Teacher Certification Testing in Physical Education

Abstract

The 1980s witnessed an unparalled review, analysis, and critique of the quality of education and schooling in the United States. Criticism that has emanated from the wide range of reports and research studies was directed to all levels of education including the nation's schools (Boyer, 1986; Goodlad, 1983; Sizer, 1986), teacher education (Holmes Group, 1986), conditions of teaching and the teaching profession (Carnegie Task Force, 1986), and the quality of undergraduate education (Bennett, 1984; Boyer, 1987)_ federally funded report called A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform (National Commission, 1983) was the impetus for many of the later documents and was largely responsible for shaping the public's view of education. The seriousness of the allegations about the decline and general malaise in education that set the tone for many later documents can best be understood from an oft-quoted line of the report: If an unfriendly foreign power had done to American education what the country has done to itself it would have been regarded as an act of war (p. 1). Several solutions have been proposed to what has been described as the mediocrity of American education. These can be summarized as (a) improve the quality of those who in schools improving the quality of teacher preparation programs and extend them to a fifth year, (b) improve the conditions of schooling and the autonomy of teachers and reward quality work, thereby encouraging creative teachers to remain in the profession, and (c) keep less able teachers and less able prospective teachers out of the profession establishing higher standards. Prospective teachers must demonstrate such competencies passing a test that allows entrance into the profession. There has been a dramatic increase in teacher testing in the last 6 or 7 years (Haney, Madaus, & Kreitzer, 1987). All indications are that by 1990, virtually every state in the nation will require tests of basic skills, subject matter knowledge, and professional knowledge before a teacher can receive a standard license to teach (Darling-Hammond, 1984, p. 1). Certification tests have become a visible and controversial issue in education, with several of the major reports on schooling and teacher education advocating some form of teacher testing. The Carnegie report, Teachers for the 21st Century, was most explicit about test-