Research On Historical Development And Reform Of Rural Teacher Policy In The U.s.

Teacher policy, as the basic guideline for a country or region on its construction of teaching staff, is closely related to the level of socio-economic and cultural development. This paper studies on the U.S. rural teacher policy reform which has achieved remarkable success since the colonial period and certainly has great significance for that in China at present and in a coming period.According to the development of teacher education in the U.S. and its characteristics of teacher policy reforms in rural areas, this paper tries to divide the U.S. rural teacher policy reforms into three relatively independent periods from the colonial period to the 20th century, including early institutionalization of teacher education (from the colonial period to the beginning of the 20th century), institutionalization of teacher education (from early 20th century to early 1950s) and university-orientation of teacher education (from after World WarⅡto late 20th century). During these three periods, the U.S. policy for rural teachers has been continuously improved, which has contributed to an uptrend of both the quantity and quality of teachers in rural schools. Construction of teaching staff has developed from the early non-professional teaching staff to trained teachers from Teachers College in the 19th century and then from that in the first half of the 20th century and finally from university after World WarⅡ.Entering the 21st century, the Bush Administration, with the aim of improving each student's academic performance, has submitted to Congress an important education act called "No Child Left Behind ". The U.S. policy reforms for rural teachers commenced to be NCLB-oriented, based on the inheritance and development of the previous reforms. Educational administrative departments at all levels formulated and implemented appropriate reform policies, becoming the major force of promoting educational reform and development in primary and secondary schools in rural ares. North Carolina, with its effective reforms, is a microcosm of the policy reform for rural teachers in the United States.With a profound and objective analysis, this paper reaches seven conclusions:(1) policy reform requires the active participation of all sectors of society; (2) the reform should be endowed with flexibility; (3) effects of policy implementation should be based on the combined evaluation of teachers and students; (4) policy formulation and implementation should be based on the local condition of political, economic and cultural development; (5) implementation of the policy should be "top-down" and "bottom-up" combined; (6) rural teacher education policy should be integrated; (7) successful implementation of the policy should have legal protection and adequate funding basis. All in all, policy reform for rural teachers is extremely complex, involving every aspect of the society. Studying on valuable experience of foreign reforms for our own use will help us carry out smoothly policy reforms for rural teachers in China.