Speaking of teacher credentialing, my colleague Margaret Price makes an interesting point about ABCTE certified teachers and reading. I’m leery of reading too much into their new study (pdf) of ABCTE teachers because while everyone is referring to it as the study with 55 teachers, only 13 of them actually passed both components of the ABCTE test and 13 is a pretty thin reed to lean on. That said, two important things: First, it’s a hard test which, along with the reflexive political opposition, contributes to the numbers problem. Interestingly, Chester Finn, who is often vilified for allegedly saying that just anyone can teach, is a key reason why the cut scores on the test are so rigorous. Second, ABCTE has been admirably restrained in touting the study as somehow being conclusive (Esteban Guzman notes much the same here) and they deserve some props for that as they could have gone the slicker media confusing route to try to score some points. More research coming. Somewhat relevant disclosure here.
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