UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 21, Page 14
February 23, 1995
Group calls for overhaul of nation's education, schools

     The Holmes Group, an educational reform group composed of the
deans of more than 80 university-based education schools, has called
for an overhaul of the nation's education schools.
     The organization's board of directors is chaired by Frank B.
Murray, dean of the College of Education and H. Rodney Sharp Professor
in the Department of Educational Studies and Department of Psychology.
     According to a report, Who Should Prepare the Nation's Education
Workforce?, the nation's education schools are out of synch with needs
and realities of today's schools and must stop preparing teachers for
a bygone era.
     The report notes that fewer than 5 percent of education faculty
have taught in urban schools and that many have not taught in decades
and are not familiar with the challenges facing today's children.
     "We are calling for the invention of a new academic discipline
devoted to the intellectual needs of children and a new kind of
faculty member as equally at home in a school as in the university,"
Murray said.
     The report urges universities to create new professional
development schools that are the educational equivalent of medical
school-affiliated teaching hospitals to better link teacher
preparation to real-world situations in a changed society.
     Free copies of the report are available from the Holmes Group,
501 Erickson Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-
1034 or by calling (517) 353-3874.