Content and Pedagogy Preparation

One of the National Council on Teacher Quality's state-level reform findings is that the state should mandate that programs make their content and pedagogy preparation more rigorous. For content, it recommends that the state's teachers have "sufficient knowledge of the content they teach so that their students can master content." And for pedagogy, it stresses that teacher education programs should "equip future teachers with strategies for effective teaching and have them practice those strategies as much as possible so that the strategies become second nature."

This page provides information on the state's current initiatives to increase rigor, as well as three out-of-state examples the state might use as models.

Current Work

A review of content preparation for teacher certification in the middle grades
Plans to revisit certification requirements for all teachers
The infusion of assessment of pedagogical skills in licensing tests (i.e. exit tests)
The creation of meaningful professional teaching standards and accountability systems to ensure that preparation programs address these standards in their curricula and otherwise

Massachusetts: Mandated Content Knowledge / Suggested Distribution

In its recent modification of guidelines for elementary mathematics teacher preparation, Massachusetts has mandated that its teachers possess "fundamental computation skills" and "comprehensive, in-depth understanding" of these four content domains: number and operations, functions and algebra, geometry and measurement, and statistics and probability.
Furthermore, the state has suggested a time/course distribution for these four content domains, recommending 45% spent on number and operations, 25% spent on functions and algebra, 20% spent on geometry and measurement, and the remaining 10% spent on statistics and probability.

Massachusetts: Subject-Specific Exit Tests

Massachusetts' rigorous subject-specific exit tests ensure rigorous content and pedagogy. As of this point, these tests, administered through the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure system, cover elementary reading and elementary mathematics, as well as a host of other subjects.

Michigan: Targeted Clinical Exercises

The University of Michigan's Elementary Mathematics Laboratory provides a space for student teachers to watch an expert teacher in action and observe her successful teaching practices. This observation, coupled with discussion and collaboration among the participating student teachers, acts as valuable clinical training, giving these student teachers experience with teaching done well.