Counterpoint: Teacher licensure tests fail. Diversity succeeds.

Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

Earlier this year, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) adjusted the passing scores for teacher licensing exams in Minnesota. The board took this action after months of study by a work group made up of teachers, teacher educators, researchers and board members.

After thoroughly reviewing the research, analyzing the issue and hearing teacher testimony, the board decided that a change in policy was needed.

Unfortunately, Katherine Kersten's "Teacher licensure gets squishy in Minnesota" (Opinion Exchange, Feb. 19) about PELSB's decision to lower the cut score of the teacher licensure exams did not accurately represent this careful process. Nor did it represent the strong research base that informed the decision.

Instead, Kersten relied on one report from an organization that regularly critiques teacher education with problematic research methods that are never peer reviewed. The report discussed by Kersten cited only three studies as evidence that teacher licensure exams predict the quality of a future teacher. Two of these studies actually argue against raising the passing scores of licensure tests because the correlation between the scores on these tests and student performance is so low.

What the research actually tells us is that these tests simply do not predict whether or not someone will be a good teacher. Many ineffective teachers pass the licensure exams and many effective teachers do not. The small correlation that exists between test scores and student achievement is mainly seen in math, and is most pronounced with teachers who score very high on the math exams. Teachers who have average passing scores in math are no more effective than teachers who score in the quintile below the cut score.

In reading, there is no correlation between teacher licensure test scores and student performance. There is no research to support Kersten's claim that teacher knowledge (as measured by licensure exams) improves reading comprehension. Licensure test scores are not a predictor of an educator's ability to teach children how to read.

One thing we do know is that having a more diverse teacher workforce is good for all children.

Substantial research shows us that having a same-race teacher in elementary school leads to significant gains in both math and reading. Students of color do better when they have the opportunity to be taught by a Black teacher regardless of how well that teacher performed on teacher licensure tests.

This, of course, is where the biggest problem lies, because it is otherwise-qualified Black teachers and other teachers of color who are not passing the exams in the greatest proportion.

The very teachers who our underserved children need are the ones being kept out of the classroom due to licensure exams. These tests are also disproportionately difficult for nonnative English speakers to pass, a majority of whom are people of color. This is due more to the way that language is used in multiple choice tests than to any lack of knowledge or teaching skill. These multilingual teachers are being kept from classrooms, often bilingual or immersion, where their cultural knowledge and bilingualism are needed to help students succeed.

This is all being done due to an erroneous belief that these exams somehow weed out bad teachers, a belief that seems logical but is simply not supported by research.

This is what structural racism looks like. This is why PELSB has asked the Legislature to eliminate these exams entirely.

Kersten is correct that teacher knowledge is important. But the knowledge and skills needed for effective teaching are varied and complex, and research has clearly shown that the teacher licensure exams do not measure this knowledge in a way that helps us know who will succeed as a teacher and who will not.

The most reliable way for us to ensure that students of color and American Indian students succeed in school is to bring more teachers of color into the profession. Adjusting cut scores to ensure equity or eliminating the licensure tests all together would allow this to happen. PELSB's change in policy was done after careful consideration of the research and the experiences of teachers and children in our schools. Sadly, this is something that cannot be said about Kersten's article.

Hugo Barrios, Dayra Lorena De La Cruz López, Tracy Ivy and Jamie Utt-Schumacher were members of PELSB's Assessment and Accountability Workgroup. Caroline Maguire is president of the Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.