preparing and training professionals - the finance project

Preparing and TrainingProfessionals

Comparing Educationto Six Other Fields

By Karen Hawley Miles,Allan Odden,Mark Fermanich, andSarah Archibald

With a Preface by TheFinance Project

Financing Professional Development in Education

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

PRE-SERVICE PREPARATIONApproval and Accreditation of Pre-Service Preparation ProgramsClinical TrainingEntry and Licensing Standards

IN-SERVICE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTRe-Licensure Requirements and Standards for In-Service TrainingInduction and Assignment of New HiresPeer Learning and Team Building

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MANAGERSPre-Service PreparationIn-Service Professional Development

FINANCING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTFinancing Pre-Service PreparationFinancing In-Service Professional Development

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX: SUMMARIES OF OTHER FIELDS

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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By Katherine S. Neville,Rachel H. Sherman,and Carol E. Cohen

2005

Preparing and TrainingProfessionals

Comparing Educationto Six Other Fields

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Executive SummaryTeachers are essential. Anyone who has eversat in a classroom can attest to this truth. Butincreasingly, the national spotlight is on thequality of their teaching and how highly-qualifiedteachers can improve student achievement. Thereasons are clear. Research confirms thatteacher quality is the most critical factor inimproving student performance. And the federalNo Child Left Behind Act requires schools,districts, and states to recruit and retain “highlyqualified teachers” and to show annual progresstoward the goal of 100 percent studentproficiency in reading and mathematics by2014.

This heightened attention to teacher quality andpressure to improve achievement leaveseducators facing a myriad of challenges withlittle data to guide them in achieving these goals.But many stakeholders concede that traditionalteacher preparation and in-service training havefailed to produce the level of quality demandedby the new educational environment.

Clearly, educators face some dauntingchallenges. But this analysis recognizes that theeducation field is not alone in its quest for qualityand that examining how other fields prepare andtrain professionals can provide ideas andapproaches for education to consider adaptingin its own efforts. This analysis comparesprofessional development — both pre-servicepreparation and in-service training — ineducation to six other professions: law,accounting, architecture, nursing, firefighting,and law enforcement. This comparisonilluminates similarities and differences in theapproaches taken to preparation and in-servicetraining to inform the debate over how to improveteacher quality and also highlights importantareas for further study and possible policydevelopment.

The analysis examines these critical elementsof professional development:

Approval of Preparation Programs: Amongthe examined professions that require stateapproval of preparation programs, each enjoysgreater consistency than education instandards across states. While the educationfield remains ambivalent about nationalstandards for accreditation and state approval,consistent standards enable preparationprograms to better compare their work to thatof their peers and to measure progress towardestablished goals.

Clinical training: “On the job” training isrequired before licensing in education,architecture, and nursing. It is not required butis almost universal in law and accounting. Asstudent teachers often give their experience afailing grade, calling it limited, inconsistent, anddisconnected from coursework, studying themore intensive and highly-structured programsused by nursing and architecture can informefforts to make the student teaching experiencemore valuable.

National Entry Exam: While most of the sixfields require practitioners to achieve a passingscore on a national exam before practicing, theeducation field has long resisted a nationalteacher assessment and continues to rely onvaried state standards for licensure. Theeducation field continues to grapple with a lackof consensus over the characteristics of aneffective teacher and continues to rely on variedstate standards for licensure, which impactsefforts to ensure that all teachers meet anestablished level of competency.

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Practice Prior to Licensure: Educationstands alone in allowing professionals topractice independently before they are licensedand to circumvent traditional preparation andlicensure through “alternative certification”programs. While these practices weredesigned to help districts address teachershortages and attract new teachers to the field,recognizing both that education is an outlier inthis area and the inherent trade-offs involvedcould advance discussions of how to improveteacher quality across the system.

Standards for In-Service Training:Education also is alone among the comparisonfields in its lack of universally acceptedstandards for required in-service training andidentification of a single entity to enforce thosestandards. While there is a growing consensusregarding characteristics of high-qualityprofessional development, there is still awidespread need for standards that wouldenable educators to evaluate providers andofferings.

Induction Programs: Novice firefighters,police, and nurses complete formal orientationor induction programs to prepare them for thedemanding situations they will face. Despitedisproportionate assignments to low-performing schools in low-income areas, newteachers do not have consistent access toformal and focused induction programs. Sinceresearch shows that quality induction programscan prepare teachers and reduce turnover,examining universally required programs inother fields could provide valuable models.

Peer Support and Learning: The fields oflaw, accounting, and architecture considernetworking and professional associationscritical tools for business and professionaldevelopment. Police and firefighters place apremium on peer support and team- building.While, historically, they have been provided littletime to learn from one another, educatorsincreasingly are exploring ways to provide andexpand opportunities for collaboration, commonplanning time, peer learning, and teamwork.

Managers: Education stands alone amongthese fields in requiring its managers —principals and superintendents — to obtainseparate licensure before assuming amanagement role. The fields of education, lawenforcement, and firefighting require managersto complete in-service training, althoughtypically firefighting and law enforcementprograms are more formal and specialized. Inlight of these comparisons, further examinationof both the value of requiring separate licensureand the potential of in-service training toaddress the challenges inherent inmanagement could advance the manydiscussions on how to improve educationalleadership.

Financing: The fields of education, nursing,law, accounting, and architecture all requirecandidates to finance their own preparation.Educators and nurses must also finance theirown clinical experiences, while accountants,architects, and lawyers typically complete paidinternships. Police and firefighters, who, likepublic school teachers, are employed by the


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public sector, receive public funding for pre-service preparation. Evaluating this type ofpublic investment, including the level andstructure of existing grant and loan programsfor teachers who commit to working in high-poverty areas, may provide insight into howsignificantly reducing financial burdens couldattract entrants to the field and to “hard to staff”schools.

Financial Incentives: Salaries for teachers,firefighting, and police professionals are tiedto education and experience. But architects,accountants, and lawyers receive financialrewards in exchange for higher levels of skilland performance. Districts often rewardeducators’ graduate courses whether or not theyare related to their classroom needs, resultingin a weak link between expenditures anddesired results. In an effort to improve theirreturn on this investment, some districts andstates are exploring new ways to reward

teachers based on their performance.Assessing the costs and benefits of varyingmodels of financial incentives could help theeducation field target its resources moreeffectively.

Faced with great pressure to improve studentachievement, districts and policymakersdemand evidence that investments inprofessional development will pay off in betterteachers and student performance. No field inthis study systematically assesses the effect ofits training programs on professionalperformance. The higher standard to which theeducation field is being held has promptedmuch of the progress and evolution outlinedabove, but innovation is required. Informationabout how other fields prepare and trainprofessionals can help advance efforts to tapthe potential of professional development toimprove teacher quality and strengthen theeducation system.

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Teachers, schools, districts, and states are heldaccountable for student achievement more thanever before. As part of the No Child Left Behind(NCLB) Act of 2001, districts must recruit andretain a “highly qualified” workforce and bringabout improved student outcomes or facepenalties.

Effective teachers are critical to studentachievement. Research indicates that teacherquality accounts for between 40 and 90 percentof differences in student test scores.1 Theimportance of quality teachers to studentachievement is evident, but improvingeducation professionals’ performance remainsa challenge. Pre-service preparation and in-service training — both critical elements ofprofessional development — have the potentialto help teachers develop more knowledge andskills, enabling them to meet the challenges theyface in their classrooms.

Teacher experience also contributes towardstudents’ academic achievement, as recentresearch indicates.2 However, many schooldistricts have difficulty attracting and retainingexperienced teachers.3 Approximately 20percent of teachers leave their jobs every year,requiring schools to devote significantresources toward finding highly qualifiedcandidates to fill these vacancies.4 Further, inhigh poverty schools the teacher turnover rateis almost one-third higher than the rate for all

schools.5 High teacher turnover, especially inhard-to-staff schools, creates additionalchallenges for schools and districts indeveloping high quality teachers and improvingstudent performance.

Financing and delivering effective professionaldevelopment is clearly a complex task.Developing, implementing, and financingeffective preparation programs and in-servicetraining for public school educators is afragmented process involving schools, districts,states, the federal government, higher educationinstitutions, teacher unions, and other educationorganizations. The effort is further complicatedby a paucity of data on effective professionaldevelopment activities. Superintendentsexpress frustration that there is little evidenceabout “what works” to guide them in developingtheir professional development offerings.

It is very difficult to determine a causalrelationship between professional developmentand student achievement because it is but onevariable among many.6 Another challenge is thecurrent lack of knowledge on what is spent onprofessional development. The variety offunding sources used to support professionaldevelopment activities, a lack of uniformdefinitions of spending categories, andinadequate data collection and managementsystems make it difficult for many school

Introduction

1 Linda Darling-Hammond and Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Teaching for High Standards: What Policymakers Needto Know and Be Able to Do. (Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1997).

2 Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin, “The Revolving Door: Factors Affecting Teacher Turnover.”Developments in School Finance: 2003. (Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, 2004).

3 Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin. Why Public Schools Lose Teachers. Cambridge, MA:National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001.

4 Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin, 2004.

5 National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America’s Children.(Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 2003). Cited source: Richard M.Ingersoll, adapted for NCTAF from “Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis,” AmericanEducational Research Journal, 38 (fall 2001), 499-534.

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districts and others to accurately determineprofessional development expenditures.

Many stakeholders acknowledge that traditionalways of developing, delivering, and financingprofessional development in education do notalways result in teachers who can produce highacademic achievement in their students. Whilea number of well-regarded professionaldevelopment programs exist, teachers often donot receive much professional support,feedback, or information on practices that canhelp them improve student performance, andthe quality of available training remainsinconsistent.7

Recognition of the need for improvement ofprofessional development in education isevidenced in legislative action, such as theNCLB Act requirement for states to report thepercentage of teachers who participate in highquality professional development each year,and in the expressed interests of stakeholdersincluding taxpayers, legislators, and educatorsthemselves. In recent years, the field ofeducation has increasingly focused on this task,and efforts are underway to develop high qualityand effective professional development that willhelp teachers improve student achievement. Inlight of evidence demonstrating that betterteachers produce better student outcomes,improving the preparation and in-servicetraining of teachers can provide a key tostrengthening the public education system.

