On May 9, the Arlington School Committee adopted a resolution urging the reform of teacher licensure, and the elimination of the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL), as part of an effort to recruit diverse educators into Massachusetts. This resolution will be presented for consideration by the Delegate Assembly of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees on Friday, November 8, 2019. The oversight of licensure by non-educators has resulted in a complex, difficult licensure system that discourages qualified candidates from applying for licensure and employment in Massachusetts. Recruiting a diverse, qualified cohort of new educators will be enhanced if the barriers presented by MTEL are removed, and if licensure regulations and standards are placed in the hands of a committee of educators.
The requirement to conduct a licensing test was established by the Legislature (MGL Chapter 71, Section 38G) under the 1993 Education Reform Act, and was implemented in 1998 under the leadership of Board of Education Chair John R. Silber. To be eligible for certification as a provisional educator, the candidate shall
(1) hold a bachelor’s degree in arts or sciences from an accredited college or university with a major course in the arts or sciences appropriate to the instructional field; (2) pass a test established by the board which shall consist of two parts:(A) a writing section which shall demonstrate the communication and literacy skills necessary for effective instruction and improved communication between school and parents; and
(B) the subject matter knowledge for the certificate; and
(3) be of sound moral character.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education establishes the regulations for the teacher testing program. The MTEL is administered by Pearson Education.
The Communication and Literacy Skills test contains two subtests: The Reading subtest consists of 42 multiple-choice questions, and the Writing subtest consists of 35 multiple-choice questions, 7 short-answer sentence correction items, and 2 open-response assignments.
The test fee for the Reading subtest is $76, the Writing subtest is $85, and the fee for taking both subtests on the same day is $112.
Subject area tests vary in format, but generally they take four hours and has a fee of $139. For example, the Music subject area test contains 100 multiple-choice items and 2 open-response assignments.
Educator licensure regulations are set by the state Board of Elementary Education, and licenses are granted by the Commissioner under the supervision of the Board. Membership of the Board is governed under Chapter 15, Section 1E of the General Laws:
No appointive member of said board shall be employed by or receive regular compensation from the department of education, or from any school system, public or independent, in the commonwealth, or serve as a member of any school committee.
Thus, the teacher testing requirements were implemented by non-educators, and licensure regulations and standards are determined by non-educators. Education is the only profession or trade in the Commonwealth where practitioners are banned from serving on the board that regulates their license.
While these may seem to be two different topics, they are intertwined, as the board has nurtured the Pearson testing program without any evidence that barrier is a reliable and valid indicator of the ability to perform as an educator. Board members are imposing a testing regimen they have never experienced, and establishing professional regulations they never need to observe.
Further reforms enacted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education have established a prescriptive educator evaluation system. School committees are familiar with these requirements, as they are required to evaluate and report on the superintendent’s performance annually. Given the standards that need to be demonstrated by a first year teacher in the state evaluation process, rigorous screening of applicants and the prescribed evaluation of first year teachers can ensure the recruitment and retention of high quality educators without the barrier of a difficult teacher testing regimen at the entry point of the profession.
RESOLUTION PERTAINING TO EDUCATOR DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE for submission to the MASC Delegate Assembly Adopted by the Arlington School Committee, May 9, 2019
WHEREAS current research clearly demonstrates that public school students benefit from a diverse teaching staff; and
WHEREAS Massachusetts districts are challenged to attract a diverse teaching staff; and
WHEREAS attracting diverse candidates often involves recruiting candidates from outside Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS Massachusetts licensure requirements, including the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) requirements, serve as a disincentive for candidates looking to relocate to take a teaching position; and
WHEREAS test administration is conducted in centers that are often inaccessible without a car; and
WHEREAS the cost of testing can be a barrier to potential applicants; and
WHEREAS there is no evidence the MTEL is a reliable or valid measure of successful practice as an educator; and
WHEREAS school districts are capable of selecting qualified candidates for teaching positions, as well as supervising, evaluating, and deciding on whether to retain the services of probationary candidates; and
WHEREAS the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education governs educator licensure in Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS practicing educators and school committee members are prohibited from serving on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education; and
WHEREAS the teaching profession is the only profession or trade in Massachusetts where the holders of a license are prohibited from serving on its governing board; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees calls for the elimination of the MTEL as a licensing requirement for educators; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees calls for the governance and licensure of professional educators to be vested in a board comprised of licensed educators.
