Conclusions
As a result of its preliminary explorations and discussions, the Committee on Assessment and Teacher Quality has reached five conclusions:
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Licensure tests are designed to provide useful information about the extent to which prospective teachers possess the literacy and mathematics skills and/or the subject-matter and pedagogical knowledge that states consider necessary for beginning teaching.
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Teacher licensure tests assess only some of the characteristics that are deemed to be important for effective practice. They are not designed to predict who will become effective teachers.
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There is currently little evidence available about the extent to which widely used teacher licensure tests distinguish between candidates who are minimally competent to teach and those who are not.
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Comparisons of passing rates among states are not useful for policy purposes because of the diversity of testing and licensure practices.
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Test instruments, pass/fail rules, and other licensing requirements and policies that result in large differences in eventual passing rates among racial/ ethnic groups pose problems for schools that seek to have a diverse teaching force.
