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November 20, 2023NJEA Gets It Right As It Lobbies Murphy Administration to End Basic Skills Test for Teachers
When a prospective teacher applies to the New Jersey Department of Education for certification, they must pass two sets of tests: one for basic skills and one for specific subjects, all issued by the Educational Testing Service. For instance, an aspiring kindergarten teacher would need to pass the basic skills tests and another for Early Childhood Content Knowledge. An aspiring chemistry teacher would have to pass the basic skills test and Chemistry Content Knowledge.
The New Jersey Education Association has been lobbying the Murphy Administration to eliminate the basic skills test, claiming it is a barrier to perfectly competent future educators.
Why shouldn’t we expect our K-12 teachers to pass basic skills tests?
According to Dr. Robert Goodman, head of the NJ Center for Teaching and Learning, “they dissuade potentially good educators from ever getting in front of a classroom” by nature of “language that seems deliberately obtuse, confusing, and absolutely boring.”
He writes,
“Questions are not focused on basic literacy, but on terminology which may not even be understood by a professional who teaches English classes. The test does absolutely nothing to gauge the readiness of a Pre-K teacher – or even a high school teacher – of any subject other than, perhaps, Advanced Placement English. (And even then this test begs for refinement.
(Note: Goodman is a big fan of the subject-specific tests, called Praxis 11.)
So bully for NJEA! While the teacher shortages are overblown (they’re primarily in special education and STEM; also, lay-offs are coming soon to a district near you when all the federal emergency COVID money runs out in 2024 and we hit that fiscal cliff), why make applicants pass a test that doesn’t prove anything about their educational expertise? We’ve already eliminated that much-despised performance evaluation called edTPA. Why not extend that logic to basic skills tests?
NJEA has it right this time. Let’s listen.
Here is NJEA’s lobbying blast?
Last year, New Jersey eliminated the edTPA, a barrier to becoming a certified teacher. Now it’s time to eliminate another barrier: the basic skills test for teachers.
New Jersey requires that candidates for teacher certification pass a basic skills test, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading, Writing and Math, or show SAT, ACT, or GRE scores in the top third percentile the year they were taken.
When the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) adopted changes to the administrative code around teacher certification, it missed an opportunity to eliminate this requirement, which created an unnecessary barrier to entering the profession.
4 Comments
In regard to Goodman’s advocacy of PRAXIS II exams, his NJCTL students have great difficulty passing them. That is because NJCTL does not prepare its students in regard to content knowledge, in particular in Physics and Chemistry, only teaching methodologies. How can one teach a subject in which one does not have any expertise (any substantial knowledge)? And this is why NJCTL students are given letters from NCTL director, Melissa Axelsson, stating that they are nevertheless allowed to teach in districts without having passed the essential, subject-area exams. County and district staff have complained about this impertinent practice, but it continues to fall on deaf ears by the NJDOE. Why?
I can see the merit (the value of the argument) in stripping the basic-skills exams, but Goodman’s position slides from a questionable angle, and his testing views and claims should hold little weight in this debate. It would be more beneficial if the DOE commissioner or the certification director weighed in on this instead. And why aren’t the deans of NJ’s accredited colleges not speaking up? If we wish to nurture a healthy debate on the matter, there should be far more legitimate sources to consider than Dr. Goodman.
In regard to Goodman’s advocacy of PRAXIS II exams, his NJCTL students have great difficulty passing them. That is because NJCTL does not prepare its students in regard to content knowledge, in particular in Physics and Chemistry, only teaching methodologies. How can one teach a subject in which one does not have any expertise (any substantial knowledge)? And this is why NJCTL students are given letters from NCTL director, Melissa Axelsson, stating that they are nevertheless allowed to teach in districts without having passed the essential, subject-area exams. County and district staff have complained about this impertinent practice, but it continues to fall on deaf ears by the NJDOE. Why?
I can see the merit (the value of the argument) in stripping the basic-skills exams, but Goodman’s position slides from a questionable angle, and his testing views and claims should hold little weight in this debate. It would be more beneficial if the DOE commissioner or the certification director weighed in on this instead. And why aren’t the deans of NJ’s accredited colleges speaking up? If we wish to nurture a healthy debate on the matter, there should be far more legitimate sources to consider than Dr. Goodman.
Of course, the basic-skills exams are unnecessary! Why the NJDOE required them in the first place is baffling. With that said, NJEA and Dr. Goodman’s endorsing the removal of them causes many of us to pause. People can’t help but wonder, what’s the catch? Neither source holds much credibility beyond making an unjust buck.
The NJDOE, in particular the Teacher Certification Office, needs to get involved, and if there is cause to keep these exams, let’s hear that side of the argument. Let’s hear from district and county staff on this concern. Let’s hear from those in the trenches, the teachers! Better a voice be heard from these sectors, and aimed directly at the Governor’s office, than a questionable organization like NJEA.
I believe that an assessment of basic skills for teachers is important. If the ETS exams are inadequate, for whatever reason, there are other tests that can be administered. I’m tired of hearing how basic knowledge is of little worth in the modern world, in particular if such advocation comes from someone who takes pride in dumbing down teacher requirements. I’m referring to Bob Goodman and his absurd NJEA satellite, the NJCTL, of course.
I also agree that more discussion on this topic is required. How about Sean Spiller and the good ol’ NJEA incorporate the parents’ perspective on this? Why doesn’t the NJEA set up some meetings, some online forums to hear other voices, other opinions? Maybe the parents would agree with the elimination of the basic-skills exams, and if so, wouldn’t that persuade the Governor all the further? This is a community concern, not just that of a union dictatorship.