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NCTQ STaTe TeaCher poliCy yearbook 2012 national summary

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There is a tremendous ocus across the states these days on building

a better teacher workorce. The National Council on Teacher Qual-

itys 2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbookchronicled the great prog-

ress states are making on adopting new teacher evaluation systems

that actor student perormance and classroom eectiveness into

decisions about compensation, proessional development, tenure and dismissal

all in the name o teacher eectiveness.1

One o the strange ironies o education reormers attention to teacher eec-

tiveness, however, has been the relative lack o attention to how teacher can-

didates are prepared to be eective in the job in the frst place.

Ipving Teche Peptin:Ntin S

2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook

In this 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook,

NCTQ expes the qestin: Wht e sttes

ding t ense tht the e sstetic

peping css-ed new teches?

1. For the most recent comprehensive analysis o state teacher eectiveness policies see NCTQ,State of the States 2012: Teacher Effectiveness Policies at: http://

www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/Updated_NCTQ_State%20o%20the%20States%202012_Teacher%20Eectiveness%20Policies.pd. See also NCTQs

Making Effectiveness Matteror the latest data on state policies that require use o teacher eectiveness data or proessional development, dismissal and

layo decisions at: http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/YearbookBrie_Area5.pd.

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2 : NCTQ STaTe TeaCher poliCy yearbook 2012 NaTIoNal Summary

The big tkew f this, NCTQs 2012 nn Yearbook: Whie n sttes e invest-ing teends tie nd esces int ding bette jb identifing effective teches

nd pviding ssistnce t ineffective teches ed in the css, st sttes e

negecting pptnities t get it ight f the stt b setting igs stndds nd

high expecttins f wht teches shd knw nd shd be be t d befe the e

icensed t bece teches.

The nations higher education teacher preparation institutions produce the lions share o the

novice teachers who are hired by school districts across the United States each year. States have

a great deal o leverage or determining the quality o the standards and training experiences

that apply to uture teachers. And while there is no question that teacher preparation programs

produce some superstar graduates talented individuals who will excel in the classroom by any

state or districts defnition o teacher eectiveness there is much policymakers can do to help

ensure that teacher preparation programs in their states are systematically preparing classroom-

ready new teachers.

This e NCTQ hs pt sptight n the stte es nd egtins giding teche pep-

tin nd icensing. In addition to exploring the policy landscape in each state, we map

out the specifc locus o authority in each state or approving teacher education programs,

adopting standards and admission criteria or teacher preparation and setting teacher cer-

tifcation rules. Improving Teacher Preparation, NCTQs 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook,provides tailored, state-specifc reports and recommendations or the 50 states and the

District o Columbia on:

Establishing high standards or admission into teacher preparation programs;

Ensuring that teacher candidates have rigorous content knowledgeo the subjects they will teach;

Providing candidates with high-quality clinical experiences;

Holding teacher preparation institutions accountable or the quality o

teachers they produce; and,

Setting a exible yet rigorous and supportive policy environment withinwhich qualifed candidates can enter teaching through alternate routes.

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4 : NCTQ STaTe TeaCher poliCy yearbook 2012 NaTIoNal Summary

T hep piitize the teche peptin picies in need f citic ttentin, in ech

pic e sttes eceive geen ight f teche peptin picies tht e n

tck, ew ight f picies in need f ipveent nd ed ight f teche

peptin picies tht e f ff the k when it ces t fsteing teche effec-

tiveness t f the gte.

Key Findings

Overall, states are not doing enough to ensure that teachers are prepared to be eective in the class-

room. The 50 states and the District o Columbia averaged a meager D+ on teacher preparation policiesin 2012, just slightly up rom a barely passing grade o D in 2011.

Fgu b

States with improved teacher preparation policy grades since 2011

WA

OR

CA

NV

ID

MT

WY

UT

AZNM

OK

KS

NE

SD

ND

MN

WI

IA

MO

AR

MS

KY

AL

VAWV

INIL

PA

DE

NJ

CTMI

ME

MA

NH

VT

MD

AK

SC

States with

improved teacher

preparation policy

grades since 2011

GA

OH

TN

NY

NC

CO

TX LA

FL

HI

RI

DC1

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While the national average grade is low and the uptick in the overall policy landscape

is small, there is no question that teacher preparation is increasingly on the radar for

some state policymakers.

