When State Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) began hearing that Indiana college graduates with teaching degrees, and good grades, were unable to pass state licensure tests, she began to delve deeper into the issue.
The more she learned, the more she understood there was a problem that had to be addressed.
Talented teachers-to-be, who wanted to pursue the profession, were starting to get jobs in non-teaching fields because they had to begin paying off student loans — and this at a time of a serious teacher shortage.
"I think it's a shame when we have young people who have their heart set on teaching, that really want to do it ... yet somehow we're stopping them after they've successfully obtained their bachelor's in education," she said.
She introduced legislation this year, eventually incorporated into a workforce development law [House Bill 1002], that seeks to address the issue.
For several years, Indiana educators — and teachers to be — have criticized licensing tests provided by Pearson, the state's testing vendor since 2014.
But that will change as of September 2021.
Under the new law, the Indiana Legislature required the Indiana Board of Education to adopt a licensing testing program "that is already in existence and administered nationally to replace the current licensure test program."
ETS, a nonprofit organization that provided the testing prior to Pearson, will again be providing the teacher licensing test for Indiana educators. When ETS previously was the test provider, future educators needed to pass a Praxis I basic skills test to enter teacher preparation programs; they later had to pass Praxis 2 content tests for licensure.
The Pearson tests were customized to Indiana standards, while ETS provides national exams.
According to Adam Baker, press secretary with the Indiana Department of Education, "Currently, we are negotiating the contract and the exam will go in place in September 2021, following the end of Pearson's contract in August 2021."
ETS will provide a nationally available test program "and any new tests that ETS will need to develop for use in Indiana. The ETS national test program is called Praxis," according to a June 28 memorandum to superintendents and principals from the Indiana Department of Education.
Indiana is currently under contract with Pearson for use of the CORE licensure test program until Aug. 31, 2021. The CORE test program has been used in Indiana since February 2014. CORE tests will remain in place for licensure purposes until the end of August 2021.
There are CORE content tests, and future teachers (those seeking their initial license) also must pass a teaching methods test.
Educators hopeful pass rates improve
Leising noted that her standalone bill, Senate Bill 532, had much support in the senate, but it went nowhere once it went to the House; it was later amended into a Workforce Development bill, HB 1002, that became part of a conference committee report.
Leising believes the change in testing, and test vendors, is a step in the right direction in dealing with the teacher shortage. During a committee hearing, she heard about low pass rates for Pearson tests.
"I'm anxious to see what kind of results we get and I'm going to be monitoring this very closely after we have a couple years of data to see if pass rates improve over what we've been seeing on the current test used," Leising said.
Tim McRoberts, associate executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals, believes the changes "definitely could be helpful. ... There is no doubt about that."
He recalls reading stories in recent years about some students graduating from college in Indiana, but then going to other states to teach because they could more easily pass subject matter licensure tests in those states.
Another concern he recalls was that Pearson didn't provide adequate study materials, which made it difficult for students to prepare.
With the change in tests, the problems "are being addressed," he said. "I don't know how quickly it will help, but it's definitely a step in the right direction."
In late 2015, the Tribune-Star interviewed aspiring educators, and veteran educators, who were having difficulty with the Pearson tests. They said the Pearson tests were extremely difficult, asked questions far removed from the grades they hope to teach and appropriate study materials were hard to find.
They, and others, reported taking the tests multiple times, which added up in costs.
Among those affected was Rachel Williams, now a VCSC media specialist. First interviewed in 2015, she was at that time a veteran classroom teacher and had also worked at the Vigo County Public Library for four years, yet she was having difficulty passing a Pearson school librarian test necessary to work as a school media specialist.
Williams spent hundreds of dollars purchasing study materials and then taking the test three times.
"I absolutely see it as a positive move [from Pearson to ETS]," Williams said recently
"As someone who took both the ETS and Pearson test for 'school librarian,' I can tell you that the ETS asked questions that actually pertained to my job as a school librarian. It also asked questions that had very cut and dry answers ... questions that had legitimate answers," she said.
Pearson's questions "were very scenario based ... and they were scenarios that could have very different answers or outcomes depending on what type of school you were in" such as Title 1 vs. non-Title 1, high school vs. grade school.
"Another big problem I had with Pearson was that they never told you what you got wrong ... so you had nothing to study from. The lack of study material online was another huge problem," Williams said.
"All Pearson did was send you a pie graph of your scores in different areas seven days after you took the test. Basically, when you go to retake the test, you are just guessing what you got wrong previously and hoping you are now guessing correctly."
School districts may hire highly qualified recent college graduates, but because those students have difficulty passing the certification tests, they must be hired as long-term substitutes or on emergency permit until they can pass them, district officials have said.
Skills testing requirements
Dean Janet Buckenmeyer of ISU's Bayh College of Education also supports the changes and believes it will mean higher pass rates for graduates with teaching degrees.
She also noted state law has changed as far as the Pearson CASA basic skills test to enter a teacher education program.
Senate Enrolled Act 438 eliminated the basic skills assessment requirement for entry into an Indiana educator preparation program.
As of July 1, 2019, successful completion of the basic skills testing requirement [CASA or an approved alternative] is no longer mandatory for educator candidates. However, educator preparation programs may elect to continue to require CASA for program admission.
Currently, ISU students can take either the ETS Praxis 1 or Pearson CASA for entrance into the College of Education, Buckenmeyer said. "Beginning in January 2020, however, we will only accept Praxis 1," she said.
Often, failure to pass the Pearson basic skills test was the reason students could not be admitted to the College of Education, Buckenmeyer said. Again, she believes students seeking admission will have more success under the changes.
Pearson responds
Asked for comment, Scott Overland, Pearson director of media relations, stated in an email:
"Pearson supports the efforts of state education agencies to have high-quality, valid educator licensure assessments. Test content and the scores required for passing are determined by each state and are informed by recommendations from local educators resulting from standard setting activities.
"While we are disappointed in this decision, we are proud to serve students, teachers, and institutions in Indiana in many other ways and always are ready to help meet Indiana’s education goals.”