Teaching is one of the most difficult professions. So why is
it so easy to get into? The second edition of the Teacher Prep Review shows that fewer than one in three programs
make sure that they draw from the top half of the college-going population,
even though decades of research and the experience of top-performing countries
show that academic aptitude is correlated with teacher effectiveness.
Looking deeper, we found that:
·
Only 35%
of undergraduate programs (n=1,722) and a scant 9% of graduate programs (n=674) are sufficiently selective.
·
More than 80%
of all programs (n=2,396) evaluated do not require applicants to have a minimum
3.0 GPA.
·
Nearly three-quarters
of undergraduate programs do not require that applicants score in the top half
of college entrance exam-takers.
·
Only one-quarter
of graduate programs require that applicants either complete an audition or
provide a score for the GRE or other similar graduate school entrance exam.
There are encouraging signs of progress:
·
Since the release of the first edition of the Teacher Prep Review last year, nine IHEs have raised their admissions
standards to require applicants have a GPA
of 3.0 or above.
·
In response to suggestions from a number of
deans, NCTQ added an indicator in Teacher
Prep Review 2014 that enables an average
cohort GPA of 3.3 or above (prior to program admission) to satisfy the
standard. An additional 41 programs met
or partly met the standard due to this change.
·
On the state policy front, Rhode Island has recently passed legislation requiring that each
class of candidates score in the top
half and ultimately the top third
of college entrance exam-takers.
For more on the importance of making it tougher to get into
teaching, check out Amanda Ripley’s article
on Slate.
