The U.S. Department of Education has released new regulations requiring states to issue yearly ratings for preparation programs for new K–12 teachers, determined in part by the academic performance of the students of the programs’ graduates. The regulations require states to have the ratings in place on a pilot basis for the 2017–18 school year.

The new rules are years in the making. In 2014, the Department of Education proposed that a “significant part” of the state ratings measure teacher effectiveness by their students’ standardized test scores. Teachers unions pushed back on that proposal. The final regulations still link teacher effectiveness to student learning, but leave it up to the states to determine how to assess student learning and how much student learning should factor into an overall rating. 

“The regulations will punish teacher-prep programs whose graduates go on to teach in our highest-needs schools, most often those with high concentrations of students who live in poverty and English language learners — the exact opposite strategy of what we need,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

States will be required to rate teacher preparation programs “low-performing,” “at-risk” or “effective.” Beginning in the 2021–22 school year, programs rated low-performing or at-risk for two out of any three years will no longer be eligible for federal grants.

The Washington Post, Oct. 12