As the extraordinary school year comes to a close, education leaders say reopening was the right decision.
Adrianne Kruger, a junior studying education at Wayne State College, testified to a state panel Monday about the test that's left her and other would-be teachers frustrated and discouraged.
A tearful Kruger told members of the Education Committee that she's tried for years to pass the basic skills test that Nebraska requires to enter a teacher prep program, without success.
"I personally have spent almost $850 trying to pass one test," she said. "That $850 could have gone toward my tuition, books, or even personal bills."
Her story was among several stories of frustration shared at the hearing on three bills that would either eliminate the test or allow alternative methods for would-be teachers to demonstrate basic math and English skills.
It was clear from the steady stream of supporters for the bills that the idea of ending the test has gained steam among some lawmakers, educators and professors at teachers colleges. Support has been boosted by a teacher shortage that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
School districts across Nebraska and the nation are struggling to hire and retain enough teachers, paraprofessionals, nutrition service workers, bus drivers and more.
Supporters of the proposals said eliminating the test would boost enrollment in teacher prep programs overall and among students of color, who they said are overrepresented in the failure rate.
Previous attempts to relax the testing requirement met with opposition from Gov. Pete Ricketts over concerns that the state was lowering the bar to enter the profession.
But at this hearing, proponents dominated the discussion.
Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha told the committee that the test is "an expensive hurdle" that's not serving prospective teachers or the education system.
"A standardized test does not and should not determine what type of teachers they will be in the classroom," he said.
Vargas' bill, Legislative Bill 960, would eliminate all basic skills testing, as well as content testing that prospective teachers take later in their academic career in their chosen area of expertise.
Sen. Carol Blood's bill, LB 690, would not eliminate testing but would allow applicants to demonstrate basic skills competency by taking certain coursework as determined by the Nebraska Department of Education.
Blood said she would rather give educators a choice instead of doing away with testing.
LB 1218, an Education Committee bill introduced by Chairwoman Lynne Walz and designated a priority bill, would strike the requirement for a basic skills test and provide other ways for candidates to prove competency.
According to Walz, the bill would ensure that educators from other states have a path to joining the profession in Nebraska. It would allow an applicant to demonstrate basic skills with a college admission examination, college coursework or successful employment experiences, including student teaching.
The bill also contains a provision for $1,000 in loan forgiveness for students who intern for a semester in a Nebraska school.
Tim Frey, dean of the College of Education at Doane University, shared stories of well-qualified students who ran up hundreds of dollars in costs and months of delay while repeatedly taking the test.
Recent data show that over half of the students entering Doane's undergraduate teaching program did not pass at least one of the three test areas on their first attempt, he said.
"On average, it took 3.9 attempts for those students to pass the Praxis Core if they did not pass on their first attempt, and it cost those students an average additional $360," he said.
In the past three years, 18 prospective teachers left the Doane program when they were unable to pass the test, he said.
For decades, Nebraska has required applicants to pass a basic skills test for admission to an approved educator preparation program.
The test is also required to apply for a teaching certificate.
In 2014, the Nebraska State Board of Education adopted the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators as the admissions test for teacher prep programs.
The test, a product of Educational Testing Service, replaced the Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills Test the state had used for decades.
The old test was built on what educators in the 1980s believed that teachers should know and be able to do.
The new test proved harder. Some applicants struggled with it, especially the math.
Even as Nebraska students struggled, their performance was better on average than their peers in other states who took the same test.
Three years ago, members of the Board of Education tried to eliminate the basic skills test but backed off when Ricketts signaled that he didn't want to lower the bar for entry.
Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, testified Monday in favor of ending the test.
Benson said the test presented an obstacle to her daughter, Joy, who is pursuing a degree in early childhood education.
Her daughter has struggled to pass the test despite having an associate degree in early childhood education and experience teaching in Head Start and as a paraeducator in the Lincoln Public Schools, she said.
After multiple tries, she passed the math and reading sections but has yet to pass writing, Benson said.
"She has trouble with timed tests, and she's about to give up," she said.
Benson said the test doesn't help students to become a qualified educator. "They just cost a lot of money," she said.
Benson noted that David Steiner, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, reviewed Nebraska's teacher prep approach for the Nebraska Department of Education and recommended that Praxis Core not be used as an entrance exam.
Steiner, she said, concluded that they are expensive for applicants who take them multiple times and have not been shown to correlate with teaching effectiveness.
At least 17 states use the same tests and same passing scores as Nebraska either to enter a teacher prep program or for certification.
Passing scores are 156 on the reading portion, 150 in math, and 162 in writing for a total of 468. A student can pass with a composite score of 468 on all three portions of the test, as long as no single test score is more than one point below the score for that subject.
The math test had been the most troublesome section for Nebraska students until 2019, when ETS changed the test.
The company reduced the emphasis on algebra and geometry and increased the emphasis on statistics, probability and data interpretation and representation.
That boosted the passing rate substantially in Nebraska. For example, 88% of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students passed in 2020-21, compared with 62% in 2018-19. The University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska at Omaha saw similar jumps.
Since that change, Nebraska students have had the most trouble with the writing test.
For instance, at UNO in 2020-21, over 90% of students passed the math test on the first attempt and almost 93% in reading, but in writing, just over 78% passed on the first try.
Kruger said a bilingual friend of hers struggled with the writing portion, even though she passed reading and math.
"She felt many times, when she failed the Praxis, she wanted to give up on education," she said.
According to Kruger, the friend feels that this test doesn’t determine whether someone's going to be a great educator but instead who knows basic skills better than others.
Kruger said another friend, a mother of three who works three jobs, has passed the math and reading parts of the test but has been trying to pass the writing portion for more than four years. The friend has now taken the writing portion 10 times at a cost of $900, she said.
Kruger said she's had to change her own plans because of the test. She said she recently submitted an application to be an interdisciplinary studies major in education and family studies just so she could graduate on time.
Michelle Warren, an associate professor of Spanish at UNK, said she's been preparing future educators to teach Spanish in the state.
Many students in her upper-level courses are from first-generation immigrant families and the first to attend college, and they struggle on the test, Warren said.
"In no way are these students from immigrant families less intelligent or less prepared," she said.
They excel in campus leadership, earn high GPAs and take advantage of tools available to them, like extra study sessions and tutoring, Warren said.
"I have watched dozens of students become frustrated," she said.
Warren said it's important not to discourage the state's young professionals and to get them in the classroom.
joe.dejka@owh.com, 402-444-1077
February 01, 2022 at 07:00PM
https://omaha.com/news/local/education/is-nebraskas-test-for-teacher-candidates-too-hard-and-expensive-legislature-will-decide/article_7b606dee-82b1-11ec-bc0c-5359cac0b9c0.html
Is Nebraska's test for teacher candidates too hard and expensive? Legislature will decide - Omaha World-Herald
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