Supporting Effective Teaching in Tennessee: Executive Summary | Página 27

effectiveness. Teacher effects are broken down by subject,
grade-level, and whether teachers have 1-3 years of experience
or 1-5 years of experience.43 Based on conversations with higher
education institutions, the Report Card does not appear to be
driving changes in teacher preparation programs partly because
of the limited data the Report Card contains (e.g., the number
of teachers it looks at from each institution is very small)
and because it is not clear precisely how a higher education
institution should change its program based on the Report
Card findings. To at least partially address this problem, Figure
3.11 provides a cumulative total of the percentage of teachers in
each teacher training program that are in the top and bottom
quintiles of teacher effectiveness. The table lists Tennessee
institutions in descending order by percentage of teachers
whose value-added scores placed them in the top quintile of

effectiveness. While this data is not particularly helpful for
identifying which portions of individual institutions’ programs
are strong or weak, it does provide an overall picture of whether
institutions are producing a disproportionate share of high or
low performing teachers.

Professional Development and Evaluation
The traditional approach to teacher professional development
is for teachers to leave the classroom for a day or two to receive
training in a seminar or workshop format and for teachers to
then return to their classroom with limited, if any, follow-up.
Research has shown this type of professional development
is generally ineffective, as the training rarely includes
individualized instruction and is not reinforced throughout the

Figure 3.11

Summary of 2008 Report Card on Teacher Training Program (Institutions with at least 20 teachers in data set)

College

Belmont University
David Lipscomb University
Freed-Hardeman College
Cumberland University
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Vanderbilt University
Austin Peay State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Lee College
University of Memphis
East Tennessee State University
Tennessee Wesleyan College
University of Tennessee, Martin
Tennessee Technological University
Christian Brothers University
Milligan College
Tusculum College
Crichton College
Maryville College
Lincoln Memorial University
Trevecca Nazarene University
Carson-Newman College
Union University
Lambuth University

State Totals and Averages

# Teacher
% Top
Candidates Quintile
(2002-07)
Teachers

% Bottom
Quintile
Teachers

34
81
73
56
139
51
232
454
202
290
181
558
331
71
239
515
85
60
194
84
58
180
167
119
48
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35.30%
27.20%
23.30%
23.20%
22.30%
21.60%
19.80%
18.90%
18.80%
18.60%
17.70%
17.60%
17.20%
15.50%
15.50%
15.30%
15.30%
15.00%
14.90%
14.30%
13.80%
13.30%
12.60%
11.80%
8.30%
7.40%

11.80%
16.00%
19.20%
12.50%
28.10%
25.50%
24.60%
25.80%
27.20%
17.60%
29.80%
24.60%
21.50%
11.30%
14.60%
21.40%
25.90%
25.00%
20.10%
28.60%
19.00%
23.30%
29.30%
18.50%
22.90%
18.50%

65.40%
52.30%
76.40%
85.30%
71.10%
31.90%
76.60%
67.30%
78.90%
68.70%
63.90%
76.00%
63.60%
68.80%
75.20%
70.30%
88.50%
75.00%
72.20%
N/A
71.40%
78.10%
85.90%
68.60%
80.60%
71.40%

4,582

22.5%

17.2%

72.1%

Notes: The percent of bottom or top quintile teachers is relative to all teachers in the state, not just beginning teachers.
Source: Tennessee State Board of Education Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs

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5-Year
Retention
Rate

T h e S t a t e o f E d u c a t i o n i n T e n n e ss e e