HOUSTON (November 7, 2009)--Under a proposed new state rating system, college of education programs would be held accountable for a graduate's effectiveness on the job, especially in the area of student achievement.

The Texas State Board for Educator Certification gave initial approval to the rules last month and is expected to finalize them in February.

Doug Palmer, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M, said the idea that colleges and universities ought to be preparing teachers who help students learn is a reasonable, but says the challenge is to do it in a thoughtful manner.

Texas has 177 educator-preparation programs run by different providers universities, community colleges, school districts, for-profit companies and their standards vary.

Until now, the state has based accreditation on just one factor: the performance of teachers-to-be on the state's written certification exam.

Under the new rating system, the percentage of teacher-candidates who must pass the certification exam will grow gradually from 70 percent this year to 80 percent for the 2011-12 academic year.