Salt Lake City, Utah – University of Utah’s undergraduate elementary teacher preparation program
has been named among the top in the country by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) ,
a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research and policy organization, for strong training in classroom
management strategies and high-quality clinical practice experiences.
This month NCTQ released its 2020 Teacher Prep Review: Clinical Practice and Classroom
Management , which finds encouraging progress in teacher preparation programs’ adoption of
evidence-based classroom management strategies that are universally effective, regardless of
student age or the subject being taught. For the first time since NCTQ began publishing ratings in
the 2013 Teacher Prep Review , half of the nearly 1,000 traditional elementary teacher preparation
programs evaluated earn an A or B grade, up nearly 30% from seven years ago.
Fewer advancements have been made nationally in the adoption of quality control metrics of clinical
experiences (including student teaching and residencies), particularly in the process for selecting
mentor teachers which is managed not only by teacher prep programs but also their partner school
districts.
University of Utah’s program stands out as among only 17 elementary programs in the country that
earn an A in both clinical practice and classroom management, and serves as a model of excellence
for others.
