The 2014 version of the State Teacher Policy Yearbook from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) focuses heavily on the “critical issue” of teacher preparation. And in the glare of that spotlight, NCTQ finds that, while the average state grade for teacher preparation policies has improved from a D in 2011 to a C in 2014, there is still far more work to be done to ensure that new teachers are prepared to help students meet the demands of college and career-ready standards. Three states—Florida, Indiana, and Rhode Island—are ahead of the pack and earned grades of B+. Two states (Alaska and Montana) earned dismal F grades. Ohio falls into the middle of the pack with a grade of C, but this “average” grade hides several troubling truths about Ohio’s teacher preparation practices. For example, in Ohio, only fourth- and fifth-grade elementary teachers are required to pass adequately rigorous content tests. In fact, the Buckeye State is one of only four states in the nation that doesn’t require all elementary teachers to pass a content test prior to licensure. Ohio’s middle school teacher preparation policy is better, since teachers must pass an appropriate content test in every core subject they are licensed to teach. The same is true at the high school level, but the tests have significant loopholes for science and social studies teacher candidates. These candidates, who often specialize in certain disciplines (think chemistry vs. biology; American history vs. world history), are permitted to take content tests (labeled as “integrated”) which combine two or more disciplines, thereby offering a watered-down indication of their mastery of highly specialized content. The preparation and licensure of special education teachers is equally troubling. Ohio offers only a single K–12 special education certification, which fails to differentiate between the specific subject, grade-level, or pedagogical knowledge required to meet the needs of students with disabilities anywhere along the K–12 spectrum. Worse still, Ohio does not require a minimum GPA for admission into teacher prep programs, nor does it require a test to measure the academic proficiency of teacher candidates prior to their acceptance into a program. Furthermore, while Ohio collects student achievement data, ties it back to the teacher’s teacher-education program, and makes that data publicly available online, there are no minimum standards set for performance—in other words, no real accountability if a teacher-education program isn’t effective in preparing high-quality teachers. While Ohioans could take heart in the Buckeye state’s overall improvement since 2011 (an embarrassing D+ has improved to a C), it’s time for Ohio policymakers to buckle down and get serious about improving the quality of our education schools.
Source: “2014 State Teacher Policy Yearbook.” National Council on Teacher Quality, (December 2014).
