State Board of Education State Report Cards on Educator Preparation Programs
Each year, the State Board of Education issues a report card of all educator preparation programs in Tennessee, detailing several aspects of the educator preparation programs including student information, employment of graduates, and the impact/effectiveness levels of graduates.
In 2024, the University of Tennessee received the highest possible rating (Exceeds Expectations) for teacher and leader preparation in Tennessee. The full Educator Preparation Report Card is available for review (link to this: https://www.teacherprepreportcard.tn.gov/teacher-prep/1843-T/overview)
CAEP Accountability Measures
Teachers prepared by UT demonstrate a positive impact on P-12 student learning, as measured by TVAAS, Classroom Observation Scores, and overall teacher Level of Effectiveness.
TVAAS: Over half of our program completers (54%) show a Level 3 or above performance level within their first three years of teaching as indicated in the most recent value-added data. Level 3 is “at expectations” and Levels 3, 4, and 5 are indicators of a teacher’s positive impact on student learning as measured by Tennessee’s standardized testing system.
What is this metric?
This metric reports the percentage of cohort members who earned a student growth (TVAAS) score of at least a 3 (“At Expectations”) on a scale of 1-5. Only cohort members who teach a grade or subject that has a state assessment receive TVAAS scores. For most EPPs, this includes 25-50% of cohort members.
In addition to demonstrating a positive impact on P-12 learning, graduates of UT teacher preparation programs demonstrate multiple measures of teaching effectiveness. In Tennessee, these measures of teaching effectiveness include teacher/classroom observation scores as well as each individual teacher’s Level of Effectiveness.
Classroom Observations: 96% of teachers prepared by UT Meet or Exceed expectations in their classroom observations within their first three years of teaching. Additionally, over 85% of teachers prepared by UT Meet or Exceed Expectations on their overall Level of Effectiveness within their first three years of teaching. More information is available here.
Stakeholder Involvement
Twice each academic year, the UT Educator Preparation program holds meetings of the Council for the Improvement of Professional Education. This Council consists of School and District Leaders, Mentor Teachers and Mentor Principals, Community Organizations, and Faculty, Instructors, and Supervisors who work within the EPP. UTK shares program data during these meetings and asks for feedback regarding program improvement. Every major proposed program change (including curricular changes, creation and use of assessments, and standards alignments) is presented to this Council for feedback and input prior to implementation.
Presentations from our most recent CIPE meetings are available here:
Employer Satisfaction
During the Council meetings, UT gathers data related to employer satisfaction with our initial teacher licensure programs as well as our advanced licensure program (principal preparation and reading specialist licensure). We make sure to invite a representative sample of employers from diverse districts to this meeting, including principals, assistant principals, and district-level leaders who hire graduates from our educator preparation programs. During these meetings, we provide multiple ways for participants to provide feedback, including gallery walks, padlet prompts, and questions via Google Forms. We thoroughly examine this feedback to assess the overall effectiveness of the program, as well as to identify specific areas for improvement based on evidence.
Linked here are the data from our Fall 2023 CIPE meeting. Over 90% of our employer respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the preparation that teachers receive from UT and that teachers prepared by UT have a positive impact on P-12 student learning. 100% of respondents agreed they are likely to hire future graduates of UT teacher preparation programs.
100% of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with the preparation school leaders receive from UT and that school leaders prepared by UT have a positive impact on the school, teachers, and students.
The Tennessee Educator Preparation Report Card provides a public view of the competencies of our candidates at program completion, as measured by multiple exams and assessments required to obtain teacher or leader licensure.
For the 2022-2023 Academic year, over 99% of UTK Teacher Candidates passed the required pedagogical assessment. 95.4% of UTK teacher candidates passed the Praxis Subject Area/Content KNowledge Assessment, and 90.4% of teacher candidates passed the Praxis Literacy Instruction Assessment. All of these are higher than the state average pass-rate of 92.2% More information is available here.
For the 2022-2023 Academic Year, 100% of our Instructional leadership candidates passed the Praxis School Leaders Licensure Assessment, demonstrating that they have the competencies to lead schools at program completion. More information is available here.
Moving beyond content area and pedagogical assessment, UTK uses the Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions (ProCADS) framework to ensure that all teacher candidates graduate from our programs with the full skill set needed to be an effective professional educator. 100% of graduating UTK teacher candidates must demonstrate proficiency in their professional competencies, attitudes, and dispositions as assessed by themselves, their Mentor Teacher, and their University-based supervisor before teacher licensure will be issued or advanced. More information is available here.
For initial teacher preparation programs, employment milestones (such as initial employment and retention) are reported in the Educator Preparation Report Card.
UT “Exceeds Expectations” on the Educator Preparation Report Card for employment of program completers.The most recent report card shows that the rate of first year employment in Tennessee public schools among UT program completers is 782.7%, second-year retention is 94.1%, and third year retention is 82.4%. One note is that this data only counts UT graduates who are hired in Tennessee public schools. Accounting for all teacher education graduates, including those who accept positions in private schools, charter schools, or schools that are out of the state of Tennessee results in higher employment rates for our graduates.
For leadership preparation programs, almost 40% of UT leadership program completers were hired and served as administrators in Tennessee Public Schools. This is well above the state average of 24.8% More details are available here.
Additional employment milestones and demonstration that program completers are hired into positions for which they have been prepared are available here.