University education programs in Ohio to be graded
College and university education programs are set to be evaluated by grade starting in 2011. Both public and private universities will receive "report cards" that indicate how well the institutions are doing at training the nation's future teachers. Ohio's General Assembly instructed the state's Board of Regents to formulate the "report card." Officials with Ohio's Board of Regents say the new system will positively impact the state's K-12 schools.
"To prepare students who can be successful in college, we need educators who can teach the skills and knowledge needed in the 21st century," Ohio's Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut said via press release. "The framework announced today will help ensure Ohio's dedicated colleges of teacher education meet that high standard."
The nation's first-of-its-kind teacher education program "report card" will evaluate the curricula using several benchmarks including: the quality of student teaching experiences; how many graduates are placed in hard-to-staff school districts; and how well graduates perform on the state's new Teacher Performance Evaluation, which measures how well a new teacher can manage a classroom, interact with parents and plan lessons.
Educators at colleges and universities say they look forward to being evaluated by the new system and have faith that the assessments will be fair.
"State University Education Deans (SUED) support the development of statewide metrics, holding all educator preparation programs who wish to operate in the state of Ohio to standards that will ensure quality, accountability, and continuous improvement," said the chair of SUED Dr. Renée A. Middleton. "There is a commitment on behalf of the Board of Regents to ensure that the metrics are applied fairly, uniformly, and with transparency. Ohio has a system of education that includes both public and private institutions of higher education who have worked with the state to embrace a statewide and national agenda for reforming education."
"These metrics align with statewide goals of education reform and national accreditation initiatives," she continued. "Both SUED and the Ohio Association for Private Colleges of Teacher Education (OAPCTE) believe that it is important for all of Ohio's educator preparation programs to ensure that we prepare the most effective teachers, match them with highly seasoned mentors, place them in schools and districts that need them the most, and provide them with tools and guidance for continued success. We must hold ourselves to the highest level of accountability to ensure that Ohio's students can thrive on a local, state, national, and global level."
Data collection for the evaluations will begin right away and the first full report on Ohio's education programs will be released at the end of 2012.
