For release: November 1, 2012
For press information, contact Bobby King, (901) 258-5309

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) released its 2012 Tennessee Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs today. The report provides data on the performance of 2010-11 graduates of each program in a number of areas.

Graduates from the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at the University of Memphis showed a 97% pass rate on the state-mandated licensure exams (Praxis) during the evaluation period. Of the 44 Tennessee teacher preparation programs assessed in the study, the U of M had the sixth highest number of statistically positive results.

The U of M’s current teacher preparation program upon which the information was gathered will be completely phased out by the summer of 2013 and replaced with the Ready2Teach (R2T) program, developed for schools in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. The implementation of R2T involves a comprehensive redesign of the teacher preparation program, including content, pedagogy and field experiences, to meet the needs and expectations of school districts.

One feature of the R2T program is the assessment of teaching candidates on the Stanford University Teacher Performance Assessment. The data on the national and state comparison of the major universities across the United States that are participating in this assessment indicated that students already participating in the program from the U of M performed higher than the state and national means on nearly every measure.

“The University of Memphis is implementing a comprehensive assessment system to ensure that program improvement efforts remain focused on improving teacher effectiveness and student performance,” said Donald Wagner, dean of the U of M’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.

R2T also provides for more rigorous recruitment and selection of teacher candidates.

This year’s THEC report includes data on the performance of each program’s graduates in the following areas: placement and retention rates, Praxis II results, and teacher effect data based on the Tennessee Value‐Added Assessment System (TVAAS) scores.

The College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences is the oldest college at the University of Memphis and is one of Tennessee’s largest producers of certified teachers. The College boasts a distinguished faculty of 124 full-time scholars in four departments, six research centers and six research laboratories, and one of the University’s five Centers of Excellence -- the Center for Research in Educational Policy – along with the staff of the College’s laboratory schools – the Campus School (grades one through five) and the Barbara K. Lipman Early Childhood School and Research Institute.