Given what I've seen of eduction majors over the decades, I'm surprised the pass rate's so high

Only 45% of would-be teachers pass licensing tests on first try

Only 45 percent of would-be elementary teachers pass state licensing tests on the first try in states with strong testing systems concludes a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Twenty-two percent of those who fail — 30 percent of test takers of color — never try again, reports Driven by Data: Using Licensure Tests to Build a Strong, Diverse Teacher Workforce.

Exam takers have the hardest time with tests of content knowledge, such as English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.

California has the proper response, naturally:

California, which refused to provide data for the NCTQ study, will allow teacher candidates to skip basic skills and subject-matter tests, if they pass relevant college classes with a B or better, reports Diana Lambert for EdSource.

The California Basic Skills Test (CBEST) measures reading, writing and math skills normally learned in middle school or early in high school. The California Subject Matter Exams for Teachers (CSET) tests proficiency in the subject the prospective teacher will teach, Lambert writes.

Nearly half of California’s potential teachers struggle to pass the four standardized tests required to earn a credential, according to data from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Nearly 66 percent of the people who took the CBEST in 2019-20 passed it on the first try and 83 percent passed after multiple attempts, according to commission data. The CSET, which is actually a suite of tests, had a first-time passage rate of about 67 percent in 2019-20. About 81 percent of the teacher candidates who took the test multiple times passed.

Mary Vixie Sandy, executive director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, said the changes will “allow a broader and more diverse array of people to make a career out of teaching.”

Commenters on the story are divided between those who think the state is compromising on teacher quality and those who claim they’d be excellent teachers if not for the tests, which they argue do not predict teaching ability.

The consensus is that CBEST is incredibly easy (most say it’s at the eighth-grade level), CSET is harder and RICA is the toughest to pass.

Of course, the talent pool from which teacher applicants are drawn is a shallow one:

In a New York Times column, Thomas Edsall cities studies on low-skilled college graduates.

“More than one in five adults with a bachelor’s degree have literacy skills below level 3 (basic) and one in three have low numeracy scores,” estimate researchers from Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy.

Colleges and universities expanded enrollment and lowered requirements to meet demand, admitting poorly prepared students, they tell Edsall. Many quit. Others earned a degree without mastering college knowledge, skills and abilities.

As if to prove Edsall’s point, One EdSource commenter writes of her woes:

I have my BA in Psychology, Masters in History, Masters in English Literature, now I am working for my Masters in Sociology, and also, most of my credential classes from National Universty. Have tried 3 times to pass the CBEST and I cannot. My GPA in all Universities has been from 3.5 to 3.94.
My question where it leaves me to have my own classroom?

If your reading comprehension is a bit higher than hers, you’ll remember that the CBEST hurdle she can’t get over is “incredibly easy”, and set at “the eighth-grade level”. Three degrees, a fourth on the way, and this poor aspiring pedagogue’s skill set is still stuck in grammar school. She’ll be in your child’s classroom soon anyway, I predict, because wow, just look at her grades!