To provide information, ideas, and models thatcan help the field of education improve itsprofessional development, The Finance Projectcommissioned profiles of professionaldevelopment in six fields—law, accounting,architecture, nursing, firefighting, and policing.8

These profiles provide the information on whichthis comparative analysis with professionaldevelopment in education is based. By learningabout preparation and in-service professionaldevelopment in other disciplines, it is possibleto gain insights that could prove relevant inefforts to improve pre-service preparation andin-service training in education.

The six fields chosen for this comparativeanalysis share key features with the educationfield. All of the fields selected give individualpractitioners significant responsibility. Most ofthese professions – accounting, architecture,law, and nursing – require a bachelor’s degree.They also require or encourage graduate workas a step toward advancement, similar toteaching. Further, state bodies play a key rolein regulating the training and licensing ofprofessionals in these fields.

Unlike teachers, fire fighters and police officersare generally not required to have a bachelor’sdegree, and local fire and police departmentsare responsible for planning and conductingmost of their professional developmentactivities. However, these three professionsshare several other important characteristics.

6 In attempting to determine the effectiveness of existing professional development activities, researchers havedeveloped instructional logs that gather data on a teacher’s interaction with her students, see e.g. Ball, DeborahL., Camburn, Eric, Correnti, Richard, Phelps, Geoffrey, and Wallace, Raven. (1999). New Tools for Research onInstruction and Instructional Policy: A Web-based Teacher Log, A Working Paper. Seattle, WA: Center for theStudy of Teaching and Policy. Value-added studies that isolate the influence of a teacher on student achievementhave not yet been applied to professional development specifically but could be as use of the analysis grows. Seee.g. D.F. McCaffrey, J.R. Lockwood, D.M. Koretz, and L.S. Hamilton. (2003). Evaluating Value-Added Modes forTeacher Accountability. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

7 Alliance for Excellent Education, Tapping the Potential: Retaining and Developing High-Quality New Teachers.(Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004).

8 Summaries of these publications are included as appendices at the end of this publication; the full publicationsare available on The Finance Project’s website at http://www.financingpd.org/casummaries.htm


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In most municipalities, police officers, firefighters, and educators make up the threelargest groups of public employees. As ineducation, fire and police professionals aresubject to a “lock-step” salary schedule wheresalary increases are based on years ofexperience and education rather than skills andperformance. In addition, fire fighters, policeofficers, and teachers in a number of statesoperate under collective bargainingagreements. Finally, firefighters, police officers,and public school teachers work exclusively forpublic entities whereas accountants, architects,attorneys, and nurses also have opportunitiesin the private sector.

Professional development across these fieldsfaces a number of similar issues andchallenges. In each of the six fields examined:

• Stakeholders believe that professionaldevelopment delivery and effectivenesscontinues to need improvement and thatthere needs to be more consistency intracking related costs,

• Quantification of professional developmentexpenditures does not occur on a regularbasis and continues to be a challenge, and

• Measuring effectiveness remains an issue,and programs are rarely evaluated for qualityor effectiveness.

While every field has evolved over time, this isa time of transition for the advancement ofprofessional development in education, andeducation, more than other fields, has begun toask for evidence of results from its professionaldevelopment programs.

Beyond the six selected fields in this analysis,medicine and business offer interestingcomparisons with education in that they devotesignificant resources toward preparation,training, and continuing education. Medicine,however, requires practitioners to undergosignificantly longer and more intensepreparation than education. Nursing, whichrequires a similar training duration as education,and also suffers from high turnover andshortages in high-need areas, is a moreanalogous comparison. Despite substantialinvestments in professional development,medicine and business also struggle to quantifytheir expenditures in training and identify thereturn on that investment. Measuring the effectof training on the quality of an employee’sperformance remains an elusive goal in theseprofessions as well.9 IBM and other companieshave looked into this issue, in part todemonstrate fiscal responsibility toshareholders, but there is no industry-wide effortto quantify training expenditures.10

Examining how practitioners in other fieldsaddress similar challenges in professionaldevelopment gives stakeholders in educationa range of options and approaches to considerfor improving the preparation and training of itsprofessionals. In each section of this analysis,we examine similarities and differencesbetween fields, identify how education relatesto these fields, analyze the direction thateducation appears to be moving, and explorethe insights gained from these comparisons.This analysis of preparation and in-servicetraining in education, in turn, can contribute toefforts to improve the overall quality of theeducation workforce and help all children inpublic education succeed.

9 David A. Davis, M.A. Thomson, Andrew D. Oxman, and Brian Haynes, “Changing Physician Performance: Asystematic review of the effect of continuing medical education,” Journal of the American Medical Association274 (1995): 700-705.

10 Jack E. Bowsher, Educating America: Lessons Learned in the Nation’s Corporations. (New York, NY: JohnWiley & Sons, Inc., 1989).

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Approval and Accreditation ofPre-Service PreparationPrograms

In accounting, architecture, law, and nursing, aswell as education, pre-service preparationgenerally takes place at a higher educationinstitution. A state body must approve thepreparation program in order for the degree thatis issued by the institution of higher educationto satisfy state licensure requirements. Thisprocess is often referred to as the state givinga program “credentialing authority.” Pre-servicepreparation in firefighting and policing followsa different model: firefighters and police officersreceive training from academies associatedwith local departments.

In education, all programs must have stateapproval to issue a teaching degree that countstoward satisfying state licensure requirements.State education agencies or state professionalstandards boards are responsible for grantingapproval. All states have adopted somestandards for approving teacher educationprograms, but these requirements varyconsiderably across states.11 The NationalCouncil for Accreditation of Teacher Education(NCATE) developed standards for approvingpreparation programs. As of June 2004, 36states use NCATE standards for approval.However, states that use NCATE standards intheir approval process often adapt them and

may also combine them with other sets ofstandards. Some states also incorporate theInterstate New Teacher Assessment andSupport Consortium (INTASC) standards intotheir approval guidelines for new teacherpreparation programs; these standards arealigned with the NCATE standards and INTASCis represented on NCATE’s board.12 Finally,many states develop their own standards thatsometimes draw from individual NCATE andINTASC standards but also may include otherindependent criteria.13

Program accreditation is different from stateapproval. One or more national or regionalassociations will accredit a preparationprogram if the program meets the association’scriteria. In two of the comparison fields, stateapproval of a preparation program is contingentupon its accreditation status. In architecture andlaw, almost all state regulatory bodies (stateregistration boards and state bar associationsrespectively) require licensed practitioners tohave a degree from a program accredited bythe national association of that field. Forarchitects, the school must be accredited by theAmerican Institute of Architects, and for lawyers,by the American Bar Association.

In the two other relevant comparison fields,accreditation is optional for state approval. Inaccounting, each state’s board of accountancyspecifies the educational requirements forstudents to sit for the licensure exam, whichdrives the curricula of preparation programs.

Pre-Service Preparation

11 The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) is a membershiporganization of the state entities responsible for approving programs and licensing teachers. This organizationpublishes an annual summary of each state’s requirements, which highlights the degree to which they vary. SeeNational Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, NASDTEC Manual. (Washington,D.C.: National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 2002).

12 National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2004. http://www.ncate.org/ncate/fact_sheet.htm.

13 National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, NASDTEC Manual. (Washington,D.C.: National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 2002).

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State requirements vary significantly. TheAssociation to Advance Collegiate Schools ofBusiness (AACSB), a national accreditationbody, also establishes criteria forundergraduate and graduate education that ishighly respected. However, only about 20percent of the undergraduate institutions withaccounting programs have AACSB accountingaccreditation, since it is quite difficult toachieve.14

State boards of nursing regulate the content fornursing preparation programs by settingminimum standards for credit and clinical hours,faculty preparation, student to faculty ratios, andprogram operation. Most state boards belongto the National Council for State Boards ofNursing, which enhances the consistency ofstate standards. Accreditation by a nationalorganization is generally not required for stateapproval; however, nursing programs oftenpursue accreditation from one of the nationalnursing associations, such as the NationalLeague for Nursing Accrediting Commission,in addition to state approval.

Education is similar to nursing and accountingin that preparation programs may seek optionalaccreditation from a regional or nationalassociation, but it is not required for stateapproval. In education there are two nationalaccrediting organizations, NCATE and theTeacher Education Accreditation Council(TEAC). Of these two, NCATE is more widelyrecognized. While, according to theirinformation, TEAC has accredited nineinstitutions to date, approximately 650 collegesand universities that produce 70 percent of thenation’s teachers are accredited by NCATE.15

It is important to note, however, that some ofthe most prestigious teacher preparation

programs in the country have chosen not topursue accreditation.

Of the comparison fields that require stateapproval of preparation programs, somedisplay more consistency in standardsacross states than does education. Theextent to which the fields in this analysis havegrappled with the issue of setting standards forthe approval of preparation programs isapparent in the wide range of practices and thedegree of variation from state to state. Ineducation, the prevalence of NCATE’s influencein state standards and preparation programaccreditation indicates a movement towarduniformity in these areas. However, approvalstandards in education still vary widely amongstates, influenced by a tradition of state controland disagreement among stakeholders onnecessary elements of teacher preparationcurriculum and the effectiveness of differentexisting standards. Well-developed and moreconsistent standards for state approval wouldenable preparation programs to comparethemselves against benchmarks and providespecific information about their progress towardimportant goals, such as preparing teachers towork at hard-to-staff schools. However, manypractitioners in education remain ambivalentregarding national standards for accreditation.16

Clinical Training

For the purpose of this paper, “clinical training”is any clinical experience that takes placebefore licensure and occurs as part of, orimmediately after, pre-service preparation. Allfields in this analysis, except firefighting andpolicing, require or strongly recommend sometype of clinical training. Firefighters and police

14 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business website, 2004. http://www.aacsb.edu/

15 National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, (2004). www.ncate.org; Teacher EducationAccreditation Council, (2004). www.teac.org.

