Is the Praxis limiting teacher diversity?

Many teacher preparation programs require the Praxis I PPST as part of their admissions process. Mine did not require it in advance, but it was recommended that we take it during our first semester. As a full-time grad student with a full-time job that was a little unrealistic for me personally! So I scheduled to take my exam during the two-week break between semesters, which happens to end this Friday. After spending the past week brushing up on prepositions and geometry, I began to get curious about how and why the Praxis Series was developed, how it is viewed, and the impact is has had on the education field.

Considering the hype and controversy that generally surrounds standardized tests, there is surprisingly little information on the Praxis besides study guides and state score requirements. The Praxis Series of teacher certification exams is written and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which is also responsible for tests such as the SAT, GRE and TOEFL. The Praxis was developed in the mid-1990s and gradually replaced the original National Teachers Examination (also administered by ETS).

---

Who decides what is tested on the Praxis?

In the FAQ section of the Praxis website, ETS explains how the Praxis Series exams are created:

The tests are developed by educators for educators. Advisory committees of distinguished teachers, teacher educators, key administrators and professional organizations help determine test content and review, revise, and approve all questions and exercises. The Praxis Series is grounded in current research, including a comprehensive analysis of the most important tasks and skills required of beginning teachers and extensive surveys to confirm test validity.

I didn’t find any recent criticism regarding the Praxis test format or content. The occasional criticism I came across was all 10+ years old, when the Praxis was still relatively new. Hopefully this is a good indicator that the Praxis really is testing what many educators and experts think is important for teachers to know before they enter the classroom.

---

Is it a good predictor of teacher success?

Many studies to date have looked at the relationship between Praxis scores and student teaching grades. From what I found, the correlation is mostly positive.

What is missing from the research is whether Praxis scores are positively correlated with success and high performance after a new teacher has become licensed and entered the classroom. I found a very interesting article that was presented at the World Federation of Associations for Teacher Education (WFATE) First Biannual Conference in 2010.

The article, Putting it to the Test: Examining the Use of Standardized Test Scores to Select Teacher Candidates into Preparation Programs (by Sarah Clark), looked at the connection between Praxis II scores and performance observed at three different points in a teacher’s first year. It was a pilot study of 4 teachers at both ends of the scoring spectrum. It was also a blind study, in that the researchers did not know in advance which teachers had scored high or low.

The results of this small pilot study really surprised me. The two teachers with the low Praxis scores both outperformed the teachers with high Praxis scores. The conclusion was that this is an area that definitely deserves further study, and could call into question the weight that Praxis scores carry in terms of selection criteria for future teachers.

---

What about equity and diversity?

As with any standardized test, I did wonder about the implications for underserved populations. The article made a very interesting, but sobering, point about the candidates we may be excluding from the pool of future teachers simply because of “low” Praxis scores:

Who are these individuals? What do they have to offer that candidates traditionally accepted into teacher preparation programs do not? It should be noted that minority teacher candidates are often denied admittance into teacher preparation programs based on standardized test scores such as the PRAXIS I/PPST, when there is sufficient evidence suggesting that the selection criteria is not adequate in determining which teacher candidates will go on to teach effectively.

As is so often the case, it appears in our efforts to standardize we may have limited opportunities for diversity. Maybe there are less quantifiable qualities that we should be strongly considering, in addition to the current criteria, in order to make the process more equitable. The author continues:

With the documented achievement gap, more needs to be done to attract teacher candidates that fit minority categories in order for the teaching population to more closely represent the student population…[D]ecisions regarding teacher candidate selection should consider additional skills and abilities of teacher candidates such as language and cultural knowledge along with other nontraditional considerations.

Further emphasizing the gravity of this issue, I stumbled across this New York Times article from 1985, when the National Teachers Examination was first taking hold across the country.

On top of other complications is the growing evidence that blacks are failing the newly instituted teacher tests in disproportionately larger numbers than whites…

Blacks will make up only 5 percent of the teaching force in the year 2000, half the percentage as in 1980, if testing spreads and the low passing rates for blacks continue, the testing service says.

Education: Is National Teacher Test the Correct Answer? By GENE I. MAEROFF, Published: April 16, 1985

That is a very eerie prediction, and I would like to find out if that really was the case in 2000 and what the situation is now. There is obviously a wealth of information on this topic that extends far beyond the scope of the Praxis, so I will have to tackle that another day!

Overall, it seems that the major stakeholders involved are satisfied with the Praxis and its ability to quantify teacher competence. I’m sure the Praxis Series has made positive contributions to the teacher selection process over the past two decades. I’m also sure there is more that could be done to promote equity and diversity in that process. If there is any chance that such a crucial element of our selection method is somehow inhibiting equity and diversity, we should definitely be taking a closer look.