WASHINGTON -- California State University, Northridge, is finding out that a good teaching college should operate like a teaching hospital, a top university official told a House panel Tuesday.

In a hearing before the House Education subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness on the effectiveness of teacher colleges, university provost Louanne Kennedy said other institutions could learn from CSUN's experiences.

"Clearly when students are not achieving, we need to look at the way we are preparing the teachers," Kennedy said.

The university last year was awarded a $5 million, five-year Carnegie Corp. grant to develop innovative teacher-training programs. Since then, she said, the university has planned an academy high school under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Unified School District where CSUN faculty will teach.

"We are modeling this program on the way doctors have been prepared," Kennedy said. "Both medicine and teaching are clinical practice professions. Some hospitals are 'teaching' hospitals so some schools must become 'teaching' schools."

The hearing, chaired by Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, came as Congress prepares to hammer out a sweeping higher education bill.

The Higher Education Act, which must be periodically reviewed and expires this year, authorizes most federal student-aid programs and contains a number of regulations that apply to colleges and universities.

McKeon did not commit to any of the ideas put forth at the hearing.

"I can't say I have any concrete things I want to see done," McKeon said.

He noted, however, that increased mentoring of new teachers and the ability for student teachers to try their hand in the classroom their first year will be key priorities.

Also Tuesday, directors of two national education nonprofits based in Washington, D.C., called for higher standards for teacher certification -- including making university math, arts and science faculty help design programs and review standards for teachers. Some GOP lawmakers questioned whether schools would benefit from merit pay systems to reward good teachers, and whether schools should wait at least five years before offering a tenure to a teacher.