The President of Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education says the state needs to do a better job recruiting and training good teachers.
Bob King says students majoring in elementary school education at Kentucky colleges often have the lowest ACT scores and highest need for remedial courses.
“This to me is a combination of we need to do a better job in our institutions both in recruiting and training teachers and then supporting them through a much more extensive interaction with professional development. Until we do that I fear we’re not going to make the kind of progress we need to make.”
King says Kentucky universities need to be more selective when admitting students. He also says the programs themselves need to change since the state’s higher education institutions are not meeting the needs of elementary schools.
Commissioner Terry Holliday says the education department isn’t meeting the needs of teachers when they enter the classroom either. He says many teachers are requesting more targeted professional development to educate minority and special needs students who are struggling to close the achievement gap.
