Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science:
Utah

Analysis of Utah's policies

Utah does not offer a general science certification for secondary science teachers. However, the state does offer a physical science endorsement. Candidates are required to pass the Praxis II Physical Science test.

Citation

Praxis Test Requirement www.ets.org

Recommendations for Utah

Require secondary science teachers to pass a content test for each discipline they are licensed to teach.
States that allow combination licenses across multiple science disciplines—and require only a comprehensive content test—are not ensuring that these secondary teachers possess adequate subject-specific content knowledge. Utah's required assessment combines both physics and chemistry and does not report separate scores for each subject. Therefore, a candidate could answer many physics questions, for example, incorrectly on the combination content test yet still be licensed to teach physics to high school students.

State response to our analysis

Utah recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that the physical science endorsement referenced in the analysis does qualify a teacher to provide instruction in basic chemistry and physics courses as described in the report. However, teachers with this endorsement may not provide instruction in either the advanced placement or concurrent enrollment versions of either chemistry or physics. This flexibility is intended to aid scheduling in rural areas as well as help to create smaller class sizes in introductory chemistry and physics courses. 

Utah also noted that its licensure requirements for science teachers are intended to balance high standards for teachers and flexibility for districts, particularly rural districts, in meeting the hiring needs in an area that is consistently one of the most critical teacher-shortage areas in the state.  As in all areas, quality evaluation and employment decisions of the building principal, in addition to state licensure requirements, are vitally important to ensuring that every student has a highly effective teacher. 

Last word

NCTQ is not advocating against general science teachers and can see why such a certification is particularly advantageous for rural areas. However, secondary-level students need teachers who are well prepared to teach advanced subject matter, and requiring passing scores on a content test for each discipline that teacher candidates are licensed to teach is the only way to ensure adequate subject-matter knowledge.