Entities Evaluating Teacher Preparation Programs:
Federal Government

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT


The federal government has become increasingly involved in evaluating TPPs, with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) moving from virtually no direct involvement in teacher preparation, to the introduction of accountability systems that require TPPs and states to report vast amounts of data, and finally to offering monetary incentives for states to develop innovative systems that measure how program graduates perform on the job.

Evidence

Evidence used by the Federal Government to assess TPP quality:

Input Measures

  • Admission requirements
  • Student teaching requirements

Output Measures

  • Teacher certification test results

Inferences

An evaluation is intended to produce information that can be used to draw reasonable inferences about the quality of programs. By inferences, we mean interpretations or findings based on the above evidence.

  • Proportion of students passing certification tests; average scale score for the program​​
  • Whether the program has a minimum GPA or SAT/ACT admission requirement
  • How much student teaching experience candidates are gaining​​
  • Whether a TPP has been identified by the state as low-performing

INCENTIVES FOR TPPs

Incentives for TPPs are tangible or intangible reward or sanction tied to the results of an evaluation.

  • Must comply in order to receive any federal funds​

Likely Consequences

Each type of TPP evaluation system relies on somewhat different evidence that can be used to draw different inferences. Each system also creates different incentives and consequences for TPPs.

Intended

  • Very low-performing programs identified, encouraging states to take remedial action or move toward closure​​

Unintended

  • Gaming pass rates

Mapping the Approach to Purposes

Each type of TPP evaluation system relies on somewhat different evidence that can be used to draw different inferences. Each system also creates different incentives and consequences for TPPs. Thus, instead of asking which TPP evaluation approach is best, the more appropriate and important question is, how well does each approach serve a particular purpose?

Accountability and Monitoring

+ Gives national picture and enables some cross-state comparisons

+ Perceived as a legitimate role of the federal government, i.e., providing objective and reliable data (analogous to other federally supported data systems)

Most indicators are at the state level; little information at the program level for evaluating TPPs

Consumer Information

+ Provides a “onestop” shopping venue for an overview of data (on limited set of attributes) covering all states

Provides inadequate program-specific information to be of use to prospective students or other “consumers”

Program Improvement

Inadequate data, not intended or useful for this purpose

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