CT moves ahead on teacher testing while MA dithers

By Jim Stergios
May 9th, 2008

From the May 8th Hartford Courant, Arielle Levin Becker reports that Connecticut is moving in massachusetts’ direction on teacher testing, even as we wring our hands on whether our own reform was a good idea:

Aspiring early childhood and elementary school teachers will have to prove they know how to teach reading on a test the State Board of Education has added to Connecticut’s teacher certification requirements. The change, which was made Wednesday, comes amid worries about stagnating or declining student reading scores statewide and concerns that not all state teachers know the mechanics of teaching reading.

CT Department of Education spokesman Tom Murphy said:

“This sends a message to teacher preparation institutions that they need to make sure they have a focus on the art and science of teaching reading.”

Yup. And, uh, how about this?

The test will be required for certification for early childhood and elementary school teachers beginning July 1, 2009. Massachusetts requires the same test for certification, and state officials said that having teacher preparation programs in both states aligned to the same standards could help bring Massachusetts teachers to Connecticut.

Are we still leaders in ed reform, or have we lost our will?