Teacher test results may be appealable

State considers licensing change

One day after the issue sparked derision and mockery on the Senate floor, the Patrick administration has indicated it is receptive to legislation that would allow aspiring teachers who fail the certification test three times to get licensed anyway.

S. Paul Reville, chairman of the state Board of Education, said yesterday that the administration is trying to figure out what other criteria it might use to judge candidates who cannot pass the test. The state, like many, has been struggling with a shortage of teachers and does not want to discourage qualified applicants.

"The test is one methodology - and we think it's a valid and reliable methodology for looking at people's level of skills and knowledge - but it isn't necessarily the best venue for everybody to demonstrate their competency," said Reville, who in July will take the newly created post of state education secretary.

The bill passed the Senate Thursday by a vote of 34 to 5. Critics roundly denounced the measure as an attempt to water down a key tool used to weed out sub par teaching candidates. Republicans openly mocked the bill by offering a series of satirical amendments to allow similar appeals for doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals who cannot pass their certification tests.

"It demeans the whole profession," said Senator Richard R. Tisei, Republican of Wakefield and the Senate minority leader. "Teachers should be held to the same standards that we expect when we certify a lawyer, an accountant, a funeral director."

Aspiring teachers need a score of 240 out of a possible 300 to pass the test, which measures literacy and communication skills, as well as knowledge in a particular subject. The test is scaled, so the bill says that anyone who takes the test three times and comes at least once within "one standard of error" of a passing score may appeal to the state education commissioner. That score would vary each time the test is administered.

Proponents said they pushed the bill for aspiring teachers who believe they are qualified but unable to pass the test.

"I don't think any test can absolutely indicate whether someone can be a good teacher or not and should not be the ultimate determination in some of the cases," said Senator Robert A. Antonioni, chairman of the Education Committee, who sponsored the bill.

Christopher R. Anderson, an Education Board member, agreed. "These are people in the anecdotal cases I've seen who we don't want to see pushed out of the profession, and the lack of the appeals process has been a hurdle to retaining them," he said.

Chuck Zucco - who owns the Education Testing Institute, a Wakefield company that helps teachers prepare for the test - said he has had customers who have failed the test more than a dozen times. Most have a learning disability or speak English as a second language, he said. Some might still make good teachers, he said. "It would hurt my business, but there are certain cases where I think the bill makes sense," Zucco said.

The test has provoked controversy before. House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran caused a furor in 1998, the year the test began, when he called people who had failed the test "idiots."

Tisei said that the test has worked and should not be weakened. "It's one of those things that people are really upset about," Tisei said. "They do think that we're really lowering the bar, and what type of message does that send to the kids?"

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.