National Center for Teacher Quality Ratings of University-based Teacher Preparation Programs
In January 2011 U.S. News & World Report announced that it will start a new system of rating teacher education programs in collaboration with the National Council on Teacher Quality. The ratings will take the form of grades—A through F--and focus on 17 standards that include classroom management, early reading, content preparation, English language learners, and admissions selectivity. This initiative follows a rating of Texas and Illinois teacher education programs last year which raised serious questions about the methodology used by NCTQ. Sharon P. Robinson, president of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, released a statement saying that the group would welcome good research to evaluate the quality of teacher education programs but that the organization has been disappointed with NCTQ's methodologies. "NCTQ has produced several reports over the years focused on measuring program inputs through public document reviews rather than measuring the actual outputs of programs through sound research methods.... Should the U.S. News & World Report/NCTQ project continue to employ NCTQ's standard methodologies, it will undoubtedly only result in creating more questions for policymakers and the public rather than provide necessary accurate and meaningful answers about preparation programs' effectiveness."
For more information:
Inside Higher Education article
NCTQ
AACTE's response
SCACTE's response
AACTE Advocacy
Stay informed and take action through AACTE. Be an advocate for P-20 education in South Carolina and the nation. One of the best information sources available is the AACTE Government Relations web site. Get involved through the AACTE Legislative Action Center. In just minutes, you can learn more about educational advocacy and what you can do to strengthen your voice.
For more information:
http://advocacy.aacte.org
http://aacte.org
The Quality Counts 2012 Report
Quality Counts 2012, the 16th edition of Education Week's annual examination of issues and challenges facing America's public schools, is now available. It takes aim at topics high on the policy agenda: the nation's international standing in education and lessons to be drawn from high-performing countries. The report provides State of the States data and analysis and State Report Cards. South Carolina was given an overall C+ grade, D in Student Achievement, and A in Standards, Assessment, and Accountability.
For more information:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2012/01/12/index.html?intc=EW-QC12-LFTNAV
The Value of Teachers
Here’s a great op-ed by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. Here is someone who is asking the right questions.
For more information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/opinion/kristof-the-value-of-teachers.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
NCATE and TEAC Uniting to Form CAEP
In October 2010 the boards of the National Council for Accreditation or Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) unanimously agreed to create a new accrediting organization to consolidate the work of TEAC and NCATE. The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) was designed by a 14-member Design Team, with equal representation from the two organizations. One of the initial goals for CAEP was to enable the education profession to speak with a single voice about the preparation of teachers, administrators and other P-12 professional educators. Other goals for CAEP are to raise the performance of candidates as practitioners in the nation's P-12 schools and to raise the stature of the profession by raising standards for the evidence the field relies on to support its claims of quality. To accomplish these goals, accreditation will have to be based on a set of common standards to ensure that accreditation decisions will reach the same result based on similar evidence. One of the fundamental principles on which CAEP was designed was to offer applicants a choice of accreditation processes. As a result, CAEP through its two Commissions will initially offer applicants four options: (1) Academic Quality Audit, (2) Continuous Improvement, (3) Inquiry Brief, and (4) Transformation Initiative. All the CAEP options require an assessment or quality control system.
For more information:
http://ncate.org/Public/Newsroom/Features/BecomingCAEP/tabid/714/Default.aspx
NCATE's Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships
In spring 2010 NCATE convened a Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning consisting of national education experts and critics. The panel's report was released in November 2010 and called for teacher education to be "turned upside down" by revamping programs to place clinical practice at the center of teacher preparation. This new vision of preparation will require the development of partnerships with school districts in which teacher education becomes a shared responsibility between P-12 schools and higher education. The new approaches will involve significant policy and procedural changes in both the state higher education and P-12 education systems and entail revamping longstanding policies and practices that are no longer suited to today's needs. The changes called for will require state higher education officials, governors, and state P-12 commissioner leadership working together to remove policy barriers and create policy supports for the new vision of teacher education.
For more information:
http://ncate.org/Public/ResearchReports/NCATEInitiatives/BlueRibbonPanel/tabid/715/Default.aspx
