The following is a summary of the March 31, 2005, meeting of the VBOE's Special Committee to Study and Make Recommendations Relative to Teacher Licensure Assessments prepared by Paul Joseph, president, Joseph Educational Consulting Services (JECS), pfjoseph@comcast.net.

Summary of VBOE's Special Committee to Study and Make Recommendations Relative to Teacher Licensure Assessments

SB 949 was signed by the Governor. This bill eliminates the requirement for out-of-state candidates with valid licenses at the time of their application for a license to take the Praxis I only. Although signed, the effective date of this requirement will depend upon an update of the licensure regulations. Therefore, the effective date is still to be determined. At the same time, the reference in this Bill that eliminated the requirement that candidates in Virginia teacher preparation programs "Before completing any approved program, (candidates) must achieve the minimum score on the test prescribed" (Praxis I in VA) is not affected by this bill. This is because similar language in Higher Education's Title 23 was not changed/amended.

Note: The reference they made at the meeting was Title 23 of Higher Education but I don't know specifically if they said the Higher Education Act or something else. I'll leave any revisions to that piece to you.

School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) - Anne Wescott, Assistant Superintendent for Policy and Public Affairs at DOE, indicated that the administrative requirements for this item have been completed and that the effective date for the SLLA assessment's implementation and cut-score of 165 is July 1, 2005. Advise all those pursuing the administrative endorsement who want to be principals that after July 1, 2005, the test is required for the endorsement and they must meet the 165 cut score. Please refer to the SLLA Q&A on the DOE web site if you have any specific questions.

Praxis Assessments - No action was taken on the Praxis I cut-score at the last Board meeting. However, a Special Committee of the Board of Education to Study and Make Recommendations Relative to Teacher Licensaure Assessments has been formed. The first meeting was held on March 31 with follow-on meetings scheduled for April 13, 22 and May 24. At the first meeting, Anne Wescott gave an overview of legislation related to teacher assessments in Virginia (specifcally SB 949) and Dr. Elliott gave an historical overview of teacher assessment in Virginia.

Mr. Tom Jackson, Board President, indicated that he wanted all panel members to be focused on this issue over the next 60 days so that a proper review and recommendation can be made to the Board, hopefully at the May Board meeting.

Dr. JoLynne DeMary, Superintendent of Public Instruction, indicated that the Praxis was the most contentious issue in licensure and that an easy way out may have been to follow ABTEL's recommendation to reduce the cut scores. However, she indicated that much more was involved in making this decision to include questions like what to assess; when to assess; how much assessment is enough; what is the "value-added" of the assessments and what impact does assessment have on the teacher situation. These and many other matters will be covered during the upcoming public meetings.