Teacher Testing

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From the Office of Public Relations

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Intelligence tests continue to chart the drop in student achievement... Not only have the the Scholastic Aptitude Tests scores declined since the, mid 19608, but more and more high school graduates are not eV1l functionally literate. Last week the National Assessment of Eduction. Progress, a federally sponsored project for monitoring: the nation's: schools, reported thatding skills are continuing to worsen in the HigIi' ,' school years. In an attempt to reverse this trend, and meet tt,te growing concerils:,ol, parents, the state Board of Regents has just voted to require certifieaticm examinations for all new teachers. We believe the idea is a good one. Some teachers have objected to the proposed examinations, saying other professionals - doctors,\for example;.... are not required to pass'. state-imposed test and teachers should not be singled out. They also say thah written examination may provide a gauge for judging how much a teacher knows, but it can do nothing to predict who a good teacher will b4!: it cannot measure such intangible ,things as creativif;Y or sensitivity, it cannot measure a teacher's effectiveness in mamtaining classrooft,l ' , order. There is much merit to these argumen. Indeed, it is' probably true that any written'test the Regentsinay choose will have at leas some of the deficiencies these teachers have predicted. On the other hand, the procedure for determining competency that has been proposed does, 'to some extent, take these objections into account. After having passed the initial exam, prospective teachers will be required to spend a one-year internship teaching under the supervision of a "mentor," an experienced teacher specifically trained for the task. It is during this period that th¢ specific, intangible, teaching abilities of the intern will be able to ' observed and, in some sense, graded. Regarding the objections to testing in general, the principle of testing public workers - namely, the CivU5ervice workers - is long established. When public dollars "are expended to pay the salaries of public workers, the public has a right to know how well those workers are ' performing.

'NY co-founder new president
, BINGHAMTON - 'the co∑founder of the New York Educator.s ,Association has 'ousted as president the man he Jomed to form the union in 1976. ' ThOmas Pisa of B uffalo. who baOded with two-term NYEA President Edwin J. RObisch of Wappingers Falls to form the union, gefeated Rob.isch 1ª3-150 in , an election here,Saturd!l1..' Paul Rubin of P1a.!nview,'" , Old Bethpage receiv&'t'30 votes.
Associjlted Press

Historically, the brightest cOllege students have been attracted to areas other than education. One recently conducted survey, in fact, found that the poorest students were in the education progrm. To change this,- it will be necessary to make teaching a financially rewarding field. " The teacher tests in combination with increased monetary incentives should, we bel!eve, go a long way toward providing a better public school educatiori.
80 Woll Road, Albany, New

, But hand in hand with the increased requirements" we believe ther should be an increase in pay. If we demand competent; high quali,ty teachers, then we will have to offr the financial inducements necessarY ' to attract them.

York 12205

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