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TEACHER QUALITY SITE TACKLES TRAINING, RETENTION, SELF-HELP

September 7, 1999

The U.S. Department of Education put dozens of new pages on the Internet today, hoping to start answering the nation's need for quality teachers. The department's new Teacher Quality Website addresses issues for new or aspiring teachers and veterans of the classroom. It also offers a few useful bits for special education teachers and paraeducators.

For new and aspiring teachers, the department provides information on what it takes to become a teacher, including various state requirements. The site also warns new teachers what to expect when they reach the classroom. For current teachers, the department addresses teaching standards and professional development for maintaining teacher quality. In addition, the site provides information on assorted funding programs, such as discretionary grants to states to train special ed. teachers under the "Personnel Preparation to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities " program.

Two sections of the site that may be the most useful for special ed. teachers and paraeducators focus on information and idea sharing among educators. In Exemplary Teachers Share Their Wisdom, teachers that have won State Teacher of the Year honors share their thoughts on topics such as class size and mentoring programs. Other pages offer observations from public and private school teachers on teacher leadership and how it can be fostered in school systems. Teachers also share viewpoints on how to improve schools to reach the Clinton Administration's national educational goals.

In addition to essays and statements the department has solicited from select teachers, the site provides a place for all teachers to comment on various education issues. The conversational feature is not as loosely maintained as the average bulletin board or chat group, but it may eventually address significant special ed. topics.

Finally, Classroom Resources for Teachers includes links to information on Internet-based education resources supported by agencies across the U.S. Federal Government, the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, ideas for helping students with homework, lesson plans and the ArtsEdge program, which endorses the use of the arts in K-12 curriculums.8