Have Skills: Will Teach?

Overview & Synopsis

Some of the realities, at a state and national level, of implementing new teacher education standards that emphasize basic skills are discussed. Reported on is Kansas' response to the national trend toward teacher basic skill testing (five house bills concerning teacher education). The Kansas State Board of Education proposal for a competency testing requirement is described, as well as a one-year teaching internship, which would help teachers in areas that can not be tested, such as classroom management. Recent measures of the academic potential of teacher education majors are reviewed as are ways to reverse this downward trend. Preliminary research findings of elementary undergraduate majors at Kansas State University are discussed with regard to the relationship between a proposed 2.5 grade point average (GPA) requirement and students' performance on basic tests administered in reading and mathematics. It is noted that the trends report the existence of little relationship between students' competence in the basic skills and their college academic performance as measured by GPA. (JM)