Three rotten apples this week go to Pennsylvania for deciding to follow the pack after all, buying into the approach taken by a lot of other states that will allow veteran teachers to prove they know their subject matter without actually requiring teachers to prove much of anything. The state initially required its middle school teachers to take a test of their subject matter to meet the No Child Left Behind "Highly Qualified Teacher" provision, but officials were so embarrassed by the 28% failure rate across the state that a hasty retreat was made.

The Pennsylvania Board has now voted to forego the testing requirement and let teachers apply for ?bridge certificate? status. Every holder of a bridge certificate will have three years to prove subject matter competency, using a range of options, some fine and some not so fine. The options include allowing teachers to count their teaching experience, professional activities (often which have nothing to do with their subject areas), coursework, awards, and publications. The problem is that weak teachers will be the most likely to take advantage of the options that are least likely to reveal their deficiencies. Check out NCTQ?s spring report on this subject to learn just how unlikely it is that Pennsylvania's plan, copied from other states, will either identify or help teachers who don?t know their stuff.

Contrast the state?s move with Superintendent Paul Vallas of Philadelphia. He was the only superintendent to willingly release the number of teachers in his district who didn?t pass, and he didn?t waste a second defending the scores but instead set up academies to help weak teachers. A nice shiny red delicious apple to Vallas.