UL System Schools Lead the Way in National Recognition of Louisiana’s Teacher Preparation Programs
BATON ROUGE, La. — Teacher education programs at two University of Louisiana System schools achieved the state’s highest rankings in the latest report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), which also acknowledged Louisiana as the best state in the country in several areas.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana tied at #4 with the University of Dayton in Elementary Education followed by Louisiana State University (LSU) at #6. Southeastern Louisiana University ranked #28 in Secondary Education with the next highest Louisiana institution at #127 (LSU). Northwestern and Southeastern were also among the few universities the report recommends to aspiring teachers as top rated schools with low tuition.
Additional UL System institutions achieving national rankings in Elementary Education were Louisiana Tech University, Nicholls State University, McNeese State University, the University of New Orleans, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. National rankings in Secondary Education included Northwestern, McNeese, UNO, and Grambling State University.
“The UL System generates 74% of Louisiana’s graduates in education at its nine universities, and this report reinforces the quality work taking place in those programs,” said UL System President Sandra Woodley. “Special acknowledgment should be given to Dr. Jeanne Burns, Associate Commissioner for Teacher Leadership and Initiatives, and our deans of education for their efforts to put Louisiana on the cutting edge and also for working with NCTQ to ensure they had access to the information and data necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of our programs.”
In addition to rankings, NCTQ acknowledged Louisiana as a “Standout State” in the areas of Early Reading and Elementary Content. Under recommendations for state policy makers, Louisiana was also listed as one of four states that “have led the way in developing report cards for teacher prep.”
“While there will always be room for improvement, it is certainly nice to be recognized for what is working,” said Woodley.
To download the NCTQ Teacher Prep Review, visit http://www.nctq.org/dmsStage.do?id=267634&dmsVersionId=266632.
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ABOUT THE UL SYSTEM: The University of Louisiana System is the largest higher education system in Louisiana enrolling about 90,000 students at Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and the University of New Orleans.
