Landscapes in Teacher Prep: Undergraduate Secondary

For most Americans, the high school years played a pivotal role in shaping what they know about subjects such as U.S. history, world history, literature, geometry and biology. For many, the high school years provide one of the last opportunities to gain valuable life-enhancing insights, for example, reading a classic novel such as "To Kill a Mockingbird"; discovering what happened during historical events such as the French Revolution and the transformation of African nations through colonization and decolonization; learning about scientific theories that go beyond the students' own experience, ranging from nanotechnology to relativity; and understanding how numbers interact to form the backbone of the universe. Even Americans who continue on to college will focus their coursework on one or two majors, and therefore, as adults, they will rely on their high school education for knowledge about most other academic subjects. This report examines teacher preparation programs at higher education institutions when preparing secondary teachers.