Study calls teacher programs an 'industry of mediocrity'

NCTQ is based in Washington, D.C., and was founded in 2000 to “build the case for a comprehensive reform agenda” to challenge the current regulations of the profession.

The summary to the NCTQ report says that the U.S. once was the world leader in education, but is being or has been left behind by other countries as the United States experiences budget issues, more poverty in its citizens, more diversity, shorter school years and overcrowded classrooms.

“NCTQ’s Teacher Prep Review has uncovered another cause, one that few would suspect: the colleges and universities producing America’s traditionally prepared teachers,” said the authors of the report. “The review finds (U.S. colleges) have become an industry of mediocrity, churning out first-year teachers with classroom management skills and content knowledge inadequate to thrive in classrooms with ever-increasing ethnic and socioeconomic student diversity.”

The ratings include a zero- to four-star platform with four stars equaling an excellent program and zero stars being equivalent to a consumer alert warning potential students that they’ll likely get little return on their investment. Missouri Western State University received no stars for its elementary education program and two stars for its secondary education program. Northwest Missouri State University received 1.5 stars for its elementary program and two stars for its secondary program.

Dr. Cindi Heider, assistant provost at Western, said they were asked for their course syllabi and textbook information around two years ago. NCTQ used these items to make judgments.

“It’s like going to a restaurant and looking at the menu without trying the food,” Dr. Heider said.

Western students who enter the field of teaching are evaluated by principals in those schools. Dr. Heider said the most recent report showed that 100 percent of the principals who reviewed the Western graduates gave favorable critiques. Furthermore, graduates must pass rigorous teacher examinations before they get their teaching certificates. Sixty-nine out of 70 of the last batch of graduates to take the test passed it on the first try, Dr. Heider said.

Northwest also has high achievement in teacher evaluations, said Dr. Joyce Piveral, dean of the college of education and human services. She said the report released Tuesday deserves a response due to the perception it creates. National organizations have criticized NCTQ for its methodologies, Dr. Piveral said.

“What we hear from the administrators out in the field — they’d like more of our teachers,” she said.

The NCTQ study didn’t take into account outcomes, nor did it factor in Northwest’s Horace Mann laboratory school, which gives freshmen through seniors an opportunity to work with elementary students.

Look for the full report, go to http://www.nctq.org/siteHome.do.