Imagine That!

The National Council on Teacher Quality recently released “No Common Denominator,” a report on the preparation of elementary school teachers to teach mathematics.

The report lists five standards that “would be the mark of a high quality program of teacher training.” Standard #3 is catching attention in some national Listservs that deal with mathematics issues. That standard reads:

“As conditions for completing their teacher preparation and earning a license, elementary teacher candidates should demonstrate a deeper understanding of mathematics content than is expected of children. Unfortunately, no current assessment is up to this task.”

Imagine that, no current teacher licensing assessment is up to the task of insuring your child’s elementary school teacher knows more math than we expect from children!