Too many aspiring Florida teachers struggle to pass certification exams, new study says
More than half of Florida’s aspiring elementary school teachers fail their professional certification exams on their first try, according to a new national study based on “long-hidden” testing data.
The 60 percent failure rate highlights “potential gaps” in the education offered at Florida’s teacher training programs and means too many would-be teachers face the stress and expense of retaking tests required to be public school teachers, the report from the National Council on Teacher Quality shows.
The organization’s “Driven by the Data” report was based on teacher certification exam scores from 2015 to 2018 earned by teacher candidates in 38 states. For Florida, the report looked at the passing rates on the Florida Teacher Certification Exam for elementary education, which has sections on language arts and reading, math, science and social studies.
Across Florida, only 40% of the students in teacher preparation programs passed all four sections on their first try, with the rates often lower for Black and Hispanic teacher candidates.
And 16% of those who failed on their first attempt never tried again, the report concluded. That means they abandoned a profession that interested them and which is perennially in need of new teachers.
Most of Florida’s teacher candidates passed their exams eventually, however, with 84% passing all the tests after two or more tries, the study found, but for 11%, it took three or more tries. The first-time exam cost $150. Retakes are not as costly but exam fees can still add up for students who don’t pass on the first attempt.
“These low pass rates present a challenge for policymakers and educator preparation programs working to both diversify the profession and also ensure that every classroom is staffed with a well-prepared teacher,” the report said. “Elementary teacher candidates, regardless of race and ethnicity, are too often poorly prepared and supported to pass their state licensure tests.”
The NCTQ worked with state education agencies, such as the Florida Department of Education, and their testing companies to collect data, which the organization said had been “long hidden” from public view. Nationally, the average first-time pass rate on teacher licensure exams was 45%, it found.
In Florida, as in the nation, the first-time pass rates varied widely by program. At the University of Central Florida, which graduates more new teachers than any other institution in the state, 41% of elementary school candidates passed the four sections of the exam on their first try, just above the state average.
At the University of Florida, the first-time passing rate was 69%, at Florida State University it was 60% and at Florida Atlantic University it was 26%.
In Florida, students in any state-approved teacher preparation program must pass all their certification exams to earn their degrees.
Though colleges with more selective admissions, such as UF, often had the highest passing rates, that wasn’t always the case. The University of West Florida, though less selective than UCF, had a higher percentage of its first-time test takers passing than the Orange County school did, at 50% compared to 41%.
Daytona State College was among those lauded for enrolling lots of students of color — defined in the study as everyone but non-Hispanic whites — and lots of students from low-income families, two groups that historically struggled on such exams, and then helping them over the testing hurdle at rates above the state’s.
The report should serve as a “compass” for teacher education programs nationwide, with “high achieving institutions pointing the way forward for the rest of the field,” said Katie Walsh, president of the council, in a statement.
Teacher preparation programs — at colleges, universities and run by Florida’s school districts — clearly have value and helped students prepare for the licensure exams, the study found. Thousands in Florida took the exams without taking part in a program, and they had an even lower first-time pass rate of 30%.
But the report said teacher preparation programs need to do more to make sure their courses align with what the state says elementary school teachers need to know.
UCF does that, reviewing test scores on teacher licensure exams as well as other data to “bolster quality” in its education program, said Orin Smith, a college specialist in UCF’s College of Community Innovation and Education.
For example, when the university realized its students were struggling most with the social studies section of the exam, it created a new course to improve teacher candidates’ knowledge in that field, he said.
“Improvement with these types of metrics happen over time,” he wrote.
He also noted that the data used in the NCTQ report is three or more years old. “It’s likely that this one measure is not the most accurate reflection of the quality of preparation our students receive today,” he added.
