- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1540806
- First Name Tony
- Last Name Hall
- Discipline Biology, Chemistry, Math, Physics
- Co-PI(s)
Gail Hughes, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, gdhughes@ualr.edu
- Presenters
Gail Hughes, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, gdhughes@ualr.edu
Need
The U.S. Department of Education, National Science Foundation (NSF), accreditation bodies, and others are dedicated to increasing the diversity of our educator workforce. We are stronger as a nation, work group, and classroom when people with different perspectives work and learn together. The United States Census Bureau (2017b) estimates that the population is 60.7% White, 18.1% Hispanic, 13.4% Black, and 5.8% Asian. By 2024, students of color are expected to comprise the majority. Yet, the most recent Schools and Staffing Survey indicated that 82% of public school teachers identified as white. Educator preparation programs must find ways to recruit a more representative teacher population. The overemphasis of standardized exam scores reduces the diversity among potential candidates because all groups do not score equally well on the ACT, SAT, or Praxis Exams. Thus, required minimum exam scores do not allow for an applicant pool which mirrors the diversity of the population.
Goals
To what extent will changes to admission standards to a teacher education program (and, thus, to Noyce Scholars) impact the 1. Diversity of candidate admissions? 2. Diversity of program graduates? 3. Quality of program graduates as measured by GPA and Subject Area Assessment pass rates?
Approach
In the Spring of 2018, the Arkansas Department of Education removed the Praxis Core score requirement from admissions to teacher education programs and deferred to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation’s (CAEP’s) 50% rule for program admission (i.e., the group average on nationally normed assessments of mathematics, reading, and writing must be in the top 50%). As we changed our admission policies to education programs, we believed that we needed to consider a wider range of evidences of the basic skills and provide opportunities for admission to individuals who may not meet a standard benchmark in all areas but show promise of becoming an outstanding educator. In addition, any applicant denied admission may appeal the decision to an assessment committee who will consider additional evidences of qualifications presented by applicants.
Outcomes
Preliminary data from the recent change suggests that the new requirements may have contributed to an increase of minority candidates. In 2016, only 15.25% of candidates were ethnic minorities (8.48% were African American). In 2017, as we began to disseminate the coming new requirements to our prospective candidates, 33.91% of candidates were ethnic minorities (19.13% were African American). Then, as we implemented the requirements in Spring 2018, 37.03% were ethnic minorities (21.43% were African American). In 2019, as we fully implement the new procedures and process, 39.24% of our candidates are ethnic minorities (21.52% are African American). As we continue to admit candidates under the new policies, we will be able to provide a more comprehensive longitudinal data set to address the impact on candidate diversity and impacts to our Noyce Scholar Cohorts. As candidates matriculate through the program, we can address the questions of diversity and quality of graduates.
Broader Impacts
The CAEP 50% rule, which mandates that the cohort average scores must be at the 50th percentile, allows programs to take a chance with candidates who show unique potential yet do not meet a minimum required score on all standardized exams. Initial data from this institution indicates a potential for increasing the diversity of teacher candidates through more inclusive admission policies. Longitudinal data are still needed to test the initial trends of greater diversity among teacher candidates, as well as, the ultimate diversity and quality of program graduates including Noyce Scholars.
