Clinical supervision in a standards-based environment - Opportunities and challenges

Current education reform stresses systemic change to achieve large-scale an d long-term results. However, education in the United States has long been characterized by loose coupling, manifested in the relationship between adm inistration and instruction, between universities and schools, and between preservice and in-service expectations. The result is an endemic inconsiste ncy in achievement among different classrooms and schools, an inadequate pr eparation of teachers for classroom reality, and beginning teachers' being left to survive with limited available support. The standards movement seek s to reduce loose coupling by bridging the gap between universities and sch ools and smoothing the transition from novice teacher to professional. Yet, the imposition of standards and dose monitoring of learning outcomes poten tially violates the affective bond between student and teacher and the teac her's commitment to the calling. Resolving the tension between externally i mposed outcomes and the teacher's emotional investment requires a high degr ee of empathy for the developing teacher.