Teacher Accountability

shorter duration and less expensive (Darling-Hammond & Lieberman, 2012). Some research indicates a small but significant difference in preparation quality between alternative and traditional programs, with alternative programs having slightly higher levels of teacher achievement (Whitford, Zhang, & Katsiyannis, 2018), though this is far from conclusive.

Regardless of what path they take into the profession, most educators who aim to teach in public schools (and most charter, private, or parochial schools) need to pass a set of standardized exams called the Praxis. These tests, created and given by Educational Testing Service—the same test maker responsible for the SAT—often come in two parts. The Praxis I (or Core Academic Skills for Educators) assessments are reading, writing, and mathematics tests “designed to provide comprehensive assessments that measure the skills and content knowledge of candidates entering teacher preparation programs” (ETS, n.d.a). In addition, prospective teachers must take and pass the Praxis II (or Subject) assessments that “measure subject-specific content knowledge” (ETS, n.d.a). Sitting for both tests takes nearly eight hours and costs about three hundred dollars (ETS, n.d.b).

Like all standardized exams, the Praxis exams are powerfully entrenched gatekeepers that face harsh criticism of being unfair and ineffective (Barnum, 2017). Indeed, research can show little to no connection between a teacher’s ability to effectively teach and the teacher’s scores on standardized exams (Henry et al., 2013). Just as most patients don’t measure their doctors’ effectiveness based on what they scored on their licensure exams, the relationship between effective teaching and a high Praxis score is similarly dubious. What is known, however, is that these standardized exams are barriers against diversifying the education workforce in America.

Teacher Accountability

It is true that teachers in America are generally underpaid, under-trained, and underappreciated. It is also true, however, that America’s teachers need greater accountability for providing high-quality education—particularly to poor and traditionally marginalized students. But teachers cannot be held accountable for providing highquality instruction when they themselves have not been adequately trained. Crazy as it sounds, most teachers have not been taught how children learn to read (Hanford, 2018). How are teachers held accountable for student learning when their preparation doesn’t include something as basic as reading instruction?

Teachers need a strong foundation in the theoretical aspects of education, but the practical aspects are just as important—those everyday teacher moves that too many teachers must learn on the fly, including how to stand and deliver instructions, how to set and reinforce expectations, how to use public and individual redirections, how to