Friday, March 6, 2015

Those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad teacher certification exams

Are you familiar with a recurring anxiety dream where you are taking an important examination on material you are not familiar with, have not been able to study carefully, and feel you will most certainly fail? Well, students studying to become teachers in New York State are living this dream as reality. In what is clearly an intentional effort to produce higher failure rates on licensure exams, the New York State Education Department has rushed to implement new, harder tests and to make the edTPA a certification requirement as part of a political agenda backed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Governor Cuomo, and former Commissioner John King.
Teacher education programs are frantically scrambling to accommodate students who are in a full-blown panic and understandable confusion over the sudden change in regulations. Even the Board of Regents is attempting to reduce the disastrous effects of this completely bungled roll out, perhaps making things worse. Meanwhile, the public is in the dark about what is happening in part because of the technical nature of teacher licensure, and in part because of a lack of attention to teacher education in journalism.
What is so terrible about these certification exams? Overall, there are six issues in my opinion that top the long list. I’ll start with that overview, and then I’ll get into specifics about each of the exams. Consider this my attempt at a 101 course on what it takes to become a teacher in New York State, besides getting a masters degree from a college or university.

TIME AND TIMING

            Each of these tests is timed, with the exception of the edTPA, although that must usually be completed within the one semester of student teaching in the vast majority of programs. No one reports having leftover time, they work right up to the last minute. The timing of when you must take the tests is dictated by individual programs. Some are required for admission, some after a certain number of credits, some prior to student teaching. The problem is if you fail, you are likely to be derailed from your progress in the program, which costs you more than just a retake. There are time limits on when you can retake the exams. Some students are also taking CLEP exams to compensate for missing undergraduate course requirements. Let’s just say that throughout your time in a teacher preparation program you are worrying about certification exams.

COSTS

            The new exams are computer based, and cost more than the old exams. You will easily spend upwards of $1,000 on these exams. Even practice tests cost you $30. There were a handful of vouchers distributed to colleges for some exams, but not nearly enough to meet demands of those with financial aid. If you schedule an exam and need to cancel, you only get a partial rebate. If you want to contest your edTPA score, you must pay $200, which does not entitle you to a new evaluation, only to an internal investigation of the scoring process. It’s half as much to do a one-task retake, so that’s the likelier choice in the event you don’t have a passing score.

QUANTITY

            There are now four exams required for initial certification. It seems they want to cover all the content of the preparation program, maybe so that eventually someone can circumvent a masters program altogether. The state says the tests measure “knowledge and skills that are necessary for service in the state’s schools.” The type of knowledge that can be measured in multiple choice and short essay questions is quite limited, and I think to assume the tests measure skill level accurately is really a stretch. There’s certainly no shortage of the encyclopedic factoids to invent as essential for teachers to know, so they will probably continue to invent new tests and questions ad infinitum.

VALIDITY AND TRANSPARENCY

            Teacher educators would like to know what makes these tests valid, what research has been done to show that those who pass are better teachers than those that don’t. Good luck Googling that! There is virtually no transparency regarding who designed and developed the exams, how and when they were piloted and normed, and zero studies on their validity.  The state provides vague details on the “standard setting committees”  and cut score processes, claims they were field tested, and that individuals on the committees are qualified to make these important determinations. Even without expertise in psychometrics, it’s easy to see that someone is trying to hide something.

FORMAT

            In order to be inexpensive to score, the format of the exams tends to be all about one right answer. Even in the edTPA, supposedly the most holistic of the exams, the rubrics and scoring guides are so rigid that there is virtually no room for human interpretation. Those exams that claim to measure writing skills are actually asking for robotic 5-paragraph essay style answers that having nothing to do with real writing. On multiple-choice questions, how is it possible to differentiate between a right answer and a good guess? It isn’t. It might just be a lucky guess.

BIAS

            At least two of the exams are racially discriminatory, as Peter Goodman showed with data that was not made publically available back in November on his blog. “The pass rate for White test takers on the EAS was 82%, Non-White test takers 74%. The pass rate for White test takers on the ALST was 74%, Non-White test takers 55%.” You’d think that losing prior civil rights lawsuits over the old certification exam would prevent the state from continuing to take actions that reduce the diversity of the teacher workforce. You’d be wrong.

The Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST) 
            In my opinion, this is the absolute worst test on the planet. Touted by Governor Cuomo as the equivalent of an 8th grade reading and writing test (he should try taking my version), this new test has virtually no relationship to the previous test with the same letters in the acronym, the LAST, which attempted to measure liberal arts knowledge gained in college years. Instead, in 3.5 hours, you must answer 40 selected-response questions pertaining to reading passages, write two focused-response 200 word essays and one extended-response 400 word essay pertaining to pro/con reading passages and a graph or chart. Topics for the essay portion seem to have been selected by someone searching the tax code for the dullest “controversies” swimming in economic and legal jargon. Here’s a sample of two focused-responses and an extended-response to give you an idea. The state describes this as “complex and nuanced writing” but I think it could be used to cure insomnia. Results from the first 11,371 test takers  were just what the politicians hoped for: only 68% passed, and only 7% at the “mastery” level. Look at all those illiterate wanna-be teachers who can’t pass a middle school test!

The Educating All Students Test (EAS
At least the content of this 90 minute selected-response and constructed-response test pertains to something teachers care about – their students. Five areas are tested, but the two types of responses pertain to the three most important (according to the test creators): diverse student populations, English language learners, and students with disabilities and special learning needs. There are a few multiple-choice questions on teacher responsibilities and home-school relations. I fear that this test contributes to problematic notions that students who are multilingual or have disabilities should be flagged as potentially students of concern. Sample questions contain oversimplifications of classroom contexts as having a majority of students from “one culture” with a new minority “immigrant population” and use in-vogue terminology such as “culturally responsive” with little to no depth. Again, initial results from over 10,000 test takers had 77% passing, only 3% at the “mastery” level.

Content Specialty Tests (CSTs)
These are meant to cover all of the certification areas to ensure that physical education teachers, for example, know enough about physical education to teach it. The new versions of these tests are so new that there are people still waiting for their score results, promised in early 2015, because the state “standard setting committees” haven’t worked out the harder cut scores yet. You can’t make this stuff up. The latest information says scores will be released in spring.  Sample multiple choice questions on the arts and sciences portion of the four multi-subject tests taken by early childhood through high school teachers include a few doozies such as:
Running repeated sprints at maximum speed would be the most appropriate way to develop the endurance needed for successful participation in which sport? Choices are: American football, cross-country, basketball, and soccer. The correct answer is supposedly football, because “players undergo repeated bursts of intense activity…involving running short to medium distances at high speeds.” I don’t know much about football, but from what I have seen, linebackers seem to just block the opposing team’s linebackers. The best way to pick the football answer is actually to notice that the other three choices all obviously involve a considerable amount of running and therefore cancel each other out. Therefore the question is measuring test-taking knowledge rather than content knowledge.

Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA)
I have previously written extensively about problems with the Stanford’s SCALE developed/Pearson scored monster test that is taking over teacher education curriculum like an out-of-control garden weed. As one of two “edTPA Coordinator” faculty at Mercy College, I am increasingly convinced this belongs in induction, when teachers are not guests in another teacher’s classroom, because it is simply too burdensome and time-consuming to complete in a semester of student teaching. Two semesters of student teaching are not an option for most programs due to cost and working students who can ill-afford to give up employment for that length of time. Tales from the field include such horror stories as student teachers being told to complete TWO edTPAs so the best can be submitted, videos coded as unscoreable because of sound quality issues or even students’ full names visible on desks, complex classroom arrangements to obtain optimal video (how about the book storage closet?), confusion over the difference between language functions and forms, and a nightmare over official retake policies that, heaven forbid, might require additional classroom placements after student teaching is over and graduation requirements have been met. I’m sure college lawyers are on the phone right now comparing insurance policies and trying to figure out if non-matriculated students are covered or not.


In my statement during yesterday’s UUP press conference in Albany, I tried to convey the stark difference between what my students know, do, and write thoughtfully about and what is measured (supposedly) by these exams. I included the essay written by Sami-Beth Cohen who is currently student teaching in an excellent public school in Manhattan to share her rage and frustration with these policies and the inflammatory rhetoric of Governor Cuomo. Please add your voice to ours. Now that you’ve had my 101 course, I promote you to the next level: concerned citizen.

54 comments:

  1. The New York Times reported on bias concerns in the ALST yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/nyregion/questions-of-bias-are-raised-about-a-teachers-exam-in-new-york.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

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    1. I have been teaching the NYSTCE exclusively for the last 6 years or so. I would not necessarily agree that the essays are hard, I do agree that they are the type of essay you would expect an 8th grade student to be able to write. However the problem in my opinion is the impossibly high standard needed to pass.

