Teachers Poorly Taught in Math

By Becky Orr, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Jun. 27–CHEYENNE — A report says the University of Wyoming doesn’t require future elementary teachers to take enough coursework to teach mathematics.

And it gives the school a failing mark for its efforts to prepare elementary educators in that subject.

The report, released today by the National Council on Teacher Quality, studied 77 education schools in 49 states.

It looks at how well colleges prepare elementary educators to teach math.

UW’s College of Education would have passed if it required more math courses for prospective elementary teachers, the report says.

But it also criticizes the state for its weak requirements.

An official at UW said the report doesn’t give the school credit for all the courses it requires.

Kay Persichitte, director of teacher education and the incoming dean for the UW College of Education, said she is disappointed and surprised that the school didn’t get a passing mark.

College officials are puzzled at the method used to count courses, she said.

“The metric that they used to measure credit hours and the formula they used to give an overall score did not include our requirements in totality,” she said.

The study didn’t count a course called Math 1000, she said. The education college requires its elementary teaching majors to take it, she added.

Also, credits for seminar classes weren’t counted. The college would have passed if these classes were counted.

“It is unfortunate that the data collected and reviewed for this report do not accurately reflect the focus of our elementary mathematics preparation,” she said.

The authors of the report didn’t count such classes because they are not designed solely for elementary teachers. Instead, they are open to the entire university.

The report concluded that most colleges studied do not adequately prepare elementary teachers to teach math.

Technically, UW did not pass, said Kay Walsh, president of the council.

“But we have a soft spot for Wyoming because it’s doing many things right,” she added. “There are many, many, many (colleges) that were far worse.”

UW requires ample courses in how to teach math, said Julie Greenberg, principal writer for the study. But it fell short in the number of math classes designed by the math department for future elementary teachers, she added.

The report looked at entrance and exit requirements at the colleges as well as textbooks, tests, coursework and state licensing tests. Only 10 education colleges passed.

Another 25 colleges — including UW — would pass if they required more courses.

Schools in this group have strong textbooks and focus on the essential topics. But they don’t require enough courses to provide time to teach topics well, the report concludes.

The schools could add one or two courses to pass.

Another five colleges would pass if they had better textbooks.

The report failed another 33 colleges on all measures.

UW got high marks for coordinating its math content classes with classes to learn how to teach the subject. UW is the only program studied that requires prospective elementary teachers to take courses at the same time in learning math as learning how to teach it.

“That is a good thing, and it’s very rare,” Walsh said.

UW is in the top four education colleges in the nation for the number of classes it requires in learning how to teach math, Persichitte said.

UW’s education college is revising three required math courses for elementary majors, Persichitte said.

The changes are in line with recommendations from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council for Teacher Quality.

The new courses will start in fall 2009. Officials have been working on them for more than a year. The revised courses would put UW in the passing category.

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