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In addition to coordinating various events for the TMEA conference,<br />
I also hope to keep our higher education colleagues<br />
abreast of current trends in music teacher training that directly<br />
impact our Tennessee students. One issue that was discussed at<br />
the last TMEA Higher Education Caucus was the possible impact<br />
of the Tennessee Promise. As most of you are aware, <strong>TN</strong> Promise<br />
provides Tennessee students with a scholarship to cover tuition<br />
and fees not covered by Pell grants, HOPE scholarship, or other<br />
state student assistance funds if they attend a <strong>TN</strong> community college<br />
or applied technology college. Because some students may<br />
wish to complete two years of college for free and then transfer to<br />
a four-year college/university, university music programs will be<br />
forced to develop a plan for these transferring students seeking<br />
a music education degree. Few community colleges in Tennessee<br />
offer rigorous music programs, so it is not clear how students<br />
transferring from community colleges will be able to complete licensure<br />
requirements in two years, especially since most Teacher<br />
Education Programs in <strong>TN</strong> require a one-year residency (student<br />
teaching). University departments of music will need to be prepared<br />
for a possible influx of transferring students from community<br />
colleges in fall 2017. Partnerships with local community<br />
college music programs may be warranted to ensure a smoother<br />
transition into four-year university music programs.<br />
Music teacher training programs are also becoming better acquainted<br />
with the edTPA, a subject-specific assessment in which<br />
teacher candidates must demonstrate their teacher effectiveness<br />
through three tasks: planning, instruction, and assessment.<br />
The edTPA is scored by external reviewers within the discipline<br />
through Pearson. Currently, ten Tennessee universities use the<br />
edTPA to meet the state performance assessment requirement;<br />
however, Tennessee does not require the edTPA for licensure and<br />
has not established a passing score. Because of this, each university<br />
education program is establishing its own passing score and<br />
some are not allowing teacher candidates who do not meet the<br />
passing score to graduate or process their licensure application<br />
to the state. Though rumor has it the state will soon add the edT-<br />
PA as a licensure requirement, a recent search of their website<br />
produced no mention of edTPA. As a side note, the edTPA costs<br />
each teacher candidate $300, is completed in their final semester<br />
of residency, and requires students to devote well over 60 hours to<br />
develop their materials for a successful submission.<br />
Music teacher trainers and music education students may also be<br />
delighted to discover the <strong>TN</strong> Department of Education recently adjusted<br />
the qualifying score on the ACT required for acceptance into<br />
a teacher education program. They now accept a composite ACT<br />
score of 21 or above (SAT 1020), or students would need to pass the<br />
Praxis I Core Academic Skills for Educators exam. To date, no plans<br />
have been made to lower the passing score on the Praxis II: Music<br />
Content and Instruction exam despite low pass rates.<br />
Despite the many challenges related to music teacher licensure,<br />
I am still inspired and encouraged by our music education students.<br />
Their passion for music and children reassure me that the<br />
future of music education in Tennessee is in good hands. I wish<br />
you all a wonderful semester as you impart knowledge and confidence<br />
into our future music teachers.<br />
Tennessee Music Education Assocation | www.tnmea.org | 33
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