What is Traditional Teacher Preparation Programs

Preparing high quality teachers for practice in P-12 schools has been an extensively debated and controversial topic for many years. Today, with the changing demographics of students in our public schools, topics such as teacher preparation and overall quality of teachers in the U.S. has gained even greater scrutiny from policymakers, private agencies, professional organizations, accreditation boards, and politicians. This chapter explores historical to more recent perspectives of teacher education and related issues surrounding the absence of a universally accepted profile of teacher quality. The chapter also includes illustrations of contemporary teacher preparation programs that have thoughtfully redesigned traditional models into integrated extensive clinical based approaches to preparing teachers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of exemplary teacher preparation practices that align with equitable and inclusive learning environments currently found in public schools.