Assessing Professional Knowledge : Iowa

Analysis of Iowa's policies

Iowa does not currently require new teachers to pass a test of pedagogy in order to attain licensure.

The state requires elementary teachers to pass either a Praxis content knowledge test or one that combines content and pedagogical knowledge. Secondary teachers are not required to pass a test of pedagogy.

Iowa is part of the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) consortium and began a pilot program in Spring 2011.

Citation

http://www.ets.org/praxis/ia

Recommendations for Iowa

Require that all new teachers pass a pedagogy test.
Iowa should verify that all new teachers meet professional standards through a test of professional standards.

Ensure that performance assessments provide a meaningful measure of new teachers' knowledge and skills.
While Iowa is commended for considering the use of a performance-based assessment, the state should proceed with caution until additional data are available on the Teacher Performance Assessment. Additional research is needed to determine how the TPA compares to other teacher tests as well as whether the test's scores are predictive of student achievement. The track record on similar assessments is mixed at best. The two states that currently require the Praxis III performance-based assessment report pass rates of about 99 percent. Given that it takes significant resources to administer a performance-based assessment, a test that nearly every teacher passes is of questionable value

State response to our analysis

Iowa recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.