Fourteen states improved their grades in this area in just one year, with improvements in a

handul o key policies. For example, in 2007 NCTQ identifed just our states that required

an adequate assessment o the science o reading as part o teacher licensing; in 2012, ten

states require such a test. Eleven states now specifcally measure elementary teacher candi-

dates knowledge o mathematics; in prior years only Massachusetts had an adequate con-

tent test in math. In 2007, when NCTQ started tracking state policy, no state held teacher

preparation programs accountable or the graduates they produce; in 2012, eight statesconnect student achievement data to preparation programs.

In an otherwise relatively dismal policy landscape, a ew states Alabama, Florida, Indiana

and Tennessee are noteworthy in that they have earned the highest grades in the nation

or their eorts to shape the quality o teacher preparation and licensing. Each o these

states earned a B- in 2012 or having the most consistent across the board state policy

eorts on teacher preparation, rom setting admission standards and holding teacher prepa-

ration institutions accountable or results to providing teaching candidates with support

and ensuring that new teachers can demonstrate that they have the content knowledge

they need to lead a classroom.

Among the 14 states with improved teacher preparation grades, a ew

states have made considerable progress in just the last year. In addition to

Alabama, which raised its grade rom a C in 2011 to a B- in 2012,Connecticut,

Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont improved their

grades ater adopting several new promising teacher preparation require-

ments. Among other things, each o these states now requires that all

elementary teachers, as a condition o licensure, pass the Praxis II Elementary Education:

Multiple Subjects test, which reports separate subscores in each subject area, helping to

ensure that teachers have adequate knowledge in each specifc subject area they will teach.

14statesimproved teacher

preparation grades

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6 : NCTQ STaTe TeaCher poliCy yearbook 2012 NaTIoNal Summary

Across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, however,

state standards for preparing new teachers are still simply too low:

h t stts (24) qu tt sc ss tsts usd s scnng mcnsm tc tn gms. Scng, t st t stts qu tsmdd sc v ssssmnts un cmtn tc tn gm

qu n ssssmnt t .

T tsts usd dmssn t tc tn gms mst stts nnt wd. F xm, t tsts usd v stt xct Texas nmd n t t sctv tc utn t tn t t gn

cg-und utn. Ts sts w xcttn studnts ntng tctn gms tn t studnts t cgs nd unvsts.

Tcng cdn t d s n n mnt tcs mst mtntsnsts, t n 10 stts t msu nw tcs nwdg ctv dng nstuctn. N mnt tcs w d n

mtmtcs: on 11 stts dqut tst nw mnt tcs nwdg t sujct.

T cnsng mnt tcs s st w. ev stt xct

Massachusetts ( wc NCTQ s dt) sts t ssng sc mnttc cnsng tsts w t vg sc tst ts (50t cnt),

nd mst stts st ssng ts t n xcdng w v gn t 16t

cnt w ssnt ng ss t tc, t st wt gd tcntnt nwdg. Msscustts s t n stt n t ntn t cv gngt scts ts mnt v tc tn ts.

Futn stts st gnst k-8 cns nd fv m t und smccumstncs. Ts mns tt ndvdus wt ts cns u ctfd t tcgds 7 nd 8, tug t tn s dntc t tt tc ctfd ttc gds 1 nd 2.

Just t stts Indiana, Minnesota nd Tennessee qu, wtut n

sgnfcnt s, tt scnd tcs ss cntnt tst n v sujct

t wnt t cnsd t tc. Untunt, mn ts s nt ctc s scnd scnc.

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NCTQ STaTe TeaCher poliCy yearbook 2012 national summary

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Mst stts st n xcdng w sc ductn tcs. a u 35 sttsw sc ductn tcs t n gnc cns t tc sc ductnstudnts n n gd, k-12.

W 28 stts qu tcng cnddts t v 10-w summtv ctc-tcng xnc, just t Florida, Indiana nd Tennessee s qutt t ctng tc ssgnd t mnt nd sut t cnddt sms s vn ctv tc.

V w stts ut n xcttns n tc tn gms gdng t

qut nd ctvnss t tcs ts gms dv. on gt sttsColorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee nd Texas v c tt ncuds t us studnt cvmnt dt t d tctn gms ccunt t ctvnss t tcs

t gdut.