U.s. Teacher Certification System. Its Effects Research

In order to regulate human behavior, standardize human relations, construct a steady civil order and unify the forces of humankind, institutions can emerge spontaneously or can be created by people, with the goal to make the society develop towards a direction that they hope. For example, teacher certification is an institution created to standardize the teaching profession, assess and select qualified teachers, and guide teacher professional development. The prerequisite for estimating the value and potential of an institution is the rationality of its structure, its solid foundation and the effect of its implementation. However, the complexity of the society and education, containing intricately combined or involved parts, the mutual collision of diverse thoughts and values and the multi-layer demand of education make it is difficult to realize the goal of teacher certification. To promote teacher development, obtain support from the entire society and realize its ideals as much as possible, teacher certification should ameliorate its structure and the relationship with the financial world.As one of the important guarantees of teacher quality, the development of teacher certification is regarded as the reflection of teacher professional development. Studying American teacher certification system is important because it is a typical example of a teacher certification system and has the longest history of the world.First, this study seeks to uncover the steps that led to the development of the teacher certification system, and to understand the characteristics of the current American teacher certification. On this basis, the study is discussing the conditions and factors that influence the development of the American teacher certification system. Second, this study focuses on the operational mechanism, theoretical foundation, value orientation, function and the effect of implementation of the American teacher certification system. Third, through the comprehensive and in-depth study of American teacher certification system, this study seeks to illuminate the similarities and differences with the Chinese teacher certification system through the comparison of historical facts and the present situation, theory and practice, the value and methodology, with the goal to reveal the laws of its operations and to understand the rationality and possibility for future development. Finally, this study seeks to understand how the impact and experience of American teacher certification can help with the development of our own teacher certification system and how we can improve to benefit our society.The structure of the dissertation is as follows: Fist of all, a historical look at American teacher certification system is provided. The study delves into the past in order to better understand the present. This is one of the most important aspects of the dissertation: offering a historical perspective of American teacher certification system.Second, an in-depth analysis of the status of American teacher certification system is performed. The study goes deep into the political, economic, social and educational background of American teacher certification, trying to analyze it with from both a theoretical and a practical perspective, summarizing the General Characteristics of American teacher certification system.Third, further theoretical research on American teacher certification system is performed. The study tries to explore the theoretical foundation and policy basis of American teacher certification, to understand its philosophical and administrative aspects, and discuss its role and function in the whole American educational system. The study is not only trying to answer the question "what", but also seeks to answer the questions "why" and "how" about the American teacher certification system.Fourth, the efficiency of American teacher certification is evaluated. The study seeks to answer the question whether teacher certification has achieved the goal of improving teacher development and student achievement, as an important link within the American educational system. That is, the study tries to assess the extent to which the system has reached its target. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the factors that influence the efficiency of American teacher certification. Among these factors, the study aims to differentiate the factors with positive impact and those with negative impact on the system.Finally, a comprehensive overview of the Chinese teacher certification and a comparison between the Chinese and American teacher certification systems is provided. The study discusses the successful aspects that we should learn from the American system and the mistakes we should avoid during the reform. Most importantly, the study offers suggestions on how we should build and develop our own teacher certification system in a reasonable and scientific manner, to truly promote the quality of education.Overall, there are three important structural aspects of the dissertation. The first aspect is the sequential order of presentation, from the expatiation of historical evolution through the discussion of status of American teacher certification system, and to the suggestions of the future development of Chinese teacher certification. The second aspect is the gradual shift of research focus, from the outward appearance to the inner essence of the system and to the analysis of the effects of the system. The third aspect is the arrangement of contents, joining the discussion and systematic analysis together. These three structural aspects constitute the framework of the entire dissertation.In addition, considering that America is a typical federal country, every state has its own power to make its own law. Therefore, it is primarily the individual states, and not the Federal Government that is responsible for the management of teacher certification, and numerous differences exist between teacher certifications in different states. On the other hand, in recent years, the Federal Government has also been pursuing the development of a higher-level teacher certification system throughout the country. Therefore, the study is trying to discuss both levels of the teacher certification system (i.e., the individual states and the Federal Government). The study also offers an overview of traditional teacher certification and the alternative teacher certification system. In addition, because teacher certification is not only a static "text" (laws, regulations, standards and norms), but also a dynamic "Execution System" (processes, measures and methods level), it is necessary to illustrate both of these aspects to really understand the whole system and its effect.The study seeks to achieve two breakthroughs.Fist of all, the study aims to perform a comprehensive and in-depth study of the American teacher certification system. Most studies have so far focused on the "technical" and "tools" aspects of the American teacher certification system. That is, previous research in this field was mostly concerned with answering the "what" question, focusing on the process, type, means of implementation and standards of American teacher certification system, and have not tried to answers the "why" and "how" questions. To thoroughly, accurately and truly understand a societal institution, we should study its other aspects, such as its value and efficiency, as it is done in this study.Secondly, there are three typical aspects of social science research: purpose, implementation and results. However, most of the previous research in the field was mainly concerned with the purpose and implementation of teacher certification system. Few studies addressed the efficiency of the system. While numerous social science research studies have concluded that it is impossible to set a specific target and achieve the precise results that we expect. Contrary to these claims, the current study seeks to explore the effect of teacher certification and to provide suggestions of how to adjust and improve the entire system to make it more goal-oriented.