      Most lay people who hear that teachers are failing their certification exams seem to be under the impression that they are coming in with scores in the low 70s or 60s. In fact you need an average of 86.6 to pass these tests. I have had many students fail this test with an average of 85%.

      I'd love for the State to explain how you can refuse someone's certification because they scored an 85% on a test, but I have watched this happen for almost a year now. It's one thing for a school to requre a certain score before hiring a candidate, quite another to deny a professional their license because they "only got a B plus" on the test.

      The other issue is no feedback whatsoever. In fact on the EAS students are not even told the difference between their essay scores and the multiple choice. We have had to blindly try to figure out why the students are failing.

      The entire set up of these exams is draining, emotionally abusive, extremely expensive and patently unfair. Now that they have revised the requirements we shall see if they are willing to compensate people for the damage they have done.

      As always Brooklyn Education Center is here to help teachers pass. Now that there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, it should be more hopeful.

      Thanks for posting this Alexandra, I have shared it on our wall.

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  2. I am a white American language teacher who has failed the CST for Mandarin 4 times. I am fluent in Mandarin, yet each time I take it I am given a lower score. Pearson stands behind their cryptic scoring, which I am sure is done by native speakers, many of whom have a notorious bias against non-Chinese people trying to teach their language. The last time, I was given a score basically equivalent to having walked in and written my name, and walked out. This unfair bias lost me my dream job and I will never forgive Pearson.

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  3. Keep exposing the Pearson fraud, it will help dismantle their monopoly.

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    1. Who do you report the scam too? They are all grouped together to defraud the people.

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  4. I find it very suspicious that you cannot find what the average scores were on the edTPAs submitted in 2015. I also question the validity and reliability of the edTPA when Pearson continued to make amendments to it while teacher candidates were in the middle of submission. If various amendments were made to the handbook then it obviously wasn't ready to be shared with the public. This culture of placing blame on teachers and punishing them has to stop.

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    1. I agree, the governor i have voted in office and all that is head of the certification is cheating us all. They claim they need teachers and they are not willing to train the teachers for free to educate the future generation. I have taken the EAS five times with a score of 495. I called the state education department to question my score and compare my index performance to their sample score of 500 and index performance. My index performance said "fail." And their index performance said pass, when my index performance is more then their index performance. Something is wrong and need to be investigated. Moreover, i spoke to someone at the NYSTCE and they told me to ignore the second page.. Unbelievable and wonders shall never end with this scam. I said why is it there and i will not ignore it.

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    2. I have taken the birth- second cst ,math exam and I have failed three times. I have had the questions on the exam that do not for appropriate for the grade I will be teaching. Majority of the math questions are for 4, 5,6,and even 7th graders. If I was taking the 1-6th grade math exam then it would be acceptable to have these questions but I am not. The exam does not ask any questions that are for birth- second graders.

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  5. I'm taking the EDtpa now and still need to take the EAS, Multi-subject CST and CST Students with Disabilities after failing the Multi-Subject and EAS by 11 and 5 points.
    The EDtpa is in itself is making me wonder how recording one or two lessons in a class which isn't our own affirms we'll be good teachers? Add to it the price future teachers are being punished.

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  6. I managed to pass the content tests on my first attempt despite moving from out of state and not taking any preparatory classes but it's a credit only to my high IQ and test taking abilities. I can easily see superior teachers not fairing as well. Today I took the ALST. It was a lot easier than the practice exams I looked through (for me) but then I reached the end and there was a copy right notice for a couple of articles or excerpts I did NOT see on the exam (and no copy right notices for any of the ones that I did.) If that's wrong, how can I trust anything else?

    It's pretty obvious the purpose of these tests is not the weed out the best teachers but to make money for Pearson and continue to undermine public education until they finally convince enough of the public to fully privatize it, and deny a quality education to all but the wealthiest or a chosen few. As the song goes, "Don't know what you got 'til it's gone."

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  7. 100% Pearson is trying to bank off of everyone. All these exams are rigged. I failed the CST multi subject exam 4 times already and taking it again next Tuesday. It's funny though, because the last two times I took this test, on the written response part I basically wrote the same exact essay, failed brutally the first time and scored high the second time. Not sure who is grading these exams but it's a scam and at this rate I will never become certified. I still have the EdTPA left...SO EXCITING..CANT WAIT TO FAIL! It's honestly upsetting at this point, took me a long time to get here and I can't pass by 6 points. This sucks!

