The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) has held that the high standards for teachers in Minnesota translate into high achievement for the students in Minnesota schools.  In No Dream Denied, NCTAF has outlined six dimensions for preparing high quality teachers.

•    Careful recruitment and selection of teacher candidates.
•    Strong academic preparation for teaching.
•    Strong clinical practice to develop effective teaching skills.
•    Entry-level teaching support in residencies and mentored induction.
•    Modern learning technologies.
•    Assessment of teacher preparation effectiveness.

Data about each of these six dimensions can be found on MACTE’s Measures of Teacher Quality in Minnesota (MTQM) website at http://mtqm.mnteachered.org/ .  For example, in terms of clinical practice, all 29 institutions require students to engage in early field experiences in addition to their formal student teaching experience, and many institutions require applicants to their programs to document experience with P-12 students prior to admission.

This is only one of the many facts about Minnesota teacher preparation programs that can be found on the MTQM website. We invite you to visit the website and see the ways in which we address all six of the dimensions for preparing high quality teachers.

Patricia Avery
University of Minnesota