Texas education board rejects proposed replacement for ‘trash’ teacher exam

Texas’ State Board of Education unanimously rejected a proposal to switch the state’s multiple-choice teacher certification exam with a extra rigorous check, even after the Education Commissioner described the present evaluation as “trash.”

The board’s Friday vote comes amid considerations that the proposed new exam – referred to as the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment or edTPA check – can be dearer for candidates than the present one and will restrict the instructing pipeline at a time when faculties are already grappling with staffing shortages.

The State Board for Educator Certification voted earlier this 12 months to suggest the edTPA exchange Texas’ current teacher licensing exam. If SBOE had authorised the certification board’s determination, the edTPA would have been in place and required for all aspiring academics in 2023-24.

Though SBOE vetoed the proposal, large modifications should still be coming to the teacher preparation panorama. Board chair Keven Ellis stated he needs to carry teams collectively as early as Monday to chart a path ahead. He stated he can’t envision a future the place the established order stays.

“Do not consider a vote to veto this rule as a wood stake through the heart of edTPA,” the Lufkin Republican stated. “For me, this is not the end of the road.”

Even as SBOE disagreed with the choice to switch the check, members and company officers acknowledged that there have been flaws with the present evaluation. At a Tuesday assembly, Education Commissioner Mike Morath described the present 100-question a number of selection exam as “trash” and in want of a change.

TEA spokesman Frank Ward stated in a press release that the company appears ahead to persevering with its work “to determine if there are better approaches that can be taken to improve how we support individuals training to become teachers.”

Advocates of the edTPA argue the exam, which requires instructing candidates to arrange a portfolio of their work, would increase the usual for new educators. But critics identified that edTPA’s excessive testing charge may create a monetary impediment for candidates. Five states, together with New York, have already deserted the check.

Aicha Davis, D-Dallas, requested that earlier than the board takes any motion to rethink the check, Texas leaders ought to speak with officers in these different states to determine what went incorrect.

Before they voted Friday, a number of board members stated that the suggestions they’ve obtained has been overwhelmingly unfavorable. They famous that they didn’t really feel snug transferring ahead with out extra assist, particularly given how stretched skinny the educator workforce is amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

“If there’s a fire and people are going toward the fire with buckets, you don’t stop and say, ‘Wait, are you a certified fireman? Have you taken this test and this, that and the other thing?’” Rebecca Bell-Metereau, D-San Marcos, stated.

A lot of public education advocacy teams opposed the change, saying edTPA, used as a ultimate certification exam, won’t assist instructing candidates develop. The teams additionally criticized the “significant gap in edTPA pass rates between Black and white candidates,” in accordance with a current letter they despatched to the SBOE.

Both state board members and the teams who authored the letter steered that parts of edTPA or the same portfolio mannequin might be included into educator preparation as an alternative of being required as a check.

Agency employees have countered that Texas legislation would allow therequirement however wouldn’t permit the state to control the standard of portfolio submissions.

A TEA lawyer described SBEC’s oversight of educator preparation packages as a “hollow donut of authority.”The board can arrange a requirement of what candidates ought to study after which check on it on the very finish of the certification course of, however can’t meddle into a lot of the interior workings of preparation.

Texas has a deregulated community of greater than 120 prep packages that features every little thing from four-year college packages to for-profit different certification packages that conduct nearly all of their coaching on-line.

A five-member subcommittee on college initiatives – comprised of members from each events – voted unanimously on Thursday to suggest the board veto the change, foreshadowing edTPA’s failure.

“It seems that SBEC has outsourced or abdicated … their role in developing this [exam],” Member Matt Robinson, R-Friendswood, stated. “They have brought something from outside of Texas and modified it.”

TEA employees clarified it’s not the position of the education company or the state educator certification board to develop exams. One company staffer provided up the instance of STAAR assessments for college students, that are developed by a testing vendor and administered by the state.

Davis pushed TEA employees on why they hadn’t appeared into persistent issues with the present educator certification exam, which has points with efficiency gaps between Black and white check takers.

“We haven’t figured anything out to make anything better,” Davis stated. “We’re just kind of getting rid of one problem to create another one.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the protection and dialog about pressing education points vital to the way forward for North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with assist from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Todd A. Williams Family Foundation and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial management of the Education Lab’s journalism.