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    1. Why is the Governor, the same people we vote for allowing this to happen teachers? It is a shame and very disgusting.

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  8. I am taking the ALST Friday and been looking through my practice book. How os pride and prejudice an elementary level text I need to be able to dissect and analyze?!? Please tell me these tests have improved since 2014/15. I am a crappy test taker and super nervous!! Been teaching for 10 years and moving to NYC. Hoping this won't harm my chances of that actually happening

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  9. THANK YOU FOR THIS. I am getting my New York certification through out-of-state reciprocity and these tests have been a nightmare. I am a Praxis 1 tutor and I am generally a good test taker. I found the EAS test to be incredibly arbitrary.The questions gave a scenario and asked me something like this: "Which of the following would be a good strategy for X?" There would be one ridiculous option, a so-so option, two great potential answers. Teaching cannot be reduced to ONE right strategy for a particular objective. This test was completely useless. The CST ESOL test was marginally better.

    What I learned: If the phrase "culturally responsive" is in the selection of answers, that's the right one. Same with "accommodations," "scaffolding," "personal connection," "build on prior knowledge," and "cooperative learning." Any potential answer that has students working independently, for any reason, is incorrect.

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  10. How is it possible that these people just have a great monopoly to get the most amount of money from teaching candidates . Worst of all they jeopardize your job . They apparently redesigned the CST ESOL test. That is designed of 90 multiple choice questions which are not short , you only have 1.5 minutes to read analyze and then choose the correct answer . Then a constructed response where you have to analyze data to strategically plan to move forward your ESOL students . This is scheduled to be answered in 3 hours and 15 minutes . Worst nightmare for me as an educator for over 15 years who just came here to NYC to contribute to the educational process of the future of this country and guess what ? I failed by one point I scored 519 points. My constructed response was excellent since I got the four points they give . That means that I know how to identify learning and teaching strategies, differentiate, demonstrate cultural diversity empathy and respect, use scaffolding strategies to move on my ENL teachers to become proficient in a second language . I have never felt so disappointed and frustrated. When you divide 600 in to 519 the percentage would be 86.5% percentage correct . I have four teaching licenses 3 from Puerto Rico and one from Florida . Two Masters Degree in Education. The big question is How much money will I have to keep spending to comply with Pearson expectations?.

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    1. I am right there with you! I have my teaching degree and Certification in another state with 9 years of classroom lead teacher experience. Since moving to NY in a year I have taken the CST part 2 SEVEN times missing the passing mark by 5 points! I've argued this with Albany many times, documented our conversations on the phone and countless of emails including a 6 six hour round trip drive to argue my case. Its a frustrating, ridiculous set up! The NY State Dept of Edu. seems to have no regard nor care to great teachers with strong credentials and its disgusting!

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    2. I agree. The state is in on it. They are in partnership with pPearson testing vue. Get it in partnership.they are playing with people and dont give a hoop about the children education and the want to be teachers.I am very disappointed in them. Heartless over money

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  11. Just an update, failed the safety net cst again and have to take the old revised one. I'm wondering whether to bother anymore.

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    1. Hello.
      Last year I took the EAS, ALST (no longer a requirement, now it's the edTPA), and the CST(ESOL). Failed all three by a couple of points. Took the EAS last month and failed by one point. Still waiting for the results of the Saftey Net for ESOL. I wish they'd give people a refund for failing or at least charge them half to retake these exams. I too wondered if it made since to retake these exams. All these exams do is giving you a passing score. How on Earth does this show that you'll be a great teacher? It doesn't. Once you're in that classroom, it's a different ball game. I have my Bachelors and was considering using that to get a job starting out with $80K. While doing that I was going to go back to school to become a Speech Pathologist. Honestly, with a BS or MS you can use that and work as a Training and Development Manager, Public Relations Manager/Specialist, and a Regulatory Affairs Manager. Guess what? All are looking for people with our teaching background. So, we have options.

