democracy & education, vol 22, no - 2 feature article 1 New Forms of Teacher Education Connections to Charter Schools and Their Approaches Sarah M. Stitzlein and Craig K. West Abstract his article critically analyzes the application of charter school techniques in teacher education, espe- cially in two noteworthy programs: the newly developed Relay Graduate School of Education and Match Teacher Residency. We describe how their approaches to teacher preparation difer from tradi- tional teacher education programs. We also raise concern regarding the ways charter-inspired teacher preparation programs overlook the contributions of theory to good teaching, jeopardize teacher lex- ibility, alter understandings of the professional practice of teaching, and threaten the overarching purpose of educating for democracy that is integral to traditional teacher colleges. We emphasize educationally worthwhile approaches from this new domain of teacher preparation while also ofer- ing some words of caution regarding approaches that, given their ties to charter schooling, may be problematically celebrated by the media and public. P ublic opinion as well as state and federal policies have increasingly endorsed the charter school movement in the United States. From ilms like Waiting for Superman to news magazine television programs like NBC’s Education Nation, the media frequently celebrates charter schools as a key component of good education reform. Media accounts combined with educational policies and anecdotes about charter school success have given two-thirds of the public a favorable impression of this mode of education (Guilfoyle, 2010). Waiting for Superman, for example, argues that poor teacher quality stems from lack of suicient teacher preparation, and lack of quality teaching leads to subpar educational performance. he ilm, and others like it, suggests that charter schools may be the solution needed to improve this situation. It is no surprise, then, that as frustrations with the quality of teacher education programs intensify, some leaders in the ield of education have begun to explore whether aspects of charter schools might be useful for reforming teacher preparation. hese distinguishing characteristics range from decreasing government oversight to teaching in unconventional locations and from emphasizing student test achievement to focusing more attention on struggling students. One such education leader, Atkins, founded a graduate school for teacher preparation that he describes as being “like a charter school of education” (as cited in Caperton & Whitmire, 2012, p. 79) He explains, “It’s signiicant that we decided to become a higher education institution. We recognize that there’s value in reforming higher ed from within higher ed” (as cited in Caperton & Whitmire, 2012, p. 79). Just as some charter schools have provided alternatives within the public school system, charter-oriented teacher preparation programs may also provide improved alterna- tives to the ways in which most teachers are educated. It may be that these pioneering programs provide the “revolutionary change—, not evolutionary tinkering” that Duncan (2009, para. 3) claims is needed within our “mediocre” (para. 3) teacher education colleges. Sharing such beliefs about charter approaches to teacher preparation, Senator Bennett and Representatives Polis and Petri reintroduced the Growing Excellent Achievement Training Academies for Teachers and Principals Act (GREAT Act) in May Sarah M. Stitzlein is an associate professor of philosophy of education and curriculum theory at the University of Cincinnati. Craig K. West is a doctoral student in educational studies— literacy at the University of Cincinnati. Acknowledgments: We thank Amy Rector-Aranda for her careful work in helping to prepare this manuscript and for the ideas that she helped to facilitate. We also thank Barrett Smith, a recently resigned Match tutor for his insight into the Match experience. Submit a response to this article Submit online at democracyeducationjournal.org/home Read responses to this article online http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol22/iss2/2