learning opportunities have emerged as a useful way to rethink how schools are organized and funded. That includes reconsidering who teaches and how they go about their work. That effort should be guided by four key policy considerations and goals: 1. Reengineer the role of teacher. 2. Rethink K-12, higher education, and community-based…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

This report is the culmination of the "Flexible Pedagogies: Preparing for the Future" series of reports which have considered flexible learning from a range of perspectives. The report proposes fifteen conditions of flexibility to inject new thinking and new practices into an emerging new age. Flexible provision has the potential to…

The amount of time allocated for learning and the way that time is used is one of the few variables that can be influenced rather directly by school leaders. Fortunately, it is also a variable that has shown consistent links to student performance. Now that schools are focused directly, and in some cases exclusively, on student achievement, there…

Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future--and fearful that standard school hours do not offer enough time to do so--educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children's lives. Twenty-five years ago, the still-resonant report "A Nation at Risk" urged schools to add more time--an…

This article reports that some graduate programs are switching from comprehensive qualifying exams to portfolios compiled by doctoral candidates. Five years ago the graduate program at the University of Kansas' history department was like many others--filled with small cohorts of anxious, fearful procrastinators. Doctoral students were taking an…

As various models for future teacher education programs are explored, extended programs of five years or more are frequently considered. Many questions are raised by this concept. Results of a survey of experienced and preservice teachers' and college heads' attitudes toward extended programs are discussed. (DF)

Some recent education reform proposals call for two essential and interrelated structural changes: changes in the organization of teaching, and a change from undergraduate to graduate degree status for initial teacher preparation. This paper examines these arguments for professionalizing teaching, and raises doubts that the goals set forth in the…

PROTEACH is a newly redesigned five-year preservice teacher preparation program at the University of Florida. During progress through the program, the bachelor's degree is obtained, and the program culminates on completion of the master's degree. Program features include emphasis on research and study in fields supplementary to education-related…

The restructuring of teacher education programs must involve a collaboration between members of college faculties involved in producing educational knowledge and those who use the knowledge to train teachers. The restructuring also involves: (1) extending the teacher training period to a minimum of five years; (2) better integration of the…

The University of Nevada at Las Vegas College of Education has responded to numerous calls for educational reform with the establishment of the Committee to Review Teacher Education (CRTE). CRTE is composed of school district administrators, elementary and secondary school principals and master teachers, a State Department of Education…

A mandate to reform the teacher education program on the Columbia Campus of the University of South Carolina was enacted in December, 1982. The mandate was contained in a motion to eliminate the baccalaureate degrees in education, the traditional route to teacher certification then offered. This action did not eliminate teacher education at the…

Examines the potential benefits of intensive scheduling, an alternative to traditional school day structuring that allows students to take fewer classes but stay in them longer. Suggests that fewer and longer classes accommodate more cooperative learning styles and enhance student academic performance. Includes descriptions of several intensive…