ABSTRACT
In the last two decades, there has been unprecedented controversy and debate about teacher education in the US among policymakers and the general public. Although controversy over teacher education is not new, these recent debates are different from what occurred in the past. From the beginning of the involvement of universities in preparing US teachers, there has been severe criticism of university teacher education, and teacher education faculty in universities have struggled for a long time to gain legitimacy. In 2004, Tom Payzant, then superintendent of the Boston schools, gave an invited address at the annual meeting of the major teacher education organization in the US, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book emphasises on transforming US teacher education so it adequately addresses the need to prepare teachers capable of providing a high-quality education.
