How Minnesota rated in a review of teacher preparation programs

The National Council on Teacher Quality has come out with what's being billed as the first-ever report card on teacher preparation programs, and the verdict reported by the Washington Post is: mediocre.

(Bob Collins on MPR's NewsCut blog calls it "a report card of failure."

Colleges and universities may get multiple ratings depending on the programs they offer -- undergraduate vs. graduate programs, elementary, secondary and special education. The maximum rating (which no one in the U.S. got) is four stars.

Ratings for the schools in our state are above in the MN section.

Gustavus Adolphus, the University of Minnesota - Duluth, University of Minnesota - Morris and University of St. Thomas come out on top of the state pack with three stars for undergraduate/secondary. They're among the 9 percent of the 1,200 schools that made the "honor roll" by scoring three stars in a program. (Only 13 schools in the U.S. had multiple programs with three stars, though.)

One star goes to Bemidji State (undergraduate/elementary) and University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (graduate/elementary).

The ratings have set off a "firestorm," the Post says, with some colleges and education pros saying it's incomplete and inaccurate.

The full report is below:

• How Augsburg is going all Mark Twain
• How past U of M presidents view higher-ed today
• Metro State data breach affected 160,000 students
• U of M starting massive systems upgrade