Suggested Citation
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2024). College of Wooster Undergraduate Elementary. Teacher Prep Review. [Data set]. https://www.nctq.org/review/viewProgram/College-of-Wooster-OH-1
Download Current or Past Data
Select a program type and year below to download an export of scores. Note that as of 2020, NCTQ discontinued analysis of secondary teacher preparation programs.
Enrollment
Admissions
To ensure that every child - regardless of race or background - receives a quality education, their teachers need to be effective. To support that aim, programs should screen for academic caliber during admissions to ensure that teacher candidates come from the top half of the college-going population. For consideration under this standard, tests used as an academic screen must be normed to the college-going population.
Institution-level selectivity for College of Wooster
- Median SAT score: 1215
- Median ACT score: 27
- The program has no GPA admissions requirement
The selectivity of the institution ensures that teacher candidates are among the top half of the college-going population.
A
Program Diversity
A diverse teacher workforce benefits all students, particularly students of color. While there has been real progress over the last twenty years in diversifying the teacher workforce,1 these gains have not kept pace with a rapidly diversifying student population. To accelerate progress, strategic recruitment efforts by teacher preparation programs are essential.
- Teacher prep enrollment: 14 percent candidates of color2
- Ohio teacher workforce: 8 percent teachers of color3
- Local demographics: 6 percent persons of color4
College of Wooster is found to be 6.2 percentage points more diverse than the Ohio teacher workforce and 7.7 percentage points more diverse than the local population.
2 Three-year average sourced from Title II National Teacher Preparation Data
3 National Teacher and Principal Survey data (state supplied data substituted for missing values)
4 U.S. Census core-based statistical area (CBSA) data
5 This program is located either in a state with a workforce that is over 90% white or draws from a community that is over 90% white. Programs in areas with an unusually large white population may not appear to be making as significant of a contribution as programs located in more diverse settings, but they have been able to make progress facing this challenge. (Read the full Methodology.)
A
Knowledge
Reading Foundations
Unlocking a child's potential begins with reading, yet many children in the United States cannot read at a basic level. Change begins by ensuring all teacher preparation programs implement scientifically based reading instruction.
This program was not included in the 2023 Reading Foundations analysis.
N/A
Elementary Mathematics
Addressing learning loss and building the math skills of young students demands urgent action by all sectors of the education community, including educator preparation programs. In order for elementary schools to deliver equitable and effective instruction in mathematics to all students, they need their teachers to have acquired the mathematics content and pedagogical knowledge specified in commonly accepted mathematics education standards.
This program was not included in the 2022 Elementary Mathematics analysis.
N/A
Building Content Knowledge
To be successful, elementary teachers need content knowledge in science and social studies, both to build their students' understanding of the world and their critical thinking skills, and also to support students in becoming strong readers. Becoming a strong reader requires cumulative exposure to content knowledge, cutting across multiple domains and disciplines. The courses aspiring teachers take gives them strong background knowledge in these subjects, and in turn, they give this knowledge to students.
This program was not included in the 2023 Building Content Knowledge analysis.
N/A
Practice
Clinical Practice
Student teaching serves a critical role in preparing teacher candidates to take the reins of their own classroom. This apprenticeship allows candidates to build on coursework by learning directly from an established teacher, and practice and refine essential instructional and management skills.
Student teaching should be at least 10 weeks long in order to offer opportunities for repeated cycles of practice and growth. It should be full- or nearly-full-time, and include several weeks during which the candidate has primary responsibility for teaching the whole class for full days, so that the candidate can experience the full demands of being a teacher.
In addition, there are two essential steps that programs should take to safeguard the value of the experience:
1. Supply student teachers with sufficient feedback by requiring supervisors to provide student teachers with at least four instances of written feedback based on observations.
2. Establish a structured process for selecting strong cooperating teachers that includes the collection of sufficient information to confirm that cooperating teachers have relevant skills, including ability as a mentor and instructional effectiveness as measured by student learning.
No rating could be determined for this program because the institution did not provide the information necessary for evaluation.
CBD
Classroom Management
New teachers and their principals consistently report that classroom management is one of their greatest challenges. Teachers will be better prepared to establish a positive classroom environment if, during their preparation programs, they practice and receive feedback on the five classroom management strategies shown by conclusive research to be useful for all students. These strategies are:
- Rules and Routines – Establishing classroom rules and routines that set expectations for behavior;
- Learning Time – Maximizing the time that students are engaged in learning by pacing lessons appropriately, managing class materials and the physical setup of the classroom, and teaching interesting lessons;
- Praise – Using meaningful praise and other forms of positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate behavior;
- Low-profile Redirection – Using unobtrusive means that do not interrupt instruction to prevent and manage minimally disruptive behavior; and
- Consequences – Addressing more serious misbehavior with consistent, appropriate consequences.
A review of program evaluation and/or observation instruments finds that they provide feedback on student teachers' use of the following classroom management strategies:
- Rules and Routines
- Learning Time (manage time; manage materials; manage student engagement)
- Praise
- Low-profile Redirection
- Consequences
Next Steps
Consider modifying evaluation and observation instruments to provide participants with feedback on their use of the following strategies:
- Learning Time (manage the physical classroom)