16 American Federation of Teachers, Building a Profession: Strengthening Teacher Preparation and Induction.(Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Teachers, 2000).


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officers do not technically fulfill any clinicaltraining prior to entering the workforce aftersuccessfully completing a training academy.However, their first year of service is consideredprobationary, and much of their training, both inthe academy and during their first year, occurson the job under the supervision of experiencedprofessionals. The probationary year in thesetwo fields will be discussed in more detail inthe section on induction.

Architecture and nursing require prospectiveprofessionals to have clinical experience inorder to take a licensing exam. Architecturerequires the most extensive and structuredinternship of the fields examined. To take thelicensing exam, candidates must spend arequired amount of time – typically three yearsafter graduating from a preparation program –working under direct supervision of a licensedarchitect. In nursing, clinical education is part ofthe degree program and varies according tothe program curriculum. Nurses with anassociate’s or bachelor’s degree typicallycomplete 600 to 700 hours of training. Whilenot required, accounting and law students arestrongly encouraged to participate in some formof internship before graduating. It is unusual foraccounting and law students not to completean internship, as it often determines thebeginning of their career path.

All states require prospective teachers pursuingstate licensure through traditional preparation

programs to have some clinical experience inthe classroom as student teachers; however, therequirements for student teaching vary fromstate to state in the depth and breadth of theclinical experience.17 For example, states varyin the amount of student teaching that isrequired; on average, most student teacherscomplete 180 to 360 hours of such training.18

As in all fields, the richness and value of theclinical experience vary depending on the qualityof the supervisor and the amount of time she orhe spends monitoring and coaching the student.In education, clinical experiences are oftenreported to be limited, disconnected fromuniversity coursework, and inconsistent.19

Additionally, research indicates that manystudent teachers are not encouraged to reflecton their teaching or engage in self-assessment,reducing the potential value of the experiencesignificantly.20

Many preparation programs, schools, anddistricts are working to make clinicalexperiences more valuable to the prospectiveteacher as well as to students. In one effort,universities, schools, districts, teacherorganizations, and other institutions have joinedtogether in partnerships called professionaldevelopment school (PDS) initiatives that striveto improve teacher preparation andprofessional development and increase studentachievement. There have been disagreementsover the value of PDSs, stemming fromdifferences in how university professors and

17 National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 2002.

18 According to state education agency websites, states require, on average, a range of six to 12 weeks ofstudent teaching; based on an estimated 30 hours of student teaching a week, this time translates to 180-360hours of student teaching.

19 Suzanne M. Wilson, Robert E. Floden, and Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Teacher Preparation Research: CurrentKnowledge, Gaps, and Recommendations, An Executive Summary of the Research Report. (Seattle, WA: Centerfor the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington, 2001).

20 Linda Darling-Hammond, Arthur E. Wise, and Stephen P. Klein, A License to Teach: Building a Profession for21st Century Schools. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press Inc., 1995) Cited sources: Linda Darling-Hammond, TamarGendler, and Arthur E. Wise. The Teaching Internship: Practical Preparation for a Licensed Profession. SantaMonica, CA: RAND Corporation; S.M. Fox, and T.J. Singletary, “Deductions About Support Induction,” Journal ofTeacher Education 37 (1995) 12-15.

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teachers view the clinical process. However, agrowing number of PDSs and othercollaborations between preparation programsand districts indicate increased approval forthese and other efforts to improve clinicalexperiences.21 One example of such apartnership is the Chicago Urban LeadershipAcademy, which provides a stipend, reducedtuition for a master’s teaching degree fromNational-Louis University, and licensure forstudents that participate in a ten-month teachingresidency under a master teacher ’ssupervision.22

Clinical experiences are required in all fieldsexamined, though they vary in intensity,time required, and the degree ofsupervision. Architecture exemplifies a highlyintensive and structured clinical experience. Tothe extent that more structure and more intenseand closely supervised experiences can helpbetter prepare candidates, it is worth examiningways of improving teacher preparation bystrengthening its clinical experience. Ineducation, many preparation programs,schools, and districts are already striving tomake clinical experiences more valuable toprospective teachers, to students, to schools,and to districts at large.

Entry and Licensing Standards

Like education, four of the comparison fields— accounting, architecture, law, and nursing —license professionals at the state level. Aftercompleting a preparation program, each of thecomparison fields requires prospective

professionals to meet one additional milestone— pass an exam — before receiving licensure.Accountants, architects, and nurses must passa single national exam. Attorneys must pass astate bar exam that includes a national or “multi-state” component. The component is the samefor each state exam and thus sets a uniformnational standard for licensure. Firefighting andpolicing consider a candidate to be “licensed”upon completing the local training academy,which includes testing as a component.

While states license teachers, they vary in theirlicense requirements. Most states, 47altogether, require prospective teachers to passan exam on one or more of the following: basicskills, pedagogy, and subject matter. The twomost common teacher examination providersare the Educational Testing Service, whichpublishes the Praxis series, and NationalEvaluation Systems, which designs state-specific examinations.23 Passing scores aredetermined on a state-by-state basis, so it ispossible for a teacher to receive a score on aPraxis exam that is considered passing in onestate, but not in another state that requires ahigher score. States also set their ownrequirements for licensure beyond or insteadof exams, such as varying amounts ofcoursework in a range of subject areas. Statescurrently use several sets of standards withnumerous criteria, many of which can be difficultto measure. 24

To make standards for new teachers moreconsistent, the American Association ofColleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) andother organizations have advocated

21 National Governors Association, Integrating Professional Development Schools into State Education Reforms,Summary. (Washington, D.C.: National Governor’s Association, 2000).

22 Academy for Urban School Leadership, (2005). http://www.ausl-chicago.org/

23 Education Week, “Quality Counts 2004: Count Me In: Special Education in an Era of Standards,” EducationWeek, (2004)17(23).

24 Most state credentialing authorities belong to the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Educationand Certification (NASDTEC), which compiles information annually about the licensure requirements of eachstate.


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development of a common assessment ofcontent and pedagogy for all prospectiveteachers across states.25 However, efforts tocreate a national teacher assessment have runinto several obstacles. The primary challengeis that there continues to be disagreement onthe characteristics of an effective prospectiveteacher within the education field.26 Additionally,pedagogy can be difficult to evaluate and fewstates and school districts want to give upcontrol of their schools to a national entity.

State licensing of teachers is less restrictivethan that in other fields in other ways as well. Insome states, traditional licensure programsallow teachers into classrooms before theypass the state’s licensure exam. Others allowemergency certification and alternativelicensure programs under which individuals whoare not licensed can teach in classrooms.

All but six states now offer alternative routes tolicensure to those without traditional educationtraining, commonly referred to as “alternativecertification.”27 These alternative routes varywidely from state to state in their requirementsregarding the length of the training, courseworkrequirements, clinical training, and mentoring.One example of an alternative route to licensureused in multiple states is the American Boardfor Certification of Teacher Excellence(ABCTE). The U.S. Department of Educationfunded ABCTE to develop an alternativeassessment process for licensure, which iscurrently accepted in Florida, Idaho, NewHampshire, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Supportersof alternative routes to entry are concernedabout the effectiveness of traditional teacherpreparation programs and licensure

requirements in attracting talented individualsand ensuring an adequate supply of high qualityprofessionals. Alternative routes to entry mayalso help combat teacher shortages, particularlyin “hard-to-staff” schools.

Standards for entry are more consistent inthe comparison state-licensed fields. Notonly does education have no nationalexam, it is the only field in this analysis thatallows for alternative routes to entry andpermits some professionals to work beforethey complete the licensure process. All ofthe relevant comparison fields requireprofessionals to pass a single national examor a state exam with a national componentbefore they are allowed to practice. Thisrequirement helps ensure a consistent level ofcompetency by limiting licensure to those whomeet a uniform set of standards. In education,particularly due to continuing disagreementwithin the education field over thecharacteristics of an effective practitioner, statesand school districts are not likely to relinquishcontrol over teacher licensure and havecandidates submit to a national exam.However, there are ongoing discussions aboutmaking new teacher standards more consistent.

In addition, no other field in this analysis offersalternative routes to licensure or allowsindividuals to begin practicing independentlybefore completing all licensure requirements.These practices may help ease teachershortages, but they include tradeoffs that otherfields have been unwilling to accept.Recognition that the education field is an outlierin this area can inform the debate about how tostrengthen results in public education.

25 American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Accountability Statement, (2003).

26 Jennifer King Rice, Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes. (Washington,D.C.: Economic Policy Institute, 2003).

27 Education Week, (2004). “Quality Counts 2004.”

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Re-Licensure Requirementsand Standards for In-ServiceTraining

Every field in this analysis but one requiresprofessionals to complete a certain number ofhours or credits of continuing education tomaintain or renew their licenses. Firefighting isthe single exception, but firefighters are requiredto undergo continuous and extensive trainingon a daily basis. Continuing educationrequirements in the other fields consist ofcompleting a certain number of hours or credits.A state agency usually determines the amountand type of training required, and an outsideentity or the employer provides the professionaldevelopment. Often the employees have achoice of activities in fulfilling the requirements.

In all of the comparison fields that require in-service professional development, a state bodysets requirements for the training that countstoward license renewal. Similarly, a national orstate organization develops standards for theproviders of the courses that fulfill licensurerenewal requirements. Nursing and law look tostate boards of nursing and state bars,respectively, to set these standards, whileaccounting and architecture each rely on anational entity. In architecture, for example, moststates accept documentation from the AmericanInstitute of Architects’ Continuing EducationSystem (AIA/CES) as evidence of completionof required continuing education credits.

Prospective continuing education providersmust complete a rigorous application to AIA/CES, and about half of the applicants arerejected because the training or courses do notmeet AIA/CES quality standards.

