Generally, schools of education in Texas are doing a poor job of training prospective teachers, according to a preliminary study already drawing criticism from many college deans.
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) 
, a nonprofit research and advocacy group in Washington, D.C., has graded each of the 67 college-based teacher training programs in Texas. “We don’t know for sure, but the preliminary ratings were not good,” said Kate Walsh, the council’s president. The NCTQ is awaiting responses from more deans—most of whom have ignored its request —before publishing the final report.
The education programs were graded primarily on their standards for admission, course requirements, faculty quality, and how well they prepare teachers in math and reading.
The study comes amid growing criticism, most notably from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, of colleges of education. Earlier this year, the Texas Legislature mandated a stricter accountability system for all teacher training programs (see “SBEC to crack down on teacher education programs” in this issue. For the first time, programs could lose their state accreditation if their graduates aren’t effective in the classroom.
Bob Wimpelberg, the dean of the University of Houston’s College of Education, and other education deans from the Texas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (TACTE) plan to issue a written rebuke to the council. Michael Rosato, the president of TACTE, blasted the study’s research methods. Several deans expressed greater concern about meeting state accreditation and voluntary national accreditation standards.
The council declined to release its findings about specific schools until the report is finalized. But Walsh said the initial research shows that the teacher training programs, on average, lack adequate math instruction for aspiring elementary school teachers, and some colleges water down courses for aspiring high school teachers. Walsh emphasized that the findings could change based on additional data provided by the education deans.
—“Group gives bad grade to teacher education,” by Ericka Mellon, Houston Chronicle, Nov. 23, 2009.
