Admission into Preparation Programs : Alabama

Analysis of Alabama's policies

Alabama does not require aspiring teachers to pass a test of academic proficiency as a criterion for admission to teacher preparation programs, instead delaying its basic skills assessment until teacher candidates are ready to apply for licensure. Alabama had been under a long-standing court order that precluded the state from requiring a basic skills test. However, this order was vacated as of January 2010.

Citation

State Board of Education Regulations 290-3-3-.04(6)(a) State Superintendent Memo, dated July 7, 2010 https://docs.alsde.edu/documents/66/Modification%20of%20Testing%20Options%20for%20Initial%20Alabama%20Certification.pdf

Recommendations for Alabama

Require teacher candidates to pass a test of academic proficiency that assesses reading, writing and mathematics skills as a criterion for admission to teacher preparation programs.
Teacher preparation programs that do not screen candidates end up investing considerable resources in individuals who may not be able to successfully complete the program and pass licensing tests. Candidates needing additional support should complete remediation prior to program entry, avoiding the possibility of an unsuccessful investment of significant public tax dollars.

Require preparation programs to use a common test normed to the general college-bound population.
The basic skills tests in use in most states largely assess middle school-level skills. To improve the selectivity of teacher candidates—a common characteristic in countries whose students consistently outperform ours in international comparisons—Alabama should require an assessment that demonstrates that candidates are academically competitive with all peers, regardless of their intended profession. Requiring a common test normed to the general college population would allow for the selection of applicants in the top half of their class, as well as facilitate program comparison.  

Exempt candidates with comparable SAT or ACT scores.
Alabama should waive the basic skills test requirement for candidates whose SAT or ACT scores demonstrate that they are in the top half of their class.

State response to our analysis

Alabama recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that it has drafted a revised Teacher Testing Chapter of the Alabama Administrative Code, which will be presented to the Board when the State Superintendent deems the time to be appropriate. Among other changes, the court-ordered mandate that basic skills testing be a certification requirement, rather than a program admissions requirement, will be altered to require basic skills testing as a condition of admission to a teacher preparation program. Alabama anticipates that this requirement will go into effect prior to the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. The state also noted that because Alabama colleges and universities were not prevented from doing so by the court order, which addressed state rather than institutional requirements, they already require passage of the basic skills test prior to program admission. 

Alabama also addressed NCTQ's recommendation that states use a test normed to the general college-bound population and its indication that Alabama's basic skills test requirement should be waived for candidates whose SAT or ACT scores demonstrate that they are in the top half of their class. The state asserted that its 1978-1979 teacher education program approval standards stipulated a minimum passing ACT test score for admission to a teacher education program. That requirement was subsequently modified to specify an acceptable SAT score.

According to the state, it was subsequently advised that those two tests were designed to predict success during the first year of college and should not be used as a requirement for admission to a teacher education program, an event that usually occurs after the completion of general studies requirements, roughly after the sophomore year or the completion of 60 semester hours. The state added: "Thus, when permitted to do so by the court, Alabama involved teachers in validating the current basic skills assessments based on their perception of what skills beginning teachers must possess to teach effectively."

Last word

NCTQ looks forward to reviewing the state's progress in future editions of the Yearbook.

As to the point about allowing candidates to waive the basic skills test based on SAT or ACT scores, NCTQ is not suggesting that the state should drop its basic skills test and instead have a requirement based on these scores. The point, rather, is that for candidates whose academic proficiency is clearly established by SAT or ACT scores, the test should be waived.