A new report on the quality of teacher-training programs across the country produced mixed results for Delaware.
The National Council on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) 2014 Teacher Prep Review evaluated six of the state’s elementary and secondary teacher-training programs. Four made the national rankings, with the University of Delaware’s undergrad elementary program rated 11th best in the country.
Chief officer of the Teacher and Leader Effective Units at the Department of Education Chris Ruszkowski says a stronger push needs to be made to keep soon-to-be teachers in that program in the First State.
"If that program is rated so high, and we accept the NCTQ’s rating that this program is a top 25 program in the country, why aren’t we doing more in Delaware to make sure that every single one of those graduates ends up teaching in Delaware public schools?" Ruszkowski said.
Ruszkowski adds that currently about a quarter of teacher-training graduates end up working in Delaware schools.
Delaware State and Wilmington University undergrad elementary programs made the top 100 nationally, ranked 71st and 78th respectively. DSU’s undergrad secondary education program also landed the top 100 in the nation, ranked 82nd.
But the NCTQ report found that the state’s two graduate teacher-training programs at Wilmington University ranked in the lower half of programs nationally.
Ruszkowski says improvements in “alignment,” the relation of what teachers learn in training and the skills necessary for today’s classrooms, would help to improve those rankings.
Overall, Ruszkowski says both the good and bad in the report is illuminating.
"Shocked is the way I think some folks are going to feel because it’s about the quality of education that our students are getting every single day," said Ruszkowski. "But while people should be shocked, I don’t think the folks at the Department of Education were at all surprised."
The General Assembly passed a law last year changing how teachers are trained in the First State, including stricter entry requirements for would-be educations into preparation programs and stronger assessment tests before a new teacher earns a state license.
The NCTQ evaluated more than 1,612 teacher-training programs nationally in its report.
