Admission, retention, and exit criteria for students in teacher education programs in Tennessee

Ever since the first teacher education program, critics have claimed that the quality of teacher candidates is poor and the education programs do not vigorously screen out undesirables. Cries for reform of teacher education were especially loud during the 2 periods of teacher surplus, and some changes were made then to raise the standards for admission to teacher education. However, those changes did not last. Today there is a new call for reform in the 1980's, and changes are rapidly being implemented to increase the quality controls in teacher education. These changes are especially significant because the nation is faced with a teacher shortage which could undermine the reforms. Questions arise about what changes are being made and how those changes are affecting the teacher education candidates.

These questions were investigated in the summer of 1987 for the state of Tennessee. Questionnaires on the admission, retention, and exit criteria for teacher education programs were sent to the 38 approved teacher education institutions in Tennessee. Thirty-two questionnaires were returned from 31 institutions 2 questionnaires were from the same university but represented different types of programs. The questionnaires returned constituted a representative sample of the various types of institutions and programs in Tennessee and across the nation. The data from the questionnaires and the numbers and percentages for each question were reported in tables and analyzed for obvious similarities and differences. The data on admission criteria from this study were then compared to the findings of a 1982 study by Laman and Reeves and a 1972 study by Carpenter.

It was concluded that changes have occurred in Tennessee teacher education programs, as the results showed that institutions in Tennessee are requiring more objective, defensible admission, retention, and exit criteria and that the standards are rising. There is a heavy reliance on test scores and CPAs, and these criteria are the most frequent causes of students being eliminated from teacher education. There are few differences between the public and private institutions, the 4-year and 5-year programs, or between the institutions which are members of AACTE and TACTE and those accredited by NCATE.