A strong body of research, and the example of other nations, supports a relationship between student performance and the selectivity of admissions into teacher prep programs. Therefore, America’s institutions training teachers should set high standards to admit only the best candidates to become the teachers.
According to a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), 25 states set high admissions standards in 2015, but many that increased admissions requirements indirectly through the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) admissions policies backed away from that higher standard for entry when CAEP agreed to let programs delay verifying their students’ academic ability until graduation. As a result, the number of states requiring an average GPA of 3.0 or higher before being admitted to a teacher prep program fell from 25 to just the 11 states which established strong admissions policies in state law. The number requiring a test taken by general college applicants (such as the ACT or SAT) dropped from 19 to three.
This report, Within Our Grasp: Achieving Higher Admissions Standards in Teacher Prep, presents new research showing that programs did not need this reversal. Many had already set high standards for candidate admission on their own.
States are using multiple measures to ensure both high standards and flexibility. For instance, most states with GPA requirements base them on the average for the entire class, rather than each individual, to provide programs with more options for individual applicant admissions decisions.
According to the report, states, CAEP, and programs themselves all can play a major role in creating more meaningful admissions standards. Specifically:
- States should maintain a commitment to stronger admissions requirements.
- CAEP should identify a pathway to achieve higher admission standards.
- Teacher prep programs can and should implement a more meaningful bar for admission to their programs.
To read the study, see http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage.do?id=649915&dmsVersionId=649328
