Classroom management in the United States: a view from New York City

In the United States, an increasing number of new teachers are being prepared through alternative, or early entry, routes into teaching. These new forms of teacher preparation raise important questions about how and in what ways candidates are being prepared, particularly in key areas such as classroom management. To shed light upon these questions, this paper draws upon data from a larger study of teacher preparation in New York City which is engaged in examining the features of both alternative and traditional pathways into teaching. This paper uses qualitative data regarding preparation required by 31 childhood teacher education programs and survey data from 460 program graduates, to analyze new teachers' preparation for classroom management in New York City. We found that less than half of the traditional programs required any coursework in classroom management. Early entry candidates were more likely to have had a course in classroom management. The paper also reports survey findings regarding teachers' reports of their opportunities to learn, which suggest that teachers in traditional programs may encounter more foundational knowledge in such courses, while early entry teachers may have more opportunities to learn practical, concrete strategies.