“To keep America competitive, and to make the American dream of equal educational opportunity a reality, we need to recruit, reward, train, learn from and honor a new generation of talented teachers,” Duncan said during his speech. “But the bar must be raised for successful teacher preparation programs, because we ask much more of teachers today than even a decade ago.”

Duncan stated that American schools will hire about 200,000 first-time teachers annually in the next five years, and these teachers need to be prepared for the 21st-century classroom.

This “21st-century classroom” includes an increasing population of students with English as a second language and students with disabilities, said Suzanne Wilson, MSU’s chairwoman of the Department of Teacher Education.

“Our new teachers walking into schools today in 2009 are walking into schools that are fundamentally different in terms of culture, standards and accountability,” she said.

Wilson said Duncan’s critique is not an unusual one, and that MSU’s College of Education needs to constantly change its program and be self-critical to maintain its success.

Duncan also said in his address that education students need to master the content they plan to teach and have field experience throughout their education. MSU’s College of Education added a one-year internship requirement in 1992 to increase field experience, said Robert Floden, associate dean for research in MSU’s College of Education.

“They are still going to need work on some things in their first year teaching,” he said. “Working on the skills … that just takes time to learn.”

Education senior Laura Proven said she learns the most from her field placement experiences at local schools.

“When you are teacher, every day is different,” she said. “You can study all the theory and practice behind it, but until you actually see how it is handled in real life, you are not fully prepared.”

Proven said when she first began in the College of Education, there was not an emphasis on special education for nonspecial education majors. Wilson said the college is starting to heavily emphasize this area.

Floden said Michigan’s economic woes also make it difficult for first-time teachers because of limited classroom resources.

Michigan’s higher education budget still is awaiting Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s approval, but, as it stands, the budget eliminates the Michigan Promise Scholarship and about $60 million in financial aid funding. The governor also vetoed about $212 million in K-12 education funding last week.

But despite these cuts, Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Granholm wants to improve education.

“Gov. Granholm supports efforts to improve the quality of teacher education in Michigan, and making those improvements for colleges and universities being able to continue to award teaching certificates to their students,” she said.