Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and
Social Studies: Maryland
Delivering Well Prepared Teachers Policy
Analysis of Maryland's policies
Although Maryland requires that its secondary teacher candidates pass a Praxis II Content test to teach any core secondary subjects, the state permits a significant loophole to this important policy by allowing both physical science and general social studies licenses, without requiring subject-matter testing for each subject area within these disciplines.
Maryland does not offer a general science certification for secondary teachers. However, the state does have a physical science certification. Candidates are only required to pass the Praxis Principles of Learning (7-12) test.
General social studies candidates must pass the Praxis II Social Studies: Content and Interpretation test. Teachers with this license are
not limited to teaching general social studies but rather can teach any
of the topical areas.
Recommendations for Maryland
Require secondary teachers with umbrella certifications to pass a content test for each discipline they are licensed to teach.
By allowing general social studies and physical science certifications—and only
requiring general knowledge exams for each—Maryland is not ensuring that these
secondary teachers possess adequate subject-specific content knowledge. The
state's required general social studies assessment combines all topical areas
(e.g., history, geography, economics), and the assessment does not report separate scores for each area. Therefore,
candidates could answer many—perhaps all—economics questions, for example,
incorrectly, yet still be licensed to teach economics to high school students.
The state's policy regarding candidates seeking a physical science endorsement is especially worrisome given that there is no content test required. Candidates can fulfill the test requirement by passing the Principles of Learning test (7-12), which is a pedagogy test.
State response to our analysis
Maryland recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state also noted that there are currently no plans to modify this regulation.
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Maryland
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Specialized science
teachers are not interchangeable.
Based on their high school science licensure requirements,
many states seem to presume that it is all the same to teach anatomy,
electrical currents and Newtonian physics. Most states allow teachers to obtain
general science or combination licenses across multiple science disciplines,
and, in most cases, these teachers need only pass a general knowledge science
exam that does not ensure subject-specific content knowledge. This means that a teacher with a background
in biology could be fully certified to teach advanced chemistry or physics
having passed only a general science test—and perhaps answering most of the
chemistry or physics questions incorrectly.
There is no doubt that districts appreciate the flexibility
that these broad field licenses offer, especially given the very real shortage
of teachers of many science disciplines.
But the all-purpose science teacher not only masks but perpetuates the
STEM crisis—and does so at the expense of students. States need either to make sure that general
science teachers are indeed prepared to teach any of the subjects covered under
that license or allow only single subject science certifications. In either case states need to consider strategies
to improve the pipeline of science teachers, including the use of technology,
distance learning and alternate routes into STEM fields.
Is a social studies teacher prepared to teach history?
Most states offer a general social studies license at the secondary level. For this certification, teachers can have a background in a wide variety of fields, ranging from history and political science to anthropology or psychology and are usually only required to pass a general social studies test. Under such a license a teacher who majored in psychology could be licensed to teach secondary history having passed only a general knowledge test and answering most—and perhaps all—history questions incorrectly.
Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science: Supporting Research
For
an examination of how science teacher preparation positively impacts student
achievement, see D. Goldhaber and D. Brewer, "Does Teacher Certification Matter? High School Teacher Certification Status and Student Achievement",
Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, Volume 22, No. 2, June 20, 2000, pp. 129-145; D. Monk, "Subject area preparation of secondary mathematics and science teachers and student achievement", Economics of Education Review, Volume 13, No. 2, June 1994, pp.125-145; A. Rothman, "Teacher characteristics and student learning". Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, Volume 6, No. 4, December 1969, pp. 340-348.
See
also, NCTQ "The All-Purpose Science Teacher: An Analysis of Loopholes in State Requirements for High School Science Teachers." (2010).
In addition, research studies have
demonstrated the positive impact of teacher content knowledge on student
achievement. For example, see D.
Goldhaber, "Everyone's Doing It, But What Does Teacher Testing Tell Us About Teacher Effectiveness?" Journal of Human
Resources,Volume 42, No. 4, Fall 2007, pp. 765-794. See also D. Harris and T. Sass, "Teacher Training, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement". Calder Institute,March 2007,
Working Paper 3. Evidence can also be found in B. White, J. Presely, and K. DeAngelis, "Leveling up: Narrowing the Teacher Academic Capital Gap in Illinois", Illinois Education Research Council, Policy Research Report: IERC 2008-1, 44 p.; D. Goldhaber and D.
Brewer, "Why Don't Schools and Teachers Seem to Matter? Assessing the Impact of Unobservables on Educational Productivity." Journal
of Human Resources, Volume 32, No. 3, Summer 1997, pp. 505-523.