In education, as of 2001, 45 states requiredteachers to complete a specific number of hoursor credits of professional development tomaintain licensure. Of the 45 states, 35 did notregulate the content of the activities that counttoward relicensure credit.28 In these states,approval for license maintenance activitiesofficially takes place at the state level; however,local school district personnel, schoolprincipals, and teachers often play the biggestrole in determining the actual content anddelivery of professional development across thecountry.29

The field of education has not universallyaccepted any single set of standards forprofessional development, and teachersparticipate in a large variety of professionaldevelopment activities. The NationalAssociation of State Directors of TeacherEducation and Certification (NASDTEC)defines professional development as: “anycoursework, experience, training, or renewalactivity required by a state to maintain thevalidity of a license.”30 Further, a large numberof providers offer in-service training, includingstates, universities, professional organizations,and private companies. The broad definition ofprofessional development and the range ofactivities that can fulfill these requirementscreate a system in which the in-service

In-Service Professional Development

28 National Conference of State Legislatures, Quality Teaching, Professional Learning and the Legislative Agenda:The State of State Professional Development. (Denver, CO and Washington, D.C.: National Conference of StateLegislatures, 2002).

29 Eric Hirsch and Stephanie Hirsh, (no date).

30 National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 2002).

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professional development experienced byteachers across the country varies widely incontent, quality, and relevance. Commoncriticisms are that traditional professionaldevelopment offerings are one-time with littleor no follow-up, and that teachers aredissatisfied with the options they are provided.In a recent survey, teachers said they often feelthat the training they are provided does notimprove their teaching.31

There seems to be some consensus in theeducation field around research thatdemonstrates that high quality professionaldevelopment includes longer, sustained, andmore in-depth and active learningopportunities.32 Characteristics of high qualityprofessional development, and relatedstandards for high quality teachers and teaching,have recently been articulated by a number ofsources. National education organizationsincluding the National Staff DevelopmentCouncil (NSDC), National Council forAccreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE),and Interstate New Teacher Assessment andSupport Consortium (INTASC) each haveidentified features of high quality professionaldevelopment. The NCLB Act defines qualitytraining activities as “sustained, intensive, andclassroom-focused in order to have a positiveand lasting impact on classroom instruction andthe teacher’s performance in the classroom; andare not one-day or short-term workshops orconferences.”33 In addition, the High ObjectiveUniform State Standards of Evaluation(HOUSSE) sets forth requirements experienced

teachers must meet in order to be considered“highly qualified” under the NCLB Act. Theseconsist of a combination of experience,professional development, and subjectknowledge. The components of thesestandards, however, are administered byindividual states and vary widely. Finally, theNational Board for Professional TeachingStandards (NBPTS) has developed standardsfor what accomplished teachers should knowand be able to do, and offers a certificationprocess for those teachers who candemonstrate that their practice meets thesehigh standards. Many states and districtssupport National Board Certification bysubsidizing teachers’ application fees andproviding salary supplements for those whocomplete it successfully.

Every field in this analysis that requires in-service training, except education, has oneset of standards for professionaldevelopment that counts toward staterelicensure. Fields outside of education havefewer competing standards for approving in-service professional development, and there isone entity responsible for applying thosestandards. In education, because districts andschools are largely responsible for choosingamong a wide variety of professionaldevelopment activities, there is a widespreadneed for solid criteria to evaluate providers andofferings. More work is needed to identify therole of the state vis-à-vis the district and schoolin professional development and to consider thedivision of labor that could prove most valuablein improving quality.

31 Edweek.org., Professional Development. Bethesda, MD: Editorial Projects in Education, Inc. (2005).

32 Michael S. Garet et al., “What Makes Professional Development Effective? Results from a National Sample ofTeachers.” American Educational Research Journal 38 no. 4: 915-945 (Winter 2001); Andrew C. Porter et al.,Does Professional Development Change Teaching Practice? (Washington, D.C.: Planning and Evaluation Service,U.S. Department of Education, 2000).

33 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Section 1119(a)(2)(B), Section 9101(34)(a) (2001).


19

Induction and Assignment ofNew Hires

While new hires in all of the fields in this analysiscan begin working as soon as they are licensed,there is often a period of practical orientationor a formal induction program. All of the fieldsin this analysis provide some sort of inductionor orientation for their new hires, though thepractices vary within each field as well as acrossfields. A discussion of induction must includeboth the initial introduction into the field as wellas the assignment of new hires.

Induction or orientation programs are commonin architecture, accounting, and law, with theexception of sole practitioners. Individualemployers in these fields generally set thestructure of these programs. While newprofessionals in these fields may immediatelytake on challenging work, experiencedprofessionals are expected to provide guidanceand support.

Induction programs in nursing, firefighting, andpolicing are more formal. Nurses typically begintheir careers with an eight-week orientationperiod that includes mentoring by a moreexperienced nurse. The first year of service forfirefighters and police officers is consideredprobationary, and they are required to attendtraining throughout the year. Supervision andpartnership are very important concepts in thisfirst year, and throughout an individual’s career.In these three fields, new hires will obviously bemet with very challenging, and even life-threatening situations, which drives the intensivedesign of their induction.

In education, many districts provide inductionprograms, though they are not always required,and the structure and depth of these programsvary considerably, as does the capacity todeliver them. Induction programs can bedeveloped and administered by a district or astate, a teachers’ union, as a purchasedprogram from a private provider, or even on-line. Multiple induction strategies are used in anumber of high-performing districts, includingmentor programs, seminars for cohorts of newteachers, and opportunities for peerobservation, though mentors were the primarystrategy.34

Induction programs are particularly important ineducation because new teachers aredisproportionately assigned to high-poverty andlow-performing schools and classrooms.35 Stateand district policies, and teachers’ unions,typically give experienced teachers first priorityin selecting schools and classrooms, oftenresulting in inexperienced teachers working inclassrooms rejected by experienced teachers.

Research demonstrates that inductionprograms can reduce teacher turnover, which,as previously stated, is significantly higher inhigh-poverty schools. A National Center forEducation Statistics study found that the attritionrate for new teachers within the first three yearswas only 15 percent for those who participatedin an induction program, compared with 26percent for those who received no inductionsupport.36 More recently, Ingersoll and Smithfound that beginning teachers who participatein induction and mentoring programs are 50percent more likely to remain in teaching aftertheir first year. 37

34 Wendy Togneri and Stephen E. Anderson, 2003.

35 Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004.

36 National Center for Education Statistics, “Progress through the teacher pipeline: 1992-93 college graduate andelementary/secondary school teaching as of 1997”. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2000).

37 Richard Ingersoll and Thomas Smith, “The Wrong Solution to the Teacher Shortage”. Educational Leadership60 no. 8: 30-33 (2003).

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Induction programs in fields where newhires immediately face very demanding, andeven dangerous situations — nursing,firefighting, and police — are more formalthan those in the other comparison fields.Though education disproportionatelyplaces new hires into some of the mostintense and challenging situations in thefield, induction programs are less focusedand not as formal as in the other fields. Anew teacher ’s success in addressingchallenges during the first year of teaching canaffect the academic achievements andaccomplishments of current and future students.Existing induction programs do not adequatelymeet the needs of all new teachers, particularlyones working in high-poverty schools. Asresearch has shown that induction programsoffer the opportunity to improve teacher quality,further exploration into the impact of universaland/or more intensive induction programs couldinform debate about strengthening publiceducation.

In addition, while changing assignmentpractices has not been tested, the problems ofassigning new teachers to challengingclassrooms are becoming increasingly wellrecognized. It is worth exploring whether newteachers might not leave as quickly if they areassigned differently and whether moreexperienced teachers might stay in these “hard-to-staff” schools if provided appropriatesupport.

Peer Learningand Team Building

Opportunities for peer interaction andnetworking in formal and informal settings allowprofessionals to learn from each other anddevelop camaraderie that can contribute to ahappier and more productive workenvironment. Such professional developmentopportunities can range from formal meetingsand events to informal team-building activities.

While in many of the comparison fields in thisanalysis — including law, accounting, andarchitecture — employees must fulfill mostcontinuing education requirements alone, thereare also many opportunities for peer interactionand networking in formal and informal settings.These include networking and state or nationalorganization functions, which are alsoconsidered professional development and paidfor by employers. For employees in privatesector fields such as these, resources may bemore readily available to fund participation inprofessional activities, particularly if they areconsidered a part of business development.While public sector employees often don’t havethe same resources to attend professionalfunctions, those in the comparison fields ofpolicing and firefighting also place a premiumon peer interaction and take great measures toincorporate it into their daily tasks. These twofields incorporate team building andcamaraderie into their training, their structure,and their regular routines, as part of efforts topromote safety.


21

While in-service professional development foreducators often occurs in a group setting,teachers get few opportunities to interact andlearn from each other. Recently, however, thereare more opportunities for peer interaction, peerlearning, and collaboration that include commonplanning time and grade level or subject matterteams.38 Entities such as The TeachersNetwork, a nationwide, non-profit organization,also help teachers connect by identifyingteachers within public school systems who canhelp their colleagues design their ownprofessional development. The TeachersNetwork also documents and disseminates thework of outstanding classroom teachers andhelps provide teachers with knowledge andskills.

Education has begun to incorporate peerinteraction and learning in informal andformal settings into in-service professionaldevelopment. This is a movement towardpractices that the other fields in this analysishave already adopted and it explicitlyrecognizes the value of these opportunities.Districts and schools are beginning to thinkmore strategically about opportunities inprofessional development that foster teamlearning among teachers and improve schoolachievement. Creative and strategic practicessuch as lesson study, team learning, andcommon planning time that allow teachers towork together more frequently are becomingmore widespread among districts.

38 Wendy Togneri and Stephen E. Anderson, 2003.

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23

For this analysis, we refer to professionals whoperform in a supervisory capacity as“managers.” As in other fields, educationrecognizes that principals and superintendents— the managers — do much more thansupervise teachers and staff. They areinstrumental to the success of students andteachers, and they must function in a verypolitical environment, which complicates andadds challenges to their role.

