General Teacher Preparation Policy
GPA/Testing Requirement: Oregon does not ensure that teacher preparation programs admit only candidates with strong academic backgrounds. The state does not require a minimum GPA for admission to teacher preparation programs.
Oregon state policy does not require aspiring teachers to pass a test of academic proficiency at the time of admission or any time thereafter.
Additional Requirements: Oregon requires all teacher preparation programs to obtain CAEP accreditation by July 1, 2022. Unfortunately, CAEP standards were weakened by the decision to allow programs to delay verifying their students' academic ability until graduation, rather than at the time of admission.
Diversity Programs: Oregon is implementing programs designed to increase the diversity of its teacher candidates such as community college pathways and partnerships between programs and districts. Recent legislation authorizes the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to award funds to culturally and linguistically diverse teacher candidates to use at approved educator preparation program providers. Additionally, the Oregon Educator Equity Advisory Group meets monthly to engage with Oregon's nine Federally Recognized Tribes and stakeholders to identify and address barriers in Oregon's progress in diversifying the educator workforce.
Require that teacher preparation programs screen candidates for academic proficiency prior to admission.
Teacher preparation programs that do not screen candidates invest considerable resources in individuals who may not be able to successfully complete the program, pass licensing tests, and ultimately succeed in the classroom. Candidates in need of additional support should complete remediation before entering the program to avoid the possibility of an unsuccessful investment of significant public resources. Oregon should require candidates to pass a test of academic proficiency that assesses reading, mathematics, and writing prior to program admission that is normed to the general college-going population. Alternatively, the state could require a minimum grade point average of at least 3.0 for individuals or 3.2 for cohorts of accepted candidates in order to establish that prospective teachers have a strong academic history.
Consider requiring candidates to pass subject-matter tests as a condition of admission into teacher programs.
In addition to ensuring that programs require a measure of academic performance for admission, Oregon may also consider requiring subject-matter testing prior to program admission, rather than at the point of program completion. Doing so would provide candidates lacking sufficient subject-matter expertise with an opportunity to remedy deficits prior to entering formal preparation.
Oregon was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.
The state also added that state program rules are being revised to adopt CAEP standards, and that it anticipates this process to be completed by January 2018. The state noted that CAEP Standard 3 requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 and a group average performance on nationally normed assessments or substantially equivalent state-normed assessments in the top 50 percent of those assessed.
The state also added that it has been persistently working on efforts to diversify its pool of teacher candidates. The state provided the following information about teacher candidate diversity:
1) Of the 1,793 preliminary teacher licensure program completers in Oregon public and private institutions for 2015-2016, 245 (13.7 percent) were racially/ethnically diverse teacher candidates, a significant increase from the 10.3 percent reported for program completers in 2014-2015.
2) Enrollment data provided by Westat for Oregon's 17 teaching preparation programs also shows that of the 2290 candidates enrolled in a preliminary teacher licensure program in 2016-2017, 578 (25.24 percent) were racially/ethnically diverse compared to 501 (23.44 percent) in 2014-2015.
Oregon stated that it believes that it is likely that some of the positive growth in teacher diversity could be attributed to demographic changes in general, more pre-college-level career programs promoting the education profession, focused community college pathways, intensive efforts by educator preparation programs and district/university partnerships that have been initiated in the last few years.
1A: Program Entry
Evidence is strong that countries whose students consistently outperform U.S. students set a much higher bar for entry to teacher preparation programs than what is typically found in the United States.[1] Far from the top third or even top tenth to which more selective countries limit candidates, most states do not even aim for the top 50 percent.[2] Previous analysis has shown that many states do not require that preparation programs evaluate candidates' academic proficiency as a condition of admission to teacher preparation at all; most others set a low bar by requiring basic skills tests that generally assess middle school-level skills[3] or by requiring a minimum GPA, but too few demand at least a 3.0.
In addition to the low skill level tested by current basic skills tests (e.g., the Praxis Core), another concern is that they are normed only to the prospective teacher population, which does not allow for comparability between prospective teachers and the entire college-bound population. Tests normed to the general college-bound population would shine a clearer light on the academic proficiency of those admitted to teacher preparation programs and allow programs to be truly selective.
While a positive start, CAEP standards are no substitute for states' own policies. CAEP's standards require that the group average performance on nationally normed ability assessments such as ACT, SAT, or GRE be in the top 50th percentile. However, CAEP allows programs the unnecessary freedom to determine whether the minimum criteria will be measured prior to admissions or at some point during the program. Clear state admission policies would send an unequivocal message to programs about the state's expectations for high admissions standards.[4]
Research is clear about the positive effects of teachers with stronger academic backgrounds on student achievement.[5] Higher teacher selectivity, as measured by factors such as SAT/ACT scores,[6] GPA prior to program admission,[7] and an institute of higher education's (IHE) general competitiveness or selectivity,[8] has a significant, positive correlation with student achievement. Some studies support higher academic admissions standards for entry into TPPs, including studies showing a relationship between student achievement and teachers' verbal ability[9] or selectivity of the teachers' college.[10] Although research supports applying greater selectivity when admitting teacher candidates, some recent work has found no correlation between teachers' scores on tests normed to the general college-bound population (e.g., SAT, ACT) or IHE selectivity and student achievement.[11]
States should support increased diversity in the teacher pipeline,[12] in addition to maintaining high admissions standards for teacher preparation programs.[13] Recent data show that 49 percent of students in the US were students of color, while only 17 percent of teachers were teachers of color.[14] Twenty-eight states had gaps between the percentage of students and educators of color that were greater than 25 percentage points.[15] A growing body of research suggests that students of color—students who often face the largest achievement gaps—benefit from having same-race teachers.[16] Exposure to same-race teachers positively benefits student achievement,[17] teachers' expectations and perceptions of students,[18] teachers' assessments and perceptions of student behavior,[19] students' rates of suspension and expulsion,[20] students' assignment to Gifted and Talented programs,[21] and students' perceptions of teachers.[22] Some research suggests that teachers of the same race as their students are more likely to reduce high-school dropout rates as well as increase student attendance and college attendance intent,[23] and improve discipline.[24] Moreover, white students report that they favor teachers of color.[25]