The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal has unveiled a sweeping Blueprint for Reform, aimed at revolutionizing teacher education to address America’s faltering education system. Released Wednesday, the plan slams current teacher prep programs for prioritizing ideology over content knowledge, leaving students—especially in reading and math—lagging behind.
Citing dismal 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, the blueprint calls for a seismic shift to equip teachers with the tools they need to reverse declining literacy and numeracy.
The NAEP’s latest data paint a grim picture: 40% of 4th graders and 33% of 8th graders scored below “basic” in reading, with math scores for both grades dropping since 2019.
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The Martin Center pins part of the blame on teacher training, arguing that schools of education churn out instructors ill-prepared to teach core subjects. “Teachers cannot impart what they do not have,” the report states, echoing education writer Natalie Wexler’s The Knowledge Gap, which highlights how a lack of background knowledge cripples literacy.
The critique zeroes in on pedagogy-heavy curricula that sideline subject mastery, alongside a “diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda” the Center says devalues achievement.
“Many strategies teachers are taught … have been long discredited,” the blueprint asserts, pointing to a focus on student interests over structured content. David M. Steiner’s research, cited in the report, slams elite education schools for pushing an ideology that “traditional knowledge is repressive” without balancing it with rigorous counterpoints.
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The Martin Center’s fix? A slate of reforms for universities and policymakers. Universities should mandate core content courses, ditch DEI requirements, and weave in the science of reading—backed by experts like Daniel Willingham, who ties comprehension to long-term memory.
For elementary teachers, the plan demands 10 credit hours in math, covering essentials like algebra and geometry, per National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) standards. Policymakers, meanwhile, are urged to enforce civics and history knowledge, overhaul licensure tests, and greenlight alternative certification paths like the American Board’s, which prioritize mastery over bureaucracy.
“This cycle of impoverished education can stop if educators depoliticize their classrooms and integrate evidence-based research,” the report argues. It’s a call to arms amid a crisis—2024 NAEP declines follow a steeper drop from 2022, signaling a generation at risk. The Center’s recommendations, from banning DEI curricula to scrutinizing pass rates, aim to hold teacher programs accountable and realign them with student needs.
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Backed by a decade of Martin Center studies—like Jay Schalin’s 2019 exposé on education schools’ “long march” toward ideology—the blueprint doubles as a rallying cry for state-level action.
With model policies from groups like the National Association of Scholars and a nod to market-based innovation, it’s a roadmap to reclaim what the Center sees as higher education’s broken promise. As lawmakers mull the plan, the stakes couldn’t be higher for America’s classrooms.
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