Secondary Teacher Preparation Policy
Content Test Requirements: Montana offers middle-level certification (grades 4-8) for middle school teachers. The state also offers secondary licenses that span middle school grades (5-12). All secondary teachers must pass a secondary Praxis subject-matter test to attain licensure as part of the Montana Assessment of Content Knowledge Verification. However, it is unclear which content tests are required for candidates applying for the middle school license to teach grades 4-8.
Passage of the test is one part of three requirements for Montana's Assessment of
Content Knowledge Verification. A candidate's
student teaching/clinical practice score, content knowledge assessment score,
and overall GPA factor into an overall content knowledge score between one and 10.
Middle School Licensure Deficiencies: Unfortunately, Montana also offers a generalist K-8 license. Because middle school licensure deficiencies are scored in Middle School Licensure Deficiencies, it is not considered as part of the score for the Middle School Content Knowledge goal.
Provisional and Emergency Licensure: Because provisional and emergency licensure requirements are scored in Provisional
and Emergency Licensure
, only the test requirements for the state's initial
license are considered as part of this goal.
Require content testing in all core areas.
Montana should require subject-matter testing for all middle school teacher candidates in every core academic area they intend to teach as a condition of initial licensure. The state should set its passing scores to reflect high levels of performance to ensure meaningful middle school content tests.
Require subject-matter testing for all middle school teacher candidates.
Montana wisely requires subject-matter tests for most middle school teachers but should address any deficiencies that undermine this policy (see Middle School Licensure Deficiencies analysis and recommendations).
Montana did not respond to NCTQ's request to review this analysis for accuracy.
3A: Middle School Content Knowledge
Middle school grades are critical years of schooling. It is in these years that far too many students fall through the cracks. However, requirements for the preparation and licensure of middle school teachers can be especially problematic. States need to distinguish the knowledge and skills needed by middle school teachers from those needed by an elementary teacher. Whether teaching a single subject in a departmentalized setting or teaching multiple subjects in a self-contained setting, middle school teachers must be able to teach significantly more advanced content than elementary teachers. In order to do so, middle school teachers must be deeply knowledgeable about every subject they will be licensed to teach, and able to pass a licensing test in every core subject to demonstrate this knowledge.[1] The notion that someone should be identically prepared to teach first grade or eighth grade mathematics seems ridiculous, but states that license teachers on a K-8 generalist certificate essentially endorse this idea.