Federal and State Policies of Teacher Preparation in the ESSA Era: A Comparative Perspective.pdf (original) (raw)
Related papers
Teacher Preparation and Certification: The Call for Reform. Fastback 202
1984
This booklet discusses changes taking place in the four major processes involved in preparing and certifying teachers: national accreditation, state program approval, state certification, and teacher preparation, Some of the major issues affecting these processes, such as teacher competency testing and teaching_ internships, are discusSed, and the impact of changes in thete four processes are examined. Three specific areas are identified as in need of strengthening: (1) evaltation of teacher preparation programs, including national accreditation and state program approval; (2) requirements for entering and remaining in the professien, including certification regulations and procedures; and (3) preparation of teachers, including program entrance and exit requirements. Case studies are presented of successful reforms in Florida, Oklahoma, and the University of Louisville (Kentucky). (JD) MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
2014 Teacher Prep Review: A Review of the Nation's Teacher Preparation Programs. Revised
2015
This graph displays the raw scores of the 788 ranked elementary programs in the Review. The highest score is 114 on a 125-point scale. The average score is 42. Sixty-seven percent of programs fall within Level I in terms of performance (≤50 on a 125-point scale). NCTQ Teacher Prep Review 2 www.nctq.org/teacherPrep/review2014 The Review 2014 builds on last year's report in several significant ways. First, it is bigger. The number of institutions whose programs we can evaluate on the core components of teacher preparation-selection, content preparation and practice teaching-has increased by almost 40 percent, to 836 institutions housing at least one ranked program, compared with 608 institutions last year. The increase is due less to greater institutional cooperation than to our own efforts to secure course materials. Next, we have discarded our system of ratings for a system of rankings to make it easier for users of our results to assess relative performance of programs in a crowded market. There are now both national rankings as well as regional rankings, out of consideration for aspiring teachers' tendency to attend teacher preparation programs relatively close to home. Also this year, we include an analysis of alternative certification programs, a popular but poorly understood pathway into the classroom that supplies one of every five teachers in the United States. We begin this pilot effort with 85 programs not managed by any higher education institution also offering traditional programs, as these programs differ greatly from the traditional programs on which we focus much of our attention. Because alternative certification is particularly popular in Texas, the only state which permits for-profit companies to run programs, almost half of the sample providers are located in Texas. And in this first foray, we chose to evaluate secondary programs, as the original vision of alternative certification was to give high school students the benefits of teachers with talent and in-depth subject matter knowledge who chose not to go through an education school. The results of this analysis should put to rest concerns that NCTQ is attempting to dismantle traditional teacher preparation in favor of alternative approaches. If anything, our analysis of secondary programs shows that alternative certification is generally more broken than its traditional counterpart. These independent programs typically have very low admission standards, do not ensure that candidates are prepared to teach every subject to which they could be assigned, and provide insufficient support to candidates as they take on full-time teaching responsibilities. Only one was eligible for our highest mark: Teach For America, Massachusetts. Finally, in response to suggestions from teacher educators and K-12 educators, we have made adjustments to several of our standards: selection criteria, classroom management and student teaching. These changes have enabled NCTQ to take a closer, more definitive look at how teacher preparation programs are refining their efforts to raise the quality of their work and of the teachers they are sending into American classrooms. These are among the key findings: n Of the 1,668 programs (housed in 836 institutions) ranked in the Review, only 26 elementary programs and 81 secondary programs make NCTQ's lists of Top Ranked programs. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are without a Top Ranked program in either elementary or secondary education. There is much more work to do to ensure that future teachers are ready to lead the classroom when they graduate. Among the Top Ranked programs are 68 programs housed in public institutions that offer aspiring teachers an opportunity to enter the profession without overloading themselves with debt. Indeed, the fact that the Top Ranked list is dominated by institutions not traditionally considered elite or "high status" is telling. A number of programs worked hard and at lightning speed (within the context of the normal pace of higher education) to achieve Top Ranked status this year. Ohio, Tennessee and Texas-the last state the site of our first comprehensive statewide study on teacher prep in 2010-are the three states with the most Top Ranked programs. n Elementary programs continue to be far weaker than their secondary counterparts, with 1.7 times as many elementary programs as secondary programs found to be failing. Their poorer performance speaks to both the n An important addition this year is our analysis of 85 secondary alternative certification programs. In general, alternate routes, now training one out of every five teachers in the United States, are a popular but poorly Endnotes Layton, Lyndsey (2014, April 25). Obama Administration Wants Better-Trained Teachers. Washington Post.
