Should standardized testing define our profession?

Abstract

Accreditation agencies and organizations calling for higher academic standards in the teaching profession have called for increasing minimum grade point averages and scores on standardized tests. However, it’s not clear that these requirements actually improve teaching. Lisa Borden-King, Warren Gamas, Kathy Hintz, and Chelsie Hultz researched whether teacher candidates’ scores on the Core Academic Skills Tests for Educators or their grade point averages correlated with scores on final student-teaching evaluations. They found no correlation between test scores and GPAs and how well teacher candidates performed as student teachers. They propose that, instead of focusing on standardized tests as admission criteria, teacher education programs should incorporate more clinical practice time, with opportunities for feedback that candidates can use to improve their teaching or decide not to enter the profession.

Understanding gender and language use: A path towards effective interpersonal communication

“…In contrast to deficit theory dominance theory assumes that men and women can interpret language differently depending on their status. This view is supported by the findings of O'Barr and Atkins (1980) Zimmerman and West (1975) Swacker (1975) Spender (1980) and Hultz (1990) (Borden-King et al, 2020;O'Barr & Atkins, 1986;Spender, 1980;Swacker, 1975;Zimmerman & West, 1975). When women have a higher social status than men, they are better able to express themselves in language.…”

Testing, best practices, and the teacher intellectual

“…But in a bait-and-switch ploy, Rodney Paige, then secretary of education, defined highly qualified as merely passing some sort of test of academic competence and demonstrated verbal ability. (See Borden-King et al, 2020; Phelps & Sykes, 2020, for discussion of the problems with standardized testing for teachers as currently practiced.) At the same time, the federal government actively supported alternative forms of teacher certification of varying quality and promoted school choice in the misguided belief that market forces and competition among providers would force reform and raise quality.…”