PERFORMANCE AND PASSING RATE DIFFERENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND WHITE PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS ON PRAXIS^TM EXAMINATIONS: A JOINT PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (NEA) AND EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE (ETS)

Abstract

This report focuses on two aspects of teacher supply and quality: (a) the under‐representation of racial/ethnic minorities, especially African Americans in the teaching pool, and (b) teacher candidates' performance on licensure assessments, including general skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics (known as Praxis I®) and selected tests covering areas of content and pedagogy (known as Praxis II®). The report presents trends in the overall and minority teaching workforce, utilizes some of the available PraxisTM program data, combined with interviews of faculty and students involved in college and university teacher preparation programs, to address supply, achievement, and performance gaps between prospective minority and White teachers. African American candidates are the focal group in this report, in order to gauge the effect that Praxis has on the supply of prospective African American teachers and to generate ideas for closing gaps. Other minority Praxis test‐taking populations in the selected states are not included because these are not large enough to produce sufficient data from which to make valid inferences. The research was collaboratively planned and guided by National Education Association and Educational Testing Service to use Praxis data for addressing the following questions: (a) What are the trends in minority representation among teacher candidates, (b) What are the differences between majority and minority candidates' performance on both Praxis I and Praxis II, (c) Are the performance differences reflected in the state licensing pass rates of majority and minority candidates, and (d) What factors should be targeted to reduce racial/ethnic group performance differences on Praxis I and Praxis II.

A Comparison of Achievement Gaps and Test‐Taker Characteristics on Computer‐Delivered and Paper‐Delivered Praxis I® Tests

“…The data presented in Nettles et al () showed that relative to Camara and Schmidt (), the Praxis I Reading score gap between African American and White candidates was larger than that for the SAT and more like that for the GMAT. The gap in Praxis I Writing was more comparable to that for the SAT, and the gap in Praxis I Mathematics was larger than that for the GRE Quantitative section.…”

“…Tyler et al () showed that performance and passing rate gaps were largest with respect to performance comparisons of White test takers with those from other minority race/ethnicity populations, a finding consistent with research previously conducted by Camara and Schmidt () concerning performance gaps on other standardized admissions tests. Nettles, Scatton, Steinberg, and Tyler () conducted a comprehensive analysis of performance differences between African American and White prospective teachers on the PB version of Praxis I tests. The study made use of extensive information collected about test takers at the time of registration .…”

“…Nettles et al () also found that race/ethnicity, undergraduate grade point average (UGPA), undergraduate major, and the selectivity of the candidate's attending institution explained some portion of the variance in predicting scale score performance on each Praxis I test using regression analysis. The analyses indicated that being an African American candidate and majoring in education were associated with reduced Praxis I scores, whereas having a relatively high UGPA and attending a relatively selective college or university contributed to higher performance on Praxis I tests.…”

Advancing Human Assessment: A Synthesis Over Seven Decades

“…Those problems related to graduate education (Wendler et al 2010), minority representation in teaching (Nettles et al 2011), developing and implementing teacher evaluation systems (Goe et al 2011), testing at the pre-K level (Ackerman and Coley 2012), achievement gaps in elementary and secondary education (Barton and Coley 2010), and parents opting their children out of state assessment (Bennett 2016).…”

Contributions to Education Policy Research

“…A recent study by ETS researchers found that minorities remain underrepresented in the teaching profession and pool of prospective teachers (Nettles et al 2011). The authors analyzed the performance of minority test takers who took ETS's PRAXIS ® teacher-certification examinations for the first time between 2005 and 2009 and the relationship of performance with test takers' demographic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds, including undergraduate major and undergraduate grade point average (UGPA).…”