College of Education teacher prep program at the head of the class for eighth straight year
Lipscomb once again is leading the way among its peers in preparing teachers who are making an impact in Tennessee.
Kim Chaudoin |
For the eighth consecutive year Lipscomb University earned high marks in the latest report from the state of Tennessee.
Lipscomb University has once again been recognized as one of the most effective teacher preparation programs in the state as it earned top scores on the 2018 Teacher Preparation Report Card released last week by the Tennessee State Board of Education.
This year’s report marks the eighth consecutive year that state data on the effectiveness of new Tennessee teachers indicates Lipscomb’s College of Education is once again one of the most effective teacher preparation programs in the state.
The report card was released last week 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 preparation providers are training new teachers for success in Tennessee’s classrooms. The Lipscomb University College of Education’s teacher preparation program received one of the highest scores of any university in the state on the report, with a near-perfect score in the employment category, and received the top score level in all three categories studied in the annual report card — candidate profile, employment and provider impact.
“We are thrilled with the consistent overwhelming success of the teachers we prepare because what that indicates is that they are successful in the classroom,” said Deborah Boyd, dean of Lipscomb’s College of Education, which has an enrollment of over 800 students this academic year. “The latest report card is an indicator that we are consistently preparing new teachers to make a positive impact in the classroom. It is a reflection of the long-term consistency and quality of our program as we pursue our goal of providing the most effective educators in classrooms across the state and around the country.”
“The report card is one measure of how successful we are in achieving that goal year after year,” she continued. “It also gives us actionable feedback as we look to continually improve our program. It not only validates what we are doing, but also gives us data to discover opportunities for improvement.”
Report card scores are based on data compiled about an institution’s completers from the 2017-18, 2016-17 and 2015-16 academic cycles who are teaching in public schools systems in Tennessee. The Teacher Preparation Report Card captures the abilities of Tennessee preparation providers to train new teachers 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.
The report card is one measure of how successful we are in achieving that goal year after year. ... It not only validates what we are doing, but also gives us data to discover opportunities for improvement. — Deborah Boyd, dean, College of Education
Tennessee has produced a Teacher Preparation Report Card since 2009. The 2018 Report Card contains three scored domains, along with a:
- candidate profile, which evaluates Lipscomb University’s ability to recruit a strong, diverse cohort of candidates and prepare them to teach in the content area of greatest need;
- employment, which evaluates Lipscomb’s performance in preparing educators to begin and remain teaching in Tennessee public schools; and
- provider impact, which reports on the effectiveness of Lipscomb’s completers in Tennessee public school classrooms.
In the employment domain, the Lipscomb earned 14.9 out of a possible 15 points for 99.3 percent of points earned. The study shows that 84.7 percent of its education graduates find a job within a year of graduation with a 95.3 percent second-year retention rate in their teaching position in Tennessee public schools.
Each domain is comprised of two to four metrics, and the report includes two years of provider data. The 2018 report included 672 Lipscomb completers, data showing Lipscomb to be the largest teacher preparation program among all private universities in the state and the third largest overall.
Included in the report card was an overview of the Lipscomb University College of Education’s mission and recent recognition.
“Lipscomb University’s College of Education prepares educators ready to positively impact students, teachers and schools through academic excellence, faith, practice and community service, reflecting ideals of global citizenship. The college is committed to a mission of preparing educators who practice their craft in an exemplary manner, exhibit attitudes and values worthy of imitation, relate to members of all communities in the educational experience, and demonstrate knowledge essential to the profession,” reads the report.
The report also noted that College of Education faculty and programs have received numerous grants, professional development partnership requests and recognitions including in 2016 when it was recognized as a Model of Excellence by the Association of Liberal Arts Colleges of Education. In addition, Lipscomb’s secondary teacher prep program was ranked in the 99th percentile nationally by the National Council on Teacher Quality in its 2017 Teacher Prep Review, with its graduate program in elementary grades named No. 14 nationally.
The report card also recognized Lipscomb’s partnership with Teach for America Nashville. The Teach for America-Nashville program, which has a longstanding partnership with Lipscomb’s College of Education, received the highest overall score on the report card.
Boyd said she is also pleased with the success of the Teach for America-Nashville program.
“I think the data reflect the strength of the partnership TFA has with the college and the quality of its outcomes. That partnership continues to mature as together we work to train this state’s future teachers in a way that will benefit students the most,” she said.
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 2018 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 partnership 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 2018 Teacher Preparation Report Card can be found online at teacherprepreportcard.tn.gov.
Lipscomb University’s College of Education offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in a variety of academic programs.
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