More Responses To Teacher Certification Failure Story
I was not just disappointed but horrified at the story you made about the teachers who failed to pass their teacher certification exams. As a teacher, I would like to mention that teachers who fail the exam and take it again show determination that they need to work hard to get what they want. In this case, it’s being an educator. That is what we instill in our students!You cannot compare the teacher exams to the TAKS test. For one, students get 3 chances to pass the test, not one. Second, the TAKS test is based on minimal knowledge! It was very distasteful of you to mention these three teacher’s names on your broadcast. We do not go and mention the names of every student who fails their TAKS exam! Some try really hard and can’t pass…should we discourage them from working harder by embarrassing them? Yes it takes some teachers longer to pass a test then others. It is a difficult exam but that does not make them any less of a teacher. If ABC really listens, then listen to what teachers have to say. We have a difficult job to do. You should be praising the education system rather than tearing it down! I’d like to see you take the exam and pass it! I hope next time you reconsider such negative stories or do better research before you destroy a teacher’s reputation.
If “we” the students are required to pass the state TAKS test with only a limited amount of chances, then there should be a limit for teachers to pass their certification exam.
I think you should drop the story about the teacher certification exam because some of those teachers on the list are certified!! Also, I believe your report has just weakened the educationsystem.The teaching profession is not the only one that requires a certification exam. There are other professions that require exams and you can also take those exams as many times as you please, so long as you can pay the fee.If this is what you call informative reporting then you can count me out. No more channel 7 news for me!!!!!
Mr. Bartlett, you idiot, I know many teachers who passed the test the very first time, and guess what?, that doesn’t make them a better teacher. Some of them don’t even belong teaching students! I am a teacher who has taken the test many times, and why don’t you ask my students how many times I let them take exams and if they don’t pass I tell them not to give up, never give up! Instead of wasting time with dumb reports you should report on how much the state charges to take the exam each time. Think about it, each time teachers would take the exam, it is more than 100 dollars. Add that up, MORON! Oh and by the way I really really would recommend you taking the test yourself and then reporting what you found out!
I want to challenge Martin Bartlett to take the test.
I believe that a test does not determine if you are a good or bad teacher. Teachers are more than just a written test. If you love being a teacher, you will shine as a great teacher. Students are more than their TAKS test, too.Teachers need to be understood and not judged. 🙁
I an glad to know that those teachers did not fail their content area that many times. That would be a great of concern for me as a parent and as a teacher. The other test is what “world of academia” thinks teachers need to know not what will work in the classroom. That is what makes it hard to pass. To pass that test you write down what “academia” wants not what will allow you to be a successful teacher.And yes, I passed the first time I took the test.
Yo creo que ese Martin Bartlett tiene que cambiar de profesion porque de reportero no sirve, es una persona sin etica, sin sensibilidad y sin escrupulos. Podria estudiar educacion para entender el esfuerzo, la responsabilidad, y la dedicacion a los que se comprometen los maestros. Cuantos examenes tiene que tomar un reportero? Seguramente ninguno porque si asi fuera… Martin Bartlett tardaria que intentar MAS DE 20 VECES para pasarlo.
One must look past how many times the teachers had to take a test and recognize they passed. We / they (teachers) should hold their students to the same standard for final exams. There are any diamonds in the rough if given the chance to shine. What about it Teachers- willing to hold the students to the same standard?
My best teacher ever was Julie Arias @ Bassett Middle School, thanks to her I learned so much, and I passed all my tests!!!!!!! I’m so sad to see that people who have power in the TV media can hurt people that I know don’t deserve it. Thanks for darkening the world just a little more. But I know there are people like Miss. Arias to brighten it once again.
The story and the follow-up was low class. For the second time, I challenge your reporter to take the certification tests.Let him pick the area. Released tests are available. Even better, I challenge him to try to teach one of my classes for a three week block.Well??
