Scoring
error keeps teachers from teaching
Thursday, July 15, 2004 • By BETH BRAVERMAN
• The Express-Times
More than 500 prospective teachers in Pennsylvania
mistakenly received a failing grade on a test required by
the state for teacher certification.
Educational Testing Service, the Princeton, N.J.-based
company that administers the test, began calling 4,100
prospective teachers nationwide to tell them about the
error. The service said they had passed the test for
teaching grades seven through 12 despite receiving notice of
a failing score.
The company has attempted to contact 550 candidates in
Pennsylvania affected by the error, according to the
Pennsylvania Department of Education. The state requires the
test for teachers coming to Pennsylvania from other states
and for current teachers who must update their certification
to meet new guidelines.
"We are extremely sorry that we inconvenienced teachers
in this manner," said Tom Ewing, a spokesman for ETS. "We
realize teachers and states rely on this test for their
teacher certification. We're committed to rectifying the
mistake."
The company, whose Praxis tests are used for teacher
certification in 19 states, has formed a new technical audit
committee to evaluate the procedures used to administer and
grade the test, Ewing said.
ETS Senior Vice President of Higher Education Mari
Pearlman sent out letters of apology to affected teachers,
accompanied by updated score reports. The company will also
send each teacher a $115 refund for the test and a refund
for any subsequent tests teachers took to get a passing
grade.
"We will work with every affected teacher candidate to
expedite the application for certification," Pennsylvania
Secretary of Education Vicki L. Phillips said in a prepared
statement. "It is extremely unfortunate that so many of our
applicants were delayed in starting their teaching
career."
About 40,000 teachers nationwide took the test from
January 2003 to April 2004, when scoring errors occurred,
Ewing said. The company found the scoring mistake when
several tests came back with lower scores than normal.
After an investigation, ETS found the short-essay
portion of the test had been graded too "stringently." Of
the 4,100 teachers who believed they had failed the test,
2,400 took the Praxis again and half of them passed, Ewing
said.
Ewing did not know how many points were added to the
rescored tests.
Pennsylvania has not required the use of the test for
in-state college graduates since September 2003 when the
state began using a performance evaluation of student
teachers.
Individual school districts have no way of knowing how
their teachers fared on the test, said Nazareth Area School
District Assistant Superintendent Diane Dautrich. The
results go directly to the state Department of Education,
which then notifies a district only when the teacher
receives certification.
Dautrich said the Praxis test, when administered without
mistakes, is a significant component in ensuring that
Pennsylvania teachers are highly qualified.
"The Praxis doesn't make good teachers, but it does
ensure a minimum level of understanding a content area," she
said.
But the test results need to be combined with teaching
experience and quality coursework, she said.
A beneficial aspect of the Praxis exam is the option for
teachers who do not pass the first time to study more and
retake the test, Dautrich said.
"If the only people who were on the highway were those
who passed the driver's test their first time, there'd be a
lot more people using public transportation," she said. "We
shouldn't penalize (those who do not pass the Praxis right
away). We should applaud them for doing what they needed to
do to get themselves up to where they needed to be."
Reporter Beth Braverman can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at bbraverman@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004
The Express-Times. Used with permission.
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