College of Education among top Tennessee teacher prep programs in state report card for 13th straight year
Lipscomb’s teacher and leader prep program among the most effective programs in Tennessee
Kim Chaudoin |
For the 13th consecutive year, Lipscomb University has been recognized as one of the most effective teacher and leader preparation programs in Tennessee as it earned high marks on the 2024 Teacher Preparation Report Card released by the Tennessee State Board of Education.
The report card was released in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of how Tennessee colleges and universities that offer education programs and other teacher and leader preparation providers are training new teachers for success in Tennessee’s classrooms.
State data on the effectiveness of new Tennessee teachers and leaders once again indicates Lipscomb’s College of Education is one of the most effective teacher preparation programs in the state. Lipscomb’s teacher and leader preparation program was one of ten in Tennessee to earn the highest possible overall rating — exceeds expectations — on the Report Card. Lipscomb’s data indicates that it is among the most effective in classrooms in Tennessee. Lipscomb University graduates more teachers each year than any other private university in the state and is the second-largest producer of leaders at a private institution in Tennessee.
“It is rewarding that the data show that Lipscomb’s College of Education continues to prepare teachers and leaders to be successful in schools,” said Leslie Cowell, dean of the College of Education. “Our mission is to prepare educators at the highest level to make a positive impact on their students, and it is always satisfying and rewarding to have a measurement of how we are doing to meet that goal. This is a very important way we can make a positive impact on our community and serve education by equipping and preparing teachers with the tools and strategies they need to succeed.”
Report card scores are based on data compiled about an institution’s completers from the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic cycles who are teaching and leading in public schools systems in Tennessee. The Teacher Preparation Report Card captures the abilities of Tennessee preparation providers to train new teachers and leaders for success in Tennessee’s classrooms and provides an overall picture of how well each provider is able to prepare effective teachers and meet state goals.
Tennessee has produced a Teacher Preparation Report Card since 2009. The 2024 Report Card contains four scored domains and one unscored domain (satisfaction
- candidate assessment, which evaluates Lipscomb’s performance in preparing candidates to pass the pedagogical and content-area assessments to obtain a Tennessee teaching license. Lipscomb exceeded expectations in this metric;
- candidate profile, which evaluates an EPP’s ability to recruit a strong, diverse cohort of candidates and prepare them to teach in the content area of greatest need. Lipscomb exceeded expectations in this metric;
- employment, which evaluates Lipscomb’s performance in preparing educators to begin and remain teaching in Tennessee public schools; and
- provider impact, which measures the effectiveness of a provider’s cohort members in Tennessee public school classrooms. Lipscomb exceeded expectations in this metric.
The report shows that 22.1% of Lipscomb’s students have a racially or ethnically diverse background exceeding the state average of 16.2%. It also indicated that 58% of Lipscomb cohort members are filling high-need subject area staffing needs, which far exceeds the state average of 30.8%. In the provider impact domain, Lipscomb exceeded state averages in five of the six categories including classroom observation scores, Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) student growth scores and level of overall effectiveness. Lipscomb’s College of Education teacher licensure candidate pass rate data indicates a 97.9% pedagogical assessment pass rate and an 91.3% content assessment pass rate. Lipscomb also posted a Praxis leader licensure pass rate of 99% for 2023. In the employment domain, Lipscomb also received high marks with 88.7% of its education graduates finding a job in a Tennessee public school within a year of graduation, which exceeds the state average, with 93.2% of those remaining in their teaching positions.
Each domain consists of two to six metrics, and the report includes three years of provider data. The 2024 teacher prep report included 575 Lipscomb completers, data showing Lipscomb to be the largest teacher preparation program among all private universities in the state and the fifth largest overall.
The goal of the Teacher Preparation Report Card is to create a user-friendly tool that provides focused information about providers, the effectiveness of graduates and promotes stakeholder conversations about continuous improvement. The 2024 Teacher Preparation Report Card is a tool for use by local school districts, Tennessee’s many teacher preparation providers, and aspiring teachers. It includes multiple measures to offer an overall picture of a college, university or preparation provider’s success in meeting Tennessee’s goals for instructing effective teachers.
The report card provides focused information about the effectiveness of graduates and is designed to promote continuous improvement of preparation programs and highlight the importance of strong partnerships with school districts. To that end, the report card also provides transparency and metrics to show progress toward meeting key state needs, including a teacher workforce that better reflects the student population and addresses high-demand subject areas. The 2024 Teacher Preparation Report Card can be found online at https://www.tn.gov/sbe/ed-prep.html.
Lipscomb University’s College of Education offers undergraduate, graduate, specialist, certificate and doctoral degrees in a variety of academic programs. It is consistently recognized as one of the most effective teacher preparation programs in Tennessee and in the nation. In June 2023, the National Council on Teacher Quality ranked the College of Education among the top in the nation for preparing future teachers in the science of reading. In fall 2021, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) announced that Lipscomb University is one of 26 providers from 17 states and the United Arab Emirates to be recognized for quality and excellence as recipients of the 2021 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement. In 2019, the College of Education was also awarded a $2.49 million grant from the Kern Family Foundation to develop an innovative leadership development program for principals focused on character, academic excellence and business acumen in the rising generation of leaders. Since 2013, the National Council for Teacher Quality has consistently ranked Lipscomb’s College of Education programs among the top 25 in the nation, ranking them as high as No. 1 nationally in 2014.