An Empty Curriculum : The Need to Reform Teacher Licensing Regulations and Tests.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface: What Led to the "Massachusetts Education Miracle"? -- Note -- 1 Why We Know So Little about Teacher Licensure Tests -- Problem -- Sources of Information -- Definitions of Key Terms -- Points to Remember -- Notes -- 2 Who Needs a License to Teach and Why? -- Purpose for Licensure in Other Professions -- Purpose for Licensure for Teachers in Public Schools -- Why Teachers in Private Schools Don't Need a License -- Why All Teachers in Charter Schools Don't Need a License -- Points to Remember -- Notes -- 3 About Teacher Licensure Tests -- Organizations that Develop Teacher Licensure Tests -- Types of Teacher Licensure Tests -- Legal Basis for Teacher Licensure Tests -- When Teacher Licensure Tests Are Taken -- Meaning of Pass Scores -- What We Know about the Content of Teacher Licensure Tests -- Points to Remember -- Notes -- 4 History of Teacher Licensure Tests in the United States -- Early Teacher Examinations -- Teacher Tests in the 20th Century -- Growing Influence of Teacher Educators after World War II -- Rising Demand for Teacher Licensure Tests in the 1970s and 1980s -- Congressional Requirement in 1998 of Licensure Tests for All Prospective Teachers -- Points to Remember -- Notes -- 5 What Generates Topics on Subject Area Licensing Tests? -- How the Content of Teacher Licensing Tests May Be Designated -- Reliance on a College Major or Minor -- Usefulness of a Topic Approach -- How Subject Area Licensure Tests for Teachers Indirectly Shape the School Curriculum -- Notes -- 6 Rationale for New and Old Licenses in the Bay State -- Licensure Tests for Foreign Language Teachers -- Licensure Tests for Teachers of Young Students -- Licensure Tests for Teachers of Middle School Students -- Licensure Tests for Full-Time Mathematics Teachers in the Elementary and Middle School.

Stand-Alone Licensure Tests of Mathematical Knowledge for Elementary School Generalists -- Licensure Tests for Science Teachers -- Licensure Tests for Teachers of Communication and Performing Arts -- Licensure Tests for English Teachers -- Licensure Tests for History Teachers -- Licensure Tests for U.S. Government Teachers -- Notes -- 7 Other Facets of a Teacher Licensing System to Strengthen -- Undergraduate Majors -- Academic Time on Task -- Weeding Out Outdated Licenses -- Grade Levels Covered by a License -- Grade Levels and Practicum Hours for Student Teaching -- Construction and Types of Test Items on Licensure Tests -- 8 Strengthening Veteran Teachers -- Gradual Expansion of Required Credit Hours in Education Coursework -- Required Coursework for a Master's Degree Program in Education -- Requirements for Professional Development -- Concluding Remarks -- Notes -- 9 Studies of Predictive Validity and Construct Validity -- Examples of Studies on Predictive Validity -- What Studies of Predictive Validity Tell Us -- Studies of the Construct or Content Validity of Teacher Tests -- What Studies of Construct or Content Validity Tell Us -- Notes -- 10 Difficulties in Requiring More Demanding Subject Area Licensure Tests -- Anomaly of Teacher Licensure Tests -- Claims about the Supply and Academic Quality of Prospective Teachers -- Measure of Value-Added, not Disciplinary, Knowledge: Which Is Preferable? -- Procedural Obstacles -- Notes -- 11 What State Legislators Probably Shouldn't Do -- Fail to Ask for Stronger Quality Controls -- Leave Academic Admission Standards Alone -- Rely on Accreditation -- Require States to Report Pass Rates Annually -- Notes -- 12 What Policy Makers and State Legislators Can Do -- Strengthen the Licensing System for CTE Teachers at all Levels -- Require the Same Academic Admission Standards as Other Countries.

Learn from Changes in the Bay State's Licensing System for Prospective Teachers -- Some Specific Changes to Make -- Above All, Require Qualified Curriculum Directors in K-12 -- Notes -- About the Author.

Teachers cannot teach what they do not know. This country has tolerated a weak licensing system for prospective teachers for decades. This weak system has been accompanied by an increasingly emptier curriculum for most students, depriving them of the knowledge and skills needed for self-government. An Empty Curriculum: How Teacher Licensure Tests Lead to Empty Student Minds makes the case that the complete revision of the licensing system for prospective and veteran teachers in Massachusetts in 2000 and the construction of new or more demanding teacher licensing tests contributed significantly to the Massachusetts "education miracle." That "miracle" consisted of enduring gains in achievement for students in all demographic groups and in all regional vocational/technical high schools since 2005--gains confirmed by tests independent of Massachusetts policy makers.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.