Considering Equity Within Teacher Certification Exam Policies: A Critical Policy Analysis for a Post-Truth Era

• In Event: 35.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 35.078-4 - High Stakes, Suspect Scores: Teacher Quality and Performance Exams

Abstract

Teacher certification exams have risen in popularity. Despite their widespread use, the research suggests a need for skepticism around these exams’ ability to measure key foundational skills and knowledge for teaching, as well as readiness and fitness to teach the diverse K-12 student population. It is unclear from current scholarship as to what conceptions of teacher quality undergird these exams and the extent to which the policies that guide their implementation are constructed through an equity-oriented lens. Both California and New York State have shifted, dropped, and adopted new teacher certification exams in recent years. Through a critical policy lens, and utilizing an equity framework, this study explores how teacher quality is constructed within these states’ teacher certification exam policies.

Authors

• Joni Kolman, California State University, San Marcos

• Deborah Greenblatt, Bronx Community College