Meeting of the Board of Regents | July 2008

SUMMARY

Issue for Information

Based on 2006-07 New York State Teacher Certification Examination (NYSTCE) pass rate data, what institutions are required to submit corrective action plans to the Department?

Proposed Handling

For information.

Procedural History

Each July, the Regents receive an information item on the pass-rate data for the State teacher certification examinations. This data is used to meet accountability requirements under Part 52.21(2)(iv) of the Commissioner's Regulations and federal law (Title II, Higher Education Act).

Background Information

To qualify for an initial teaching certificate in New York State, candidates must pass the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test (LAST), the Assessment of Teaching Skills-Written (ATS-W), and the Content Specialty Test (CST).  Institutions must maintain an 80 percent pass rate for all program completers on each examination. If an institution is identified as having a pass rate of less than 80 percent on any of the examinations, it is required to submit a corrective action plan to the Department for review and approval. Both the State Education Department and the U.S. Department of Education use these test results as one measure to help ensure high standards of quality in teacher education programs.  Examination results are used in the following way to identify institutions:

• For both the LAST and ATS-W examinations, the Department uses pass rate data to identify institutions for corrective action when they have 10 or more examination scores in the given year.

• Beginning with 2004 - 2005 test scores, pass rates on individual CSTs have been used to determine whether an institution is in the low-performing category. The Department uses CST data to determine whether an institution satisfies the 80 percent pass rate only when the institution has 30 or more scores on a given CST.  Data from up to the three most recent years is accumulated to reach a total of at least 30 scores, beginning with 2004-2005 data as the base year. If an institution does not meet the minimum 80 percent pass rate on a CST examination, the Department advises the institution to prepare a corrective action plan to address the area of the CST.

Corrective Action Based on 2006-2007 NYSTCE Results

Based on 2006-2007 LAST, ATS-W, and/or single- or multi-year CST examination results, Appendix A contains a list of all institutions that will be required to submit corrective action plans for the Department's review and approval. Appendix B contains NYSTCE data for 2006-2007 program completers.  

Recommendation

N/A

Timetable for Implementation

N/A

Attachments

Appendix A: 2006-2007 Low Performing Institutions

*Combined pass rate for 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007. The Department uses CST data to determine whether an institution satisfies the 80 percent pass rate only when the institution has 30 or more scores on a given CST.  Data from up to the three most recent years is accumulated to reach a total of at least 30 scores, beginning with 2004-2005 data as the base year.