UCCS earned high scores for their College of Education undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs in the “2025 Teacher Prep Review: Solving for Math Success” report from the National Council on Teacher Quality(NCTQ). The report “assesses the extent to which elementary teacher preparation programs provide adequate course time to build aspiring teachers’ math content knowledge and pedagogy.”
The College of Education’s undergraduate program, the Bachelor of Arts in Inclusive Elementary Education, earned the highest rating possible of an A+. The grading scale is measured by the number of instructional hours focused on math pedagogy, numbers and operations, algebraic thinking, geometry and measurement and data analysis and probability. To receive an A+, programs must have at least 150 instructional hours across the five categories and meet the minimum recommended hours for each.
The College of Education post-baccalaureate, the Elementary Initial License Certificate, earned a B and was the only program in the state of Colorado to earn above a failing grade, making UCCS the sole Colorado institution to earn a high grade in both program classifications. To receive a B grade, programs must have at least 120 instructional hours across the five categories.
“While the NCTQ’s evaluation is not required in Colorado, we are thrilled with this result!” said Katie Anderson-Pence, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the College of Education. “These scores reflect the excellent design of our courses and how we prepare our elementary education students to teach math in their future classrooms. We have been very thoughtful in how we integrate pedagogical theory and practical application into the expectations for our students. From pre-K to grade 6, our teacher candidates know how to create meaningful mathematics learning experiences in their classrooms.”
The full report from the National Council on Teacher Quality can be found here. To learn more about the report’s methodology, rubric and research rationale, visit the NCTQ site.