Elementary Teacher Preparation in
Mathematics: Kansas

Analysis of Kansas's policies

Kansas relies on its standards for teacher preparation programs as the basis for articulating its requirements for the mathematics content knowledge of elementary teacher candidates.

The state does not specify any coursework requirements regarding mathematics content. However, its general education standards require candidates to understand "the role that mathematics plays in everyday life," and they specifically mention "the uses of statistics and probability." Kansas has also articulated teaching standards that its approved teacher preparation programs must use to frame instruction in elementary mathematics content. These standards appropriately address content in mathematics foundations, but although they mention such areas as algebra, geometry and data analysis, the standards lack the specificity needed to ensure that teacher preparation programs deliver this mathematics content of appropriate breadth and depth to elementary teacher candidates.

Kansas requires that all new elementary teachers pass a general subject-matter test, the Praxis II. This commercial test lacks a specific mathematics subscore, so one can likely fail the mathematics portion and still pass the test. Further, while this test does cover important elementary school-level content, it barely evaluates candidates' knowledge beyond an elementary school level, does not challenge their understanding of underlying concepts and does not require candidates to apply knowledge in nonroutine, multistep procedures.

Citation

Regulations and Standards for Kansas Educators http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=123 www.ets.org/praxis "No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America's Education Schools," NCTQ, June 2008 http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/nctq_ttmath_fullreport.pdf

Recommendations for Kansas

Require teacher preparation programs to provide mathematics content specifically geared to the needs of elementary teachers.
Although Kansas requires some knowledge in key areas of mathematics, the state should require teacher preparation programs to provide mathematics content specifically geared to the needs of elementary teachers. This includes specific coursework in foundations, algebra and geometry, with some statistics. 

Require teacher candidates to pass a rigorous mathematics assessment.
Kansas should assess mathematics content with a rigorous assessment tool, such as the test required in Massachusetts, that evaluates mathematics knowledge beyond an elementary school level and challenges candidates' understanding of underlying mathematics concepts. Such a test could also be used to allow candidates to test out of coursework requirements. Teacher candidates who lack minimum mathematics knowledge should not be eligible for licensure.

State response to our analysis

Kansas recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.