The student teaching programs at two state schools received mixed reviews in a national report card Thursday. Southern Connecticut State University’s program was rated “weak”, while Eastern Connecticut State University’s program was rated “good.”
Only a small amount of the colleges that were analyzed (18 percent) received a passing grade from the National Council on Teacher Quality.
The low grades were given because the student teacher is often not carefully matched with their mentor teacher and are placed into whatever class the principal selects. Additionally, few programs require the mentor teachers have at least three years of teaching experience before they take on a student teacher or that they have a demonstrated improved student learning.
This same council is working with U.S. News and World Report to rank the nations teacher-preparation programs beginning in 2012.
Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.
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