As in other highly skilled careers, licensure requirements were put in place to ensure that candidates that enter the teaching profession are competent and effective. Unfortunately, licensure requirements can change from year to year and vary depending on the subject area in which a candidate plans to teach, making the pathway to obtaining full…

Ensuring that students are reading proficiently by third grade is a key component of keeping students on track to graduate high school and pursue college and careers. Because of the magnitude of this academic milestone, states typically pursue policies that promote early identification and intervention for struggling readers. However, teachers are…

For initial certification in French, German, and Spanish, teacher candidates in most states are required to pass one of the Praxis II subject matter tests. As of October 2010, a new test was added to the "Praxis Series." This Praxis II: World Language Test represents a significant change from previous versions and relies heavily upon the…

Connecticut's Alternate Route to Certification Program--ARC, as it is commonly known--prepares talented, well-educated adults to become certified as teachers in Connecticut's public schools. ARC was created in 1986 by the Connecticut state legislature to encourage mid-career adults with strong subject area backgrounds to become teachers. Today ARC…

Teach For America (TFA) and the Teaching Fellows programs are an important and growing source of teachers of hard-to-staff subjects in high-poverty schools, but comprehensive evidence of their effectiveness has been limited. This report presents findings from the first large-scale random assignment study of secondary math teachers from these…

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-5-108 requires the state to develop a report card or assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs. This report includes data on the performance of each institution's graduates in the following areas required by state statute: placement and retention rates, Praxis results, and teacher effect data based on…

This article provides portraits of two women on professional journeys to become bilingual teachers. Stacie Thao was born in Thailand. Nancy Aguilar was born in California, and spent some of her childhood in Mexico. Stacie's first language is Hmong, while Nancy's is Spanish. Each learned English in school, and each helped their immigrant parents…

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-5-108 specifies that the State Board of Education "with the assistance of the department of education and the Tennessee higher education commission, shall develop a report card or assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs." The State Board is directed to "annually evaluate performance…

Standardized testing, mandated by NCLB, can act as a barrier to prevent Indigenous students from entering teacher training programs and achieving "highly-qualified" certification upon exiting. Such regulations work against the nation-to-nation trust agreements that would place Indigenous teachers within Native school systems. Although…

This article reports on how an incorrectly graded licensing exam for prospective teachers has stalled hiring in some places, sent school districts rummaging through employment records, and spawned at least one lawsuit so far. Those affected by the mistake range from 35 test-takers in Georgia to roughly 1200 in Ohio. Eighteen states use the Praxis…

The introduction of the "Praxis" tests to certify preservice teachers has added to the controversy over what content should be taught in educational psychology classes. "Praxis II" tests are essentially exit examinations, usually taken between the junior and senior year to ensure that students know their specialty content areas…

In the Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers program, trained assessors observe teacher candidates in their assigned teaching environments and determine their instructional effectiveness. The article highlights the program's improvements over its predecessor, noting the need to explore teaching performance as a new…

The National Teachers Examination, criticized for cultural bias, is being replaced in many states by the "Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers." The new assessment focuses on portfolios and classroom style and includes evaluation of basic skills (in the sophomore year), subject area knowledge (on completion of…

Student learning must be touchstone by which teachers and teacher educators are gauged. Unfortunately articles in November 1996 "Kappan" on "Quality Teaching for the 21st Century" don't support this statement. In contrast to three national certification initiatives, Oregon's teacher licensure system (Oregon Work Sampling…

This paper presents a model and process for shared decision making among teacher education faculty, pre-K through 12 educators, and college science and mathematics faculty in the preparation of quality educators at Wright State University (WSU), Ohio. WSU is immersed in change as Ohio moves from teacher certification to licensure. The paper…