COE Teacher Prep Ranks High in Latest State Report Card
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The 2023 Tennessee Educator Preparation Report Card is out, and the University of Memphis College of Education (COE) produced a score that “exceeded expectations.”
Out of a possible score of 90, COE scored 67.85 and brought in a ranking of 6th among 37 traditional public and private Tennessee institutions. Scores are based on graduates’ employment rate and longevity, impact on student achievement, principal assessments, and diverse background or diversity of the graduating class. Graduates from each institution were studied for three years, 2020-22 by the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE) to come up with these scores.
Where the UofM shined brightest, according to the COE’s Director of Teacher Education and Clinical Practice, Dr. Nichelle Robinson, was in increasing the number of diverse students who completed UofM Teacher Prep programs. SBE reported 132 of the 409 graduates they monitored from UofM were people of color, more than any other institution or non-profit in the state, rightly ranking COE 1st in the state.
“Making admission to the Teacher Education Program accessible to more teacher candidates and allowing candidates to take their Praxis content exams during the student teaching semester has positively impacted the number of African American and Hispanic teacher candidates who complete our Teacher Prep programs,” said Robinson, speaking on previous years of lower diversity numbers. “We now have a Praxis Scholarship and are working to get more funds for that to assist students with paying their exam fees. This is one of the things we’ve done to assist all students, along with providing Praxis support from the beginning of their programs.”
COE also did well in principal evaluations. Out of a possible score of 5, nearly 77% of UofM grads scored 4 or higher. This ranked 2nd among all traditional institutions in the state.