John Locke - Teacher Certification Myth

Press Releases
The Certification Myth
Teacher certification does not improve student performance
Contact: Summer Hood
919-828-3876
shood@johnlocke.org

October 10, 2005


RALEIGH – As Gov. Mike Easley and the North Carolina General Assembly attempted to resolve a serious dispute about teacher certification, the John Locke Foundation published a report Friday concluding that the state’s current certification process does little to ensure the state has high-quality teachers.

Easley vetoed a bill designed to make it easier for out-of-state teachers to enter North Carolina classrooms, arguing that it would weaken the state’s standards by eliminating teacher-testing requirements. But Terry Stoops, a former schoolteacher and the education policy analyst for the Raleigh-based think tank, wrote in his new Spotlight briefing paper that North Carolina’s testing requirements have been miscast as rigorous and shown to be largely irrelevant in promoting teacher quality.

“Unfortunately, state license policy often assures that mediocre but credentialed teachers remain in public schools,” Stoops said, “while prohibiting talented but non-credentialed applicants from entering the teaching profession.”

Stoops used North Carolina’s performance on national tests as well as data on teacher testing and certification to test whether there was a connection. There wasn’t one.

One of North Carolina's teacher certification requirements is qualifying passage of the Praxis II test, which assesses content and specialty area knowledge. Stoops said that this test varies greatly among states, with almost half of the states not even requiring it. Students in the states that required the Praxis II did not out perform students in states that did not require the test, he stated.

Stoops also looked at North Carolina’s ranking as first in the country in the percentage of teachers obtaining National Board Certification. There was no apparent correlation to student performance, and none of the top 11 states in student test scores had a significant number of teachers with National Board Certification.

“Such credentials make little difference because they do not improve the skills of teachers or student achievement,” Stoops said.

Stoops’ findings were consistent with those of other research, such as a recent report from the National Council on Teacher Quality. It found that master’s degrees, years of experience, testing, certification, and education coursework were not associated with higher student performance. The report showed, instead, that the best teachers are those who attended selective colleges and are outstanding readers and writers.

“Our goal should be to recruit the highest-quality teachers for our children, rather than finding teachers who have jumped through all the hoops,” Stoops concluded.

Terry Stoops’ Spotlight, "The Certification Myth: Teacher Certification Does Not Improve Student Performance," is available on the John Locke Foundation website. For more information, contact Stoops (tstoops@johnlocke.org) or Summer Hood (shood@johnlocke.org) at (919) 828-3876.

Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Date: 09-13-05 and 09-20-05
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Reba
Re: response to AP listserv announcement

I hope you succeed. It's ridiculous that the same course can require two different certifications. It also says a lot that your principal did not support you and you tried to resolve the situation in the past! I hope you have success in raising the issue statewide and terminating the dual standards!
CS is under Math in Virginia! There is CS certification! You can find out what you need at this URL: http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Compliance/TeacherED/nulicvr.pdf If you're interested, let me know, and I'll send you the application forms. Have a good week, REBA

Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

Date: 09-15-05 4:55PM
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Jessica Bragg
Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

yes Jane S. Whitehurst

Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

Date: 09-15-05 4:55PM
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Jessica Bragg
Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

So we need to delete the Business from the license? Jessica Bragg, Licensure Administrator

Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

Date: 09-15-05 4:26PM
To: Jessica Bragg
From: Jwhitehurst
Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

I have been arguing my position with the state. They hired me only to teach math this year (no business ed) and I am still discussing the matter of picking the computer back up with June Atkinson.

Jane S. Whitehurst

License Extension for the 05-06 school year

Date: 09-15-05 2:10PM
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Jessica Bragg
Re: License Extension for the 05-06 school year

I hope the school year is going well for you. In researching your license I find that I have not received your 6 semester hours to extend your North Carolina teaching license for the 2005-2006 school year. In order for us to make sure you remain on the teacher pay scale I will need an official transcript reflecting your credits as soon as possible.

If you hold a provisional area on your North Carolina teaching license and currently not teaching in that area, please send a letter or e-mail requesting that the area be deleted from the license.

Please contact me if you have questions. I am here to help you resolve this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Note: Please send official transcripts , no computer printouts.

Thanks.
Jessica Bragg, Licensure Administrator

Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Date: 09-08-05
To: Jwhitehurst
From: AW
Re: response to AP listserv announcement

And we wonder why NC can't keep teachers?!?!?! They keep making so hard TO teach that noone CAN teach. Geesh!! This is one of the most asinine things I've heard of to date.
AW

Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Date: 09-07-05
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Kathy
Re: response to AP listserv announcement

The bureaucracy of the public school system is sometimes absolutely unbelievable. I guess Sarah Fix's job has been filled? I've had the pleasure of attending some workshops with you and wish you the best of luck in finding another CS position.
Kathy

Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Date: 09-06-05
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Chris Stephenson, CSTA
Re: response to AP listserv announcement
Hi Jane,I saw your email from the AP listserv and received another copy from Rich Lamb from CSTA's Standards and Certification Committee and I must tell you that unfortunately, I am not surprised at your situation. Teacher certification for computer science across the country is a complete and total mess and your story is typical of what we are hearing from many teachers in different states.Right now CSTA is in the process of trying to find out what the certification requirements are for each state. We have been in contact with every state and have tracked down the person who is supposed to be responsible for certification. Our plan is to create a database with all of the requirements and contact information for every state and make this available to all CSTA members. We are well aware that this is just a first step, but until people can figure out what is actually required, we cannot begin to try to push for a saner system.I am so sorry to hear that you have been caught in the middle of this mess. Usually they at least give you a clear indication of what will be required to receive a permanent license in a given area at the time the provisional license is granted. Did they not even do this?I wish I could tell you that CSTA has some kind of solution right now, but CSTA is still less than 1 year old and we are frantically trying to collect all the pieces of data. I can promise you, however, that we will continue to work on this, because it is the right thing to do and because stories like yours (about good teachers being frustrated by the politics of licensing) just make me crazy!Chris

Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Date: 09-06-05
To: Jwhitehurst
From: Kel
Re: response to AP listserv announcement

Jane,That sucks. What a bunch of morons. Wish I had a solution for you.Hope you are doing well otherwise.Keep fighting!Kel