Teacher Preparation Program Accountability:
Montana

Analysis of Montana's policies

Montana's approval process for its traditional and alternate route teacher preparation programs could do more to hold programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce.

Most importantly, Montana does not explicitly collect or report data that connect student achievement gains to teacher preparation programs.

The state relies on some other objective data to measure the performance of teacher preparation programs. Montana requires that its preparation programs provide evidence that demonstrates the impact of its completers on P-12 student learning, the satisfaction of its completers with the relevance and effectiveness of their preparation, employer surveys and which completers effectively apply the skills taught. However, the state does not specify how to accomplish this, other than through structured and validated observation instruments and surveys.

The state does not appear to apply any transparent, measurable criteria for conferring program approval.

Further, there is no evidence that the state's standards for program approval are resulting in greater accountability. In the past three years, no programs in Montana have been identified in required federal reporting as low performing.

The state's website does not include a report card that allows the public to review and compare program performance.

In Montana, there is some overlap of accreditation and state approval. A review by CAEP may be accepted in lieu of state review.

Citation

Administrative Rule of Montana 10.58.314 http://opi.mt.gov/Programs/Accred/#gpm1_5 Title II State Reports https://title2.ed.gov www.caepnet.org

Recommendations for Montana

Collect data that connect student achievement gains to teacher preparation programs. 
As one way to measure whether programs are producing effective classroom teachers, Montana should consider the academic achievement gains of students taught by programs' graduates, averaged over the first three years of teaching. Data that are aggregated to the institution (e.g., combining elementary and secondary programs) rather than disaggregated to the specific preparation program are not useful for accountability purposes. Such aggregation can mask significant differences in performance among programs.

Gather other meaningful data that reflect program performance. 
Although measures of student growth are an important indicator of program effectiveness, they cannot be the sole measure of program quality for several reasons, including the fact that many programs may have graduates whose students do not take standardized tests. The accountability system must therefore include other objective measures that show how well programs are preparing teachers for the classroom. Montana should expand its requirements to its alternate routes and also include such measures as: 
1.    Evaluation results from the first and/or second year of teaching
2.    Average raw scores of teacher candidates on licensing tests, including academic proficiency, subject matter and professional knowledge tests
3.    Number of times, on average, it takes teacher candidates to pass licensing tests
4.    Five-year retention rates of graduates in the teaching profession.

Establish the minimum standard of performance for each category of data. 
Merely collecting the types of data described above is insufficient for accountability purposes. The next and perhaps more critical step is for the state to establish precise minimum standards for teacher preparation program performance for each category of data. Programs should then be held accountable for meeting these standards, and there should be consequences for failing to do so, including loss of program approval.

Publish an annual report card on the state's website. 
Montana should produce an annual report card that shows all the data the state collects on individual teacher preparation programs, which should be published on the state's website at the program level for the sake of public transparency. Data should be presented in a manner that clearly conveys whether programs have met performance standards. 

Maintain full authority over the process for approving teacher preparation programs. 
Montana should ensure that it is the state that considers the evidence of program performance and makes the decision about whether programs should continue to be authorized to prepare teachers.

State response to our analysis

Montana declined to respond to NCTQ's analyses.