Examining FAMU’s supply of teachers: a value-added analysis of college of preparation on pupil academic achievement

Some teacher preparation institutions may provide higher quality teachers than others. Pupil academic achievement is one measure of the quality of teaching. Standardized test scores, e.g., the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT), provide a measure of pupil academic achievement. This study seeks to ascertain whether Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) has a “college preparation effect” on the average pupil’s FCAT reading and mathematics scores. We find that the quality of FAMU’s teachers is statistically indistinguishable from the quality of teachers prepared by all other public colleges and universities in the state of Florida. This appears to be a robust conclusion. Our results are roughly the same regardless of whether we confine the sample to pupils matched with traditionally trained teachers (college of education graduates), all teachers, all traditionally trained African American teachers, or all African American teachers.