US Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, released "Meeting the Highly Qualified Teacher's Challenge: The Secretary's Annual Report on Teacher Quality (PDF file)," on June 14, 2002. Mandated by the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act, the report is intended as a report to Congress on the state of teacher quality in the United States. According to Paige, the state of teacher education is poor, and major changes will be necessary in order to meet new requirements set out in the No Child Left Behind Act passed earlier this year.

Drawing on data provided under the 1998 Title II law, requiring states and teacher preparation institutions (such as the University of Illinois) to provide an annual "Report Card" of teacher quality, the report paints a picture of low standards, poor certification requirements and questionable state commitments to improvement.

One of the major issues of direct relevance to traditional teacher preparation programs and Colleges of Education is Paige's assertion that the focus on pedagogy (methods and theories of how to teach and how learning happens) is too heavy, creating obstacles and burdens that turn away good teacher candidates.

The report cites, "... many states mandate a shocking number of education courses to qualify for certification... These burdensome requirements are the Achilles Heel of the certification system. (p. 31)" The report stresses the importance of alternative certification routes that stress subject matter expertise, rather than teaching theory, as one of the major keys to dealing with shortages of qualified teachers and teacher candidates. Teach for America, a program started in 1989 to recruit students without formal education backgrounds and place them into high-need schools, is suggested as a model for future alternative certification programs.

Paige also notes the widespread problem of too many classroom teachers working on waivers or emergency certifications. He calls the large number of these teachers in the field unacceptable, and points out that, under the No Child Left Behind Act, this is a practice that is required to end by the close of the 2005-2006 school year - creating an even greater need to find, prepare and to keep qualified teachers.

The report is not without critics, both influential and vocal.

Bob Chase, President of the National Education Association, in a response on the following day said, "Claims that inexperienced college grads can be as successful as formally trained teachers are insulting and demeaning to qualified members of the teaching profession. Instead of helping professionalize teaching, the Secretary's proposals demean it by promoting teaching as volunteer work." (Read the full NEA statement here)

And, Arthur Wise, President of the National Council on Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) also issued a statement, "Revamping teacher preparation courses to vastly reduce the program to a Teach for America format is not the answer. Just because one is an Albert Einstein does not mean that he or she can successfully teach seventh grade algebra to middle schoolers." (Read Wise's full statement here)

While the findings and recommendations of the report will certainly be hotly debated in public and private right up until next year's version is released, it has been delivered to Congress and it is widely seen to be a clear indicator of the direction that the Department of Education will take in the area of teacher preparation under the current administration.