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Flypaper

Math teachers that matter

Chester E. Finn, Jr.
6.26.2008

Don't miss this important new study by the National Council on Teacher Quality regarding the preparation of competent elementary-school math teachers. Titled No Common Denominator, it finds, after reviewing a national sample of ed-school-based undergraduate teacher prep programs, that fewer than 15 percent of them require enough of the right kinds of courses. It names names, too! It also makes a boatload of recommendations, nearly all of them contrary to current practice and some of them??also contrary to??conventional teacher-quality-reform wisdom. All this was unveiled earlier today (at a well-attended event on the roof??of the Hotel Hay-Adams, looking down??upon the White House itself). If you'd been there you'd have enjoyed a fine presentation by top NCTQ policy analyst Julie Greenberg. Second best is to read what she wrote--there are PDFs for the press release, executive summary, and full report (and a version with full appendices).

Tags: National Council on Teacher Quality White House

Chester E. Finn, Jr., scholar, educator and public servant, has devoted his career to improving education in the United States. At Fordham, he is now Distinguished Senior Fellow and President Emeritus. He’s also a Volker Senior Fellow at…

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