Teacher Certification (H 5339)

Until the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, Rhode Island law barred teacher applicants from being automatically disqualified for certification based solely on the results of a standardized written test. The ban was prompted by the significant racial disparities found in the test results and because there was no evidence that the test accurately measured the skills or aptitude of teaching applicants. For these reasons, we supported this legislation, which would suspend the requirement of a standardized teacher's examination as a prerequisite to obtaining a teaching certificate. This bill died in committee.