FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - According to the Educational Testing Service, 85 percent of the University of Arkansas' 113 teacher education graduates in 1999-2000 passed the newly-introduced Praxis II test by the September 1, 2000, cut-off date.

The results of this national exam--the final hurdle to gaining initial teacher licensure in Arkansas--were released today by interim dean Sharon B. Hunt in an institutional report card from the UA's College of Education and Health Professions.

The Praxis exams have their origin in federal legislation of October 1998, when Congress enacted Title II of the Higher Education Act authorizing new federal grant programs and mandating new accountability measures for states and institutions to improve recruitment, preparation, and support of new teachers.

"The College of Education and Health Professions has long recognized the need to increase both the quantity and quality of teachers available to Arkansas’ schools," Hunt said. "We have actively supported the development of state licensure standards and applaud the efforts of the Arkansas Department of Education to advance meaningful standards for teachers entering the profession."

UA undergraduate education students must pass the Praxis I exam before matriculating into the Master of Arts in Teaching program or before being admitted into student teaching. Praxis I tests basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

To meet the federal requirements for assessment testing and to be eligible for licensure in Arkansas, students who have completed teacher education programs take the Praxis II exam from ETS. Praxis II tests competency in both understanding of teaching techniques and in knowledge of the content of the area in which they’ll be teaching.

The number of content-based exams that each student takes depends on the major subject area studied and on the student’s personal interest in being licensed in more than one area. For example, music and art teachers are required to take three separate content exams, while business education students take just one. A music or art teacher who might want to show competency in early childhood education, for instance, would then take a fourth competency exam.

The institutional report card released today covers examination results for students who graduated during the 1999-2000 school year and took the exam before September 1, 2000. Students who delayed taking the exam until after the cut-off date are not included in the report.

A new exam, the Praxis III, will be administered next year to beginning teachers between their first and third year in the classroom. The Praxis III will assess performance as a teacher and must be passed before the five-year standard licensure is granted.

Measuring Competency

In late March, the National Research Council issued a report, prepared at the request of the U.S. Department of Education, analyzing the role of licensure tests in improving teacher quality. Recognizing the complexity of teachers’ jobs, the report concluded that "even a set of well-designed tests cannot measure all of the prerequisites of competent beginning teaching."

The NRC report recommended a broad-based approach to determining teacher competence, including "assessments of teaching performance in the classroom, of candidates’ ability to work effectively with students with diverse learning needs and cultural backgrounds and in a variety of settings, and of competencies that more directly relate to student learning."

In February, the teacher education program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction was selected for the 2001 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award by the Association of Teacher Educators at its annual meeting. The panel selecting this prestigious national award examines a broad range of factors that produce an exemplary program.

A factor in winning the Distinguished Program Award was the COEHP’s partnership with Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Helena to deliver Teach for Arkansas. Teach for Arkansas is an innovative program that facilitates completion of the MAT by Delta residents committed to teaching in their home area.

"School superintendents and mentor-teachers have told us that our students are exceptionally well prepared," said Hunt. "They describe the MAT program as cutting edge and effective."

As a result, said the COEHP associate dean Betsy Orr, University of Arkansas MAT graduates are actively recruited. Job fairs on campus routinely draw recruiters from Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, who offer graduating students attractive salaries and benefits. Due to the excellent reputation and competitive advantage of the UA’s MAT, 96% of graduates gain employment in teaching.

Learning from Test Results

Unlike some institutions, the University of Arkansas does not require students to pass the Praxis II before graduating. Six of the 18 teacher preparation programs in Arkansas stipulate that students pass the Praxis II as a requirement for graduation. Given the variety of requirements and conditions from program to program, there is little basis for comparing results.

ETS data show that 17 UA graduates had not passed all components of the exam by the cut-off date of September 1, 2000. Since the cut-off date, Orr noted, some students have passed sections of the exam. However, official statistics for those who pass all components of the exam after the cut-off date will not be available from ETS until 2004.

1999-2000 was the first year the Praxis II test was used in Arkansas, and only about half of the components of the test have been validated. While the college offered some test-preparation workshops, the teacher education curriculum did not explicitly include examples of Praxis II questions or focus on test-taking strategies.

The statistics released by ETS do not readily explain the total pass rate for an institution. For example, exam segments taken by fewer than 10 students do not show a pass rate. Altogether, no pass rate was reported for 21 exam subjects in the data sent to the university. It is not possible to determine how many individuals were involved, since students often take multiple segments.

Even when pass rates on content segments are available, they are difficult to assess. Students are free to attempt any portion of the exam, whether or not they have majored in the subject area.

Some try to pass a content exam in an area in which they took several classes or in which they feel confident of their own knowledge. If they are able to pass, their resume will show more areas of competency and will be more attractive to future employers. If they are not able to pass on their first try, they may show up as a failure on the institution’s rating.

Without more complete data, the college lacks necessary information to analyze where program strengths and weaknesses might lie. Hunt pointed out that the institutional report card shows that students have met a minimum standard but does not indicate when graduates excel in the exam.

"From all we hear from educators nationally and school systems regionally and locally, the University of Arkansas is sending outstanding new professionals into the classroom," Hunt said. "We’re committed to helping all our students to shine in the Praxis II exam, too."

The college is developing plans to better prepare students for taking the Praxis II, perhaps by integrating exam preparation in the curriculum or by increasing the number of existing workshops.

The institutional report card summary for the College of Education and Health Professions is available from Betsy Orr at 479-575-6831 or by accessing the college web site at http://www.uark.edu/depts/coehp.