Can't Nobody Get This Right

 Can’t Nobody Get this Right?

 

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)made a big splash a few weeks ago with its grades for Maryland Colleges of teacher education.  Simply put with the exception of McDaniel, they were all terrible.

The Baltimore Sun jumped on the issue and immediately equated the ratings to why kids can’t read and are failing the state tests. Of course, no effort was made to evaluate either the organization or the method being used to make the determination.  Only 46% of the State’s 4^th graders are proficient in reading according to those tests. 

The first thing that needs to be known about these ratings is the method used by NCTQ.  Did the National Council send trained researchers to visit campuses and sit in on classes?  The answer to that question is nope.  Well then, did the organization send surveys to graduates to ask how their undergraduate programs have served their professional needs.  Again, the answer is nope nothing like that.  Did the organization review the credentials of the faculty to see if they were qualified to prepare and teach people to teach.   Again, no. Well then how did they come to their conclusions? Answer, they reviewed the descriptions in the college catalogs of the courses being taught.

The emphasis on the review was how much in depth was the teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.   Instead, Maryland schools taught what is called “balanced literacy”.  That is in addition to word attack and decoding, Maryland schools also taught reading comprehension and literature- both of which are the point of reading!  Doesn’t do much good to decode words if the reader doesn’t get any meaning out of the sounds they are producing.

All of Maryland colleges and universities that prepare teachers are accredited by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).   The AACTE sends teams of professionals into the schools and they stay for most of a week.  They visit classes, interview staff and students, review and evaluate coursework AND talk with graduates regarding how well prepared they were to enter their chosen profession.  The review process isn’t easy.  Lots of paperwork is submitted in advance of the site visits.  So, when a school does get accredited it means something.  And yes, sometimes as a result of the review a school is put on probation, that means something too.

The Baltimore Sun and NCTQ did a disservice to the schools that are doing a comprehensive job of preparing future teachers.  They are getting it right and in the right way.