Sophia McArdle, Management and Program Analyst, Office of ...

Teacher Education Accountability:
Impact on States and Teacher
Preparation Programs
Sophia McArdle, Ph.D.
Office of Postsecondary Education

Over the next 10 years, 1.6 million teachers will retire.
At least that many will be needed to take their place.
SY10-11
SY12-13
SY14-15
SY16-17
SY18-19
SY20-21
= 160,000 teachers

The Challenge
Preparation:
More than 3 in 5 new teachers report
that their education school experience
left them feeling unprepared for
“classroom realities”
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The Challenge
Teacher recruitment:
•America is not recruiting the best
and brightest into teaching
– Only 23% of all teachers, and only 14% of
teachers in high poverty schools, come
from the top third of college graduates
4

The Challenge
Rigorous training:
• After admission, too many programs do
not provide a rigorous clinical
experience
– Only 50% of current teacher candidates
receive supervised clinical training
5

The Challenge
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High-need areas:
• Education schools often do not respond
to school district teacher needs in highneed
subjects
– Over ½ of all districts have trouble
recruiting highly qualified teachers in
science and special education
– Over 90% of high-minority districts have
trouble recruiting highly qualified math
and science teachers

The Challenge
Diversity:
The teaching workforce is predominantly
white and does not reflect the diversity of
the nation’s students that is increasingly
black or Hispanic
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Teacher Preparation Program Performance
27 states have never identified a low-performing program
12 states have identified 1-5 low-performing programs
12 states have identified 6+ low-performing programs
Out of the over
1,400
institutions
preparing
teachers, only
38 programs
were identified
by states as
low-performing
or at-risk in the
most recent
year.
SOURCE: Chad Aldeman, et al., A Measured Approach to Improving
Teacher Preparation (Washington, DC: Education Sector, 2011).

The Federal Role
•Support States in their work using
federal policies and investment to
accelerate and support progress
•Create conditions for reform
•Provide for targeted investments
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Our Future, Our Teachers
The Obama Administration’s Plan
for Teacher Education Reform and
Improvement

Teacher Initiatives
•HEA Title II Regulations
•Presidential Teaching Fellows
•Augustus F. Hawkins Centers for
Excellence
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HEA Title II Regulations
The issue:
Existing reporting and accountability
requirements have not led to meaningful
change partially because the data
collected is generally on program inputs
rather than program outcomes
12

HEA Title II Regulations
Goal is to:
• Revise federal reporting requirements
to reduce burden and focus on the
most important measures of quality
• Provide prospective teacher
candidates, hiring school districts, and
teacher preparation programs with
meaningful data on program quality
13

HEA Title II Regulations
Goal would be achieved by:
• Reducing input-based reporting
elements and
• Focusing on 3 categories of outcomebased
measures instead
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HEA Title II Regulations
The Measures:
• Student growth of elementary and
secondary school students taught by
program graduates
• Job placement and retention rates
• Surveys of program graduates and their
principals as to whether they were
provided with the skills needed for
classroom success in their first years
15

HEA Title II Regulations
Outcomes:
• The data would create a feedback loop with
meaningful information and would empower
all stakeholders to make better decisions
• Teacher Candidates: Teacher candidates
will be able to make more informed
decisions when choosing a program to
attend.
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HEA Title II Regulations
• Employers: School districts will have more
information about the relative performance of
new teachers from different teacher
preparation programs that will aid in hiring
decisions
• Teacher Preparation Programs: New data
will supply programs with meaningful impact
information they can use to drive program
change and self-improve
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HEA Title II and TEACH Grant
Program Regulations
Establish a link between a State’s
classification of a teacher preparation
program under the Title II reporting
system and that program’s identification
as “high quality” for TEACH Grant
eligibility purposes
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Presidential Teaching Fellows
• A new $190 million program to support
rigorous state-level policies and provide
scholarships for students to attend toptier
teacher preparation programs
• Would replace the TEACH Grant Program
while maintaining the program’s core
purpose to recruit teachers to work in
high-need schools in high-need fields
19

Presidential Teaching Fellows
State Policies:
• Funds would be allocated by formula to
states that commit to establishing
rigorous teacher certification and
licensure and teacher preparation
program accountability
– A set-aside of up to 20% would be used
for state implementation of activities
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Presidential Teaching Fellows
State Policies:
– A set-aside of up to 20% would be used
for state implementation of activities
– An additional 5% (beyond the 20%)
could be set-aside by states to develop
a “master teacher” designation in
consortia with other states. Master
teachers would receive portable
certification.
21

Presidential Teaching Fellows
Scholarships:
• The majority of PTF funds would provide
scholarships of up to $10,000 for highachieving,
final year students enrolled in
high-quality traditional or alternative
teacher preparation programs with a
priority for students with financial need
22

Presidential Teaching Fellows
Scholarships:
• Students would have to teach for at least
3 years in a high-need field in a high-need
school
• Current TEACH Grant recipients would be
grandfathered for the duration of their
academic program
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Augustus F. Hawkins Centers
for Excellence
• Disadvantaged students benefit
academically and socially from teachers
with whom they can identify
• Such teachers are underrepresented in
the workforce
24

Augustus F. Hawkins Centers
for Excellence
- 14% of teachers identify as African-American
or Hispanic compared to 38% of students
- Only 2% of teachers are African-American
men
- Only 2% of teachers are Latino men
• MSIs collectively prepare more than 50%
of all minority teachers
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Augustus F. Hawkins Centers
for Excellence
• Provides for $30 million in first-time
funding for a competitive grant program
supporting teacher preparation at
minority-serving institutions (MSIs)
• Project activities would involve teacher
preparation reform
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Augustus F. Hawkins Centers
for Excellence
• The minimum grant award would be
$500,000
• Award would be for 3 years, with an
additional 2 years continuation funding
available conditioned on meeting
performance targets
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In sum:
The ultimate goal of all these teacher
initiatives is that every student will
have the effective teacher they
deserve
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Thank you!

Contact Information:
Sophia McArdle, Ph.D.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Postsecondary Education
1990 K St. NW Room 8019
Washington, DC 20006
sophia.mcardle@ed.gov
(202) 219-7078
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