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

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. The immediate purpose of this book is to explain what Massachusetts did in 2000 to strengthen its teacher licensing and re-licensing system to ensure that all teachers could teach to relatively strong K-12 standards. Its larger purpose is to suggest that development of strong academic standards in all major subjects should be followed by complete revision of a state’s teacher licensing system, not, as has been the case for several decades, the development of K-12 student tests—if this country wants to strengthen public education.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface: What Led to the Massachusetts “Education Miracle”? 1. Why We Know So Little about Teacher Licensing Tests Overview Problem Sources of Information Definition of Key Terms 2. Who Needs to be Licensed to Teach Purpose for a License in Other Professions Purpose for Licensing Teachers in Public Schools Why a License Is Not Required for Teachers in Private Schools Why a License Is Not Required for all Teachers in Charter Schools 3. About Teacher Licensing Tests Organizations that Develop Teacher Licensing Tests Types of Teacher Licensing Tests Legal Basis for Teacher Licensing Tests When Teacher Licensing Tests Are Taken Meaning of Pass Scores What We Know about the Content of Teacher Licensing Tests 4. History of Teacher Licensing Tests in the United States Early Teacher Examinations Teacher Tests in the Twentieth Century Growing Influence of Teacher Educators after World War II Rising Demand for Teacher Licensing Tests in the 1970s and 1980s Congressional Requirement in 1998 of Licensing Tests for all Teachers 5. What Generates Topics on Subject Area Licensing Tests? How the Content of Subject Area Licensing Tests May Be Designated Reliance on a college major or minor. Usefulness of a topic approach. How Subject Area Licensure Tests Indirectly Shape the School Curriculum 6. Rationale for New and Revised Licenses in the Bay State Licensure Tests for Foreign Language Teachers Licensure Tests for Secondary Teachers of a Foreign Language Licensure Tests for Elementary Teachers of a Foreign Language Licensure Tests for Latin and Classical Humanities Teachers Licensure Tests for Teachers of Young Students Stand-Alone Licensure Tests of Reading Instructional Knowledge for Teachers of Elementary-Age Children Licensure Tests for Reading Specialists Comparisons with other Licensure Tests for Elementary Teachers Stand-Alone Licensure Tests of Reading Instructional Knowledge for Pre-School Teachers Licensure Tests for Teachers of Middle School Students Licensure Tests for Middle School Teachers of Two Subjects Licensure Tests for Middle School Teachers of a Single Subject Licensure Tests for Mathematics Teachers 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 the Communication and Performing Arts For Music Teachers For Theater Teachers For Dance Teachers For Speech Teachers For Visual Art Teachers Licensure Tests for English Teachers Licensure Tests for History Teachers Licensure Tests for U.S. Government Teachers 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 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 10. Difficulties in Developing 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 or Disciplinary Knowledge: Which is Preferable? Procedural Obstacles 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 Annually on Pass Rates 12. What Policy Makers and State Legislators Can Do Ensure a Separate Licensing System for “Shop” Teachers Require the Same Academic Admission Standards as Other Countries Learn from Changes in the Bay State’s Licensing System for Teachers Some Specific Changes to Make Above All, Require Qualified Curriculum Directors in K-12

About the Author :
Sandra Stotsky is professor of education emerita, University of Arkansas, and was Senior Associate Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from 1999-2003. She is the author of several books on curriculum and standards for K-12, and has published many reports and articles on teacher training and teacher licensing tests.

Review :
May 2016 Book of the Month. Stotsky has recently devoted her time to warning about the academic weakness of Common Core. She helped create Massachusetts’ English and Math standards, which were excellent before the state fell prey to Common Core. If states move forward with evidence-based reforms in teacher preparation, then failed Common Core student standards would have less impact. Well-trained teachers imparting subject matter over which they have mastery could have a greater impact on students than standards.