Basic skill test for teachers still fails state's students

Basic skill test for teachers still fails state's students
STATE 35 percent right as passing math grade horrifies educator
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/2046514,CST-NWS-basicskill14.article

February 13, 2010
BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter

Starting in September, future educators will find it much tougher to pass the Illinois Test of Basic Skills for would-be teachers, but until then, they can squeak under a bar some call shockingly low.
Currently, to enter teacher-preparation programs, college students can get as few as 35 percent of the math questions right and still pass the Basic Skills Test.

Reading and language arts? Only half right is OK. Writing? Five out of a possible 12 is acceptable.

And although test-takers also have to hit a certain overall score to pass, some educators were stunned by how poorly would-be teachers have been allowed to score on individual subtests for the last eight years. They also questioned if the test really is at "college level," as the Illinois State Board of Education claims.

Victoria Chou, dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said she was "aghast" when told someone could pass the math section with just 35 percent correct.

"I wouldn't want my kids to be taught by teachers who passed this basic of a [math] test at the 35 percent level,'' Chou said.

Would-be teacher Dustin Seibert, 38, hopes to pass the Basic Skills Test this month so he can enter National-Louis University's master's program in education. Seibert, a career-changer, said the sample questions look so easy, he's preparing with a $30 test-prep book.

"It literally is basic skills,'' said Seibert. "The stuff you see on this exam -- definitely it's high school level. ... I don't think the bar is set very high, unfortunately.''

In 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times Failing Teachers series found hundreds of teachers statewide had never passed what was then an eighth-grade level Basic Skills Test. One of 10 Chicago public school teachers had flunked it at least once.

That same year, state education officials toughened up the Basic Skills Test to what they touted as "college sophomore level.'' By 2002, rules were changed so that would-be teachers had to pass the test before they could be accepted by a teacher education program. Today, most undergraduates take the test by junior year.

While the eighth-grade level Basic Skills Test required future teachers to get 70 percent of their answers correct in every subtest, the current "college-level'' test carries much lower passing bars for each subtest, plus one overall minimum score. State education officials say someone who hits the minimum on every subtest wouldn't meet the overall minimum, but they were unable to translate the overall minimum passing score into an overall percent correct.

Barbara Radner, director of DePaul University's Center for Urban Education, said she was "shocked" by the low math bar, especially since it's a multiple-choice test where someone could get 25 percent right just by guessing.

"What test do you take where 35 percent is OK?" Radner asked. "If someone only knows 35 percent of a subject, they don't know the material. That's an F."

By September, the overall minimum score will be eliminated and new, much higher minimums will be required for each subtest -- about 79 percent correct in reading and language arts, and 75 percent correct in math. The writing test will require a score of 8 out of 12.

Linda Tomlinson, assistant superintendent at the State Board of Education, said some would-be teachers have failed the current test at least 20 times. However, recent changes now give teaching candidates only five chances to pass. By September, when the new subtest minimums hit, they can "bank" any subtests they pass and retake only those subtests they fail.

Tomlinson called the current math minimum "unacceptable'' and said, "We want teacher candidates who are strong academically in every subject.''

State education officials also hope to pass a law that would require even substitute teachers to pass the Basic Skills Test. Currently, subs need only a bachelor's degree.

The test maker, Evaluation Systems, insists the current test reflects "college-level" material, Tomlinson said. However, two experts could not find any college-level math questions on the current sample math subtest.

Textbook author Zalman Usiskin, director of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, said that doesn't mean all questions are easy. Some covering middle-grade material are difficult because of the way they are written, Usiskin said.

More than 70 percent of the sample math questions involve arithmetic or basic algebra, although some are trickier, multistep questions, said Julie Greenberg, senior policy director for the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Said Greenberg, who has read about a dozen teacher Basic Skills Tests: "This is not a test of college-level math.''

The U.S. teaching profession still draws from the "bottom half of the college population," while countries that outperform the United States tend to pull their teachers from the top third, Greenberg said.

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Number puzzlers
Questions from the math section of the Illinois Basic Skills Diagnostic Practice Test
1) An elementary school has 600 students, of which 15% are in the fourth grade. Of the fourth-grade students, 60% are male. How many males are in the fourth grade? A. 30 B. 45 C. 54 D. 60
2) A recipe that makes 4 servings of soup uses 3/4 cup of chopped carrots. How many cups of chopped carrots will be needed if the recipe is increased to make 14 servings? A. 1 7/8 cups B. 2 1/4 cups C. 2 ?183-142? cups D. 3 ½ cups
Answers: 1-C. 2-C.
Source: Illinois State Board of Education. Click here for the full test.