Pre-Service Preparation

Manager candidates in all of the fields in thisanalysis typically come from the “front line,” andthey often have a graduate degree and severalyears of experience. In education, managers arerequired to have not only a graduate degree,but also separate licensure.

Outside of education, aspiring managers in thefields featured in this analysis may voluntarilypursue additional education or training toimprove their professional options. Additionally,individual employers in some fields —accounting, firefighting, and policing — mayrequire managers to have completed someform of higher education, but this is not a formal,industry-wide practice. In firefighting andpolicing, managerial candidates must pass awritten exam to get promoted, but they do notneed to undergo an additional licensingprocess.

Education is the only field in this analysis thatrequires additional licensure, and an additionalhigher education degree is most oftennecessary to acquire this licensure. Forty-ninestates require licensure for all principals, and41 require licensure for all superintendents.39

Those licensure requirements vary, but 39 statesrequire principals to have a master’s degree inorder to become licensed, and 34 require thesame of superintendents. Typically,superintendents have doctoral degrees such asPhD’s or EdD’s.

Some school districts, however, possibly dueto a lack of candidates who are prepared tomeet the challenges of these jobs, are changingtheir policies to hire managers withouttraditional preparation and from other fieldssuch as law, business and the military.40 Elevenstates have developed alternative routes forprincipals and superintendents, most of whichare university-based, though few managersactually enter the field in this way.41 Similar tothe growth of alternative licensure for teachers,this may stem, in part, from schools of educationbeing criticized for being too theoretical and notimparting skills necessary for future principalsand superintendents to succeed.42

Another managerial preparation alternative isto move away from universities altogether anduse third-party providers, as exemplified by therecently formed New Leaders for New Schools

Professional Development For Managers

39 National Center on Education Information (2003). School Principal and Superintendent Certification Study.Washington, D.C.: National Center on Education Information.

40 Arthur Levine, Educating School Leaders, (Washington, D.C.: The Education Schools Project, 2005).

41 National Center on Education Information, School Principal and Superintendent Certification Study. (Washington,D.C.: National Center on Education Information, 2003).

42 Elizabeth L. Hale and Hunter N. Moorman, Preparing School Principals: A National Perspective on Policy andProgram Innovations. (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Leadership, 2003).

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Education

Accounting

Architecture

Law

Nursing

Firefighting

Policing

Preparation programs must be approved by astate to grant degrees that count towardlicensure. Programs can apply for accreditationthrough one of several professional accreditingassociations by completing a review process.

Each state’s board of accountancy specifiesthe educational requirements for students tosit for the licensure exam, which drives thecurricula of preparation programs. TheAmerican Assembly of Collegiate Schools ofBusiness is the primary accreditingassociation for undergraduate accountingprograms.

Approximately 70 percent of state registrationboards require a professional architecturedegree from a National Architecture AccreditingBoard (NAAB)-accredited program. The NAABaccredits professional degree programs.

Most state bar associations require applicantsto be graduates of American Bar Association(ABA) accredited programs. The ABA’sGoverning Council of the Section of LegalEducation and Admissions to the Bar setsaccreditation requirements through itsStandards for Approval of Law Schools.

The state boards of nursing regulate contentrequirements for nursing education programs;many nursing programs also pursueaccreditation from professional organizations,such as the National League for NursingAccrediting Commission.

The National Board of Fire Service ProfessionalQualifications offers optional accreditation toorganizations that certify uniformed membersof fire departments.

Each state’s police officer standards andtraining (POST) commission setsrequirements for academy training programs.The International Association of Directors ofLaw Enforcement Standards and Trainingallows states to share information so thecontent of most training programs is fairlyuniform.

Comparison TableLicensure

Each state licenses teachers; allstates require a college degreeand 47 states require prospectiveteachers to pass a licensingexam (or exams). Additionalrequirements vary by state.

All prospective accountants mustpass the same national exam tobe licensed.

All prospective architects mustpass the same national exam tobe licensed.

All prospective attorneys mustpass the bar exam in their stateto be licensed; the exams differfrom state to state, though they allcontain the same multi-statecomponent.

All prospective nurses must passthe same national exam to belicensed.

All prospective firefighters mustmeet certain physicalrequirements and pass writtenexaminations to graduate from atraining academy.

All prospective police officersmust complete an approvedtraining curriculum and beemployed by a police departmentto be licensed.

Pre-Service Clinical Tra

Almost all prospective tparticipate in unpaid internshipsas part of their preparation pro

Accounting students typically pain a paid internship in the ssummer of their third year ofthough internships are generequired.

All state architectural regiboards require students to cominternship, which is typically paverages about three years.

Prospective attorneys often pain a paid internship or experience, though internshipsrequired.

Nursing students must particclinical education, typically unpart of their preparation progwhich they pay tuition and fees

No formal clinical experierequired, beyond the requirements of the training ac

No formal clinical experierequired, beyond the requirements of the training ac

Accreditation


25

aining

eacherss, usuallyograms.

articipatespring orf school,rally not

istrationmplete anpaid and

articipateclinical

s are not

cipate innpaid, asgram, fors.

ence isgeneral

cademy.

ence isgeneral

cademy.

Induction Period

Some states require and someschools and districts provideinduction programs for newteachers. The existing programsvary considerably.

There may be an initial period ofpractical orientation, but no formalinduction period is required.



New nurses often begin theircareers with a formal orientationperiod that lasts an average ofeight weeks and includesmentoring by an experiencednurse.

A firefighter’s first year isconsidered probationary. Newfirefighters are well-supervisedand regularly evaluated bysuperiors.

The police officer’s first year isconsidered probationary and newofficers are often assigned to workwith a field training officer for oneto six months.

In-Service Training

A state, or more often an individual district,approves professional development activities andthe providers of those activities, though there areno uniform standards. Teachers in 45 states mustcomplete a minimum number of hours of trainingto renew or maintain licensure.

The Uniform Accountancy Act has 18 standardsthat determine legitimate continuing educationfor CPAs. Each state’s Board of Accountancydetermines whether courses meet thesestandards; all states require a minimum numberof hours to renew or maintain licensure.

Individual state registration boards grantapproval of professional development. About halfthe states (26) require architects to complete aminimum number of hours. Providers must applyto the American Institute of Architects’ ContinuingEducation System to become members.

Individual state bar associations grant approvalof courses and other continuing legal educationrequirements. They also grant approval to theproviders of that training; 47 states require aminimum number of training hours.

The American Nurses’ Credentialing Center’sCommission on Accreditation grants approval toan organization or institution to award continuingeducation units. The state boards of nursingdecide what units are recognized; 18 statescurrently require a minimum number of units.

In-service training is not required for firefighters,though the National Fire Prevention Associationhas developed an optional training standard thatdepartments may choose to follow.

Each state’s POST commission approvescertified training and the providers of that training;all states require that police officers participatein a minimum number of hours of training.

Management

Principals and superintendentsgenerally must have a graduatedegree. Almost all states (49) requirelicensure for principals and 41 statesrequire licensure for superintendentsin addition to and separate from theirteaching licenses.

Most managers have a graduatedegree, such as a masters inbusiness administration, butadditional licensure is not required.

Most managers pursue a master’s inbusiness administration or participatein American Institute of Architectstraining, but additional licensure is notrequired.

Additional education or licensure isnot required for managers, thoughmany firms provide in-house trainingfor supervisors.

Many managers pursue graduatecoursework in nursing and/orbusiness administration; additionallicensure is not required, thoughmany managers pursue advancedcertification.

Managers must have a minimumnumber of college credits and pass apromotional exam to be considered,but no additional licensure is required;some departments requiremanagement training.

Many managers have graduatedegrees and all must pass a civilservice exam to be considered forpromotion; additional licensure is notrequired, though a growing number ofmoderate- to large-sized departmentsrequire management training.

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program. States and districts have also createdtheir own programs to help prepare principals,such as the state-level California SchoolLeadership Academy and the ChicagoLeadership Initiative for Transformation (LIFT).43

These programs must partner with a highereducation institution, however, to provide acredential that is recognized by the state, unlessthat state allows an exemption from the license,as very few do.44

Education is the only field whereprofessionals must obtain separatelicensure to become managers. Theadditional licensure, however, does not alwaysensure that managers have the knowledge andskills necessary to succeed. In the future,stakeholders in public education may want toconsider alternatives to additional licensure formanagers, particularly as discussions movebeyond general management issues andtoward instructional leadership. Someeducators argue that changing or removing thisrequirement would open the candidate pool upto a wider and possibly more suitable array ofchoices.

In-ServiceProfessional Development

Except for fire and police, managers in thecomparison fields in this analysis have noadditional in-service training requirementsbeyond those required of their non-managerialcolleagues. Firefighting and policing havestructured in-service training systems formanagers, emphasizing peer learning. Specificmanagement training requirements for

firefighters vary by municipality. In New YorkCity, for example, management candidatesparticipate in a formal training programalongside their peers and a separate mentoringprogram. Police must attend a policemanagement school in their state.

Some states require managers in education tocomplete a set number of continuing educationhours or credits to retain their licenses.Generally, however, there is far less emphasison in-service professional development formanagers than for teachers. A common practicein education is to require managers to train tobecome principals by serving as assistantprincipals.

A number of districts, often in partnership withinstitutions of higher education or otherorganizations, have created specific training fornew principals and ongoing professionaldevelopment activities for all principals.45 Someuniversities offer professional developmentprograms that allow managers to interact andlearn from their peers.46 Professionalassociations for principals andsuperintendents, as well as the Council of GreatCity Schools, offer professional developmentopportunities that vary from activities thataddress issues specific to a school district togatherings that bring together certain cohorts,such as superintendents of big, urban schools.There are also a number of individual initiativessponsored by foundations or educationorganizations that pair new principals withexperienced colleagues for mentoring andsupport, such as the Leadership for LearningProject, a partnership between three urban NewJersey school districts and the Center for

43 Arthur Levine, 2005; Carol Cohen et al., Profiles of Selected Promising Professional Development Initiatives.(Washington, D.C.: The Finance Project, 2001).