2014 Teacher Prep Review: A Review of the Nation's Teacher Preparation Programs
National Council on Teacher Quality, 2014
This graph displays the raw scores of the 788 ranked elementary programs in the Review. The highest score is 114 on a 125-point scale. The average score is 42. Sixty-seven percent of programs fall within Level I in terms of performance (≤50 on a 125-point scale). NCTQ Teacher Prep Review 2 www.nctq.org/teacherPrep/review2014 The Review 2014 builds on last year's report in several significant ways. First, it is bigger. The number of institutions whose programs we can evaluate on the core components of teacher preparation-selection, content preparation and practice teaching-has increased by almost 40 percent, to 836 institutions housing at least one ranked program, compared with 608 institutions last year. The increase is due less to greater institutional cooperation than to our own efforts to secure course materials. Next, we have discarded our system of ratings for a system of rankings to make it easier for users of our results to assess relative performance of programs in a crowded market. There are now both national rankings as well as regional rankings, out of consideration for aspiring teachers' tendency to attend teacher preparation programs relatively close to home. Also this year, we include an analysis of alternative certification programs, a popular but poorly understood pathway into the classroom that supplies one of every five teachers in the United States. We begin this pilot effort with 85 programs not managed by any higher education institution also offering traditional programs, as these programs differ greatly from the traditional programs on which we focus much of our attention. Because alternative certification is particularly popular in Texas, the only state which permits for-profit companies to run programs, almost half of the sample providers are located in Texas. And in this first foray, we chose to evaluate secondary programs, as the original vision of alternative certification was to give high school students the benefits of teachers with talent and in-depth subject matter knowledge who chose not to go through an education school. The results of this analysis should put to rest concerns that NCTQ is attempting to dismantle traditional teacher preparation in favor of alternative approaches. If anything, our analysis of secondary programs shows that alternative certification is generally more broken than its traditional counterpart. These independent programs typically have very low admission standards, do not ensure that candidates are prepared to teach every subject to which they could be assigned, and provide insufficient support to candidates as they take on full-time teaching responsibilities. Only one was eligible for our highest mark: Teach For America, Massachusetts. Finally, in response to suggestions from teacher educators and K-12 educators, we have made adjustments to several of our standards: selection criteria, classroom management and student teaching. These changes have enabled NCTQ to take a closer, more definitive look at how teacher preparation programs are refining their efforts to raise the quality of their work and of the teachers they are sending into American classrooms. These are among the key findings: n Of the 1,668 programs (housed in 836 institutions) ranked in the Review, only 26 elementary programs and 81 secondary programs make NCTQ's lists of Top Ranked programs. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are without a Top Ranked program in either elementary or secondary education. There is much more work to do to ensure that future teachers are ready to lead the classroom when they graduate. Among the Top Ranked programs are 68 programs housed in public institutions that offer aspiring teachers an opportunity to enter the profession without overloading themselves with debt. Indeed, the fact that the Top Ranked list is dominated by institutions not traditionally considered elite or "high status" is telling. A number of programs worked hard and at lightning speed (within the context of the normal pace of higher education) to achieve Top Ranked status this year. Ohio, Tennessee and Texas-the last state the site of our first comprehensive statewide study on teacher prep in 2010-are the three states with the most Top Ranked programs. n Elementary programs continue to be far weaker than their secondary counterparts, with 1.7 times as many elementary programs as secondary programs found to be failing. Their poorer performance speaks to both the n An important addition this year is our analysis of 85 secondary alternative certification programs. In general, alternate routes, now training one out of every five teachers in the United States, are a popular but poorly Endnotes Layton, Lyndsey (2014, April 25). Obama Administration Wants Better-Trained Teachers. Washington Post.
The educator preparation programs of the nation's largest university system have continued to collaborate to evaluate and improve the quality of teachers they produce throughout a period of continual criticism from the United States Department of Education. This study describes the manner of this collaboration and compares the evaluation by graduated teachers and their employment supervisors to the characterization of the profession. Results from 12 years of data collection, with a total N surpassing 57,000, shows that over 81% of principals rated the graduates as well or adequately prepared as did 73% of the graduates themselves, figures nearly double those repeatedly quoted. Further, research conducted as part of the system collaboration indicates that three of the four major components of the United States Department of Education's proposed Title II regulations appear to be invalid.
Teacher Certification Systems. Policy Brief
Pacific Resources For Education and Learning, 2006
T he relationship between good teaching and student achievement elevates the importance of teacher quality in the eyes of parents, educators, and policy makers. According to 55% of American parents surveyed in 1998 by Louis Harris and Associates (NEA, 1999), the quality of teachers is "the greatest influence on student learning." We know from research that good teaching does not happen by accident. While some teachers may have a special gift to help students learn, good teaching encompasses critical elements, such as knowledge of the learning process, child development, teacher experiences, academic ability, and content knowledge. Knowing about these critical elements and having the ability to contextualize them to the learner makes learning a much more meaningful and relevant pursuit, as well as that teacher ideal. The notion of "highly qualified teachers" is the backbone of recently enacted U.S. federal legislations such as No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004), and the Higher Education Act (HEA). The message in all three legislations is loud and clear: all students must progress; special education and general education are interrelated and interdependent; and personnel preparation, particularly teacher preparation, is instrumental in improving performance of all students. These federal policies have far reaching influence and impact beyond the 50 states.
1995
States have created "alternate" routes to teacher certification. Comparison of alternate and college-based programs reveals clear trends in recruitment but a mixed picture regarding development of expertise. Alternate certification represents a radical departure from the current norm of teacher preparation. Several factors have led to the rise of alternative certification: a decline in the public's confidence that colleges could recruit and adequately prepare enough effective teachers, concerns about teacher shortages, worries about the quality of newly entering teachers, and concern about the academic quality of individuals entering the Leaching profession. Those in favor of the two competing efforts to reform teacher education, alternative certification and reform of college-based preparation, make different assumptions about what knowledge teachers need. University-based programs assume that pedagogical content knowledge needs to be developed in a professional program. Alternative route programs assume that pedagogical skills develop as teachers teach. However, research shows that alternative routes which rely on a teacher's own experience may miseducate teachers and may narrow the range of settings for which teachers are prepared. A key argument in favor of alternative certification is