Teacher Licensure Research Articles

Who Will Teach? Policies That Matter

Part 1 The teaching profession at a turning point: carrots and sticks critical questions incentives an opportunity for change. Part 2 Who prepares to teach?: the shrinking personnel pool the changing demographic profile of new licensees different teaching specialities for different times. Part 3 Who becomes a teacher?: national trends North Carolina trends incentives matter. Part 4 Finding skilled teachers - hiring practices make a difference: hiring new teachers - two case studies problems and solutions. Part 5 How long do teachers stay in teaching?: attrition is high in the first years race makes a difference mature women stay, young women leave elementary school teachers stay the longest, chemistry and physics teachers the shortest teachers with high test scores leave teachers who are paid more stay longer staffing the schools in the 1990s. Part 6 Who returns to teaching?: most career interruptions are short women are more likely to return than men elementary teachers are the most likely to return, chemistry and physics teachers the least likely teachers with higher test scores are less likely to return the reserve pool in the future. Part 7 Revising licensing requirements: the economics of occupational licensing why traditional licensing requirements for teachers are flawed why licensing of teachers is necessary evidence informing the redisign of licensing requirements directions for new licensing requriements trade-offs in the design of performance assessments the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards alternative assessment approaches using performance assessments in teacher licensing - evidence from Connecticut reforming licensing requirements - necessary, but not enough. Part 8 Getting the incentives right: fruitless policies elements of a promising strategy stimulating change critical questions. Appendices: research context - whom did we study? methodology.

Teacher Licensing and the New Assessment Methodologies

Alternatives to multiple-choice items for teacher-licensing examinations are described. Advantages of the methodologies most often heard are cited. Cost and practicality, reliability, corruptibility, and validity are discussed as four areas of concern about the new assessments. A suggestion for reducing costs is proposed.

Collision Courses, Safer Places: Teacher Licensure, Private Schools, and the Making of a Profession

Collision Courses, Safer Places: Teacher Licensure, Private Schools, and the Making of a Profession

Measurement and Research issues in Teacher Assessment

A project to develop innovative assessments for teacher licensing serves as the basis for an analysis of measurement and research issues raised by the development and use of such assessments. Issues discussed include computerized testing, the use of nonmultiple-choice or constructed-response assessment methods, legal concerns, minority impact, and relationships to teacher education curricula. Three extended discussions of these topical areas are presented to illustrate the interrelationships of these issues: engaging the adult learner through computer-based assessment and instruction, choosing appropriate assessment methodologies, and defining the content of beginning teacher assessments.

Assessing teachers' pedagogical content knowledge: Item development issues

The work of Lee Shulman and his colleagues in the Teacher Assessment Program, supported by the Carnegie Corporation, has led to new conceptions of teaching and teacher assessment (Shulman, 1986, 1987a, 1987b). A key feature of these new conceptions is the proposition that pedagogical content knowledge is an important category of the knowledge base for teaching (Shulman, 1987a). This article describes some issues related to the development of test items to assess pedagogical content knowledge for an elementary teacher licensure test, the Connecticut Elementary Education Certification Examination. Following a brief description of the exam, pedagogical content knowledge is defined. Next is a discussion of three issues that arose when attempting to develop a teacher licensure test that includes assessment of pedagogical content knowledge. Finally, a number of item types that seem to be useful for assessing pedagogical content knowledge are described briefly.

The validity of performance assessments for teacher licensure: Connecticut's ongoing research

Since 1986, Connecticut has been developing a semi-structured interview (SSI) to evaluate beginning teacher competence. In 1989 it was decided to rename the project the Connecticut Teacher Assessment Center Project (CONNTAC) in order to allow for the possibility that some subject matter committees may wish to broaden the scope of the project to include forms of assessment beyond the interview. For example, our language arts committee favors use of student portfolios as an element in its performance assessment. This expansion of the performance assessment will bring the Connecticut initiative closer to the assessment center work that is currently practiced in other professions (Byham, 1986). Furthermore, we felt that the term interview could be misleading to those familiar with the less structured interviews practiced in business selection (McDaniel et al., 1987). The semi-structured interview is more like an oral examination used in doctoral examinations than it is like the interviews typically used in industry. Connecticut's strategy for validating CONNTAC performance tests is based on two assumptions. First, we define validations as activities that progressively clarify the meaning of scores on the test. Second, following the test standards set by the joint committee of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education (1974, 1985), we assume that our research will not validate a test per se, but will address particular interpretations or uses of the examination. By systematically addressing the major potential sources of error in interpretation, we develop more confidence in the examination's usefulness for specific purposes. The systematic

