Arizona requires a passing score in Arizona Government and US Constitution,
as well as a passing (?) score in their version of a teacher competency exam
-- both in general competency, i.e., the three Rs (Reading, 'Riting and
'Rithmetic), general pedagogy and content-specific knowledge. It used to be
that, regardless of the degrees or teaching certifications one held coming
out of university, one was still required to take ALL of the teacher
competency and AZ Gov./US Constitution tests (at $80 a pop, this sometimes
posed an expensive certification!). In addition, this certified one only
for six years, contingent upon 180 hours of professional development
(separate from career ladder -- no double-dipping!) for a permanent
certification. Out-of-state certifications would not be transferred.
As I understand it now, a B.S. or B.A. (or higher) relieves one now of
taking the content-specific knowledge test, but not the general pedagogy or
AZ Gov./US Constitution tests. To boot, this only still only earns a
TEMPORARY certification, contingent upon 180 hours of re-certification,
professional development hours within 6 years.
(Of course this implies that, if you can pass their exam, you can be
certified to teach the course! If the tests were well-designed, i.e.,
statistically reliable, I would not have a problem with this. Nevertheless,
the tests have NOT -- repeat NOT -- been proven reliable, largely because
the sampling is so low! This means, a good score does not necessarily
indicate competent knowledge [much less good skills in teaching the
subject]; nor does a poor score necessarily indicate poor or insufficient
knowledge. I have both a B.A. in German and a B.S. in Physics. I never did
receive the results of the general pedagogy or content-specific knowledge
tests (German or Physics) largely because THEY WERE USING MY SCORES TO
VALIDATE THE TESTS. To my knowledge, the tests have yet to be declared
reliable... and yet Arizona still requires them!)
As a direct result of these new "hoops" through which potential teachers
have to "jump," few teachers have had mettle enough to move from
out-of-state (and why would they anyway -- Arizona is 48th in the US for
teacher salaries; indeed, fully 70 percent of Arizona is classified as
'indigent' or 'in-need' schools). To add insult to injury, prospective
teachers leave the state immediately upon matriculation from university --
like a mass exodus of rats leaving a sinking ship!
The result: AZ is worse-off than it started. Temporary certifications
(good for a year, contingent upon passing abovementioned requirements) are
given out wholesale to teachers willing to try to teach physical science (I
had no idea my subject of instruction was so inscrutable, or so
under-staffed!). In my opinion, the quality of teaching has fallen and
future prospects look bleak. I begin to ask myself often whether I am cut
from the right cloth for this profession. And I considered myself until
lately a dedicated pedagogue.