George H. Noell, Bethany A. Porter, and R. Maria Patt
Louisiana State University
October 2007
During the 1999-2000 school year, a blue-ribbon commission recommended revision of Louisiana's teacher-preparation programs. In response, the state required that all such programs either be redesigned or scrapped and replaced by July 1, 2003. The redesigned programs had to be aligned with state and national standards and they required teachers to take more content-specific certification tests. This report, written by Louisiana State University analysts, provides the first glimpse at how effective Louisiana's teacher-prep programs are (by looking at data from Louisiana's state test, the LEAP). Alternative certification programs come out looking better. Those programs run by The New Teacher Project, Northwestern State University, and Louisiana College produced teachers who perform in math, science, and social studies classrooms as well or better than their peers. Each institution even produced some teachers who perform as well or better than experienced teachers. As more data become available, researchers plan to continue analyzing new teacher effectiveness--one hopes other states will take notice. Find the report here.