A Study on the Present Status of Physical Educators in Special Schools

The purpose of this study was to find out the present status of physical educators in special schools, such as having the teacher's license or not, learning special education before or after the graduation, problems in teaching, recommendations for teaching or educators of physical education in special schools from now on, and so on.The method of this study was the questionnaire technique. As the results, the answers were gathered from 1028 physical educators in 287 different special schools, and followings were deduced;1. It is difficult to say that the system of teacher's license and the policy of educational services are well, because only a quarter of the subjects have qualified licenses for physical education in special schools and the majority of them do not wish to place themselves in special schools.2. It is guessed that experiences of the subjects for special education are quite poor, because less than 30 percent of them have some study about special education before the graduation and the majority of them have up to 5-year teaching career in special schools and many of them are new hands.3. Almost of all subjects have many problems in teaching. Main problem of them is how to deal with the difference in abilities or proficiencies of each pupil, however, many of them are related with instruction techniques and the knowledges of teaching, so it is possible to solve the problems due to promote and improve the curricula of teacher's colleges or universities and educational environment in special schools.4. Physical educators in special schools do want to emphasize physical fitness of the handicapped rather than sports skills of them, and to engage not only the teachers interested but all other colleague in teaching the handicapped. And over 80 percent of them recognize and recommend the necessity of studying about the handicapped before the graduation.5. However, totally saying, from the view point of the system of license and the policy of educational services, the surroundings of physical educators in special schools are not adequate, and of course, it is guessed that the system and the policy do not discharge their duty. In other words, after solving the above all problem and developing the field of special education, it seems that the future status of physical education for the handicapped will become bright.

State Standards for the Licensure of Secondary Social Studies Teachers

Early in the 1980s, a study was conducted by the authors of the status of standards for the initial licensure of secondary social studies teachers in the fifty states. Following the intrusion of a ...

Using College GPA and Test Scores in Teacher Licensure Decisions: Conjunctive Versus Compensatory Models

The logic of using a sequential decision-making approach using college grade point average (GPA) and test scores for teacher licensure decisions within the conjunctive decision-making model is discussed and contrasted with the compensatory model for decision making. The major issues to consider in choosing between the conjunctive and compensatory models are (a) whether there is a linear (or at least monotonically increasing) relationship between each predictor variable and the criterion variable and (b) whether an excess of one predictor variable can compensate for a deficiency in another variable. If linearity (monotonicity) and compensation are reasonable assumptions, the compensatory model is generally preferred. However, for nonlinear and noncompensatory situations, such as teacher licensure where the purpose is to set a cutoff score to represent minimal competence, not to predict the degree of success, the conjunctive model is more appropriate. Some have suggested using college GPA and licensure test...

An Alternative Methodology for Appraising the Job Relatedness of NTE Program Tests

Early NTE test-appraisal studies focused only on the extent to which the content covered on a test matched the content of teacher education curricula. Recently, there has been a shift in emphasis from adequacy of preparation, which is now seen by many as irrelevant to establishing the appropriateness of a teacher licensure examination, to job relatedness. The procedures used to collect and analyze job-relatedness judgments in many studies, however, seem designed to yield positive results. Alternative procedures are described in this article. They involve (a) focusing the judgments to be made on necessity for successful job performance, (b) asking for a total-test judgment, and (c) computing an average per-item score. These procedures pose a more rigorous test of a licensure examination's job relatedness. They incorporate the legal and professional requirements for appraising licensure tests, and they yield richer, more meaningful data regarding the appropriateness of using a test as a licensure requirement.

