New Progress Reported in Statewide Study on Teacher Colleges

A five-year study examining the link between student success and well-prepared teachers is well underway in Ohio, as extensive data is collected and assembled on all of the state's 51 teacher education programs. The study, an initiative called the Ohio Partnership for Accountability: The Impact of Teacher Education, will answer a challenge from the state legislature and the U.S. Department of Education - providing solid research on what education programs are doing to prepare competent teachers, as well as what colleges and universities can do to improve their programs.

Lawrence J. Johnson, study co-chair and dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Education, says the massive undertaking has the potential for becoming a national model in examining teacher competency and its effect on the academic success of schoolchildren. Hundreds of Ohio college students are under study now as they finish teacher preparation programs through traditional and non-traditional pathways. They will continue to be part of the study in the years ahead, after they start their new jobs in the classroom in the coming fall.

Three universities are represented on the coordinating team as all 51 of Ohio's teacher programs work together on this longitudinal study - the University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University and the University of Dayton. The co-chairs are Johnson; Thomas J. Lasley, II, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, University of Dayton; and William Loadman, associate dean of the College of Education, The Ohio State University. Researchers from seven universities are presently at work on the project: the University of Cincinnati, the University of Dayton, The Ohio State University, Cleveland State University, the University of Findlay, the University of Akron and the University of Toledo.

The University of Cincinnati Center for Research, Development and Policy in Teacher Education is currently coordinating the collection of data on alternative programs for the first phase of the study. Phase one calls for the creation of a database that will categorize and quantify information coming from all 51 of Ohio's teacher education programs. The database will create profiles of the different aspects of teacher education programs by examining the syllabi and  describing the faculty, students and the coursework. Stephanie Gilbertson, director of the University of Cincinnati Center for Research, Development and Policy in Teacher Education, says this covers all aspects of teacher education programs from the time the student enters the college to the student teaching experience before graduation. "Variables will include basic demographic data and students' educational background before they entered the college." 

Gilbertson says phase one of the study will also explore the qualities of both traditional and alternative programs to prepare Ohio teachers.

Phase two of the study will follow new graduates who enter selected school districts participating in a study sponsored by Battelle for Kids. Battelle for Kids is an Ohio initiative that works to attract support from business and the general public to improve education. The Battelle for Kids study is finding so-called "value-added" teachers. These are teachers of students who are showing consistent gains on proficiency tests. Up to 20 Ohio school districts are sites for Battelle for Kids schools. The Ohio Partnership for Accountability study will compare the classroom impact of the new teachers with those of the value-added teachers.

Thomas J. Lasley II, co-chair and dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, University of Dayton, notes that this study represents a unique collaborative effort on behalf of a wide variety of stakeholders. "Everyone from teachers to legislators wants more information about what conditions are needed to prepare quality teachers. The Ohio Partnership for Accountability study provides that type of data."

"This is such an important project, it is attracting attention from education leaders nationally for addressing a critical area of research in teacher education," says William Loadman, associate dean of the College of Education, The Ohio State University. He points to an editorial in the Jan./Feb. issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, which identifies the Ohio Partnership for Accountability as an example of the kind of research that is needed for teacher education.

The coordinating team is currently seeking additional funding for the initiative, which raised $250,000 in contributions from the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Board of Regents and Procter & Gamble when it was first launched in 2001. The study has won the endorsement of the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators.