Acadiana has known all along that the 小蝌蚪APP takes its job of educating teachers seriously. Now, the nation will know.
National media attention is being given to the university小蝌蚪APP檚 focus on properly preparing teachers and the responsibility that comes with it. Reporters with both The Washington Post and National Public Radio met with UL Lafayette officials last week for interviews about teacher preparation. The Post article was published Sunday and Larry Abramson小蝌蚪APP檚 report for National Public Radio is expected to be filed soon. He interviewed UL Lafayette President Joseph Savoie and Provost Steve Landry.
The Post article reached potentially 2 million readers Sunday and the NPR story could reach an audience of 27.5 million Americans.
The media attention comes after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized Louisiana for being the first state in the U.S. to tie student test scores to effective and ineffective teacher preparation programs. He called the state a model for the nation.
小蝌蚪APP Officials at the 小蝌蚪APP opted to increase admission requirements, added a career counseling program to better prepare teachers for the transition to the classroom, and boosted coursework requirements in English Language Arts. Real change, based upon the real outcomes of children小蝌蚪APP攔evolutionary, isn't it?,小蝌蚪APP he said in a speech at Columbia 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Teacher小蝌蚪APP檚 College.
Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 accountability efforts began in 2002 with the federal No Child Left Behind initiative of the Bush administration. Now, the Obama administration wants to use test scores to evaluate teachers and the universities that train them.
Washington Post reporter Nick Anderson visited UL Lafayette last week and met with Savoie, Dr. Gerald Carlson, dean of the College of Education, and
Education faculty. Carlson introduced Anderson to current students and recent graduates who are now teachers across Acadiana.
In the article, Savoie described the initiative as 小蝌蚪APP渁ccountability on steroids小蝌蚪APP and addressed a recent report from the state Board of Regents that examined three years of test data from classrooms. In the report, UL Lafayette scored lower than expected in elementary English Language Arts.
小蝌蚪APP We got the numbers and said, 小蝌蚪APP榃e小蝌蚪APP檝e got to figure this out,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP Savoie said in the article. He quickly gathered administrators within the college to discuss remedies and decided to increase admissions criteria and add more writing and grammar instruction to the curriculum.
小蝌蚪APP As the institution that prepares the majority of the teachers in this area, it is our responsibility to make sure our graduates are ready for the classroom and can deliver effective instruction to our children on day one,小蝌蚪APP said Savoie. 小蝌蚪APP淲e welcome ways to ensure that this preparation is successful and have no problems looking at the data and making changes if necessary.小蝌蚪APP
According to Anderson, 小蝌蚪APP淚n the tradition-bound world of teacher education, experts say, such rapid-fire decisions based on classroom test results are rare.小蝌蚪APP
Arthur Levine, former president of Teacher小蝌蚪APP檚 College at Columbia 小蝌蚪APP and frequent critic of teacher education programs, said, 小蝌蚪APP淎 lot of people are talking about doing it, but Louisiana got there first. It小蝌蚪APP檚 the model.小蝌蚪APP
To read the complete article by Anderson, visit .