Teacher Preparation Program Accountability:
New Jersey

Analysis of New Jersey's policies

New Jersey'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.

For its university-based preparation-program approval process, New Jersey requires "where relevant, P-12 student achievement data." This vague reference makes it unclear how academic achievement gains of students taught by the programs' graduates are used during the program approval process.

The state also relies on some other objective, meaningful data to measure the performance of university-based teacher preparation programs, including the following documentation for its preparation program approval process:

• Data on candidates' performance on program-based assessments at program completion;
• Numbers of educator candidates prepared in critical shortage areas and from diverse backgrounds;
• Placement and retention rates;
• Data on candidates' performance at the end of the provisional period;
• Praxis scores and pass rates; and
• Follow-up survey of graduates and employers.

New Jersey also collects programs' annual summary licensure test pass rates (80 percent of program completers must pass their licensure exams). However, the 80 percent pass-rate standard, while common among many states, sets the bar quite low and is not a meaningful measure of program performance.

The state does not collect these data for its alternate routes, and there is no evidence that the state's standards for program approval are resulting in greater accountability. In the past three years, no program in New Jersey has been identified as low performing.

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

In New Jersey, national accreditation is required for program approval. 

Citation

New Jersey Administrative Code 6A:9-10.1, 6A: 9-8.3 Title II State Reports https://title2.ed.gov www.ncate.org

Recommendations for New Jersey

Collect data that connect student achievement gains to teacher preparation programs. 

As one way to measure whether programs are producing effective classroom teachers, New Jersey 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 all programs are preparing teachers for the classroom. New Jersey should expand its current reporting requirements to its alternate routes and also include such measures as evaluation results from the first and/or second year of teaching and the number of times, on average, it takes teacher candidates to pass licensing tests.

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. New Jersey should be mindful of setting rigorous standards for program performance, as its current requirement that 80 percent of program graduates pass the state's licensing tests is too low a bar. Programs should be held accountable for meeting rigorous 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. 

New Jersey 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. 

New Jersey should not cede its authority and must 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

New Jersey asserted that it plans to release an Educator Preparation Provider Annual Report beginning in 2014. Initial reports were released to preparation programs in August 2013 for review and feedback prior to full release. These reports will provide potential candidates, the K-12 community and providers with rich data on the placement, retention and effectiveness of their candidates and programs.