FSU’s new dual-degree teacher education program relies on some dubious logic

https://bridgetotomorrow.wordpress.com/2017/10/07/fsus-new-dual-degree-teacher-education-program-relies-on-some-dubious-logic/

The FSU College of Education has now converted much of its teacher education program to a dual-degree model in which initial teacher certification requires a master’s degree instead of the traditionally-required bachelor’s degree.  In a Tallahassee Democrat article, the Dean of FSU’s College of Education, Marcy Driscoll, made several arguments in support of the conversion.  One of her arguments was dubious.  Another was factually incorrect.
Traditionally, the college provided bachelor’s degree programs leading to professional teacher certification.  The college has now made a change in which the programs leading to certification in elementary ed, English, special ed, social sciences and visual disabilities ed require a master’s degree.  Undergraduate students who want to earn certification at FSU in those fields will now be steered into a combined bachelor’s-master’s program.
According to the article, Driscoll argued that moving to the dual degree option would attract more students to teaching careers and help to alleviate the teacher shortage.  It certainly seems counterintuitive that requiring an extra degree would attract more students to the teaching profession.  It’s fair to say that this argument is dubious.
Driscoll is also quoted in the article saying “Teachers with master’s [degrees] will command a higher salary”.  This is not true, at least for Florida teachers who have entered the profession since 2011 and who want to continue as classroom teachers.  Florida Statutes state that
A district school board may not use advanced degrees in setting a salary schedule for instructional personnel or school administrators hired on or after July 1, 2011, unless the advanced degree is held in the individual’s area of certification and is only a salary supplement.
A physics teacher who has joined the profession since 2011 can earn a salary supplement for a master’s degree in physics – but not for a master’s degree in education.
The Democrat article also notes that math and science programs will remain housed in the FSU-Teach program and will require a bachelor’s degree with a double major, as they have for almost a decade.  Unfortunately, the article also made an error in describing this program.  It says that there are presently FSU-Teach programs in math, biology, physics and chemistry.  As recently as 2015-16, there was a physics option available for FSU-Teach students requiring a much smaller number of physics courses than the standard physics bachelor’s degree.  However, that option was suspended.  An option in which a student could complete both a standard bachelor’s degree in physics as well as the education courses required for all FSU-Teach students was being explored.
Why did the FSU College of Education make a move to a dual degree program?  The most obvious reason has to do with the pressure placed on SUS institutions to produce more graduate degrees.  While the pressure to produce graduate degrees has increased, the number of masters’ degrees awarded by FSU in education fields has sharply decreased – from 426 in 2006-07 to 332 in 2015-16 (that number includes all in CIP code 13 and not just those produced by the College of Education).
But it’s also worth noting that the University of Florida has for decades required students to earn a master’s degree for initial teacher certification in many fields.