A History of Recent

Education Initiatives In Ohio

There are 50 Ohio institutions of higher education that offer teacher education programs. Thirteen of these are public institutions; 37 are private. These institutions graduate approximately 7,000 teacher education graduates annually.

Research has shown that the quality of teaching in the classroom is the most important in‑school factor for improving achievement. The Ohio Board of Education has worked to "raise the bar," not only for preK‑ 12 schools and students, but also for colleges and universities engaged in teacher preparation, by establishing standards for teacher education and requirements for licensure and/or certification.

NTE and Praxis

In 1988, the State Board of Education adopted the requirement that teacher candidates pass the National Teacher Examinations in order to qualify for certification in Ohio. This requirement took effect in 199 1. Shortly thereafter, the Educational Testing Service revised the tests, which are now offered as a part of the Praxis series. The series includes:

• Praxis 1, a test required by some institutions for admittance into the teacher education program;
• Praxis II, which tests pedagogical skills and content‑area knowledge at the end of the preparatory program (Ohio's cut scores on the Praxis II are among the highest in the nation);
• Praxis III, a performance‑based assessment of the beginning teacher.

The Board adopted the new Praxis II tests and established cut scores in 1998. The tests were implemented in 1999. The Praxis III was adopted with the new Ohio Standards for Teacher Education and Licensure in 1996. The first teachers to be required to pass this test in Ohio are those who begin their teaching careers in the fall of 2002.

Certification to Licensure

In 1996, the State Board of Education adopted new standards, which moved the state from its previous certification system
to a teacher licensure program. These standards were designed to increase the rigor in the teaching profession. The new standards, implemented in January 1998, includes the following new requirements:

• All teacher‑training institutions must meet the standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
• New teachers will receive a two‑year nonrenewable Provisional License.
• Each Provisional License holder will complete an Entry Year Program culminating in theadministration of Praxis III by a state‑trained assessor.
• Teachers who successfully complete Praxis III will qualify for a five‑year Professional License.
• Professional development is required for each five‑year renewal thereafter. A master's degree, or the equivalent, is required for the second renewal (within 10 years).

Ohio: A Leader in Education

In 1996, the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (NCTAF) brought the critical connection between teacher quality and student achievement to the forefront of the nation's education agenda with its report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future. That same year, Ohio was selected as one of seven states to begin a partnership with NCTAF, based on a shared vision ‑ to ensure a caring, competent, and qualified teacher in every classroom.

As part of its partnership work with NCTAF, Ohio has formed a state policy group, Ohio's BEST (Building Excellent Schools for the 2 1 st Century), to mobilize support for educational policy recommendations. Other collaborative efforts to improve teacher quality have been occurring between and among the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Teacher Education and Certification Advisory Commission, the Governor's Teacher Advisory Board, and stakeholders throughout the state.

Approximately 30 states use some form of Praxis II to evaluate their teacher education graduates. Ohio's Praxis II cut scores are among the highest in the nation, ranking first or second in all pedagogical skill tests, and close to the top in all content‑area tests. For instance, the Ohio qualifying score for "Principles of Learning and Teaching K‑6" is 168, compared to the national mean of 162. Ohio's qualifying score for "Principles of Learning and Teaching 7‑12" is 165, compared to the national mean of 16 1. Nearly all of Ohio's cut scores in content tests are also higher than the national means. Nevertheless, a higher percentage of Ohio teacher education graduates pass the test than would their counterparts in other states who took the same test, if they had to meet Ohio's test scores.

Ohio made educational history in December 2000, when the State Board of Education approved passing scores for Praxis III, a performance‑based assessment test that will be required of all new teachers in the state, beginning with the 2002‑2003 school year. The action puts Ohio on track to become the first state in the U.S. to use the performance assessment to determine whether beginning teachers can move from a Provisional License to a Professional Teaching License. For the past six years, ODE has conducted pilot programs at schools throughout the state to determine the validity of the assessment program. More than 1,500 beginning teachers have voluntarily undergone the evaluation, and more than 820 assessors have been trained.

Ohio ranks third in the nation in the number of National Board Certified Teachers, following North Carolina with 2,377 and Florida with 1,267. There are currently 934 National Board Certified Teachers in Ohio, including 330 candidates who were just certified in November 2000. More than 800 new Ohio candidates enrolled to begin the process in 2000‑2001.

Ohio Department of Education