New York Issuing Scorecards on Teacher Colleges Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used data to rate restaurants, track the repair of potholes and close lackluster schools in New York City. Now he is bringing his results-oriented approach to an area far outside his usual purview: teacher colleges. In an effort to shake up institutions that have been criticized as too insular and inert, his administration will release scorecards on Wednesday for a dozen teacher-preparation programs in the city. Education schools, both public and private, will be evaluated in various ways, including how many graduates are certified in high-needs areas like special education and whether their teachers have been able to increase student test scores. The release of the scorecards places the city at the forefront of a national effort, backed by the Obama administration, to use data to upend the teaching profession and the pathways to it. Critics have said subpar teaching programs too often hamper school systems, churning out graduates familiar with theory but lacking in practical classroom skills. The results to be released on Wednesday will show that even some of the country's most prestigious programs have room for improvement. For example, one in five recent graduates of teaching programs at Columbia University and New York University were given low marks for how much they were able to improve student test scores; by contrast, 1 in 10 teachers who graduated from City College of New York received poor marks. City officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the data, saying the numbers were meant to provoke conversation, not rivalry. They noted that sample sizes were small, and that the data reflected only information from the past four years. But in New York City, where competitive streaks run rampant, education leaders could not resist a little jockeying. David M. Steiner, dean of Hunter College School of Education, said the results would prompt schools like Columbia and N.Y.U. to rethink elements of their program. "These are places that are very well known for their research and scholarship," Dr. Steiner, a former state education commissioner, said. Is it possible that they need to pay more attention to their clinical preparation of teachers? Thomas James, provost of Teachers College at Columbia, said the reports prompted the school to examine how closely its curriculum aligned with city academic standards. He said the data also spurred interest in increasing the number of teachers who pursue certification in special education, where city data showed the school lagged behind its peers. "We can see more clearly what the greatest needs are," Dr. James said. The direction we're going is to have more comprehensive and better planning. Other education school leaders were not as enamored of the city's decision to broaden its interests to higher education. Alfred S. Posamentier, dean of the Mercy College School of Education, which trained some of the highest numbers of special education teachers in the city, said it would be more useful if education officials compared teaching data over a longer period of time. "It's nice to look at, it somehow verifies what I already knew, but it's not going to change anything," Dr. Posamentier said. City education officials noted that the scorecards this year were only a beginning. They said the results were mostly positive, showing that recent hires generally received high marks in the classroom. David A. Weiner, a deputy chancellor in the city's Education Department, said that for too long, city governments and universities had worked in isolation. The reports, he said, would help bridge that divide. "It can't just be the universities, it can't just be the school system," Mr. Weiner said. We want a highly effective teacher in every single classroom, and every single university president says the same thing. Under the city's system, teaching programs were evaluated on six measures. The city looked at the number of teachers that were placed in low-performing schools and the number of teachers certified in areas with high demand, like math, science, special education and English as a second language. The city also factored in teacher performance, including whether recent hires were denied tenure, whether they received an unsatisfactory rating from principals and whether students improved on state tests in reading and math. Teacher retention was also considered. Citywide, 80 percent of recent hires still worked as teachers in the system three years later. But for several schools that serve large populations of New York City natives, the numbers were higher. More than 90 percent of recent graduates of Queens College and St. John's University, for instance, were still working as teachers after three years. By contrast, 72 percent of students from Teachers College still worked in the system three years later. Teachers College noted that it serves a large population of students from out of state, and that many eventually return home to work. The city said it had no plans to award letter grades to universities, as it has done with public schools and restaurants, saying education officials were focused on identifying and sharing effective practices. Next year, the scorecards will expand to include more rigorous teacher evaluations developed by the state. And this fall, the city plans to release similar reports for teachers certified through alternative pathways, like Teach for America. City officials said New York would be the first city school district to compare teaching programs. Ohio and Tennessee have also started evaluating elements of university teaching programs. The federal education secretary, Arne Duncan, said on Tuesday that he saw New York's efforts as "a major step forward, and one from which others can learn." "It puts the record of preparation programs, including their impact on student learning, into sharp focus," he continued.