I don’t know how many times I have heard someone I’m encouraging to homeschool say something like, “I could never teach Algebra.” Substitute any subject, such as chemistry, history, physics, etc. in place of Algebra. The implication being that we need “trained professionals” to teach these subjects to our children. The assumption is that public school teachers are the experts in these subject areas – not necessarily so.

A surprisingly large number of teachers have not actually studied the subjects they teach. For example, although most social studies teachers in grades 7 through 12 are certified, only 20 percent of them majored or minored in history. Overall, the majority of today’s public school teachers majored in education as undergraduates rather than any specific subject area. (Source: http://www.ppionline.org)

Ten states now require all new teachers to hold a major in a specific subject field other than education. An additional 19 states and the District of Columbia require only secondary school teachers to hold a major in an academic subject. (1999 data)

Ironically the national teacher unions oppose teacher certification tests designed to screen out incompetent teachers. Perhaps it’s because of the large failure rate among prospective teachers, particularly minority teachers. In 1998, of 1,800 Massachusetts teachers taking the test, 60 percent failed.

According to a September 2001 Chicago Sun-Times series that reviewed test scores for elementary, junior/middle and high-school teachers in Illinois, 67,118 teachers were tested between July 1988 and April 2001 and 5,243 failed at least one test while 1,308 failed three or more. On basic-skills tests alone, 66,769 teachers were tested during the same period and 2,132 failed at least one test, 414 failed three or more tests and 868 failed to pass any basic-skills test.

According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, or NCPA, 35 states use a test called Praxis I to certify that graduates have sufficient general knowledge, professional skills and subject knowledge to teach in a public-school classroom. In 1998, Virginia’s then-governor, conservative Republican James Gilmore, reported that as many as one-third of would-be teachers in his state flunked the test. Virginia has the country’s highest cutoff score for Praxis I, and experts say scarcely one-half of the prospective teachers nationwide who took the test would have made the Virginia cut.

• According to a report commissioned by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future:
• Fewer than one-half of the nation’s 1,200 teachers colleges meet professional standards of accreditation.
• In recent years, more than 50,000 teachers who lack training for their jobs have entered teaching annually on emergency or substandard certification.
• More than 40 states allow school districts to hire teachers who have not met basic education requirements, and more than 12 percent of new teachers nationwide begin with no training at all.
• When Pennsylvania evaluated its teacher testing, it discovered that teachers could qualify for positions in hard-to-fill subject areas just by signing their names.
• In Hawaii, one-half of new hires failed either to complete or pass certification exams.
• In Long Island, N.Y., a superintendent who decided to give teaching applicants an English test normally given to 11th-graders discovered that only one in four could pass.
• Among the 21 states using the Praxis I math test to screen teachers, most set cutoff scores so low that applicants could miss 40 percent of questions and still pass.

Source: Worldnet Daily http://worldnetdaily.com

How difficult are these tests? Here are a few sample questions from the Praxis tests and a link to additional questions so you can test yourself.

Which of the following is equal to a quarter of a million?

a. 40,000
b. 250,000
c. 2,500,000
d. 1/4,000,000
e. 4/1,000,000

Which of the following fractions is least?

a. 11/10
b. 99/100
c. 25/24
d. 3/2
e. 501/500

Martin Luther King Jr. (insert the correct choice) for the poor of all races.
a. spoke out passionately
b. spoke out passionate
c. did spoke out passionately
d. has spoke out passionately or
e. had spoken out passionate

Math Sample Questions
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/PRAXIS/pdf/5730.pdf

Reading Sample Questions
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/PRAXIS/pdf/5710.pdf

Writing Sample Questions
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/PRAXIS/pdf/5720.pdf

General Praxis Test Site
http://www.ets.org/