College of Education Releases Portions of Title II Report Card Data to Ohio Department of Education

Contact: Michelle Wilson, (740) 593-9341 or wilsonm4@ohio.edu

ATHENS, Ohio (April 6, 2001) -- Ohio University's College of Education released the first set of required data for the Title II Report Cards to the Ohio Department of Education today. The second set of data, a set of standardized test (Praxis II) scores, was received in the past 24 hours from the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Confirmation and analysis of the data are required. The release of these data will occur when the confirmation and analysis process has been completed.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) worked with the Ohio Department of Education to assemble Ohio's Praxis II data for the Higher Education Report Card on the Quality of Teacher Preparation. ETS was unable to release the data on its originally scheduled date of February 14. Ohio was one of three or four states whose data on test scores was delayed.

In 1998 Congress reauthorized the Higher Education Act (Title II), demanding new accountability measures for colleges and universities that prepare teachers. Title II mandates that colleges and universities that have teacher preparation programs must submit annual reports that contain information to be used by the U.S. Department of Education to assess the quality of teacher preparation in each state. A series of reports are required by law with the first report due by April 7. By that date, colleges and universities in states that require taking a standardized test to obtain a teacher license must submit program information and test scores to the respective state department of education.

Ohio University is among the 50 colleges and universities in the state of Ohio that offer teacher preparation programs that must submit their students' test scores and program information to the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Department of Education will then use these test scores and information to rank the colleges and universities within the state of Ohio by breaking them down into quartiles. This information will then be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

James Heap, Dean of the College of Education can be reached for comment at (740) 593-9449 (office) or (740) 594-9685 (home).

A copy of the College of Education's report card data that was submitted today to the Ohio Department of Education can be downloaded in Word format. You also can request a hard copy of the report card by calling (740) 593-4405 or sending an e-mail to wilsonm4@ohio.edu.