District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Education

Discussion of MTEL Pass Rates Report

At our meeting in January 2008, Chairman Reville and I provided an overview of statewide initiatives related to teacher effectiveness, including information on An Act Relative to Educator Excellence (H. 451/S. 284); Governor Patrick's Readiness Project on Recruiting and Retaining Educators; the Teaching, Learning and Leading Survey; and preliminary proposals developed by the Board's Educational Personnel Advisory Council (EPAC). We will continue our focus on educator effectiveness at this month's meeting by considering the recommendations of a report forwarded to my attention by EPAC entitled "Recommendations for Addressing Disparities in Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure Scores." The report recommends several steps to close the gap in passing rates between white and minority candidates for licensure.

Background: Licensure of Educators

The licensure of educators is the primary means by which each state ensures that teachers and administrators meet a threshold of knowledge, skills and abilities before they assume the responsibilities of their role. The Massachusetts law on educator licensure, Mass. General Laws c. 71, § 38G, requires all candidates to pass a two-part test (communication and literacy skills plus subject matter knowledge) in order to be eligible for a license. Since 1998, the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL), which are on-demand, written tests, have been used to determine whether candidates possess sufficient reading and writing skills and sufficient knowledge of subject matter (e.g., mathematics, science, foreign language, etc.) relevant to the specific license they are seeking. The assessment of a candidate's actual teaching skills typically takes the form of a performance assessment during the candidate's teaching practicum.

The Commonwealth has a no-cost contract through June 2010 with Evaluation Systems Group of Pearson (formerly National Evaluation Systems) to implement the MTEL program. The 39 MTEL examinations are aligned with our educator licensing regulations and the student learning standards contained in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

MTEL Pass Rates

MTEL pass rates for any single administration of the highest volume tests for first time test takers range from a low of 50% (Early Childhood Education) to a high of 81% (secondary English). Pass rates for those retaking the MTEL are typically much lower, e.g., 26% for Early Childhood and 48% for secondary English.

On May 30, 2007, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a report of MTEL pass rates by racial, ethnic and linguistic subgroups. The report indicated that white candidates were passing all MTEL tests at a significantly higher rate than minority candidates. For example, in the 2005-2006 school year, 77 percent of white teacher candidates passed the writing exam, as compared to 46 percent of black and 48 percent of Hispanic test-takers. On the reading exam, 86 percent of white test-takers passed, as compared to 62 percent of black and 61 percent of Hispanic candidates. The May 30th press release and the summary of MTEL pass rate data for 2005-2006 are enclosed as Attachments 1 and 2.

This disparity in pass rates is not unique to Massachusetts. The 2005-06 pass rates for the Praxis II subject tests, an educator licensing test developed by the Educational Testing Service that is widely used in other states, show that for the highest volume subject tests, white candidates' pass rates are approximately 30- 40% higher than for black test takers and approximately 10-30% higher than for Hispanic test takers. Nor is the disparity in pass rates unique to educator licensing tests; the Board and many other education policymakers have acknowledged the persistent achievement gaps in student performance in elementary and secondary schools and are continually seeking to reduce and prevent those gaps.

MTEL Pass Rates Study Group

In response to the May 2007 report, former Commissioner Driscoll called upon the EPAC to convene a working group to consider the disparity in pass rates and develop recommendations for addressing it. EPAC chair Ray Shurtleff (retired Human Resources Director, Boston Public Schools) and member Linda Davis-Delano (Director of Educator Preparation & Licensure, Springfield College), working closely with the Department, convened the MTEL Pass Rates Study Group comprised of representatives from school districts, teacher preparation programs and two testing experts. The Study Group met five times between August 2007 and February 2008. Their report was forwarded to and reviewed by the full EPAC at its February and March 2008 meetings. The report, under a transmittal letter from Ray Shurtleff, is enclosed as Attachment 3. The Study Group's recommendations and our current or proposed actions to address the recommendations are summarized below:

I look forward to our discussion of these issues.

Attachments:

1. May 30, 2007 Press Release
2. MTEL Pass Rate Data, 2005-2006
3. "Recommendations for Addressing Disparities in Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure Scores"    and transmittal letter from EPAC chairman Ray Shurtleff
4. Senate Bill 271