The only possible way the story on teacher tests would be fair is if you also did a follow up report on state mandated tests for nurses, doctors, lawyers, and journalists and the results for these professionals in El Paso. I seriously doubt that all journalists even have a 4 year bachelors degree from an accredited university, much less a state mandated test or tests. For your information most teachers need at least 3 tests in order to be certified by the state of Texas. If a teacher needs different areas of certification, then he/she must take and pass other tests (i.e. special ed.,K-8, high school, bilingual education, history, math, science, etc.). Administrators, superintendents, counselors, and librariansneed certifications in those areas as well. I have no doubt the teachers whose names you’ve now made public for the entire city to see, are embarrassed, but nevertheless have to show up to work and carry on. I really hope you report on thescores of tests of the other professions I mentioned above. It would be the only fair thing to do. While you are at it, please let the viewing public know if you have a degree and the kind of grades you received in college.-Rosario, East El Paso
In response to comments on teacher certification. Email writer “Laila” wrote that KVIA should be ashamed of exposing the names of the teachers who FAILED the certification for teaching. Why should they? She said the students scores on test reflect the style of teaching the teachers do. Maybe that is why many students are failing and some teachers end up in charter schools. To allow a person to teach without a teaching certificate, would be like drivers driving without a license. Driving without insurance. It is cheating!! Getting away with braking the law, until you get caught! Well these teachers got caught cheating, and they are cheating the children. What a lousy example to set. Shame shame everybody knows your name. BRAVO KVIA!!! Keep up the professional and humbling job you all do. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. GOD speed
Martin Bartlett, Are you and the I team in the business of defaming hard working Americans, such as my wife, on public television and the internet? Your story on the teachers who failed their tests was disgusting and misleading. You obviously have not “investigated” the full process of these tests in depth. You also failed to mention the fact that the tests you are reporting which many of these teachers failed have been replaced and not used for at least four years. What was the purpose of this report anyway? To make life harder for the people who have to deal with already hard to manage kids and their parents? What kind of state or government regulated tests do you have to take? Probably none. And if you did you would fail any portion on common decency. Well, I am not a teacher and my opinion is that so-called reporters like you who want to “be somebody” on television are the reason that many of my fellow soldiers got killed overseas during combat operations. I guess ethical news reporting is something of a fictional animal and making problems for people who don’t deserve them is common practice for you vultures. I hope you are satisfied knowing that you have helped increase the already present disrespect and negative attitudes toward our teachers due to your report. What’s next on your agenda? Discrediting our local religious establishments? Or how about our law enforcement, firefighters and EMT’S? Once you have brought everyone that is looked up to in our society down to your level maybe then you will get to be news reporter of the year or whatever highly coveted position you have to lie your way up to over there at kvia. You bring truth tothe saying that 99% of all reports make the rest look like scumbags. You have my name and phone number and I would gladly meet with you to further discuss this matter as well as obtain your most heartfelt apology to my wife for using her personal information to further your pathetic career. See you soon.
I’m completely appalled by your I-team investigation on teachers . I believe a true investigation would have researched why teachers have such a difficult time passing their certification tests. Instead of humiliating these innocent people who most likely show up to work each and every day “to give it their all”, your report should have focused on teacher preparation programs at the university level. There’s always another side to the story. As an educator myself (who for the record, I passed my exams the first time around) I have had countless conversations with colleagues in regards to what is taught at the university level and how it is not equivalent to the “real- world” in the classroom. The fact that I passed my exams the first time doesn’t make me any better than any of these teachers that have needed several opportunities to pass. I have met many outstanding individuals during my time as an educator, who for whatever reason had a very difficult time passing their certification tests. Does this make them mediocre and not worthy of being in the classroom…NO! These people are bright, dedicated, and giving people. Their main focus each day is to motivate and engage their students in the learning process just like the rest of us. It saddens me to know that this report was aired on KVIA. It was completely biased and there was no reason to single anyone out. If these teachers have taken these exams several times, it just goes to show their dedication to the field of teaching. Teaching isn’t just a means to get a paycheck each month. You have to love your job in order to continue doing it year after year. For a person to have taken the exam 26 times, that means $75 was spent on each exam. Do the math…and tell me that’s not determination. I don’t know too many professions where the employees play many different roles throughout the day such as in education…we are not only instructors, we are also mentors, nurses, caregivers, advisers, coaches, counselors, advocates, etc. If your station decided to air this story for ratings, then shame on you. You received what you set out to get but at what cost…you’ve offended and lost many of your viewers.
I think that in many professions, people are required to pass tests to become certified and/or licensed. They are pass/fail in many cases and are failed occasionally. This doesn’t mean that the person will not be a good teacher, lawyer, nurse, etc. It just means that if the person wants to practice in Texas, they’d better schedule in another test and meet the challenge. I think that it was almost mean spirited that you actually listed names of real people that took many times to meet the certification requirements. I am going to take certification tests in the near future to become a computer technician.If I don’t make it, please don’t post my name, and know that I’m going to try again.The bottom line is that it’s none of your business how I do on a test.
Just thought of one more thing. There are consequences if students don’t pass their TAKS tests, but the consequences are usually supportive from teachers and they always remain confidential.
I think the teacher certification topic was not researched properly. It is sad to see how Channel 7 went to far. Have you thought for a minute that maybe their careers have been ruined thanks to your coverage?
As always, we find yet another atrocious news report on teaching. It seems to me, that we are never satisfied with our schools, their performance, our students, and especially our teachers. Have we ever stopped to think of the enormous task that these individuals take on? Teaching is not easy – believe me, not even the long summers off (ha, ha!) or holidays we get to spend at home can ever make up for all the work we take home; for all the worries we face when your child fails at any task no matter how small, and when you refuse to return our numerous calls regarding your child’s progress. We as a society are very quick to judge those we do not understand. Why is it that these teachers had a hard time passing the test? I cannot give you an answer that will satisfy you. All I can tell you is that to be a teacher is one of the most difficult tasks I have faced. Not only do I have to know what I’m teaching, I also have to keep up with new information, I have to remember that not everyone learns the same way, that some of these children that arrive in myclassroom have not had food to eat, or a parent who makes sure that they start their day off right, and some have even been abused. At times I have to take on the role of a friend, a mother or father, sister or brother. Tell me, if they gave you a test that covered all this, how would you do? This Thanksgiving Day, I know that Channel 7 will be thankful for their freedom of speech, I on the other hand, will be thankful for being able to change the TV to another channel!
