Posted by Katie.
Just as high school students have to take exams to graduate, aspiring teachers have to take exams to reenter the classroom.
In Washington State, teachers must pass a subject-area Praxis test and the Washington Educator Skills Test – Basic. The Praxis evaluates a person’s proficiency in a specific subject-area while the WEST-B evaluates one’s basic skills in reading, writing and math. Potential educators must pass both exams before pursuing their Masters in Teaching and in order to earn their teaching certificate.
I have never been a good test taker. Through all my years of schooling, I could always make the grade, but standardized testing has been one of my lifelong enemies. Initially, as my test taking anxiety got the best of me, I was hoping that the Praxis and WEST-B would not be too difficult. The Praxis, which tested my content knowledge in Spanish, pushed me just enough. It clearly illustrated my strengths and areas in which I need to improve. However, as I sat through 4.5 hours of the WEST-B, I wanted to cry – not because it was too hard but because it was a joke.
I describe the WEST-B as the “adult version of the WASL,” yet the scary thing is that it’s much easier than the WASL. According to this exam, navigating a table of contents and reading a bar graph are components in determining a quality teacher.
What does it mean that the math skills required to become a certified teacher in our state are more basic than the skills measured by the WASL for 10th grade students? We need to expect more from our teachers. Our teachers should be held to higher standards than their students.
Let’s just put it this way – if Washington students only had to pass the WEST-B in order to graduate, graduation rates would soar.
