General Teacher Preparation Policy
Pedagogy Test Requirement: The District of Columbia requires all new teachers to pass the applicable grade level pedagogy test from the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching series. However, the District delays requiring passage of the test until a teacher is applying for a standard teaching credential.
Verify that commercially available tests of pedagogy actually align with the District's standards.
The District of Columbia should ensure that its selected test of professional knowledge measures the knowledge
and skills the District expects new teachers to have.
The District of Columbia indicated that it delays requiring candidates to submit passing pedagogy exam scores while the teacher holds the following: a provisional teaching credential by verification of passing the Praxis I Core basic skills and the corresponding Praxis II subject content knowledge exam, and verification of enrollment in an educator preparation program in the corresponding subject area.
According to the District, once teachers have completed the full course of study to prepare their pedagogical competencies, they can take the Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching grade level pedagogy exam or the corresponding subject pedagogy exam. This pedagogy requirement must be completed before applying for a full standard teaching credential.
A good pedagogy test puts teeth in states' professional standards. In order to ensure that the state is licensing only teachers who meet its expectations, all content and pedagogy standards must be testable. State standards that cannot be assessed in a practical and cost-effective manner have no value. Examples of knowledge that can be tested include the basic elements of good instruction, effective means of communicating with children, efficient use of class time, effective questioning techniques, smooth classroom routines, the importance of feedback, means of engaging parents, the best methods for teaching reading as well as other subjects, appropriate use of technology, knowledge of testing and assessments, and the fundamentals of addressing individual learning challenges.[1]
States should not use tests meant to measure new teachers' professional knowledge that utterly fail to do so, either because the passing score is set so low that anyone—even those who have not had professional preparation—can pass or because one can discern the "right" answer on an item simply by the way it is written.[2]
Performance assessments are an important step in the right direction.[3] Increasing numbers of states are adopting performance assessments to evaluate teacher candidates' pedagogy before an initial license is granted. A performance assessment can be of much more value than a traditional multiple choice test.[4] However, states need to make sure that such tests are technically sound, especially given the significant resources that it takes to administer and score performance assessments. The past track record on similar assessments is mixed at best. The two states that required the Praxis III performance-based assessment reported pass rates of about 99 percent. A test that nearly every aspiring teacher passes is of questionable value. Additional research is needed to determine how the next generation of performance assessments, including the edTPA, compares to other teacher tests as well as whether the test's scores are predictive of student achievement.[5]