WKU tops State Teacher Training List
Western earns ‘excellent’
By Taylor Loyal and Jason Dooley
October 09, 2003

Western Kentucky University scored the highest marks of any state university on a report released this week by the state’s Education Professional Standards Board. Western was given an “excellent” rating on the Kentucky Educator Preparation report card, a new report established by the EPSB that looks at performance on the Praxis II exam for new teachers, the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program and the state New Teacher Survey.

Western’s 99 percent pass rate for the Praxis II, which tests core content knowledge for new teachers, also was highest in the state.

“This is an indication that we have a quality program based on current acceptable standards,” said Sam Evans, dean of Western’s College of Education and Behavioral Science. “It is very significant that we have the largest program in the state and only two students who were not successful in passing the (Praxis) exam.”

Last year, 289 new teachers completed undergraduate work at Western, the largest number of teachers to graduate from any school in the state, Evans said.

Western graduates’ performances on the Praxis, which is given to students after they complete undergraduate work and student teaching but before they enter the classroom, is a big reason the school scored so well on the report card, of which the Praxis is 60 percent, said Phillip S. Rogers, director of the Division of Testing, Research and Internship for the state Department of Education.

All the state’s other public universities scored “good” on the report card, except for Kentucky State University in Frankfort, which was rated “poor,” Rogers said.

“I thought it was great that our No. 1 producer of teachers received an excellent mark,” he said. “Sam (Evans) puts in the late hours to make sure he knows how his students are doing. It’s just a well-designed program and it’s working.”

Kentucky is the only state to produce such a report card for its teachers, Rogers said.

“Most other states just report the results of the Praxis,” he said.

Western President Gary Ransdell said the survey results are important to all Kentuckians.

“It’s a great compliment to our students and the faculty members who teach them,” he said. “But more importantly, it’s great assurance that the future teachers we produce will be highly qualified and capable in the classroom.”

— For more information, visit www.keppreportcard.org.

(This article was reproduced from BGDailyNews.com with permission)