EDUCATION MAJORS LACK SOLID COURSEWORK, SAYS NEW SREB STUDY - Vol.13 - Issue 123 - Education

Sep 28, 2026

SREB study reports that future teachers take fewer general education courses than arts and science majors, and the courses they take are often not upper-level or even college-level. Math, English, physics, chemistry, economics, and foreign languages are especially limited, while students take more classes in psychology, fine arts, biology, and geology. The board notes that elementary education majors follow a least-resistance path, raising concerns about course quality, discipline balance, and the limited college-level math and science coursework for teaching majors.

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Education Majors Lack Solid Coursework, Says New SREB Study

Math and general education course gaps

Course quality concerns and discipline balance

Study assumptions and transcript findings

Top Teacher Calls for Reform in Education

Teacher training, supervision, and licensing gaps

Reform proposals: experience, competency testing, and accountability

HIGHER EDUCATION DAILY The Independent daily news service foradministrators in postsecondaryeducation. Vol。13,No。123 Tuesday,June 25,1985 # EDUCATION MAJORS LACK SOLID COURSEWORK,SAYS NEW SREB STUDY WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS,W.Va.--The nation's future teachers take fewer generaleducation courses than do their peers who major in the arts and sciences andwhat they do take is generally not upper-level or even college-level work. Teaching students on average take fewer hours in math,English,physics,chem-istry,economics and foreign languages than do general arts and science majors,but take more classes in psychology,fine arts,biology and geology,says asweeping two-part study by the Southern Regional Education Board(SREB)。 Students who major in elementary education take more course work in generaleducation than do other teaching students,although the"quality and the com-position of courses across disciplines …are ques-Convention-tionable,"SREB says.Report"For example,elementary teachers take fewer hours in English and mathematics combined than they do in the social sclences,"the board says."Yet,the first two are the areas to whichthey will give the greatest attention in the elementary grades." The board's study assumed that a college-level math course requires a studentto complete two high school algebra courses and one geometry course,EvaGalambos,an SREB research associate,told the board here Saturday at its an-nual convention. But on that basis,only 22 percent of the math courses teaching students takecan be called college-level,compared with 53 percent of those taken by artsand sciences students,said Galambos,who studied the college transcripts of 3,283 education graduates and 2,760 arts and science graduates of 17 majorcolleges and universities in the South as part of the board's study. Galambos said 7 percent of the teaching studentg and 11 per-aLl Va8LULl GdLd D088du peLCeL0Lle LeaC SLuuelL8 ucent of the arts and sciences graduates earn a degree without taking a singlecollege math course。Three-fourths of the teaching students and a third of thearts and sclences students take no foreign language courses while in college. Because colleges often give great latitude in fulfilling requirements forgraduation,"students often follow the path of least resistance,and ferret outcourses on the weather or acoustics of musical instruments to meet sclencerequirements,"the study showed. SREB found that two-thirds of the teaching students and more than half of thearts and sciences graduates take no college work in chemistry and physics.(more on p.3) June 25,1985 # TOP TEACHER CALLS FOR REFORM IN EDUCATION WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS,W.Va.--Take a walk through almost any school in thecountry.Behind at least one classroom door is a teacher who hasn't beenadequately trained or licensed for the job and who has almost no on-the-jobguidance or supervision. And that teacher in turn is training perhaps 25 others who,because of poorschooling,won't have the skills needed to become a good teacher or employee. "It's a perpetual cycle in which ineffective teachers produce an illiteratepopulation,"says Michael Farmer,a chemistry and physics teacher at RiversideHigh School in Greenville County,S.C.,winner of the 1985 science teacher ofthe year award and a finalist in the Reagan administration's contest to pick ateacher to fly on the space shuttle. Change Needed"The only way to break the vicious cycle is to improve thequality of teachers entering the system,"Farmer Saturday told a Southern Re-gional Education Board meeting here.Unless changes are made,he said,more"poor teachers will be let into the classroom." Farmer,who has spent 13 years teaching at the high school,technical schooland university level after working in industry for several years,attributespart of the problem to declining college enrollment and competition for stu-dents.In their quest to recruit students and fi

FAQs

What does the SREB study say about education majors’ coursework compared with arts and science majors?

Education majors take fewer general education courses, and much of what they take is often not upper-level or even college-level compared with arts and science majors.

Which subjects do the teaching students generally take fewer hours in?

They take fewer hours in math, English, physics, chemistry, economics, and foreign languages than arts and science majors.

What course-quality or distribution concerns does SREB raise about elementary education?

SREB says the quality and composition of courses across disciplines are questionable, and that elementary teachers take fewer hours in English and mathematics combined than in social sciences, even though those first two areas get the greatest attention in elementary grades.

Sep 28, 2026

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