Teaching Profession News in Brief

Teacher Ed. Programs Show Improvement

By Nora Fleming — March 26, 2013 1 min read
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Teacher education programs are using data, technology, and monitoring/tracking systems to improve, but still have a ways to go, says a report from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, released last week.

According to the AACTE, progress has been made, but obstacles to improvement persist.

The organization based its report on data from 95 percent of the organization’s more than 800 members.

The report says that teacher education programs are admitting highly qualified candidates into their programs, with GPAs averaging 3.24; requiring significant clinical experience of students; integrating coursework on technology use in the classroom; and improving the tracking and monitoring of candidates after they graduate.

Data, however, are limited on how teacher-prep graduates are affecting students in K-12 classrooms, particularly through value-added measures. The report recommends that teacher education programs improve their data collection in that area.

A version of this article appeared in the March 27, 2013 edition of Education Week as Teacher Ed. Programs Show Improvement

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