44 Arthur Levine, 2005.

45 Elizabeth L. Hale and Hunter N. Moorman, 2003.

46 Katherine Neville and Casey Robinson, The Delivery, Financing, and Assessment of Professional Developmentin Education: Pre-Service Preparation and In-Service Training. (Washington, D.C.: The Finance Project, 2003).


27

Evidence-Based Education, part of the NewAmerican Schools.47

Education, firefighting and policing haveformal requirements for in-servicemanagement training. Training for firefighterand police officer managers usually has astrong focus on peer learning. New managertraining for firefighters and police officersprovides interesting examples that are worthexamining for managers in education.Principals and superintendents, as well as fireand police chiefs, perform their jobs in highlypolitical environments where they are

accountable to citizens and governmentalleaders. The peer-focused approach to in-service training in firefighting and policing issimilar to recent district and school-level effortsto provide “in-house” pre-service preparationfor education managers. These programs allowcandidates to build camaraderie while learningto address challenges they will face in their newpositions. As managers in education haveseparate requirements for in-serviceprofessional development, the peer-foundedapproaches of police and fire departments aremodels to consider in the effort to improvemanagerial training.

47 Elizabeth L. Hale and Hunter N. Moorman, 2003.

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29

Financing Pre-ServicePreparation

Except for firefighting and police, all of the fieldsin this analysis expect individuals to pay for theirpre-service education program, the cost ofwhich varies greatly depending on the type ofschooling pursued or required (i.e., a two-yeardegree compared to a four-year degree; aprivate college compared to a public university).Beyond classroom work, students in thesefields may also have to pay fees related tolicensing, assessments or exams. Managersare also expected to pay for their pre-serviceexpenses. In contrast, firefighters and policeofficers undergo pre-service preparationthrough local training programs that arefinanced by their local departments.

The fields vary, however, in financing of theclinical experience. Accounting, architecture,and law firms usually pay interns for theirservices. Nursing internships are typicallyunpaid. As noted earlier, police and firefightingdo not have a clinical experience apart from thetraining academy.

In education, similar to nursing, prospectiveteachers must pay tuition and fees to fund all oftheir pre-service preparation, including clinicalexperience. This presents a financial burden forsome prospective teachers that individualstates and the federal government partiallyalleviate through grant and loan programs.Many of these programs are designated forteachers who are committed to work in high-poverty areas.

Some districts offer a stipend or salary tostudent teachers to improve the value of theclinical experience, often targeting these fundsto encourage or support entrants in certain high-need areas or subjects. For example, theUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee/MilwaukeePublic Schools Internship Program forPreparing Special Education Teachersprepares teachers to provide special educationservices at the early childhood, elementary,middle, and high school levels. Post-baccalaureate interns work as specialeducation teachers in public schools with fullclassroom responsibility and earn a beginningteacher’s salary while they work toward fullcertification through the university. Full-timementors support the interns while they work inthe public schools.48

In the fields examined where largepercentages of practitioners work in theprivate sector, individuals are expected topay for their pre-service preparation.Although most teachers work in publicschools, they are also expected to pay fortheir pre-service preparation, in contrast toother public sector employees —firefighters and police — who receive fullpublic funding. The education field is trying toease the financial burden on prospectiveteachers, especially those working inunderserved areas or teaching in areas of highdemand. The federal government and manystates offer tuition assistance and loanprograms. Education schools and districts arecollaborating to provide a stipend or wages tostudent teachers. Some communities havebegun to provide housing subsidies to teachers.Despite these efforts, however, the education

Financing Professional Development

48 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Exceptional Education (2004). http://www.soe.uwm.edu/pages/welcome/Departments/Exceptional_Education/UWM_MPS_Special_Education_Internship_Program

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field still struggles to find teachers willing to workin certain schools and classrooms. Attractingentrants to the field, most urgently to “hard tostaff” areas, remains an important objective toconsider in financing efforts to strengthen theteaching force.

Financing In-ServiceProfessional Development

In every field in this analysis, except for nursing,employers finance in-service training thatenables employees to retain their licensure.Nurses are expected to finance their own in-service training, though some hospitals offertuition reimbursement for nurses’ continuingeducation.

In-service professional development ineducation is essentially financed through local,state, and federal funds. Districts, andsometimes individual schools, coordinate thesefunding streams. Professional development cancomprise as much as 6 percent of a district’stotal operating expenditures, which can translateinto millions of dollars.49

In addition to financing in-service training,architecture, accounting, and law also providefinancial incentives and rewards to employeesfor higher levels of skill and performance. To theextent these qualities are gained throughcoursework, these fields may rewardprofessionals for graduate degrees that aredirectly applicable to the position, with anyresulting increase in compensation for eachindividual left to the employer’s discretion.

By contrast, in education, firefighting, andpolicing, salaries are based on experience andeducation, rather than performance. Ineducation, completing graduate courseworkprovides one of the few opportunities for salaryadvancement. Many schools and districtsdedicate significant funds to salary increasesbased on the number of graduate credits orhours completed, even if the coursework is notdirectly related to that teacher’s subject orclassroom work. Because these increasesrepresent ongoing salary obligations, theamount of money dedicated to this practicedwarfs all other district professionaldevelopment expenditures. A number ofdistricts also reimburse teachers for the cost ofgraduate coursework; while the extent of thispractice is unclear, some automaticallyreimburse teachers for graduate work whileother districts provide a limited pool of fundsfor which teachers must apply. A large body ofresearch indicates, however, that the connectionbetween graduate coursework and teacherperformance is tenuous and that a master’sdegree does not necessarily make a moreeffective teacher.50

While graduate coursework remains a largeprofessional development expenditure andthe primary vehicle for teacher salarypromotion, there have been efforts to findways to better link financing with desiredresults. Strategies to address this probleminclude requiring that coursework directly relateto the teacher’s subject or identified needs.Recently, some districts and states have alsobegun to find alternative ways to reward teacherperformance. For example, many provide salary

49 Karen Hawley Miles and Linda Darling-Hammond. Rethinking the Allocation of Teaching Resources: SomeLessons From High-Performing Schools. Prepared for the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (1997).

50 Steven Rivkin, Eric Hanushek, and John Kain, Teachers, Schools and Academic Achievement. NBER WorkingPaper No. 6691. (Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Education Research, 1998, revised 2002).; ChristopherJepsen and Steven Rivkin, Class Size Reduction, Teacher Quality, and Academic Achievement in CaliforniaPublic Elementary Schools. (San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute of California, 2002); Brian Rowan, RichardCorrenti, and Robert J. Miller, What Large-Scale, Survey Research Tells Us About the Teacher Effects on StudentAchievement: Insights from the Prospects Study of Elementary Schools,” Teachers College Record 104, no. 8(2002):,1525-67.


31

rewards to teachers who have demonstratedtheir ability to teach to high standards throughachieving National Board Certification.51 Inaddition, a growing number of districts arebeginning to experiment with pay-for-performance models, which reward teacherswho demonstrate higher skills andperformance.52 The federal government hasalso recently proposed providing dollars toexpand pay-for-performance models.

Since research has demonstrated that theconnection between graduate coursework or amaster’s degree and improved performance onthe part of the teacher is tenuous, more work isneeded to identify the frequency andcharacteristics of district practices rewardingand reimbursing teachers for such courseworkas well as to quantify the money being devotedto those practices. That information can thenallow stakeholders to assess the comparativecosts and benefits of devoting resources tothese practices as opposed to other means ofproviding incentives and rewardingperformance.

51 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2005). www.nbpts.org

52 Sylvia A. Allegretto, Sean P. Corcoran, and Lawrence Mishel, How Does Teacher Pay Compare? (Washington,D.C.: Economic Policy Institute, 2004); Education Commission of the States. Pay-for-Performance: Key Questionsand Lessons from Five Current Models. (Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States, 2001); The TeachingCommission, Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action. (New York, NY: The Teaching Commission, 2004).

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In education, the NCLB Act, stakeholders’interests, and research connecting educatorperformance with student outcomes have madeteacher quality a priority among policy makers.Thus, particularly now, it is important to haveaccess to information that can contribute to thedebate and discussions of the complex andpolitical issues inherent in efforts to strengthenteaching quality, including professionaldevelopment as a way to build knowledge andskills among teachers in order to improvestudent achievement.

This analysis compares professionaldevelopment delivery and financing ineducation to that in six other fields: accounting,architecture, law, nursing, police, and firefighting.The six fields illustrate different models of pre-service preparation, in-service training, andfinancing. Our findings highlight severalimportant points for stakeholders in educationto consider:

• Most of the comparison fields havedeveloped more uniform standards for entryinto the field, preparation program approval,and in-service training.

• Education is the only profession that allowssome individuals to practice beforecompleting a defined licensure process.

• Clinical experiences and inductionprograms in education are less structuredand less consistently supervised than thoseof some other fields.

• Education is the only field that requiresmanagers to have separate licensure.

• In contrast to other public sector employeeswho receive full public funding of their pre-service preparation, public school teachersfinance their own.

• Education is beginning to move in thedirection of other fields in recognizing thevalue of peer learning.

• While education has traditionally madesalary increases contingent on thecompletion of graduate coursework, the fieldis beginning to experiment with ways thatbase salary increases on performance.

While there is doubt about the effectiveness ofprofessional development in all of the fieldsexamined, no field systematically assesses theeffect of training programs on employeeperformance. In education, the current focus onimproving teacher quality has heighteneddemand that professional developmentprograms show clear evidence of effectiveness.School districts — under pressure to producegood student results — want evidence ofimproved student achievement before devotingmore resources to professional development.In this sense, it appears that professionaldevelopment in education is being held to ahigher standard than the other fields in thisanalysis.

