Initial teacher certification testing in massachusetts: A case of the tail wagging the dog

Phi Delta Kappan

Volumn 82, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 34-37

  Flippo, Rona F ^a   Riccards, Michael P ^a  

^a FITCHBURG STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040156710     PISSN: 00317217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003172170008200111     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. Susan Fuhrman, The New Accountability (Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania, Policy Brief RB-27, January 1999).
2. Rona F. Flippo, "Teacher Certification Testing: Perspectives and Issues," Journal of Teacher Education, March-April 1986, pp. 2-9.
3. Gregory R. Anrig, "Teacher Testing in American Education: Useful but No Shortcut to Excellence," in idem et al., What Is the Appropriate Role of Testing in the Teaching Profession? Proceedings of a Cooperative Conference (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1987), p. 47.
4. Virginia B. Edwards, "Who Should Teach?," Education Week, 13 January 2000, p. 48.
5. This teacher-testing strategy was coupled with a bill to test veteran teachers and to recruit and retain top-notch teachers. Gov. Paul Celluci's proposal to test veteran teachers died in the legislature in 1999. However, the legislature did vote $60 million for recruiting new teachers and retaining exemplary veterans.
6. Edwards, Education Week, op. cit.;
7. Marlene Goodison, "Pros and Cons of Paper-and-Pencil Tests for Teacher Assessment," paper presented at the annual Assessment and Policy Conference of the Education Commission of the States/Colorado Department of Education, Boulder, 1986, ERIC ED 276 747;
8. Ronald T. Hyman, "Testing for Teacher Competence: The Logic, the Law, and the Implications," Journal of Teacher Education, March-April 1984, pp. 14-18;
9. Russell B. Viaanderen, "Teacher Measurement: Testing: Status Report," Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Summer 1982, pp. 17-20.
10. Kate Zernike, "State Moves on Teacher Test Failures," Boston Globe, 14 October 1998, pp. A-1, A-17.
11. Ed Hayward, "State Sets Bar High for Education Schools," Boston Herald, 3 December 1999, p. 22.
12. Patricia Spakes, internal memo regarding subject-area exams of Massachusetts teacher tests and academic policy changes at other colleges, Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Mass., 9 March 2000.
13. Martha K. Piper and Robert W. Houston, "The Search for Teacher Competence: CBTE and MCT," Journal of Teacher Education, September-October 1980, pp. 37-40;
14. Maura Zumwalt, "Teacher Competency: When, What, Where, and Why," Contemporary Education, vol. 59, 1988, pp. 204-7.
15. Anrig, ," Contemporary Education, op. cit.
16. Jerry B. Ayers, "Another Look at the Concurrent and Predictive Validity of the National Teacher Examinations," Journal of Educational Research, January-February 1988, pp. 13-17;
17. Claudia S. Dybdahl, Donna G. Shaw, and Dennis Edwards, "Teacher Testing: Reason or Rhetoric?," Journal of Research and Development in Education, vol. 30, 1997, pp. 247-54;
18. Ione Garcia and Peter A. Garcia, "Testing for Failure: Why Children Fail in School and Life," Teacher Education Quarterly, Fall 1989, pp. 85-91;
19. Hyman, Teacher Education Quarterly, op. cit.
20. Walter Haney, Clarke Fowler, and Anne Wheelock, Less Truth Than Error? An Independent Study of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests (Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Policy, Boston College, February 1999);
21. Susan Melnick and Diana Pullin, Teacher Education and Testing in Massachusetts: The Issues, the Facts, and Conclusions for Institutions of Higher Education (Boston: Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, April 1999). Many have called for an independent outside review of the MECT, but to date, state officials have largely dismissed these concerns and have publicly defended the quality of the tests.
22. Internal memo regarding teacher testing, Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Mass., 10 July 1999.
23. See, for example, Spakes, Teacher Education and Testing in Massachusetts: The Issues, the Facts, and Conclusions for Institutions of Higher Education op. cit.
24. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, Teaching-Licensure Exams: A Limited Tool to Identify Capable Teachers, available at http://www.nas.edu/books/0309069467/html.
25. Ann Bradley, "Test Questions," Education Week, 9 December 1998, p. 31.
26. John Silber, "Those Who Can't Teach," New York Times, 8 July 1998, p. A-15.
27. Lynn Olson, "Finding and Keeping Competent Teachers," Education Week, 13 January 2000, p. 12.
28. Bradley, ," Education Week, p. 30.
29. "Report of the NCTE Task Force on Teacher Competency Issues," English Education, vol. 19, 1987, pp. 186-87.
30. Peter A. Garcia, A Study on Teacher Competency Testing and Test Validity with Implications for Minorities and the Results and Implications of the Use of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) as a Screening Device for Entrance into Teacher Education Programs in Texas (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Education, 1985);
31. M. K. Gillis, "Impact of Testing on Minorities Entering Teaching," Teacher Education and Practice, December/January 1990-91, pp. 23-27;
32. Stafford Hood and Laurence J. Parker, "Minority Bias Review Panels and Teacher Testing for Initial Certification: A Comparison of Two States' Efforts," Journal of Negro Education, vol. 58, 1989, pp. 511-19.
33. Bilingual Education Commission Report (Malden: Massachusetts Department of Education, 1994).
34. Robin Henke et al., Schools and Staffing in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1993-94 (Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1996), p. 5.
35. Olson, Schools and Staffing in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1993-94 op. cit.
36. Melnick and Pullin, Schools and Staffing in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1993-94 p. 5.
37. Terrance Carroll, "Cumulative Pass Rates by Student Characteristics," unpublished data. Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Mass., 1998.
38. Terrance Carroll, "Communication and Literacy Skills Test Results at Fitchburg State College, by Ethnicity, 1998-1999 Testing Cycle," unpublished data, Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Mass., 2000.
39. Olson, Communication and Literacy Skills Test Results at Fitchburg State College, by Ethnicity, 1998-1999 Testing Cycleop. cit.
40. Olson, Communication and Literacy Skills Test Results at Fitchburg State College, by Ethnicity, 1998-1999 Testing CycleIbid.
41. Melnick and Pullin, Communication and Literacy Skills Test Results at Fitchburg State College, by Ethnicity, 1998-1999 Testing Cycleop. cit.