A New Paradigm for Teacher Licensure: Oregon's Demand for Evidence of Success in Fostering Learning

Schalock and Myton assert that the pur pose of teacher licensure is protection of the public from incompetence. Meas ures of knowledge of subject matter and teaching skills are insufficient basis for licensure and fall short of the public's expectation that teachers foster pupil learning. Oregon's new standards for teacher education attempt to address these weaknesses.

Making and Implementing Policy on Teacher Licensure

The authors describe one state's efforts to formulate and implement policy with regard to the licensure (or certification) of its public school teachers. They dis cuss conditions that led to the develop ment of certification policy, the rather unique evaluation system that was de veloped to assess teacher competence, and the assistance provided by the state to those teachers who fail to demon strate the competencies required for cer tification. Consideration is also given to factors that will eventually determine the success or failure of this policy and similar policies in other states.

Assessing the Teaching Function

Teacher testing has become well established as a tool of educational policy. Nearly all of the states now require passage of tests for teacher licensure, and tests also figure prominently in strategies to reform the teaching profession. Several models have been developed for assessing the teaching function, including objective paper-and-pencil tests and structured classroom observations. Both are used for state licensure, although evidence of their criterion-related validity is virtually nonexistent. New forms of performance assessments are now being developed, which should reflect the knowledge and skills of teaching more faithfully than any existing instruments. It is hoped that these tests will not only provide fairer and more accurate measurements of teaching ability, but will also stimulate changes in teacher preparation programs, and ultimately, improve classroom practice.

Software Reviews : Statpacgold Publisher: Walonick Associates, 6500 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55423 (telephone: 800-328-4907 or 612-866-9022) Year of Publication: 1987 Materials: Five unprotected program disks, a sample data disk, a 500-page manual in a three-ring binder Price: $595 base price plus $195 for forecasting module Educational licensing is $595 plus $200 per year, which includes updates and gives

STATPAC GOLD is a first-rate major statistical package in the same category as SYSTAT; both should be considered more price-effective competitors to SPSS/PC and SAS/PC. The new GOLD version (2.0) includes extensive forecasting procedures as well as descriptive statistics, crosstabs, ANOVA, multiple regression , probit, factor analysis, and graphics. Allowing up to 32,767 records of up to 500 variables each, it is one of the few microcomputer statistical packages that can handle large survey datasets, including multiple responses and computation of the sample size needed. It imports and exports standard ASCII files (fixed or comma-delimited) or DIF data interchange files and thus can interface easily with mainframe, Lotus, and dBASE data. In fact, all codebook, data, and command files are always in word processable ASCII format. This package stands out from the rest and deserves to be considered carefully. An evaluation copy is available for $50.

Categorical Special Education Teacher Certification: Does it Affect Instruction of Mildly Handicapped Pupils?

Assumptions of a categorical model of special education service delivery were evaluated. The behavior of special educators holding differing teacher licensure, and the behavior of elementary pupils labeled learning disabled (LD) and educable mentally retarded (EMR) were observed during resource room instruction in reading. In contrast to assumptions of a categorical model, results indicated that no differences existed in the instructional behavior of special educators holding differing teacher licensure. In addition, the classroom behavior of LD and EMR pupils did not differ, nor did pupil behavior differ as a function of teacher licensure. Results were discussed in light of accumulating evidence of problems with the categorical model, and the need for experimentation with alternative models of service delivery.

Validity issues in teacher licensure tests

It seems so simple• We do not want incompetent teachers• Tests should be able to weed out teachers with skills at a level such as that demonstrated in the first quote above• Why should we be concerned whether the deity of validity has done good works in teacher competency tests? But things are not always as simple as they seem. What is "teacher competency?" How do we know whether tests really measure it? Such questions should be, and have been, asked. This article is intended to take a close look at several issues regarding the validity of teacher competency tests• A general conclusion of the article is that such tests are valid for a delimited set of inferences•

Teacher Trainees: Alternative

The licensing of teachers is a critical issue in this period of educational reform. Reports critical of American schooling have referred regularly to the bleak condition of education and to the poor quality of teachers educating our youth. The quick-fix solution in many states has been to suggest higher stan dards for teachers and the validation of alternative preparation programs. The approach described in this article focuses on reform efforts in California that call on local school districts to take a major role in the preparation of teachers.

