Licensure tests play a critical role in any profession. Well-designed tests both delineate the core competencies that are required to enter a profession and provide evidence that candidates can safely practice in the profession. They also identify the professional knowledge and skill that differentiates any educated individual from the…

The past year has seen the emergence of a broad consensus on raising the standards for entering the teaching profession. The NEA, AFT, and Council of Chief State School Officers all have said they want higher entry standards. Such an exam would be modeled after other professions and is a potential game changer. If sufficiently rigorous, the exam…

Managing the human capital in education requires measuring teacher performance. To measure performance, administrators need to combine measures of practice with measures of outcomes, such as value-added measures, and three measurement systems are needed: classroom observations, performance assessments or work samples, and classroom walkthroughs.…

Teaching can be respected as a genuine profession when teachers are experts in their subject matter and effectively induct students into that expertise. This requires a strong preservice program and rigorous licensing requirements, accompanied by effective induction programs, peer review, intervention programs, ongoing professional development,…

In recent case studies, teachers' strong endorsement of National Board standards highlights the importance of encouraging policies that will increase participation and success rates and contribute to their equitable distribution. However, teachers face significant problems due to inadequate information and wide variations in available support…

An evaluation of the Massachusetts Educator Certification Test has revealed unforeseen, counterproductive consequences. Teacher preparation colleges are adjusting curricular emphases to teach to a test of dubious validity and are inadvertently excluding substantial portions of enrollees to boost test scores. Minorities are failing at higher rates.…

A protracted class-action suit against California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (by 15 minority individuals and 3 organizations) proved a major loss for plaintiff educators. The Ninth Circuit's ruling follows the trend of high-stakes testing decisions favoring the government, despite revised Office of Civil Rights guidelines. (MLH)

In November 1999, participants in "The McLaughlin Group," a weekly PBS talk show, peremptorily decided that progressive education and teacher preparation programs were to blame for public education's failings. This article also discusses teacher competency testing, expansion of alternative teacher certification in Colorado, and direct…

Research says the school-improvement mechanisms favored by policymakers-more certification tests (like the Massachusetts Educator Certification Test that 59 percent of candidates failed in 1998), higher cut scores, and severe penalties for institutions not meeting pass rates-are unlikely to deliver increased accountability and better teachers.…