RATIONALE: The licensure of Massachusetts educators is governed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The oversight of licensure by non-educators has resulted in a complex, difficult licensure system that discourages qualified candidates from applying for licensure and employment in Massachusetts. Recruiting a diverse, qualified cohort of new educators will be enhanced if the barriers presented by MTEL are removed, and if licensure regulations and standards are placed in the hands of a committee of educators.
I’ve always found it odd that educators can’t serve on the professional board, and maybe something can be done about fees which could benefit access. However, I don’t think testing per se needs to be reformed. You can get an initial license in secondary education without even taking education classes and I found the tests very reasonable. Whenever someone proposes lessening requirements to improve demographic diversity what I hear is lets dumb things down because “diverse” people can’t hack it, which I find insulting.
The case is pretty simple:
1. The test lacks content validity and is somewhat unreliable. Statistically, there is no evidence the test is an effective measure of anything.
2. The diversity issues surround the ability to attract out-of-state candidates (why bother with the expense and stress of the MA test). It is also expensive – a couple of hundred dollars out of the pocket of the applicant, only real benefit is to Pearson.
Bottom line: Why throw up a barrier that has no benefit?
Like I said, I think something can be done about the fees. I’ve taken MTELs in History and Latin (passed the former and am thus licensed, but fell a bit short on the latter) and found the content to be valid.
I agree with Christopher that the term “diversity” troubles me here.
If we seek “diversity”, then I think we should work harder to attract diverse candidates. If we think the tests are inadequate or just plain wrong, then change the tests.
The fees are no higher than comparable fees in other professions. The fees for a “Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor” are $150/year. The fees for various types of “Cosmetology and Barbering” license fees are $40-84 for each specialty. The fee for Real Estate Broker’s license is $142 for two years. The fee for an initial full license for a Physician is $600.
I had a very bad experience with a fifth-grade teacher in Montgomery County MD that was the direct result of an incompetent teacher hired to increase “diversity” at the expense of qualifications. Miss Budd lasted exactly one year. There were about 30 of us in her class. Although I’ve long since been able to turn the worst of her abuses into positive learnings of what authority figures should not do, I am still very sensitive to any suggestion that we lower standards for teacher hiring for pretty much any reason.
One more time, though. I think that the best way to recruit better teachers is to increase teacher compensation. I think the best way to increase teacher diversity is to aggressively recruit high-quality minority candidates.
Pablo-
Thanks brother! We need all the help we can get. I’ve had one of the finest fellows in my cohort, easily a better teacher than the rest of us when it came to managing a classroom or inspiring youth of color, have to take the English MTEL twice because she was unfamiliar with the arbitrary Eurocentric literature selection on the test. Thankfully she passed and she’s already a dept chair.
The MTEL is not aligned to state standards and its an overwhelmingly Eurocentric test for English and History asking the most arbitrary questions that have little to do with the skills we assess our own students on or the content we teach. It should also be a free test if we are actually serious about recruiting the most diverse teaching team we can..
Candidates of color already have a tough time staying in the system because they are usually one or two of the members of their department, they face isolation, and they face doubt about their qualifications even from students of color as Gloria Ladsen Billings shows. The data also show that most first generation students of color feel a lot of pressure to take on lucrative careers and the middle class salaries teachers command do not justify the high debt burden they take on. Michelle Obama has a whole chapter on her bio about this. Recruitment and retention are both huge challenges and reforming the MTEL is a small way to ease these burdens.