http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2014/02/27/common-core-aspiring-ny-teachers-face-new-certification-hurdles/5867189/Common Core: Aspiring teachers face certification hurdles
Gary Stern, TJN 4:40 p.m. EST March 6, 2014
A new state-mandated exam that aspiring teachers must pass to be certified is causing great anxiety for college education programs and students who fear they have not had enough time to prepare for the intense, video-based assessment.
A new state-mandated exam that aspiring teachers must pass to be certified is causing great anxiety for college education programs and students who fear they have not had enough time to prepare for the intense, video-based assessment.
As of May, college students cannot get initial certification to teach unless they pass the exam, which state officials see as a "bar-like" final designed to show that prospective teachers are ready for the modern classroom.
Many contend that today's college seniors and graduate students have not had enough exposure to the new assessment. These teachers-in-training are now collecting video as they student teach and are preparing to write 30 pages of answers to questions based on the Common Core standards.
"Everything is riding on this," said Mike Kelly, director of graduate programs in education at Dominican College in Orangeburg. "Most of my colleagues and I are grappling with the new system and are worried about what the results will be."
Jamie Dangler, vice president of academics for United University Professions, which represents about 35,000 professionals at SUNY campuses, said her union fears that close to 40 percent of SUNY students taking the new exam may fail.
"A crisis sense has developed," she said. "It's irresponsible to do this to students who entered teacher preparation programs under a different set of rules."
Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said the state has been publicly working toward a better assessment of teaching candidates since 2010 and endorsed the new exam in 2012. He said the state has spent more than $10 million to help SUNY, CUNY and private colleges prepare.
"The threshold for who enters the classroom to support and advance student learning should be high," he said.
He said college programs should have been updating their curricula since 2010, when today's seniors were freshmen.
The exam in question — known as the edTPA for "education teacher performance assessment" — was created by Stanford University to bring high standards to the long-criticized state-by-state certification system. Stanford chose publishing giant Pearson Inc. to administer and grade the exam.
Thirty five states are using the assessment, but only two, New York and Washington, have quickly made passage a requirement for certification. Others will consider doing so.
Samantha Felder, 27, of Rye Brook, a graduate student at Manhattanville College who is student teaching in Port Chester, said this spring's graduates face a mysterious make-or-break test for which future students will be much better prepared.
"I understand that they want to make sure teachers are qualified," she said. "But we have to give perfect responses without knowing what they're looking for."
The criticisms are similar to those leveled at the state over the high-speed implementation of the Common Core, a set of standards meant to better prepare primary and secondary school students for college and careers.
The new exam will require that students plan a sequence of lessons aligned to the Common Core, use video to show their instruction, and assess students' results. Detailed questions ask teacher trainees, for instance, to connect their material to students' academic and cultural backgrounds.
"They're asking students to do things we value," said Christine Clayton, chair of the Education Department at Pace University's Pleasantville campus. "We just wish it was more about improving teacher preparation and less punitive. We're talking about people's careers."
Tom Pinto, a public relations professional from Eastchester, has been running a one-man campaign to get the state Education Department or the state Legislature to delay the new exam. His son, also Tom, is a senior at SUNY Brockport who hopes to earn initial certification to teach physical education.
"Seniors like my son had this rammed down their throats," the elder Pinto said. "It's like the state is setting them up to fail."
His son, 21, said his focus on videotaping lessons and collecting material for his written assignments is detracting from his student teaching.
"It's unfair to give us so much to figure out in such a short period," he said.
Officials at several colleges said they need more time to revamp their curricula to fully prepare students for the assessment.
Shelley Wepner, dean of Manhattanville's School of Education, noted that prospective teachers are in class all day for the first time when student teaching.
"These students haven't grown up with the Common Core, haven't internalized it," she said. "Now they have to master the language with very little time in the field. It's a good idea in theory, but the execution is a concern."
Kelly Brucale, 22, a Manhattanville senior from Eastchester, said this year's graduates feel like guinea pigs.
"We're prepared to teach," she said. "We don't know if we're prepared for questions from Pearson."
