University throws lifeline to its education graduates

The University of Southern California's Graduate School of Education is offering career counseling to any alumnus who faces "a professional challenge."

One of the USA's most well-regarded teachers' colleges could shake up the field with an unprecedented plan announced Thursday: The University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education essentially will guarantee success for its graduates, promising that they'll get the job done wherever they teach.

"We should, as institutions, stand behind our product, stand behind our graduates," says the school's dean, Karen Gallagher.

USC, a private institution, isn't actually calling it a guarantee — the school says it's making a "commitment" to alumni of six Rossier graduate programs, including education, counseling and marriage and family therapy.

Starting Thursday, any alumnus, new or old, who faces "a professional challenge" can call what amounts to a 24/7 help desk. On the other end of the line: a Rossier staffer who is part of Gallagher's "Rapid Response Team." The staff will diagnose what's going wrong, perhaps even pay a visit to the teacher's classroom and talk to supervisors, then help devise a plan for improvement.

Gallagher is starting the team with nine staffers, three of them from the teacher education program. She estimates that up to 25,000 people are eligible for the service, but she doesn't anticipate a flood of calls, at least initially. The school, which operates a large online program, graduates students four times a year and has produced about 2,000 graduates since 2009; of those, she says, about 1,800 studied online. A master of arts in teaching from USC requires 32 academic credits at $1,536 each, or about $49,000.

USC's move comes as teachers' colleges nationwide are under pressure to produce more job-ready teachers and teachers are under fire to produce better results. Student test scores are playing a growing role in evaluating teachers.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in 2009 blasted the large enrollment and low overhead at teachers' colleges, which he said have made them profit centers for universities — "cash cows," he called them. Duncan said many universities divert those profits to more prestigious but under-enrolled graduate departments such as physics "while doing little to invest in rigorous educational research and well-run clinical training."

"If teaching is — and should be — one of our most revered professions, teacher preparation programs should be among a university's most important responsibilities," Duncan said. "Unfortunately, this is the exception, not the rule."

Sharon Robinson, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, said USC's effort puts more resources behind its commitment "to ensure that all education candidates are effective in their careers. To extend that commitment beyond graduation and be responsible for what their candidates do in practice is commendable."

Rick Hess, a political scientist and education analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said USC's move is "less a game-changer than an admirable and ambitious effort to provide much-needed support to new teachers."

If the new service gives teachers access to the faculty members who trained them, "then I would see it as potentially being much more attractive. But if you're just e-mailing whoever is on the help desk … then I would say it would be less attractive and less likely to be used."