Maybe letters to your legislator do matter! Or maybe it was a coincidence.<\/p>\n
April 20, 2011\u00a0\u00a0 SB 724\u00a0An Act to Improve Public Education \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTo further ensure that teacher preparation programs are upgraded to reflect a more rigorous course of study, the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Board of Note that in Edition 1, there is no requirement that \u00a0the courses be scientifically validated nor that the graduate\u2019s knowledge of scientifically validated methods be tested prior to certification.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n May 3, 2011\u00a0BAM emails letter (attached) to all sponsors of SB724 which read in part:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Senator: \u2026<\/p>\n The SBE has failed totally to specify rigorous exams for elementary teachers as the North Carolina\u2019s preparation and testing of elementary education students as reflected North Carolina should require every elementary education major to pass a comprehensive test on learning theory and instructional methods that have been scientifically validated. We should follow the example of states like Massachusetts which requires such a test of its teachers. As a result, Massachusetts ranked first in the country in 4th<\/sup> grade NAEP reading.
\n<\/strong>Edition 1<\/span><\/em> reads in part:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nGovernors of The University of North Carolina, shall
\n(i) increase the credit requirements and number of years required to complete a teacher
\npreparation program,
\n(ii) require students preparing to teach in elementary schools to complete courses in the teaching of reading and mathematics that are aligned with the State Board’s philosophy and approach for teaching these subjects, and
\n(iii)equire all students to receive training in technology available in North Carolina schools that measures and predicts expected student improvement, such as EVAAS, Graduation Resiliency Software, 3\u2011D reading, and the Student Diagnostic Pilot Program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nabove sentence requires, in spite of the nearly $8 million annual funding in
\n13510-1000 to do so.\u00a0 The prescribed Praxis 11 and 12 exams have almost no questions that deal with learning theory, pedagogy, scientifically-based reading instruction, or classroom positive behavior management.\u00a0 These short rudimentary tests are primarily intended for subject matter content.<\/p>\n
\nby the course requirements and certification tests was evaluated by The National Council on Teacher Quality in 2009.\u00a0 In their 152-page report on North Carolina, they give the state\u2019s preparation and assessment of elementary teachers a grade of \u201cD\u201d for reading<\/em>
\ninstruction.<\/em>\u00a0 This shoddy preparation can easily be deduced from the fact that over half of our minority and low-income students do not pass the third grade reading test nor go on to graduate high school.\u00a0 Our state\u2019s overall abysmal showing on the NAEP reading tests also attests to this lack of preparation.<\/p>\n
\nOne such readily available test is Pearson\u2019s NT104 \u201cEssential Components of Elementary Reading Instruction.\u201d \u2026\u00a0\u00a0 Sincerely, Baker A. Mitchell, Jr.<\/p>\n