Competency-Based Teacher Education in Reading.

Some states licensing agencies are seeking to change the way in which all teachers are certified as a result of demands by state legislative bodies and citizens groups who say that they want greater returns from their tax dollars as demonstrated by increased pupil learning. There are several arguments against competency-based teacher education, however. Some teachers argue that no one has shown that a strong relationship between teacher and pupil performance exists. The humanists are concerned with such matters as adaptability, creativity, self-concept, values, attitudes, beliefs, feelings and other affective results of learning. However, changes in the way teachers are certified and in the ways they are prepared to teach are desirable. By 1980 all existing teacher education programs must become competency based. Future teachers of reading should be provided with a list of activities they can persue in order to become acquainted with and use appropriate diagnostic tools for analyzing reading behaviors and making recommendations for instructional programing. (SW)