The education field has begun to put significanteffort into evaluating the true costs andoutcomes of professional development. Thenext several years may bring more innovationand evolution to the field of professionaldevelopment for teachers, and, with the growthin value-added analyses, more abundant andreliable evidence of its impact on studentachievement. As this occurs, the debate aroundprofessional development and its role instrengthening the education system can beinformed by how other fields have approachedthese challenges and by recognizing thetradeoffs various alternatives present.

Conclusion

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Appendix: Summaries of ProfessionalDevelopment in Other FieldsAs part of a cross-disciplinary analysis of howprofessional development is delivered in otherfields, The Finance Project commissioned sixpapers by experts in law, accounting,architecture, nursing, firefighting, and policing.The results were compared to how professionaldevelopment is delivered and financed forteachers, principals, and superintendents in K-12 education. The six papers are summarizedhere.

LawIntroduction. Law school graduates have awide variety of professional options, the mostcommon of which is to complete a state barexamination with an eye toward being admittedto practice law. Once a licensed member ofthe bar, a graduate can work individually or asa member of a law firm, a lawyer-employee inthe legal division of a business organization, ora lawyer within a government agency.Alternatives include corporate management,political office, government employment, andfinancial planning. This paper focuses on lawschool graduates admitted to the bar andpracticing law.

Pre-Service Preparation. Before admissionto the bar, the would-be lawyer must completeseveral major educational or training steps.First, in nearly all states, he or she must completea four-year undergraduate degree followed bya three-year law degree, culminating in the JurisDoctor (JD) degree. Many post-JD programsalso exist, but completion of a JD program isthe only requirement for taking the barexamination or for being admitted to practicelaw. No specific undergraduate degree isrequired or even recommended before applyingto enter law school. While many colleges anduniversities offer “pre-law” programs to

undergraduates, they are neither endorsed nordiscounted by law schools.

In-Service Professional Development. Onceadmitted to the bar, lawyers are expected to staycurrent in their fields and become current in newfields through Continuing Legal Education(CLE). In all but three states, lawyers mustcomplete a minimum number of CLE hoursannually in order to keep their licenses activewith the bar, but they are not required to passany examinations demonstrating knowledgegained from those programs. Therefore, thelegal profession’s CLE mandate could beinterpreted as a requirement only to receivewritten CLE materials and to sit through CLEprograms, whether they are live, on video or onthe World Wide Web.

Professional Development for Managers.The lack of formal professional development foraspiring managers in law may have a negativeimpact on the profession. However, as themajority of lawyers focus on practicing law andnot managing, the need for advancedprofessional management skills may not be soclear. Also, very few practicing lawyers aspireto “rise through the ranks” of management toreach the top, since that would require them torelinquish most, or all, of their law practice. Whatthe legal profession has, and must continue tohave, are non-lawyers trained to performmanagement functions within law firms, so thatthe lawyers in the firm can continue to do whatthey are trained to do–practice law.

Financing Professional Development. Fornearly all lawyers, time is money, so devotingseveral hours or several days to CLE can beextremely costly, at times even beyond thetuition charged. In theory, at least, completionof these CLE courses makes the attendees

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better lawyers, but any precise measure of thatbenefit is impossible. Most state bars requiremembers to attend a minimum number of CLEhours each year to maintain one’s law license,so the obvious benefit to the practicing lawyeris the ability to continue the active practice oflaw. Given that CLE usually is mandatory, themajority of lawyers and law firms are presumedto pay the fees and attend the programs simplyto continue practicing law. Lawyers evaluateCLE programs after attending them, but thesewritten evaluations are used internally by theCLE organizations and are not part of anybroader study on the effectiveness of suchprograms.

AccountingIntroduction. Careers in accounting vary fromclerical to professional and the educationalpreparation necessary for each depends on thenature of the career path. For example, highschool and junior college students can take afew accounting classes, learn an accountingsoftware package, and then work asbookkeepers, clerks, or lower level accountantsfor corporations or small businesses. Thisreport focuses on professional accountants whohave, at a minimum, an undergraduateaccounting degree.

Pre-Service Preparation. Typically,undergraduate accounting courses provide thegeneral accounting education needed by allentry-level professional accountants. Mostundergraduate accounting students cancomplete this course of study in four years.However, students wishing to specialize furtheroften pursue dual degrees such as accountingand finance or accounting and managementinformation systems. Students who want to sitfor the CPA exam are required by law to havean undergraduate accounting degree, and in 40states, 150 hours of college credit is required(in eight other states, the 150-hour requirementhas been approved, but has not been enacted).As a result of the 150-hour requirement, many

students consider graduate degrees such asMaster of Accountancy, Master of Taxation, orMaster of Business Administration, with anemphasis in accounting as the de facto entry-level degree for public accounting. In additionto the general accounting education courses,these students typically specialized in attest, taxservices or information systems.

In-Service Professional Development. Thein-service professional development orContinuing Professional Education (CPE) ofaccountants depends on career track andcertification. For those professionals whobecome certified by an accreditingorganization, the accrediting body dictates theCPE requirements necessary to maintain thecredential. Licensed CPAs must have 120hours of CPE or its equivalent for each three-year reporting period in order to maintain theircertification. Continuing professional educationfor CPAs is regulated by statute. The UniformAccountancy Act, a model on which each state’saccountancy law is based, has 18 standardsthat specify what qualifies as ContinuingProfessional Education for CPAs. Accreditingbodies such as the Institute of ManagementAccountants (IMA) and Institute of InternalAuditors (IIA) also require CPE for those whohold their credentials. However, unlike theCPA’s requirements, they do not have the forceof law, and each organization must establishand enforce its standards for acceptable CPEcourses.

Professional Development for Managers.Managers in public accounting are selectedafter demonstrating their technical andmanagerial skills and successfully completingin-house training over a period of years. Theamount and nature of the training thataccountants receive during this processdepends on the employer. Accountants areselected for managerial positions once theyunderstand the business, have demonstratedmanagerial ability, and have the appropriatetraining and education. Many corporations


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insist that their managers have a graduatedegree before being admitted to themanagement team. After reaching themanagement level, the amount and type oftraining depend on the responsibilities of themanager. The training can be in-house orprovided externally in executive trainingprograms. Firms almost always provide fundingfor these programs.

Financing Professional Development. Thebenefit of professional development comparedto its cost is difficult to identify. The fact that CPEis required for CPAs to maintain their licensesraises the question of whether CPAs wouldchoose less-rigorous CPE courses just tomaintain their licenses. While continuingprofessional education programs may vary inlevels of difficulty, it is important to note that allcourses must meet the minimum standards setby each state’s board of accountancy beforequalifying as acceptable CPE. While there maybe those who manipulate the system, mostprofessionals want the most benefit from theirCPE dollars and not merely to meet CPErequirements in the easiest possible fashion.

ArchitectureIntroduction. All 50 states, the District ofColumbia, and four U.S. territories (Guam,Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and U.S.Virgin Islands) require individuals to be licensedbefore they call themselves architects orcontract to provide architectural services. Eachjurisdiction has its own architectural registrationboard that establishes requirements forregistration or licensure. Although registrationlaws vary, all boards require some type ofcollege degree; a field internship, generallyunder the direct supervision of a registeredarchitect; and successful completion of a nine-part examination. In addition, some jurisdictionsrequire continuing education as a condition foran architect to retain his or her license. Thus,while professional development in architecturetypically begins in a school of architecture, it

continues through internships at architecturefirms, continuing education programs, andprofessional practice.

Pre-Service Preparation. Although educationrequirements for licensure vary from state tostate, roughly 70 percent of the registrationboards have established as their requirementa professional degree in architecture from aprogram accredited by the NationalArchitectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) orCanadian Architectural Certification Board(CACB). Some state registration boardsrequiring an accredited professional degree inarchitecture also accept other educationalcredentials assessed as equivalent (e.g., aprofessional degree in architecture from aforeign institution). The educationalrequirements of the remaining jurisdictions alsomay allow for a pre-professional undergraduatedegree program in architecture. All architecturalregistration boards require candidates tocomplete an internship or training period beforethey can be licensed.

In-Service Professional Development.Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) isrequired by state registration boards forarchitects to retain their licenses. Twenty-sixjurisdictions require MCE, although more areexpected to adopt it as a requirement forlicensure. Requirements vary by state but theyinvolve completion of a specific number of hoursin MCE programs, including seminars,workshops, formal university classes,conferences, and self-study courses. The timeperiod in which the hours of MCE must becompleted also can vary greatly, from one tothree years. For example, Alabama requires12 hours of MCE a year to maintain a license,whereas New York requires 36 hours everythree years. Much of continuing educationfocuses on health, safety, and welfare (HSW)subject areas as defined by the various states’registration boards. Except for Kansas, every

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state registration board with MCE requires 8 to12 of these hours each year in health, safety,and welfare areas.

Professional Development for Managers.Except for very small projects (e.g., a single-family house), architects and interns work onprojects as part of a team. Training in projectmanagement is generally informal, derived fromextended experience as a team member.Among the factors in how quickly an individualmoves from team member to project managerare time, experience, size of the practice, andan individual preference of wanting to managea project, rather than design it, as a projectarchitect. Still, more formal training andeducation for managers is often sought,including business school management-trainingprograms, AIA training manuals, and eveningand distance-learning courses. Courses,workshops, and in-study assignments in variousaspects of project management are usuallyavailable from AIA continuing educationcourses.

Financing Professional Development. Stateregistration boards balance the costs andbenefits of professional development in light oftheir mandate to ensure the health, safety, andwelfare of citizens. Mandating continuingeducation to retain licensure demonstrates howeach board assesses that balance. MandatoryContinuing Education (MCE) has beenestablished in 26 states and is beingconsidered or implemented in another 17.These patterns suggest that more and morestates are concluding that the benefits of MCE– particularly in health, safety, and welfare areas– outweigh the costs to registration boards (e.g.,for record-keeping) and architects. However,to date there has been no systematic attemptto measure the effectiveness or worth ofcontinuing education to the private sector. Sincethe average AIA member is licensed in threestates, the likelihood of holding a license withina state with a MCE requirement is substantial.AIA’s anticipation of this trend in state licensing

requirements was one factor that led to theestablishment of the AIA/CES seven years ago.

