By now you've heard that NCTQ is reviewing teacher preparation programs in partnership with US News & World Report. The goal? Provide future teachers, district superintendents and policy makers with information about how well these institutions are preparing teachers for success in the classroom.

We're gathering the evidence we need to determine what teacher preparation programs expect new teachers to know and do for their students. We're asking the programs to supply us with the documents --the syllabi describing the content of required courses, titles of textbooks that must be bought and read, data showing program outcomes, the management of the critical student teaching experience -- that reflect how well they systematically prepare teachers.

Unfortunately, a number of education schools have decided against providing us with this basic information. From our perspective, higher education institutions, whether private or public, have an obligation to be transparent about the design and operations of their teacher preparation programs. After all, these institutions have been publicly approved to prepare public school teachers.

So today we are launching Transparency Central 2.0. At this website you can track our progress in bringing transparency to teacher prep state by state, and see how well ed schools are living up to their obligation to be open to the public. Check it out and tell us what you think.