Tuesday, December 03, 2024

Missouri State Board of Education votes to lower standards for teachers


(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)

Today the Missouri State Board of Education voted to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to change the requirements for some teacher certification areas. The current rule requires a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in the specific content (i.e. subject) area for which the teacher is seeking certification. 

This proposed amendment to the rule would change the required content GPA from 3.0 to 2.5. Teachers earn content certification to teach most school subjects at the secondary level, as well as some specialty courses, like the arts. Teachers seeking certification in elementary, early childhood, and/or special education will not be affected by this change.








A Missouri researcher evaluated 1,174 teacher candidates from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and found no statistical difference between the first-time certification exam pass rates of candidates with a content GPA between 2.75 and 3.0 and those with a content GPA of 3.0 and above. 

This suggests that the content knowledge of teacher candidates with a higher content GPA does not significantly differ from that of candidates earning a lower content GPA. There is also no data in this research to suggest a correlation between a teacher’s future success in the classroom and a 0.5 difference in GPA.

“As part of a comprehensive effort to address teacher recruitment and retention challenges in Missouri, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has been focused on removing unnecessary barriers to the teaching profession,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger. “This research demonstrates we have the potential to expand our pool of future teachers, without concern that student learning and teacher success will be negatively affected.”






 

Proposed changes to administrative rules are open for public comment. That feedback can be emailed to educatorquality@dese.mo.gov or mailed to: DESE, Attn: Paul Katnik, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Educator Quality, P.O. Box 480, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480. Comments must be received within 30 days after publication of the notice in the Missouri Register, which is expected on January 15. The order of rulemaking will likely be on the State Board of Education’s agenda for a final vote in March 2025.

The State Board of Education instituted the current GPA requirement for content teacher certifications in 2017. Since establishing the rule, the state has seen a substantial drop in the number of individuals completing the program for these certification types, disproportionately affecting teacher candidates in STEM subjects, where the need for teachers is particularly high. None of Missouri’s eight border states have any type of content GPA requirement for teachers.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

For all you Liberal Leftist Missouri Democrats - Here we go again - Dumbing Down our Teachers so they can Teach - - No Wonder our School Systems are in such a Mess - - And you have to ask why the New Administration wants to Shut Down the Department of Education - - Next are we going to just start having Teachers give Students - Participation Awards instead of Grades -

We are becoming the Nation of - "Johnny and Jane can't Read or Write" - Missouri is 30th in Education in the United States - How Low do you want to go?

As of now, the United States education ranking is in the 13th place, trailing behind countries like South Korea (1st), Germany (2nd), and New Zealand (3rd).

US News and World Report
Missouri Ranks #30 in Education

Report says Missouri is one of the worst states in US for early education.
Kansas City Star - August 01, 2023

Since we have Sports Betting and the Lotto - Approved thanks to all the Teachers that Supported it - Maybe we need to lower the Gambling Age - so we can bring in even more money to Support Education - LOL...

WHAT A JOKE AND A LAUGHING STOCK - WHY DO WE NEED TO HIRE COMPETANT TEACHERS -

Anonymous said...

i wouldn’t mind knowing what school taught you that it was okay to write like this. They can have my sports betting winnings to hire a better teacher.

Anonymous said...

Just a reminder for your hateful attitude and clueless political position 445: pubs run the entire show in red missouri. Dems have no ownership on the destruction of this state. If you can write your rebuttal to my position in 1 paragraph I might hold my nose and read it. If you go off on your customary pointless rant of 6 or more paragraphs, forget it. I won't read it.

Anonymous said...

Blaming this on Democrats is weird when this change is happening because of our Republican government.

Anonymous said...

5:20PM - What school taught you to start your sentences with a lower case, then ask a question and end the sentence with a period instead of a question mark? Maybe you need to stop betting and invest in a good book on punctuation.

Anonymous said...

5:23PM and 12:11AM, Since it is not my job to Educate you Liberal Dems, I find myself consistently trying to help you see and understand the truth - Which is always difficult, but here goes.

The Missouri State Board of Education has Eight members, and No more than Four can be from the Same Political Party. Yes, Boy and Girls it is Spelled Out - "No More than Four Members can be from the Same Political Party".

The current members include:

• Charles W. Shields: President, from St. Joseph
• Carol Hallquist: Vice President, from Kansas City
• Kimberly Bailey: From Raymore
• Kerry Casey: From Chesterfield
• Mary Schrag: From West Plains
• Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge: From Pasadena Hills
• Tawni Ferrarini, St. Charles,
• Thomas Prater, Springfield,

The board's members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate. They serve staggered, eight-year terms. The Missouri Constitution requires the board to be responsible for public school instruction.

The board sets standards and approves courses and professional programs for teachers and school administrators in Missouri's public and private higher education institutions.