Testing Teacher Candidates

Americans have adopted a reform agenda for their schools that calls for excellence in teaching and learning. School officials across the nation are hard at work targeting instruction at high levels for all students. Gaps remain, however, between the nation's educational aspirations and student achievement. To address these gaps, policy makers have recently focused on the qualifications of teachers and the preparation of teacher candidates. This book examines the appropriateness and technical quality of teacher licensure tests currently in use, evaluates the merits of using licensure test results to hold states and institutions of higher education accountable for the quality of teacher preparation and licensure, and suggests alternatives for developing and assessing beginning teacher competence. Teaching is a complex activity. Definitions of quality teaching have changed and will continue to change over time as society's values change. This book provides policy makers, teacher testers, and teacher educators with advice on how to use current tests to assess teacher candidates and evaluate teacher preparation, ensuring that America's youth are being taught by the most qualified candidates.

Americans have adopted a reform agenda for their schools that calls for excellence in teaching and learning. School officials across the nation are hard at work targeting instruction at high levels for all students. Gaps remain, however, between the nation's educational aspirations and student achievement. To address these gaps, policy makers have recently focused on the qualifications of teachers and the preparation of teacher candidates. This book examines the appropriateness and technical quality of teacher licensure tests currently in use, evaluates the merits of using licensure test results to hold states and institutions of higher education accountable for the quality of teacher preparation and licensure, and suggests alternatives for developing and assessing beginning teacher competence. Teaching is a complex activity. Definitions of quality teaching have changed and will continue to change over time as society's values change. This book provides policy makers, teacher testers, and teacher educators with advice on how to use current tests to assess teacher candidates and evaluate teacher preparation, ensuring that America's youth are being taught by the most qualified candidates.

Since 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) have been working collaboratively to support teacher candidates in preparing for "The Praxis Series"[TM] of teacher licensure assessments, currently used in 41 states and territories. Their focus has been particularly targeted to assisting minority candidates. This work is foundational to the mission of both organizations. As they embarked upon this work, they realized that they needed stronger research into specific areas of performance gaps on teacher assessments between minority and nonminority candidates. They then jointly conducted research into this issue. The research involved both statistical analyses of "Praxis"[TM] data and field research, collecting information from faculty and candidates. The purpose of this research was to form a solid foundation of understanding to inform their efforts to support candidates. In this report, the author and her colleagues share the findings of that research, as well as a summary of their efforts, to date, to support teacher candidates. In the report, they focus on the disparate performance between minority and nonminority teacher candidates on licensure tests. The data show that minority teacher candidates score lower on average on their licensure tests. The data also show that minority teacher candidates take licensure tests later in their academic and professional careers, and that the delay correlates with lower test scores and passing rates. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures and 11 footnotes.) [This paper was written with Brooke Whiting, Sarah Ferguson, Segun Eubanks, Jonathan Steinberg, Linda Scatton and Katherine Bassett.].

In this study, NCTQ focuses on a pivotal point for elementary teachers: when teacher candidates take their licensure tests on the content knowledge defined by states as necessary for the job of teaching. States generally expect elementary teachers to have foundational knowledge in English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Low rates of candidates passing licensure tests, especially for candidates of color, have become the subject of considerable debate in states across the country and have some states questioning their testing regimes. These low pass rates present a challenge for policymakers and educator preparation programs working to both diversify the profession and also ensure that every classroom is staffed with a well-prepared teacher. This paper provides the framework for the pass rate data available for each state. While the focus here is on elementary content licensure tests, the analysis can be applied to any assessment on any subject or grade span.

REA's FTCE Exceptional Student Education K-12 Test Prep with Online Practice Tests Gets You Certified and in the Classroom! Fully updated to align with the content of today's exam, this REA study guide is designed to help teacher candidates master the information on the FTCE Exceptional Student Education K-12 (061) exam and get certified. It's perfect for teacher education students and career-changing professionals who are seeking certification in Florida to teach students with special needs. Written by Florida education experts, REA's complete FTCE ESE study package contains an in-depth review of all the competencies tested on the exam, including knowledge of foundations of exceptional student education, knowledge of assessment and evaluation, knowledge of instructional practices in exceptional student education, knowledge of the positive behavioral support process, knowledge of multiple literacies and communication skills, and knowledge of the transition process. Two online practice exams run under timed-testing conditions and provide automatic scoring and diagnostic feedback on every question to help students zero in on the topics and types of questions that give them trouble now, so they’ll be prepared on test day. The book includes the same two practice tests offered online, but without the added benefits of detailed scoring analysis and diagnostic feedback. This complete test prep package comes with a handy study schedule plus REA's test-taking strategies and tips. This test prep is a must-have for anyone who wants to teach special needs students in Florida!

Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs. Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.

The perfect way to study for Virginia's elementary education and special education reading teacher certification test, with subject reviews and two model practice tests. Focusing on what entry level Virginia elementary and special education teachers need to be certified to teach, this test-prep guide includes targeted strategies for the selected-response and constructed-response questions, and reviews of every test specification a candidate will be tested on, including instructional process, assessment and diagnostic teaching, oral language and communication, reading development, and writing and research. The two practice tests are full-length model exams that include answers and explanations to help candidates succeed when they take the test.