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Fromrigor to reality Part 2:
A further look at
the state regulatory rules and their impact on
candidates in teacher/administrative education
The Illinois Council of Professors in Education Administration
(ICPEA), in conjunction with the Illinois Association of School
Boards (IASB), continues to study the impact of the changes
in the state rules and regulations, and the impact on the
number of candidates going into education in Illinois, both in
the teaching and administration areas.
Dr. Patrick Rice, IASB Field Service Director, expanded last
year’s survey and received data from a cross-section of
17 Illinois universities. Besides surveying elementary and
secondary educational programs, the survey included Early
Childhood, Fine Arts, and Special Education programs.
Similar to last year’s findings, the data received is cause
for concern.
The survey’s findings show Illinois continues to experience
a teacher shortage not only in elementary and secondary
education, but in all teacher education programs of study.
And, the survey results indicate there is a lack of diversity
in the candidate pool. As reported in our previous article
published last year, in 2010 the Illinois State Board of
Education (ISBE) raised the minimum standards needed
to pass the Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP), formerly
the Basic Skills exam. The goal was to increase teacher
rigor. The results were teacher and administrator candidate
numbers dramatically went down with the jury still being out
as to the improvement of candidate quality.
Research in the area of principal preparation shows 1,742
new graduates in principalship in the last six years. ICPEA
estimates there have been around 2,800 new principal job
openings in the past six years. The number of job openings
does not even include openings in other administrative
positions like assistant principals, dean of students, directors,
department chairs, and assistant superintendents. Our
research shows that there is a direct correlation between
having fewer teacher candidates which directly impacts the
number of administrative candidates.
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Dr. James Rosborg
Director of Master’s in Education,
McKendree University