5/6/03 -- Is it possible for a series of tests to measure whether someone is qualified to teach in the classroom? That question is at the heart of a debate over a new teacher certification program that has upset some traditional education groups.
This summer, the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence hopes to have ready a series of assessments to determine whether experienced professionals and military personnel interested in becoming teachers are qualified to enter the classroom.
The goal of the group's Passport Certification is to lower the barriers that keep people out of the teaching profession and create a national, portable credential for teachers, says American Board President Kathy Madigan. The group hopes states will accept people with that certification as deserving of a state teaching license as a graduate of a teachers college.
Although many alternative certification programs exist across the nation, the American Board's effort differs dramatically in that it does not require candidates to participate in teacher training courses.
Instead, it leaves the need for formal training to the discretion of prospective teachers themselves -- or their future employers. The certification process simply attempts to determine through a battery of tests whether individuals have a solid understanding of the subject matter and teaching skills needed in the classroom.
"We have incredibly rigorous standards," Madigan says. "States can be assured that people will know their content area and have a solid basis in teaching knowledge."
But the prospect that someone can sit down and answer a series of questions -- and then be certified to teach without formal instruction in pedagogy -- has prompted concerns from groups such as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and National Education Association (NEA).
Instead of simply lowering obstacles for professionals seeking to enter the field of teaching, the American Board's certification process threatens to undermine efforts to raise teacher quality, NCATE President Arthur E. Wise wrote recently to his membership.
This "simplistic" approach "is not how states certify people to practice in medicine, law, psychology, dentistry, and the other professions," he argues. Instead, it "proposes that those who pass a test . . . can simply walk in and teach."
Such arguments assume that the American Board cannot accurately measure an individual's understanding of pedagogy and classroom management -- a contention Madigan disputes.
The American Board will use videotaped classroom situations and recordings of students reading, along with computerized assessments. Test-takers will face a rigorous assessment of their ability to analyze learning situations and find solutions, Madigan says.
Prospective teachers also will need to show proof of previous instructional experience, such as serving as a substitute teacher or corporate instructor.
Although viewed skeptically in some quarters, the American Board has won support from others. The program was established by the Education Leaders Council and National Council on Teacher Quality, organizations that count among its leadership such prominent education figures as Chester E. Finn Jr., E.D. Hirsch, Lisa Graham Keegan, and Diane Ravitch, among others.
It also has the backing of the U.S. Education Department, which awarded a $5 million grant to launch the organization in 2001.
In March, Education Secretary Rod Paige appeared at a National Press Club event to speak on behalf of the program as a way to help states and local schools achieve the goal of putting highly qualified teachers in classrooms by 2006, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act.
"Some people will argue that this change is too radical, that it's too risky, that we should maintain the status quo," Paige says. "Well, I agree that it's radical. It's radically better than the system we have now, a system that drives thousands of talented people away from our classrooms."
American Board officials are working to win support at the state level. Pennsylvania recognizes the certification process, and the New Hampshire House of Representatives has approved a bill to support the effort.
Work also is proceeding on the first series of tests, scheduled for release starting this summer. They will assess elementary teachers and math and English teachers in middle and high schools, Madigan says. Assessments for additional teaching areas will follow.