{"id":18619,"date":"2013-05-20T07:42:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T11:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=18619"},"modified":"2013-05-20T16:11:04","modified_gmt":"2013-05-20T20:11:04","slug":"teacher-training-programs-grapple-with-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/20\/teacher-training-programs-grapple-with-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Training Programs Grapple With Recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This post was authored by Sarah Butrymowicz with <\/em>The Hechinger Report<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Somewhere midway through his sophomore year of college at Florida Atlantic University, Christopher Clevenger started to question his aeronautical engineering major. He liked the coursework, and was doing well at it, but when he thought about his job prospects, the future seemed bleak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be me, a computer screen and a phone,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t get that human interaction that I craved.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18610\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/20\/florida-plans-increased-scrutiny-for-education-schools\/5-20-leeannespalding2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18610\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-18610\" title=\"5-20 LeeAnneSpalding2\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-LeeAnneSpalding2-620x465.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-LeeAnneSpalding2-620x465.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-LeeAnneSpalding2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Central Florida education professor Lee-Anne Spalding uses an interactive white board to shows students how to connect a drill using coins to both math and history. Critics say education programs, such as the one at UCF, have few standards for entry and do not adequately prepare graduates to lead a classroom.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So Clevenger changed track. He was accepted in Nova Southeastern University\u2019s undergraduate teacher training program. On a campus tour, talking with professors and seeing the level of interest they seemed to have in the teacher candidates, Clevenger was sold.\u00a0 He graduated from Nova in November with a degree in secondary social science and is now teaching world history at a high school near Nova\u2019s Fort Lauderdale campus.<\/p>\n<p>Although he switched from a tough major to one that has a reputation of being easy, he stressed that \u2013 despite what some people assume\u2015the decision was not because he wanted to earn easy As.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of students see going into the education world as a fallback\u2026That\u2019s where you get the bad teachers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not easy. It\u2019s not something you wake up and do if you\u2019re not passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A national push to improve the quality of teachers has focused largely on those already in the classroom, with the adoption of new teacher evaluation systems and efforts to help struggling teachers and push out those who don\u2019t improve. But increasingly, reformers who believe better teachers will lead to greater student achievement are eyeing how teachers are trained in the first place\u2014and finding training programs lacking.<\/p>\n\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/20\/florida-plans-increased-scrutiny-for-education-schools\/\">Florida Plans Increased Scrutiny For Education Schools<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/15\/what-the-florida-teacher-evaluation-lawsuit-could-mean-for-other-states\/\">What The Florida Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit Could Mean For Other States<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/02\/22\/state-analysis-says-teacher-evaluation-data-rates-effective\/\">State Analysis Says Teacher Evaluation Data Rates &#8220;Effective&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2011\/08\/6022835400_bac207e533_m-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/topic\/senate-bill-736\/\">SB 736 &#8211; The Student Success Act Outlines How Florida Teachers Get Paid<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>For many of these critics, the problem with teacher education starts even before the first class begins. \u00a0These critics argue that low-quality students are recruited to education schools, drawn by low admissions standards and perceptions of education schools as a fallback option. \u00a0And high-quality candidates are being driven away from the field by school budget cuts imposed during the recession and the vitriol that often surrounds the education reform debate, educators say. Aware of their reputations, education schools find themselves doing a balancing act between boosting admissions standards and being able to fill seats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they want to make [admissions] harder, I\u2019m all for it,\u201d said Les Potter, chair of the School of Education at Daytona State College. The college has open enrollment, but students must earn a 2.5 GPA to be admitted into the teacher training program. \u201cBut where are we going to get the students?\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>&#8220;The Pursuit of Irrelevance&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p>The National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and advocacy group, has led the charge against low admission standards, frequently citing a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mckinseyonsociety.com\/downloads\/reports\/Education\/Closing_the_talent_gap.pdf\">2007 McKinsey report<\/a> that claims the majority of U.S. teachers are recruited from the bottom two-thirds of their class. By contrast, in countries such as Finland and Singapore that perform well on international measures of academic achievement teacher candidates are drawn from the top quartile.<\/p>\n<p>NCTQ has been a constant critic of teacher training programs, producing annual reports to highlight what the organization deems as shortcomings in teacher training. In Florida, NCTQ found that only 23 percent of programs either require a 3.0 GPA before entry or are housed at a selective institution, roughly the same as the national average. (The study excluded the smallest programs.)<strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>Just five of Florida&#8217;s 42 education schools required a minimum ACT or SAT score for admission into an undergraduate program in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Nova, after nearly a decade of building up its undergraduate education program, saw its enrollment slipped from 692 in 2011-2012 to about 500 in the 2012-2013 school year. Despite that, Nova\u2019s Fischler School of Education, into which students matriculate as juniors, is raising its entry requirements from a 2.4 in freshman and sophomore classes to a 3.0 for those matriculating in the fall of 2014. Incoming students will also need a 1,000 on their SAT.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18620\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 200px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/20\/teacher-training-programs-grapple-with-recruitment\/5-20-katewalsh\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18620\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18620\" title=\"5-20 KateWalsh\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-KateWalsh-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-KateWalsh-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-KateWalsh-620x930.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-KateWalsh.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">NCTQ<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate Walsh, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. The group is releasing ranking of education schools next month.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re very conscious that the people we\u2019re awarding with our degrees are responsible for others\u2019 children,\u201d said Terry Davis, NSU\u2019s director of undergraduate enrollment and recruitment. \u201cThe bottom line is important \u2026 [but] it\u2019s not just, \u2018let\u2019s get everybody in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship program, which provides an alternative pathway to teaching for career switchers, said Nova is taking a positive first step. He noted, however, that his research has found 41 percent of all college students have a 3.0 GPA or higher. \u201cYou have to ask, what is it based on? Is that enough?