Who Will Teach Our Children?

If a person does not like children, he should not be a teacher. The attitude of the teacher communicates itself to the children in the class. If the teacher is interested in what he or she is doing and is enthusiastic and dedicated, the children, in turn, will become infected by this interest and enthusiasm. He might be compared to a salesman who enjoys his work and has confidence in his company and its product; this salesman will do a better job selling to prospective customers than one who does not like his work, or the people with whom he must deal. If a teacher does not like teaching and dislikes children, or if he or she looks upon students as adversaries, good rapport is impossible between teacher and class. Under these conditions, learning takes place with great difficulty, if at all. There must be some means by which to determine whether the teacher is flexible or rigid, sympathetic and empathetic, or arrogant and intolerant. He must have a good sense of humor. Without this, a teacher cannot be successful in the classroom. Also, it is imperative that he be curious and inquisitive with regard to his subject matter and constantly seek to expand his command of it. In most American school systems, a teacher is hired on the basis of one interview. As will be evidenced, a decision based on one interview is pitifully outdated and ineffective. Surely, in hiring a teacher, one interview and the judgment of one person is not enough. When I applied for my present position, I was interviewed by the superintendent, an assistant superintendent, and the principal of the high school. (In addition, of course, they reviewed my college transcripts, my employment history, and my teaching license, and they contacted my personal references.) I was subsequently interviewed by two other school corporations. In one case, it was by the superintendent alone, who asked me to talk about myself, smiled, and said he would let me know, and in the other, by the director of teacher personnel who, after reading my application, asked how I got along with blacks, and then terminated the interview. It is obvious which was the better hiring process. In discussions with other teachers, the hiring processes of some nearby townships have surfaced. For instance, I have heard that in one nearby school system, a young pretty female applicant who is brazen enough to show a fair amount of thigh can strongly influence the middle-aged male interviewer. The man who told me this is a principal of an elementary school and is bitter about the quality of the teachers assigned to his school. There is a superintendent in another school corporation who prides himself on the low cost of education in his district. He hires only firstor second-year teachers with bachelors degrees, because of the lower salary bracket. Consequently, there is a high turnover in teacher personnel at the expense of good education. An assistant superintendent of secondary schools in another township has made a science of teacher selection. He not only supplements his own personal judgments with psychological tests, but he also engages the applicant in role playing, giving the applicant a hypothetical situation and asking him or her what should be done under the circumstances. He also asks the applicant to draw a picture of a person. From this Mr. Morris is a teacher at the North Central Hig School in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Treatment of a Professional Degree and License on Divorce

ABSTRACT COURTS have, in recent years, wrestled with difficult issues relating to the valuation and distribution of an advanced educational degree and professional license as a marital asset in a divorce property settlement. No clear trend has emerged from the courts' treatment of this problem.The court in Wisner v Wisner, 631 P2d 115, 123 (Ariz App 1981), referred to "the rather common situation in which one spouse puts the other through professional school followed closely by a dissolution [of marriage] upon the completion of schooling... [as]... perhaps the clearest picture of the injustice which may evolve." Despite such a possibility, the majority of courts ruling on the question have held that educational attainments such as a medical degree or license are not property subject to division in the event of divorce. As one explained:An educational degree... is simply not encompassed even by the broad views of the concept of

THE STATES' ROLE IN EDUCATION POLICY INNOVATION

Historically, local control of education has been a sacred part of the American political culture. Since the early 1960s. however, there has been an unprecedented growth of state influence over local education. States require minimum days of school attendance, courses of study, and standards for teacher licensing, as well as minimum tax levies and expenditures. During the 1970s, states intruded heavily into school finances, initiating reforms to equalize educational opportunities.