Do teachers who learn online work perform as well as teachers trained in the same type of physical classroom in which they are likely to teach? A new set of proposals to regulate the federal government’s online teacher training programs is an effort to find out which programs work and which don’t, but it’s facing widespread opposition from the learning world. from a distance.

In late 2014, the Ministry of Education revealed plans to increase accountability for teaching schools, which have been criticized in recent years for lax admissions standards and questionable rigor. The move sparked a deluge of 4,800 mostly critical letters exposing the federal government’s excesses in state affairs and decrying reforms that “would extend the ‘test and punish’ accountability model to higher education. “.

Now the DOE is wrestling with how to apply its controversial rules to online teacher education programs, which have become the leading providers of education degrees in the country. (A month-long public comment period ended on May 2.) The country’s 2,100 teacher training colleges offer an impressive 28,000 teacher certification and diploma programs. At a fundamental level, online schools fear that having separate assessment methods from physical campuses sets them apart and diminishes their status.

Related: Data on Teacher Prep Graduates Will Soon Have Implications for Some Programs

The DOE’s proposal requires each state to issue a rating to online programs that grant 25 or more teaching certificates in that state. That means, for example, the University of Phoenix, a for-profit institution that operates online in 42 states, would potentially receive 42 separate ratings. Beyond the bureaucratic burden, online universities argue that comparing grades will be pointless since each state can assign different weight to the four assessment metrics, creating an “apples to oranges” mismatch between states.

The grades would be tied to eligibility for federal TEACH grants, which reward high-performing teachers who commit to working in needy schools and subjects. If an online program earns two “at risk” or “poorly performing” ratings from any state over a three-year period, everything students in this program, even those in states that gave the program high marks, would not be eligible for TEACH grants.

The policy would put states in “the awkward position of potentially disqualifying students from other states for TEACH scholarships,” says a letter submitted by Walden University, a for-profit online university that is the fourth-largest provider of TEACH scholarships. educational qualifications in the country.

In an email, Dr. Kate Steffens, dean of Walden College of Education, called the department’s regulations a “costly federal intrusion” into state and institutional operations. The DOE estimates that implementation will cost states $42.1 million over 10 years and has offered no federal assistance. Critics say the cost will be much higher and drain funds from other programs.

Sharon Robinson, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, points out that online programs are already subject to state accreditation and internal assessments. “Why go through the torture of creating something punitive,” she says of the proposed rating system. “There are many ways to be responsible and also to inspire ambitions for improvement.”

Robinson supports performance-based teacher assessments like the edTPA and invests in programs like the Teacher Quality Partnership grants that aim to drive innovations in teacher preparation through collaborations between higher education, school districts and local educational agencies.

Related: Why aren’t more teachers loving the edTPA

“There is a good place” for accountability, says Robinson. “It’s not about intimidating students or forcing them to sink or swim, but about putting them in safe water where they can find their own basis for professional growth.”

But Kate Walsh of the National Council on Teacher Quality says accountability in preparing teachers online is virtually non-existent. “If you look at the evidence, [online programs are] where a lot of teachers get their masters degree so they can climb the salary grid without any rigor,” she said. “Why should we ask teachers to graduate in name only? It wastes their time and money, and the only result I can see is that a lot of institutions make a lot of money.

Walsh says she hopes more online programs will follow in the footsteps of programs like Western Governors University, which won first place in a joint NCTQ ranking and US news and world report. “They make sure primary teachers know how to teach reading. With student teaching, they don’t try to do it online. They make sure that person is assigned to a local mentor, and it’s well supervised,” she said. “It shows that when content trumps convenience, you get a great product.”

This story was produced by The Hechinger Reportan independent, non-profit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Learn more about teacher preparation.