NCTQ Teacher Prep Review 2013 Report

http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage/Teacher_Prep_Review_2013_Report

The National Center on Teacher Quality evaluated more than 1,100 teacher education programs using data like course syllabi and program requirements. This has apparently led to a rather weak analysis (like you'd expect if you only judge restaurants from their menus), as many are now pointing out. Linda Darling-Hammond pointed out some of the missing data (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/18/why-the-nctq-teacher-prep-ratings-are-nonsense/), which prompted a NCTQ reply (http://www.nctq.org/commentary/viewStory.do?id=33665) and another reply from Darling-Hammond (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/20/problems-with-new-ratings-of-teachers-colleges-point-by-point/). Essentially, it's very unclear that NCTQ has enough data to evaluate programs, and in at least one case, it seems NCTQ evaluated a program that doesn't exist at the school they say it does.

Bruce Baker points out some hypocrisy in the report (http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/the-central-hypocrisy-of-the-nctq-teacher-prep-institution-ratings/): NCTQ says teacher quality is the key to student achievement, yet did nothing to evaluate the quality of the teacher educators that prepare new teachers. Ed Fuller broke down the report as well at http://fullerlook.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/nctq-ranking-of-teacher-prep-programs-gets-an-f/, and the AACTE has something to say, too: https://secure.aacte.org/apps/rl/resource.php?resid=272&ref=rl.

EdNews Colorado looked at the Colorado results (http://www.ednewscolorado.org/news/new-report-ranks-colorado-teacher-training-programs-poorly) and got some local reactions, including one from the Dean of the School of Education at UC-Denver, who pointed out that NCTQ gave them a zero for student teaching, claiming they don't have it, when in fact UC-Denver is one of the 5% of teacher prep programs nationally that require a full-year of student teaching (http://www.ednewscolorado.org/voices/voices-the-problem-with-the-new-teacher-education-program-ratings).