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  12. I lost a teaching job as I got a 40 on the Edtpa, needed a 41. I called Pearson to have them explain an answer that I knew to be correct, that would have easily given me the point I needed. They said they understood my frustration and they were sorry but that I explained the word instead of actually saying the word. If only I wrote the actual word - psychomotor! That was it! I would have gotten my first paycheck last Friday and would have been able to begin paying off my student loan which is due in 1 month. I am sick about this and now to learn that as of last Tuesday they have agreed to lower the passing score to 38 in 2018. Seriously believe a lawsuit against NYS is the right thing to do. This has to stop! This has cost me a ton of money and I would like to help this get straightened out for future teachers.

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    1. I was wondering if youre able to resubmit your edtpa score in 2018? I failed my edtpa by receiving a 39 as a score.

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    2. I called Pearson as well to appeal my scores and guess what they told me? "You're exams have been reviewed by qualified tests specialist. It's looked over by two people and that's it. We cannot have a third person review your exam". I was pissed! How does taking these exams prove that we're qualified to teach?

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  13. How can you go about having an exam rescored? I have heard that many have been unsuccessful finding a test score disrepency on their own. I am convinced I passed a test that I have of course re took more than 3 times. I cant afford to prove my score is wrong on my own..but I have a gut feeling I really did pass..HELP!

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    1. You can call Pearson but it'll be a waist of time because they're not trying to help you. I tried to appeal three scores and was told that the people who graded my exam were highly trained and don't need to review my exams again. So, either we retake these exams or find another job that requires us to have teaching skills making $80K to start.

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    2. I have done the same- questioned and challenged Pearson to recheck my scores. They don't care! Their reply was along the lines of "our exams go through an extreme procedure of foolproof scoring, re-scoring and rechecking those scores which is why they take long to post the scores".

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    3. I dont want them to recheck my score, I want to see my entire exam. This is the 5th time for me. I am tired of this and refuse to reach out to anybody because they are all scammer.

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  14. I see that this article is from 2015 but the comments are still rolling in about the horrific Certification exams. I have been trying to become a NY certified teacher for 2 years now. After months of feeling stupid and not capable to be a teacher anymore because of constant failing results, I have come to the conclusion that Pearson is indeed a fraud. Blogs, like this one, and other website I have come across have showed my claims to be true. After my 4th time failing, I am completely fed up! Since I have taken it so many times, I have noticed that the actual multiple choice questions on the CST are the same. The essay excerpt changes up but it asks you to answer the same bullets points, every time. Knowing this, I memorized the essay I previously wrote which I got 4 on. The multiple section you have to answer out of pure luck because half of the questions can have more than one answer, yet Pearson says "No, there's not!" On the test where I got a 4 on the essay, I received an overall score of 518 which really frustrated me because I need a 520 to pass. I kept my hopes up, re-took the test, wrote the same essay, prayed on the multiple choice section and now I received a 506 with an essay score of 2! How could my essay go from a 2 to 4? I have tried the safety-nets which are just as flawed as the original test. On the safety net, I was asked questions about the language and terms used in London, how would I know this since I live in New York? These tests have nothing to do with teaching or how you would be as a teacher. Pearson, who is not paid by the DOE to product these tests, are simply taking it upon themselves to create tests to make you fail and collect your money as their income since they don't get paid! I have contacted Pearson about a rescore which they claim they do not offer but I know that they do because someone claimed to have paid for one and after that, had magically passed. If anybody is still experiencing these difficulties and frustration with the tests, please make it known! Florida made it known because teachers are going through a similar situation and are in the process of fighting their State Ed. Department and Pearson for these fraudulent and unfair tests.

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  15. Sign this petition to help those of us battling with the fraudulent teacher certification exams and Pearson, to be noticed and hopefully take action! Florida is doing it and so have people in the past which have gotten the ALST taken away. Now, we have to work on the rest of these unfair, invalid tests that are holding back aspiring teachers!

    https://www.change.org/p/andrew-cuomo-eliminate-the-flawed-unfair-biased-ny-teacher-certification-exams-by-the-corrupt-pearson-company

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  16. I am currently trying to become certified and I see many people in the comments are having a hard time. I can not believe they lowered the score in 2018 and those who took the edTPA in 2017 are screwed. Any advice?

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    1. The best advice I can give is to avoid the pitfalls of procrastination (I should know, I'm an expert procrastinator!) Start early, get super organized, and chip away. Use the good advice on http://passedtpa.com and find a person to work with on the portfolio. Misery loves company. Good luck!

