Opinion
Equity & Diversity Letter to the Editor

What the NCTQ Report Misses

April 16, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

The article “You’re More Likely to Pass the Bar Than an Elementary Teacher Licensing Exam” (March 5, 2019) covers “A Fair Chance,” the report from the National Council on Teacher Quality about how teacher licensure exams disproportionately screen out aspiring teachers of color from the profession. This report, however, ignores all insights from the most important source: aspiring teachers of color themselves.

Studies sharing insights from these aspiring teachers demonstrate there is more to licensure exams than the report conveys. In 2006, Christine Bennett and colleagues found that Black and Latinx students who perform well on licensure exams have stronger ethnic identities than those who struggle on exams. In 2014 and 2015, I found the exams can become a racially charged experience related to intelligence, character, and test preparation for some African-American test-takers. All of these insights come from working directly with aspiring teachers of color.

Studies of this nature exceed the number of statistical studies on the topic—the only kind that “A Fair Chance” uses. The issue here is not about research methods, however, but about how this report misrepresents a delicate topic by overlooking the insights from people most affected by it. These studies exist in publications that are available to NCTQ researchers. How do we know this? Because NCTQ draws from other studies in these same databases and academic search engines.

The report’s omission of insight from aspiring teachers of color directs attention away from any problems with these exams, the companies that make and profit from them, and policies that states set around them. The point here is not to cast blame. Complex problems have complex sources. But by limiting the scope of the issue, NCTQ would have the public believe the only way to diversify the teaching profession is for teacher education programs to wrap their curricula around these narrow exams.

Emery Petchauer

Associate Professor

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Mich.

A version of this article appeared in the April 17, 2019 edition of Education Week as What the NCTQ Report Misses

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Trump Sues California Over Law Letting Trans Athletes Compete in K-12 Sports
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit after California on Wednesday refused to repeal its state law.
Lia Russell, The Sacramento Bee
5 min read
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion How to Keep Supporting Students in a Hostile Political Environment
Protecting kids outside of school may be beyond educators' means, but here are ways we can help them.
10 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion It’s Been 5 Years Since the George Floyd Protests. Where Are We Now?
Promises of equality and justice languished and then under Trump, were declared void.
Tyrone C. Howard
5 min read
Demonstrators kneel in a moment of silence outside the Long Beach Police Department on May 31, 2020, in Long Beach, Cali., during a protest over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer earlier that month.
Demonstrators kneel in a moment of silence outside the Long Beach Police Department on May 31, 2020, in Long Beach, Cali., during a protest over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer earlier that month.
Ashley Landis/AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion Let DEI Practices Die. Replace Them With Something Better
Individual student agency enabled by strong families and schools can lead students to success, writes a researcher.
Robert Maranto
5 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon meets with students during a visit to Vertex Partnership Academies in New York on March 7, 2025.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon meets with students during a visit to Vertex Partnership Academies in New York City on March 7, 2025.
Courtesy of U.S. Department of Education