Preparing Teachers for the Classroom Although I disagree with much of Bill Keller's Oct. 21 column, " "An Industry of Mediocrity," " he raises critical issues about the preparation of teachers. As someone who educates teachers, I have learned that America does not value or respect its teachers. If it did, it would be willing to pay them. I can recount story after story of stellar students from elite colleges whose parents and friends bemoan their choice to be a teacher by saying, "You're so smart - why do you want to be a teacher?" Also, many parents dissuade their children from being teachers for fear that they will not be able to support themselves. Teaching is simply not "up there" as a marketable career choice - yet all parents want the best teachers for their children. Clearly there is room for improvement in how we prepare our teachers. Teachers need equal preparation in fieldwork and theory. Susan H. Fuhrman, president of Teachers College, is right to worry about the loss of scholarship and emerging research. Deborah Kenny, the founder of the Harlem Village Academies charter schools, is right to expect new teachers to have substantial field experience. We need significant collaboration among all teaching professionals to recreate the path for successful teaching in today's world. The writer is a clinical associate professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University. As a public-school teacher who was prepared in one of those universities that Bill Keller describes as part of the "industry of mediocrity," I read his column with sadness and frustration - mostly because he's right. Earlier this year, I was among a group of classroom teachers - brought together by the nonprofit Educators 4 Excellence - who collaborated on a policy paper advocating improvements to teacher training. We came from a variety of educational backgrounds, but we soon discovered that almost all of us were woefully unprepared for our first day of teaching. We also found that many schools of education are long on theoretical curriculum, but short on the clinical practice that will truly prepare aspiring educators. Mr. Keller is also absolutely correct that the bar to become a teacher must be raised. The onus for doing so shouldn't fall solely on the shoulders of teacher preparation programs, but they should do their part by setting rigorous academic requirements and improving their admissions screening process. At a time in which the education profession has come so heavily under attack, it was refreshing to see that Bill Keller's column began with an example of excellent practice. However, the jump to a harsh attack on established schools of education was both misguided and shocking. While there is certainly a range of practice in schools of education (in what fields would this not be true?), there are many excellent ones that place excellent teachers in classrooms across the country. We would encourage him to spend time in education classes and to interview teachers to find out how they feel their experiences prepared them. The writers are, respectively, an adjunct professor of English education at Lehman College and a retired professor at the Bank Street College of Education. The reformers cited by Bill Keller are correct in asserting that "sustained, intense classroom experience" under the supervision of a master teacher must be a critical part of any plan to improve teacher quality. However, newly adopted evaluation models that link teacher (and often principal) ratings to student performance on standardized tests are a significant impediment. How many master teachers are going to welcome novices into their classrooms to take over instruction when the resulting test scores may negatively affect their rating and put their employment at risk? Simply put, experienced educators are not going to take on a student teacher if their job hangs in the balance. Unless states are prepared to allow exemptions for teachers who agree to mentor those new to the profession, it will be exceedingly difficult to provide the kind of meaningful apprenticeships that should be part of high-quality teacher training programs. The writer is supervisor of humanities at Madison Public Schools. I disagree with Bill Keller's suggestion that postgraduate teaching programs accept only the top college graduates. Not only is there the obvious fact that "well educated" is not necessarily proved by grades or test scores, but struggling and resistant students could lose valuable role models. The principal who empathizes that "I did not learn to read until fourth grade," or the chemistry teacher who tells the chronically late student that "I cut classes so much, I repeated junior year," can offer more than what is taught in textbooks. As surely as students need teachers of different ethnicities and genders, they need teachers with different learning styles that mirror their own. Of course, many great students become excellent teachers, but some of the best teachers were the kids squirming in their seats or dozing in the back row. The writer is a former teacher.