Are Teachers Prepared for the Classroom

When you got your first teaching job, did you feel prepared?  Did you know the ins and outs and what you had to do?  Did you feel in the 4,5,6 years you spent in college that you spent enough time in a real classroom, and not listening to professors tell you how to teach?  Well, if you answered yes to any of these, chances are you're not alone.  A recent study is recommending that teacher prep programs at the college level need to be drastically altered.  (Click Here to Read the Story).  The problem with the report is that they are only recommendations, and none of it is mandatory.  However, eight states have already signed off on the report, and vowed to put in the use the recommendations.  I know the state of Michigan has a good reputation when it comes to turning out teachers.  However, I was less than thrilled with my teacher prep program.  I went to Central, and will openly question whether CMU is resting on its lofty reputation and not doing much to really prepare their future teachers.