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ERIC Number: ED506564
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Sep
Pages: 34
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers: Are New Mexico's Education School Graduates Ready to Teach Reading and Mathematics in Elementary Classrooms?
Greenberg, Julie; Jacobs, Sandi
National Council on Teacher Quality
As a follow up to National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ's) national studies of how well elementary teachers are prepared to teach reading and mathematics, NCTQ looks at preparation in both subjects in all undergraduate teacher preparation programs in New Mexico. This analysis evaluated New Mexico's eight undergraduate elementary teacher preparation programs across four critical areas: admission standards; teacher preparation in reading; teacher preparation in elementary mathematics; and exit standards. It finds that: (1) New Mexico's teacher preparation programs have admission standards that are so low as to be meaningless; (2) Most preparation programs in New Mexico do not prepare candidates to teach the science of reading; (3) Programs use a wide variety of reading textbooks, most of which do not address the science of Reading; (4) Only one New Mexico preparation program satisfactorily covers the mathematics content that elementary teachers need; however, this rating does not extend to preparation for grades seven and eight. Five programs are seriously deficient. Algebra preparation is universally inadequate; (5) Only one of New Mexico's preparation programs has selected a strong textbook for mathematics content coursework; (6) All of New Mexico's preparation programs have a dedicated elementary mathematics methods course; and (7) No preparation program in the state ensures that aspiring elementary teachers know the science of reading instruction and understand elementary mathematics content at a depth that is sufficient for instruction. Among the recommendations are that the New Mexico Public Education Department should establish entrance standards for the state's teacher preparation programs to ensure that every aspiring teacher enters possessing appropriate reading, writing and mathematical skills. These entrance standards should include acceptable scores on standardized assessments such as the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency. Appended are: (1) Ratings for Required Texts--Reading; (2) Ratings for Required Texts--Elementary Content Mathematics; and (3) Comments from New Mexico Teacher Preparation Programs. (Contains 24 footnotes.) [Funding for this report was provided by the Daniels Fund.]
National Council on Teacher Quality. 1420 New York Avenue NW Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-393-0020; Fax: 202-393-0095; Web site: http://www.nctq.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Council on Teacher Quality
Identifiers - Location: New Mexico
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A