Area 1: Delivering Well Prepared Teachers Goal j
Area 1: Identifying Effective Teachers Goal J – Balancing Professional Coursework The state should ensure that teacher preparation programs provide an efficient and balanced program of study. Goal Components
Figure 29
How States are Faring in Balancing Professional Coursework
0
Best Practice States
3
States Meet Goal California, Tennessee, Virginia
1
State Nearly Meets Goal New Jersey
0
States Partly Meet Goal
6
States Meet a Small Part of Goal Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Texas, Vermont
41 States Do Not Meet Goal Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
144 : NCTQ State teacher Policy Yearbook 2009 national summary
(The factors considered in determining the states’ rating for the goal.) 1. The state should adopt policies designed to encourage efficient delivery of the professional sequence, for both its own requirements and those of individual programs.
Findings States do not do enough to ensure that teacher preparation programs offer an efficient program of study, balancing professional knowledge and skills with subject-area knowledge. Most states now employ a standards-based approach to teacher preparation, moving away from the more traditional approach of specifying the coursework that teacher candidates must take to qualify for licensure. The current approach requires only that programs commit to teaching the state’s standards in return for approval. While this approach may offer more flexibility in how programs deliver course content, states still need to monitor the number of credit hours that programs ultimately require to ensure that they deliver an efficient course of study. Programs’ tendency to require increasing amounts of professional coursework is of particular concern. Programs with excessive professional coursework requirements leave little room for electives and may leave insufficient room for adequate subjectmatter preparation. Such excessive requirements may also discourage talented individuals from pursuing teaching. NCTQ found approved programs in 44 states that require 60 or more credit hours in education coursework. Further, just four states have policies that regulate the amount of professional coursework that may be required.