Teacher Prep Admission
Melissa Shaw
Higher Entry Bar, Better Teachers?
Sandi Jacobs, vice president and managing director for state policy, National Council on Teacher Quality
Michael J. Maher, assistant dean for professional education, North Carolina State University
Key Points
- The Council of Chief State School Officers, American Federation of Teachers, NCTQ Teacher Prep Review, and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation are calling for improvement in teacher preparation programs.
- According to the 2012 NCTQ State Teacher Policy Yearbook, state policies are generally lax in regulating who is admitted into teacher preparation programs.
- Only 24 states currently require a basic skills test prior to admission; only 15 states have a minimum GPA requirement for admission into a teacher preparation program.
- CAEP has drafted a standard that would require the average GPA of the cohort to meet or exceed a 3.0 and a group average performance in the top third for those who pass an assessment such as SAT, ACT or GRE.
- According to Michael Mayer, assistant dean of professional education at North Carolina State University, the majority of cohorts would meet or exceed this standard.
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Reflection
I found this webinar to be very relevant to teacher preparation today. The debate of how to “fix” public schools has now shifted to placing responsibility on teacher preparation programs within higher education for producing teachers who are proficient upon completion of their degree. Part of this emphasis revolves around placing higher admissions standards on students enrolling in teacher preparation programs. Having witnessed firsthand the teacher candidate who gained provisional admittance into the program due to less than stellar prior academic success rise to the challenge and become a proficient educator, I am reluctant to place these restraints on our candidates. Motivation and persistence, as well as disposition also play a key role in the success of the candidate. However, I am a proponent of making the exit requirements stronger so that institutions of higher learning are compelled to maintain academic rigor in their programs and to provide a balance between content and pedagogy.