Thursday, May 1, 1986
Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan
7
New tests may screen teachers
By Sandra Crider
Staff writer
A new policy, requiring students who are seeking teaching certificates in Kansas to pass two standardized tests, may improve the quality of education but may also cut down on the number of teachers going into the profession, a state official said yesterday.
Martine Hammond, director of academic affairs for the Board of Regents, said the new requirement was a result of reaction to a 1984 federal government report on the poor quality of primary and secondary education called "A Nation at Hisk."
The Regents and the state Board of Education decided in October to begin requiring two tests, one for enrolment and one for program and one for certification.
"We just wanted to ensure the quality of students going into the education program," Hammond said.
The test also will mean that fewer students will be qualified to teach.
"According to the test results, it would exclude 28 percent of those previously admitted to education schools," Hammond said.
For the past two years, the preentry test has been administered across the state so a cutoff point could be determined.
However, at the university of Kansas, less than 10 percent of those who have taken the test had scores that would have disqualified them in the future, according to Jerry Bailey, associate dean of education.
Beginning in the fall, students who want to enter the School of Education will have to pass the pre-entry test, Bailey said.
The pre-entry test consists of the mathematics and writing portions of the Pre-Professional Skills Tests. The pre-certification test is made up of two components: (a) the National Teachers Examination and the reading part of the PST.
Students who have had test scores below the cutoff point in the past will be exempted from the new regular testing requirement, but the second test before certification.
Hammond said students would be able to take the tests an unlimited number of times to ensure that qualified students would be accepted.
The state should not have to worry about a shortage of teachers as a result of selecting people who are unqualified or incompetent. We can provide teachers can be enormous.
"When schools don't have teachers," Hammond said, "a howl goes up across the state."
The admission test seems to already be having a positive effect in that students who have not scored well or have failed are deciding they should not teach.
"Word gets out," Hammond said. "They know what is expected of them so it results in a winnowing of those who are unprepared."
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All Students Who Intend To Teach:
The Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas State Board of Education require students to pass two examinations prior to becoming certified as teachers in Kansas.
Test I: For entry into Teacher Education, including Early Childhood, students must pass the mathematics and writing parts of the PPST.
Test II:For certification, students must pass the Professional Knowledge part of the NTE and the reading part of the PPST in addition to passing Test I.
Students who plan to enter teacher education or early childhood programs as juniors in the fall 1986 semester must pass Test I as a part of their admission requirements.
Both tests will be administered this summer on June 28. To be eligible you must mail your fee to ETS by May 26. Application materials can be found in the University Counseling Center, 116 Bailey Hall.
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