Rationale: Selective admissions
Most teacher preparation programs in the United States, even undergraduate programs housed in college departments rather than professional schools, have an application process. This application process presents an opportunity to select only candidates that meet high standards.
There is extensive research supporting this standard, including 1) research spanning six decades showing a strong correlation of teacher "verbal ability"1 and student achievement (verbal ability being generally measured by the SAT, ACT or other vocabulary tests), 2) a similarly strong correlation of the selectivity of the teacher's college and student achievement2, and 3) more limited findings showing that teachers who pass their licensing tests on the first attempt and have much less difficulty passing subsequent licensing tests and produce higher levels of achievement in students.3
In countries in which students outperform our own, international studies show a clear pattern of institutional and cultural forces that attract the most capable young adults into the teaching profession. McKinsey's 2007 study of high-performing educational systems indicates that other countries set a higher bar than the United States, with the least selective among high performers still selecting teachers from no lower than the top third of students.4 A 2010 McKinsey study found that only 23 percent of new teachers in the United States come from the top third.5
In a study of a group of countries that scored as well as or better than the United States on the 1999 TIMSS test of 8th grade mathematics, researchers found that in most of the countries, teacher candidate screening criteria are more rigorous and applied earlier in the certification pipeline.6
A recent survey of teacher-educators in four year colleges and universities found that 73 percent expressed concern about the quality of teacher candidates in their programs.7
2Ehrenberg, R., & Brewer, D. (1994). Do school and teacher characteristics matter? Evidence from high school and beyond. Economics of Education Review, 13(1): 1-17; Wayne, A., & Youngs, P. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 71(1): 89-122; Winkler, D. (1975). Educational achievement and school peer composition. Journal of Human Resources, 10, 189-204.
3Gitomer, D., Brown, T., Bonett, I. (200) Useful Signal or Unnecessary Obstacle? The Role of Basic Skills Tests in Teacher Preparation, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AREA). White, B. R., Presley, J. B., & DeAngelis, K. J. (2008). Leveling up: Narrowing the teacher academic capital gap in Illinois (IERC 2008-1). Edwardsville, IL: Illinois Education Research Council.
4McKinsey & Co. (Report, September 2007). How the World's Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top, 16. While the applicant pool has been improving and prospective secondary teachers are generally more capable than prospective elementary teachers, our nation's teachers do not come from the top ranks of high school graduates going to college.
5http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Social_Sector/our_practices/Education/Knowledge_Highlights/~/media/Reports/SSO/Closing_the_talent_gap.ashx
6Wang, Aubrey H., et al. (2003). Preparing teachers around the world. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
7http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/cracksintheivorytower/Cracks_in_the_Ivory_Tower_Full.pdf, p. 25.