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  17. For some reason I cannot see the comment I posted. May just be on my end.

    Will it hurt me that I did not film INSIDE the classroom? I was responsible for a group rather than whole class. I filmed out in the hallway. The students can be heard, and those moments where they couldn't I provided transcripts. I just don't want my videos to be the reason I fail. I feel as though I'm doomed. Sorry if this is a repeated comment from me. Again, I couldn't find my other one.

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  18. Kaylan don't worry about those video issues as many of my students had similar problems and it didn't count against them. As long as you did no editing and have followed the guidelines you should be fine.

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    1. Thank you for responding. Does editing include cutting off time from the end or beginning of a video that's too long?

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    2. No it's expected that you trim the two segments, but you can't paste together various clips, the videos have to be continuous.

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    Hbse result 2018

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  22. I need help. i took the arts and science test 2x and the last one was 4 points from passing and the language arts 6 points. both exams were for b-2nd. after this happened it seems ovewhelming and wanted to give up.. i have used bec, canisus college, barrons, xamonline, praxis.

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  23. Wow,

    Thanks for all the post. I've now taken the cst 5 times and have failed with a score of 516. I find these test pure b.s this shouldn't determine of your a capable teacher. Any suggestions on how to pass ? I'm out of money, hope, and patience.

    Thanks
    Becks

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    1. I know the feeling all too well. I just need to pass part I and II and am overwhelmed. Have you found any suggestions?

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  24. I hear your pain I am also taking the cst part 2 for the fourth time wnd can't pass. This is the last one I need before cerification and it is unbearingly frustrating!

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    1. I'm on number 7 with this pathetic exam and a score of 515! It's beyond frustrating and I'm convinced there's a loophole somewhere as this is not right especially for teachers with experience and credentials.

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    2. Loopholes, flaws, bias and among other things. I wonder when is the contract with pearson expires andxwhy?we dont have options to other test center, beside Pearson. May God help all want to be teachers. This is unfair.

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  25. As I read all these comments I now know that I am not the only won who is not able to pass CST multi early childhood. The math section. I also noticed that the questions are not for early childhood teachers. The test seems more for 4th grade- 6 grade. Not early childhood.

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    1. Do you have any tips for Part I? I also have to take part II (math) but I failed it 3x :(

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    2. I took that twice actually. Try and focus on the essay for content and organization, they both count.

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  26. Hi everyone, I took Students with disabilities 4 times and keep failing by 10-13 points. At this point I am panicking. It affects my professional life and personal. I feel like idiot and seriously considering spending money on tutoring. Does it worth it?
    Thanks a lot!

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    1. Do not feel like that, we are all struggling with these exams. I finally got a job that I liked but i order to get the pay that I deserve I have to pass these exams. It is very depressing but like everyone on here do not give up. Unfortunately I dont really remember how this exam was since i took it a while ago. But unlike the others, the disabilities exam was the closest to what you actually do as a teacher.

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  27. Hi Professor! Just wanted to give a quick update as to my progress, or lack of. I have only the CST Math Early Childhood exam and beyond the fact that math is my absolutely worst subject I am not motivated to study for it, let alone take it. I have not only taken and failed it 3 times with the safety net and therefore am lacking any motivation or confidence to take it. No updated study guides are provided, making us have to research all the information and guess if it is what they are asking.

    My outlook was to become a SEIT but now I am not sure as in order to do so I'd have to face this test again. :-(

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    1. Hi, I'm in the same loophole as you. I don't even know how to study for that crazy exam. I passed all others on the first try. Have you passed it already?

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  28. I'm a Native Spanish speaker and took the Spanish test when I had just got here. Pearson gave me a low score when my Grammar in Spanish is impeccable, writing, listening and speaking is great as well. I knew there was sth wrong but never followed that career anyway. Only from that exam we can tell Pearson is not scoring as it should..besides that the edTPA scores make 15 the hour for scoring that exam. They are not teachers or educators, but just regular people who make 15 an hour and know anything about teaching. This is like having a carpenter test a doctor's practice or vice versa. We need doctors in Education to check our edTPA who are specialized in the field our edTPA is about. That's all.

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  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  30. Anyone able to help with the ELA CST? I have taken it SOOO many times and always fail by 1-8 points. I've done so many different study methods. Tutoring, flashcards, practice exams, study guides, etc. Nothing helps. I've even tried different test centers. It's incredibly frustrating.

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