On December 3, the Department of Education published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in the Federal Register to implement new rules governing teacher preparation programs nationwide. The regulations are intended to amend existing accountability systems under Title II of the Higher Education Act to incorporate additional measurements of student outcomes as a means to evaluate teacher effectiveness.
The regulation would require that starting October 1, 2017, all teacher education programs at institutions of higher education (IHEs) or alternative teacher certification programs would be required to provide new information to a state report card , which would be made publically available (including on the IHE or program website). This new information would focus more heavily on program outcomes, including student learning outcomes, employment outcomes, survey outcome data and accreditation.
Of particular importance to CTE professionals will be ED’s definition of student growth for non-tested subjects. The NOPR states that:
“Under the definition of `student achievement in non-tested grades and subjects,' for grades and subjects that do not require assessments under section 1111(b)(3) of the ESEA, student achievement would be determined by measures of student learning and performance, such as students' results on pre-tests and end-of-course-tests, objective performance-based assessments, student learning objectives, student performance on English language proficiency assessments, and other measures of student achievement, that are rigorous and comparable across schools and consistent with State requirements.”
The new regulations provide one year to establish data reporting systems for the program, beginning in the 2015-16 school year, followed by mandatory reporting in the 2016-17 school year. In addition, the regulations mandate that programs will be rated on a scale with at least four categories, including “low-performing,” “at-risk,” “effective” and “exceptional.” Programs that are found to be lower than “effective” in preparing teachers for the classroom will need to develop plans for improvement, and will no longer be eligible for TEACH grants, which provide students with grants to assist with costs associated with their education while pursuing careers as teachers in high-need fields.
ACTE invites feedback from our members on their questions and concerns related to the proposed teacher preparation regulations. All feedback will be considered and factored into our comments to ED on the proposed regulations, which are due on or before February 2, 2015. To learn more, visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal here.
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