Dive Brief:

• For 58 percent of more than 500 colleges and universities studied, the grading standards for teacher candidates are much more lax than for students in other majors, according to a new report.
• For 42 percent of those higher ed institutions studied, the grading standards of teacher candidates and other majors were judged as not substantially different.
• The study also found a strong link between high grades received by the teachers-to-be and a lack of tough courses that had the assignments needed to properly prepare them for teaching.

Dive Insight:

The study, “Easy A’s,” is from the National Council on Teacher Quality’s “Teacher Prep Review” initiative. The report recommends that teacher educators and program administrators identify common standards for excellence, and not award “A” grades for mere competence. Also,the report states, higher ed educators should make sure that the coursework for teacher candidates properly prepares the students for teaching, including meaningful simulations of teaching.