Teacher Preparation Program Accountability:
New York

Analysis of New York's policies

New York's approval process for teacher preparation programs does not hold programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce.

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

The state also fails to collect other objective, meaningful data to measure the performance of teacher preparation programs, and it does not apply any transparent, measurable criteria for conferring program approval. New York gathers 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's website does not include a report card that allows the public to review and compare program performance.

As part of Race to the Top, the state has articulated plans to link student achievement and growth data to preparation programs and use these data as part of its program approval criteria. It appears that the state plans to publish initial reports with student growth results tied to candidates in fall 2013. 

In New York, there is some overlap of accreditation and state approval. Review teams are comprised solely of NCATE/CAEP members, and the state has delegated its program review process to NCATE/CAEP. State regulations articulate that national accreditation is required but can also be satisfied with either a regent's accreditation process or an acceptable professional education accreditation association using equivalent standards. 

Citation

Regulations of the Commissioner of Education 52.21 Race to the Top http://www.highered.nysed.gov/pdf/feebackrpt072012.pdf www.ncate.org

Recommendations for New York

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

As one way to measure whether programs are producing effective classroom teachers, New York 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.  While New York has outlined its intentions to collect this data as part of Race to the Top, the state should codify these requirements.

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, such as: 

1.    Evaluation results from the first and/or second year of teaching;

2.    Satisfaction ratings by school principals and teacher supervisors of programs' student teachers, using a standardized form to permit program comparison;

3.    Average raw scores of teacher candidates on licensing tests, including academic proficiency, subject matter and professional knowledge tests;

4.    Number of times, on average, it takes teacher candidates to pass licensing tests; and

5.    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. New York should be mindful of setting rigorous standards for program performance, as its current requirement that 80 percent of program completers must pass their licensing exams 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 York 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. 

State response to our analysis

New York asserted that all state educator programs leading to teacher/leadership certification must be reviewed and approved for registration by the state's Office of College and University Evaluation. All programs must meet accreditation requirements within seven years of the date of their first registration. They also must be continuously accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting association with standards equivalent to those in the Commissioner's Regulations, or by the Board of Regents, through the Regents Accreditation of Teacher Education (RATE) process. Currently, accreditation of educator programs occurs through NCATE/TEAC/CAEP. On-site accreditation review teams are comprised of NCATE/TEAC/CAEP members. In addition, state staff are actively involved in the accreditation process and conduct a paper review of programs and reports during off-site and on-site visits and post-visit reporting via written and conference call correspondence. Though still allowable under current regulations, up until December 31, 2013, RATE accreditation can no longer be satisfied through the Regents Accreditation review process, as the Board of Regents acted to discontinue RATE in 2010.