NursingIntroduction. A formal system of education fornurses began at the turn of the 20th century inthe United States. Before that, nurses weretrained in apprenticeship programs byphysician committees, primarily at hospitals. Asthese programs matured, nurse “training”became nurse “education,” and a variety ofdifferent routes into the profession weredeveloped. Some of the programs providedinstruction primarily in hospitals while othersbegan training nurses in institutions of highereducation. Today there are a variety of optionsfor both prospective nurses seeking pre-serviceprofessional development and certified nursespursuing continuing education.

Pre-Service Preparation. Currently, there arethree pre-service options for entry intoprofessional nursing practice: the nursingdiploma awarded by a hospital-based school;an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN),awarded by a junior or community college; anda bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN),awarded by a four-year college or university.Despite the differences in the three programs,nursing administrators say that all nursesperform on a similar level by the end of theirfirst year of work, regardless of their preparationprogram. As a result, there is little consensusas to the preferred route of entry into practice.Regardless of the type of program in whichstudents are enrolled, they all will have variedpractice experiences in different settings.

In-Service Professional Development. Thefirst in-service professional developmentprogram in which most nurses participate is theorientation for new hires, including mentoringfrom a more experienced nurse. Theseorientations include an introduction to bothagency policies and procedures, a possibleoverview of hospital politics, and a review of


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skills, which is sometimes accompanied by afinal examination. In addition to orientationprograms, agencies also provide nurses withthe opportunity to learn about and utilize newproducts and technologies. Information aboutthese areas, however, typically is delivered bya product salesperson and rarely, if ever, by aneducator. Nurses also can continue theirprofessional development through continuingeducation programs. More than half the statesnow require nurses seeking license renewal toearn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Statenursing boards do not prescribe how the CEUrequirements are met, allowing nurses theflexibility of choosing how to earn their creditsbefore presenting evidence of them to the stateboard.

Professional Development for Managers.Hospitals often have no educationalrequirements for the lowest level of manager;community agencies require a bachelor’s ormaster’s degree. The training starts on the job,but most nurse managers recognize early in theircareers that they need more education andusually begin coursework leading to a master’sdegree in nursing administration or businessadministration. In addition, they may take theANCC’s certification examination for “NursingAdministration” or “Nursing Administration,Advanced.” Both examinations require thecandidate to have at least a BSN degree; theadvanced certification requires a master’s ofscience in nursing (MSN) degree; and bothrequire the candidate to have at least two years’administrative experience before taking the test.Certification implies expertise in the field;without the years of management experience,nurses are not considered expert. Nurses areresponsible for financing their own education,however, hospitals and many other health careagencies do offer tuition reimbursement.

Financing Professional Development.Nurses select CEU courses for any of severalreasons. For example, if nurses need the CEUcourses for certification, they will choose

programs that address topics applicable to thespecialty requirements. If nurses need coursesonly for re-licensure, they generally will takethose that are most convenient and leastexpensive since many hospitals are reluctantto pay for nurses to attend seminars or evengive them time off to attend. Although it wouldseem to make sense that attending aneducational program could improveprofessional practice, there is no research thatsupports that concept and hospitals maintainthey are too short-staffed to allow employeestime off for continuing education. Withoutdocumentation of the effectiveness of suchprograms, continuing education will not be apriority to the employer or the employee.

FirefightingIntroduction. The New York City FireDepartment (FDNY) with its 203 enginecompanies, 143 ladder companies, andnumerous special units (e.g., rescuecompanies, fireboats, etc.) is the largest firedepartment in the United States. More than11,000 firefighters and fire officers staff theseunits. Professional development in thedepartment begins when a candidate starts toprepare for the written and physical entryexaminations and continues until a memberretires.

Pre-Service Preparation. A civil serviceexamination for potential firefighters is offeredevery two to four years. While the passing gradeis 70 percent, only those who score the higheston the written exam (historically a grade greaterthan 90 percent) move on to the competitivephysical exam. Grades on the written and thephysical exams are combined and averagedfor a final score, which is used to rankcandidates for selection. Those approved aregrouped into classes at the Fire Academy’sProbationary Firefighter’s School. Aftergraduation, probationary firefighters areassigned to engine or ladder companies andremain on probation for their first 12 months of

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service, during which time additional training isprovided.

In-Service Professional Development.Training continues throughout a member’scareer in the form of daily company drills,Monday through Friday, and multi-unit drills onweekends. All units follow a department-wideschedule that also allows for drills of local interestand importance (e.g., high-rise buildings inManhattan or brushfires on Staten Island). TheFire Academy also brings units to its Randall’sIsland facility and other satellite facilities forformal training. Some are on-going programs(e.g., search, tactical training, mask confidence),and some are instituted in response to currentneeds, such as terrorism awareness.Firefighters also attend training conferencesaround the nation, often at their own expense.The department sends representatives to theNational Fire Prevention Association (NFPA),National Fire Academy programs, andemergency medical service (EMS)conferences, as well as to highly technicaltraining programs unavailable locally. Of course,money is always a limiting factor, as even no-cost training carries the expense of payingovertime to fill the member’s slot on the fireapparatus while the member is away.

Professional Development for Managers.Fire chiefs become managers by studying forand passing promotional exams. Oncepromoted, battalion chiefs receive four weeksof training at the Fire Academy. They then begina period of “covering” — working all over thecity, filling in for other chiefs on vacation ormedical leave — which may last up to 36months, depending on the needs of thedepartment. Only then do they receive aspecific assignment. Beyond the limited trainingthat accompanies each promotion, the onlyother “required” training is whatever self-trainingis necessary to pass the exams.

Financing Professional Development. It hasalways been difficult to quantify the effectiveness

of the department’s training. There are fewmeaningful standardized tests, such as thoseused by school systems, and no easymeasures, such as sales being up or down. Itis possible to quantify some specializedtraining, such as measuring accident rates toevaluate driver training programs, but there isno clear way to measure other training. Thecity has tried to use the decline in fire deaths asa measure of the department’s performance,just as the murder rate is used to measure thePolice Department’s success. Yet, whether areduced fire-death rate is a factor of socialchanges completely independent of thedepartment’s performance remains unclear. Inthe years with the highest number of fire deathsin the city’s history, the department’s training andperformance were never questioned.

PolicingIntroduction. Although in some fields the terms“education” and “training” are ofteninterchangeable, in policing a clear distinctionexists between them. “Education” is limited tomean the earning of academic credits—notnecessarily toward a degree — at anaccredited college or university. “Training”typically refers to attending specifically orientedcourses designed to provide information anddevelop skills in police practice (e.g., reportwriting, traffic accident investigation, andfirearms training). Every state except Hawaii hasa police officer standards and trainingcommission — commonly referred to as aPOST commission — although the names ofthe agencies vary by state. Each of thesecommissions certifies or licenses police officersand establishes minimum training requirementsor regulates legislatively mandated trainingstandards.

Pre-Service Preparation. In policing, noclinical training is required before a candidateis appointed, certified, or licensed. However,many police agencies prefer college studentswho have served an internship because they


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can provide references who can comment onthe applicant’s job activity and demeanor in apolicing environment. Some police officialsalso feel that an internship can serve as a“weeding out” process in which some studentsmay learn they are not suited for policing.Generally, police internships are not paid.

In-Service Professional Development. Inmost – but not all – states, officers are requiredto take part in some form of in-service trainingthat is certified by the POST commission. Insome cases, specific issues are mandated,however most states leave the in-servicetraining topics to the discretion of the policedepartment, so long as that training is POST-certified. POST-certified training can bepresented by the department itself or auniversity, private company, or professionalorganization. Training courses can be in-classinstruction, distance education, Internet-basedinstruction, or self-paced learning.

Professional Development for Managers.Once a person is promoted to a managementposition, he or she typically is queued to attendsome sort of management training. Variousoptions for such training are available, althoughonly a few large police agencies and a fewstates have their own management trainingprograms. The most highly sought-after policemanagement school is the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation National Academy (FBINA).

Financing Professional Development.Policing relies almost exclusively on pubicfinancing and in tight budget times, professionaldevelopment is one of the first areas to be cut.While this could be viewed as short-sighted,police executives would argue that the bulk oftheir responsibilities are public safety and crisismanagement. Those areas cannot besacrificed to budget cuts, but professionaldevelopment can.

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AcknowledgmentsThis publication would not have been possible without generous support from the Ford Foundationand the help of many people. Michele McLaughlin (American Federation of Teachers), DavidImig (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education), Mary Dilworth (AmericanAssociation of Colleges for Teacher Education), Arthur Wise (National Council for Accreditationof Teacher Education), Kate Walsh ( National Council on Teacher Quality), Joe Aguerrebere(National Board for Professional Teaching Standards), Stephanie Hirsh (National StaffDevelopment Council), Ann Lieberman (Carnegie Foundation), Terry Orr ( Teachers College,Columbia University), and Andy Rotherham (Progressive Policy Institute) all reviewed the draftsand provided helpful suggestions. Eric Hirsch (Southeast Center for Teaching Quality ), BarbaraMoffett (Southeastern Louisiana University), Denis Onieal (U.S. Department of HomelandSecurity), Suzanna Wight (American Institute of Architects), Lucinda Fickel (The Finance Project),and Casey Robinson (teacher, Arlington County Schools) also lent their expertise to the project.And of course the authors who analyzed the comparison fields played a central role: Dan Deines(accounting), Sherry Ahrentzen ( architecture), Victor Streib (law), Marylou McHugh (nursing),Daniel Nigro (firefighting), David Carter (police).

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preparing and training professionals - the finance project

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