Elementary smarts

Tony Bennett, the stateâ??s new education chief, has said children who canâ??t read or write before reaching middle school years
are all but doomed to struggle through the rest of their academic careers.

So, IBJ reporter J.K. Wall notes in
this weekâ??s IBJ, the pressure is on elementary teachers to churn out students who can continue to flourish.

But are schools stocked with teachers who are up to the task, particularly now that Indiana has some of the highest academic
standards in the nation? If SAT and Graduate Record Examination scores are any indication, the answer might be no, since education
majors tend to rank fair to middling. The GRE in particular also raises questions about the quality of education that teachers
are getting in their undergrad years.

However, averages are just that. And academic prowess doesnâ??t guarantee ability to impart knowledge.

How do you feel about the quality of Indiana elementary teachers? What about education programs in the stateâ??s colleges and
universities? Are the programs rigorous enough?