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Sunday, November 25, 2012

A new cheating scandal: Aspiring teachers hiring ringers | Get Schooled

A new cheating scandal: Aspiring teachers hiring ringers | Get Schooled:


A new cheating scandal: Aspiring teachers hiring ringers

Interesting story in the AJC today on a cheating scandal involving hired ringers taking the teacher qualification exam for candidates in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The ringers used faked IDs to sit for the Praxis exam, administered by the Educational Testing Service. Praxis exams are required by 40 states and territories to measure the academic achievement and proficiency of newly minted teachers.
According to ETS: The Praxis Series tests measure specific content and pedagogical knowledge for beginning teaching practice. The tests do not measure skills related to an individual’s disposition toward teaching or potential for success. The assessments are designed to be comprehensive and inclusive, but are limited to what can be covered in a finite number of questions and question types.
I spent some time reviewing research on whether Praxis scores were reliable signposts of teacher effectiveness.
I read a paper by Linda Darling-Hammond in which she noted, “Student …