Those 1,130 institutions collectively turn out more than 170,000 novice teachers annually, about 80 percent of the new teachers entering classrooms each year. Most of the rest come from non-traditional training programs that are not necessarily affiliated with colleges, such as Teach for America.

Freshly minted teachers “don’t know how to teach reading, don’t know how to master a classroom, don’t know how to use data,” said Kate Walsh, the council’s president. “The results were dismal.”

Attempts to improve teacher training have been under way.

The two big teachers unions have both called for aspiring educators to get better mentoring and more practical experience before they graduate. They have also urged tougher certification standards that would require candidates to prove their skills in a classroom – not just pass a paper-and-pencil test – before earning a license.