Findings: Elementary math
Fully 31 percent of undergraduate and 72 percent of graduate programs evaluated fail to meet the standard, either because they require no elementary content coursework at all (26 programs) or require very little, and what they do require is poorly designed.
Boding particularly poorly for Illinois' global competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), only two elementary programs of the 45 undergraduate programs reviewed in Illinois (four percent) require the amount and type of mathematics preparation widely recommended to prepare teachers to competently teach mathematics (with none of the fourteen graduate elementary programs doing so). This compares unfavorably with the findings in previous state reviews done in six other states in 2009-2010, as well as NCTQ's 2008 national study of mathematics preparation, in which approximately 13 percent of undergraduate programs met the standard.
The reason is that only three programs require eight to nine semester hours, the amount of coursework necessary to both adequately address the deficiencies in math typically found in elementary teacher candidates and develop conceptual—not mechanical—proficiency, and one of those programs still did not meet the standard because of the design of its coursework. At The University of Chicago, the one "most selective" program for which six credits of coursework would have been sufficient still only met a small part of the standard. The six credits of coursework required was more suitable for enrichment than systematic instruction in which the program ensured that all of the topics needing to be covered are in fact covered.
Two Illinois education schools were evaluated in NCTQ's national study of mathematics preparation in undergraduate elementary programs, Benedictine University and MacMurray College. Benedictine University's undergraduate preparation program was not evaluated in this review, but the graduate elementary program was, and its mathematics preparation is nonexistent. In the 2008 review, MacMurray College failed to meet the standard established for the necessary breadth and depth of mathematics preparation; in this review it appears to provide slightly more adequate coverage of essential topics but still at very insufficient depth.
A complete list of ratings for required mathematics textbooks in Illinois' teacher preparation programs can be found in Section 17 of this appendix. We also provide information about the mathematicians who served as textbook reviewers.
