Prospective Missouri teachers face new testing for certificates

Editor's Note: The following story has been corrected to show that the Missouri Pre-Service Teachers Assessment did not replace the Praxis II for education students.

Beginning this fall, student teachers will be expected to achieve a minimum score of 37 on the recently adopted Missouri Pre-Service Teachers Assessment, or MoPTA, to receive their teaching certifications.

The maximum attainable score on the exam is 60, and the State Board of Education approved the official passing score last week.

Last year's initial round of testing was used to determine the minimum pass requirement.

Diana Rogers-Adkinson, dean of Southeast Missouri State University's College of Education, said the new exam is a plus because it gauges how successful students likely will be in the classroom.

"I think it's important for people to understand this is going to help the quality of teachers in Missouri," she said.

Previously, education majors were tested only on how well they retained material they would be expected to teach in grades K through 12.

"So now we've gone from only testing for content knowledge to both content and teaching," she said.

Paul Katnik, assistant commissioner for educator quality at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the new test has four main sections student teachers go through during their clinical phase, or the minimum of 12 weeks they work as student teachers.

The first three parts of the exam are written, and the last has a video component, except in areas where shooting footage is difficult.

In the first part of the exam, student teachers are assessed on how well they know their students and the context of the school in which they're teaching.

The second part tests them on how they plan to check whether their students have learned the information they taught.

In the third part of the MoPTA, student teachers are judged on how they plan to teach their lessons, and the fourth part allows them to demonstrate how effective their approaches have been.

"This is something we've never done," Katnik said.

At Southeast, every student passed the inaugural exam last year, Rogers-Adkinson said, but if the minimum score of 37 had been in place at the time, the more likely number would have been 80 percent. That is because their overall expected score last year was 11.

"So this year, students will have to hit that new criteria," she said.

Statewide, the pass rate was 76 percent with a video component and 82 percent for student teachers who chose written-only. About 3,500 people were tested.

But testing is just part of life for students who choose to pursue education.

"The average education major will spend about $750 in testing as part of their degree, assuming they're passing in their first or second attempt," Rogers-Adkinson said.

The first exam education students take in college is the Missouri Educator Profile, which is designed to measure their work ethic.

Next is the Missouri General Education Assessment, which tests for knowledge of math, science, social studies and English and includes a written essay. At Southeasat, this exam enables students to get into their core coursework as long as they have a grade-point average of at least 2.75.

Next are the Missouri Content Assessments, which vary by discipline, and, finally, the MoPTA.

Although it is taken during the last leg of an education major's learning, the score does not come back until after the student graduates.

If they fail, they are unable to become certified as teachers.

"So it's a high-stakes assessment," Rogers-Adkinson said.

ljones@semissourian.com

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