As Virginia public schools push to raise teaching standards, some question whether application requirements for undergraduate education programs are rigorous enough.
Most Virginia colleges only require a B-minus average to enter the teaching programs. But many in the teaching industry believe standards should be higher.
It should be at least a 3.0, said Kathy Madigan, executive director of the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Madigan said she believes education schools initially tried to give broad access to their programs and then weed out poorer students through internal testing and applications. One of these tests is the PRAXIS I test before they can begin teaching.
According to Thomas J. Ward, associate dean of the education school at the College of William & Mary, the W& M education school must keep its standard at a minimum level to allow all students an equal chance to attend the department.
"Everyone is eligible for any major as long as they are in good standing," Ward said.
The entering credentials are different for all of William & Mary's departments, he said. Once students have made it into the College initially, administrators assume they are competent enough to excel in the course loads in the education school. Therefore, Ward said, the education school does not expect higher GPA standards.
William & Mary has a 98 percent pass rate for the teacher licensing exam.
"The university is committed to our students knowing content before they go into teacher education," said William Graves, dean of the education school at Old Dominion University.
"A 3.0 would be wonderful, but we are not able to do anything about it at this time," Graves said.
"That means a freshman has no room for error," Graves said. "They change but the grades don't go away. This allows for that."
Old Dominion University has a 2.75 GPA requirement for entering the education school in a student's junior year.
The University has a 2.7 GPA requirement for entering the Curry School of Education.
"Teachers say that they want to be recognized as a real profession like a doctor or lawyer," said Madigan, "then let's figure out how to make the standards more rigorous."
Curry School Dean David W. Breneman could not be reached for comment.
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