Study Shows How To Increase Teacher Diversity
PRINCETON, NJ -- New collaborative research recently completed and published by Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the National Education Association (NEA) provides a number of potential improvements in the ways teacher preparation programs can help minority teacher candidates struggling to pass their licensure exams.
"Toward Increasing Teacher Diversity: Targeting Support and Intervention for Teacher Licensure Candidates"
The event takes place March 23, 2011, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the National Education Association Headquarters in Washington.
In attendance will be:
Marquita Thomas Brown, Praxis Coordinator, Delaware State University
Segun Eubanks, Director, Teacher Quality, National Education Association
Jonathan Steinberg, Senior Resource Data Analyst, Educational Testing Service
Linda Tyler, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Teacher Licensure and Certification, Educational Testing Service
Katherine Bassett, Director of Client Management, Educational Testing Service
"Toward Increasing Teacher Diversity: Targeting Support and Intervention for Teacher Licensure Candidates," focuses on the performance gap between White and minority teacher candidates and was designed to provide an in-depth look at differential performance in various content areas and sub-areas within The Praxis Series™ assessments in academic skills, content areas, and pedagogy.
The report analyzes the records of more than 300,000 teacher candidates from ETS's Praxis database and shows that minority teacher candidates score lower on average on their licensure tests, and that they also take licensure tests later in their academic and professional careers, a delay that correlates with lower test scores and passing rates.
About ETS
At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually -- including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series™ assessments -- in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org
About NEA
The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
