A report by the National Council on Teacher Quality gives high marks to the University of Kentucky, but 17 state teacher programs lag behind.
NCTQ evaluated 37 undergraduate and graduate programs at 16 Kentucky institutions, and while the state fell in line with national averages on a number of fronts, no student teacher programs were found to “ensure a high-quality student teaching experience in which candidates are assigned only to highly-skilled teachers and receive frequent concrete feedback.” Only five percent of programs nationally meet that level of experience.
Despite those discouraging numbers, 10 elementary and 10 secondary programs were strong enough to receive a national ranking – among them programs offered at UK, Western Kentucky University, and the University of Louisville.
State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said the report shows that Kentucky’s K-12 schools need to foster closer ties to the state’s universities and colleges.