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, Levine, the former president of Teachers College, Columbia University, published <a href=\"http:\/\/www.edschools.org\/pdf\/Educating_Teachers_Report.pdf\">a 140-page report<\/a> on the state of teacher education with chapter headings like \u201cThe Pursuit of Irrelevance.\u201d The study lambasted the state of education schools, including their admission standards.<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, education schools have been considered the \u201ccash cows\u201d of universities \u2013 low-cost, easy-to-fill programs that earn the institutions money. Levine\u2019s work found that more than 40 percent of principals and education school faculty members thought the schools had low admission standards. Other <a href=\"http:\/\/public.econ.duke.edu\/~psarcidi\/arcidimetrics.pdf\">research<\/a> has shown that low-skill students in business and math majors are likely to switch to education, while high-skill education majors tend to leave those programs.<\/p>\n<p>But there is conflicting information about who actually enrolls in education schools. While SAT takers who plan to major in education score well below would-be majors in many other disciplines, including engineering and psychology, many of these students never matriculate into education programs. Of those who pass the Praxis I, a basic skills test required for entry into teacher training programs in 30 states, the SAT scores of would-be elementary school teachers are below the national average, but those of secondary school teachers are at the average, according to Levine\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<h4>Stiffer Competition<\/h4>\n<p>Founded in 1964 as a graduate school, Nova was soon focusing on distance education and, later, it expanded those offerings to online courses. Now, universities across the country are trying to increase the number of online courses they offer, and online teacher training programs are part of the explosion. Walden University and the University of Phoenix, both for-profit institutions that offer extensive online coursework, are now the top producers of teaching degrees in the country, according to federal data.<\/p>\n<p>Although still maintaining its online and graduate programs, Nova\u2019s primary push is to build a robust set of brick-and-mortar undergraduate programs and provide a traditional campus experience for its students. The ultimate goal is to become a selective research university, competing for the best students in Florida and across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Nova\u2019s main undergraduate campus in Fort Lauderdale is full of brand new buildings. The $92 million campus center, opened in 2006, features a food court, student lounge and a rock climbing wall. Next door, construction is underway for a new collaborative research center.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, after years of growth, the number of in-person undergraduates is faltering, including those who want to be teachers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of issues, a lot of challenges,\u201d said Jamie Manburg, Nova\u2019s executive director of teacher education and undergraduate programs. \u201cI\u2019m just not seeing, in my opinion, the demand that we used to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manburg attributed the drop in enrollment to worsened job prospects for teachers compared to other majors. The upside, he said, is that a lack of job guarantees means that those who chose to enroll in teacher training programs now are more likely to do so because they want to make a difference in children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<p>The shrinking number of teacher candidates comes at a difficult time. With subjects like math, science and special education facing perpetual teacher shortages and a wave of baby boom teachers poised to retire, student enrollment in Florida continues to increase, to more than 2.69 million students this school year, from less than 2.63 million in 2008-09.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18608\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/20\/florida-plans-increased-scrutiny-for-education-schools\/5-20-ucfedstudents\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18608\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18608\" title=\"5-20 UCFEdStudents\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-UCFEdStudents-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-UCFEdStudents-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2013\/05\/5-20-UCFEdStudents-620x465.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John O&#39;Connor \/ StateImpact Florida<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Central Florida elementary education students discuss how to incorporate books, maps, magazines and other materials into lesson plans.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There has been an increase in the number of Florida programs training teachers but that means \u00a0the competition to recruit education students across the state has become stiffer. In the 2000s, the state supported districts developing alternative certification programs to target shortage areas, like special education, math and science. In 2008, the legislature passed a law allowing community colleges to offer bachelor\u2019s degrees \u2013 including in education \u2013 to address degree areas where four-year schools could not meet the demand.<\/p>\n<p>Daytona State Community College already had an education department that offered several pre-education major courses. It jumped at the chance to hold on to its students for the full four years, rather than losing them to another institution. In 2009, the school dropped community from its name and opened several bachelor\u2019s programs, including one in education. It graduated its first class of teachers in December 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Each spring, Potter, Daytona\u2019s education program chair, visits the school\u2019s freshman and sophomore pre-education classes, making a pitch for staying in his program rather than transferring to a larger school like the University of Central Florida. \u201cWe take a real personal touch with everyone,\u201d he said. In particular, Potter tries to persuade undecided students and potential math and science majors to consider majoring in math or science education, or in another shortage area, like special education.<\/p>\n<p>As Daytona works to grow its program, Nova is focused on retooling its offerings. While admission standards are going up, Nova administrators are streamlining graduation requirements, eliminating some and embedding others in the classroom. For instance, Nova is considering removing an assignment requiring each student to develop a portfolio of their college work, including lesson plans. \u00a0Administrators are also discussing how to make the school more flexible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a generation of students who want things very quickly [and] want to customize their programs to a certain extent,\u201d Manburg said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to respond to their needs and we\u2019ve got to change our programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This story was produced by <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/hechingerreport.org\/\">The Hechinger Report<\/a><em>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet affiliated with Teachers College, Columbia University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s note: This post was authored by Sarah Butrymowicz with The Hechinger Report. Somewhere midway through his sophomore year of college at Florida Atlantic University, Christopher Clevenger started to question his aeronautical engineering major. He liked the coursework, and was doing well at it, but when he thought about his job prospects, the future seemed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":18610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[827,257,828,1067],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18625,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18619\/revisions\/18625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}