After watching your news report on teachers who have not passed the certification exams, we felt a betrayal on your commitment to education. In the past years we have seen student scores improve in the Texas Exams (according to reports in the El Paso Times), demonstrating that teachers and school districts are doing something right. Teachers should be applauded. You go and run a story like this at a time when schools have made progress and discredit teachers. The report was misleading because you do not report the percentage of teacher who have passed these exams. We have to remember that to become a teacher you must have at least a Bachelors degree. Just because these teachers did not pass the exam doesn’t mean that they did not go through a University education program. I would like to know how many of your reporters hold a Bachelors Degree or higher. From what I recall, Estela Casas received herdegree later in her career. Are you insinuating that Estela’s years of reporting prior to her degree made her incompetent until she held the documentation? I’m sure the majority of El Pasoans don’t see it this way. KVIA should have thought of the repercussions that a report like this would have on our local teachers. A report like this will discredit teachers with students and parents. Shame on you! I agree with those who are boycotting your news broadcast. Put that on Estela’s Escuelas!
I think Martin Bartlett did an excellent job on the teacher certification story. He exposed a huge problem in our school systems that need immediate attention. This does not show “tenacity” or “persistence” on the part of these individuals. It shows that the school districts are willing to hire unqualified individuals to teach our children and that they are willing to look the other way. I challenge them to find a solution to this issue insteaded of giving us (tax payers) excuses for holes in their hiring and retention practices.
It is ridiculous that teachers who have taken teacher certification tests so many times and not passed are allowed to teach our children. No wonder so many children are being left behind! Their are many highly qualified teachers that have passed their tests and all requirements and yet can not get a job because teachers who had to take the test 20+ times or who have yet to passed it are taking up classrooms. What about our private schools in the area? Are their highly certified teachers their? How many times have they had to take their tests?
Well if you are going to investigate, why not also look into the local lawyers in the El Paso area to see how many times it took them to pass the bar exam, or the Doctors to pass their medical exams. If you looked into the El Paso area teachers credentials how bout KVIA list of all staff with their credentials, as far as degrees and so fourth. You also serve the El Paso community. Again I’ll wait for the list to be produced. Lets see KVIA’s list! I dare you!
Of all the things wrong with our education system I believe you focused on the most trivial. Our teachers are underpaid, overworked, lack adequate office equipment, supplies…the list goes on and on. My spouse is an educator so I have seen the pitfalls of her profession first hand. With all they have to do in a day to satisfy their administrative and teaching goals, it is a given that our most successful teachers have to sacrifice and work long unpaid hours and many times take money out of their own pockets to supplement what they lack. These professionals serve a critical function in our society and should be better supported.
It is extremely disapointing and disturbing to see this story. It is VERY misleading! You are implying that the teachers listed are not certified to teach their subject area. Teachers listed are Certified Teachers (employees). Any parent that has any questions can check for themselves since this is public record under the State Board of Educator Certification website. Some of the teachers listed on this document were trying to add “ADDITIONAL” certifications to their resumes,and now they are being publicly humiliated for their efforts to better themselves within their profession. You definitely have no respect for these individuals, and shows a lack of ethical values on your part.
As a one-time English teacher, I am going to assist you in learning to present a well-cited research based report even if it contains bias.
The following are a links to the NCLB website. At this site is the federal government’s definition of a “highly qualified” teacher, which is a requirement for all teachers in the classroom. If a school is a Title I school, which many EPISD, YISD, and SISD schools are; they risk losing a large amount of funding if the teachers on their campuses are not highly qualified:http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/learn/hqt/edlite-slide008.htmlAs for a student only being allowed one chance to pass the TAKS test is utter absurdity. All one has to do is to go to any of the school calendars, on each of the district’s websites, to see the multiple TAKS administration dates.In fact, one set of exit level retakes was administered the week of October 20-24, 2008. My own child tested on these dates.
If you also notice, many calendars still include TAAS retakes even though TAKS was implemented approximately 4 or 5 years ago. So, this leads us to conclude that our school districts are still giving students, who were grandfathered on the TAAS test, the opportunity to pass that now defunct test. And all this testing is free of charge, unlike taking the many certification exams that educators are required to take to maintain highly qualified status.Why do you suppose that the “exit” level TAKS test is first administered to the students their junior year of high school, considering their exiting year is their senior year? It makes one wonder about the faith our government has in our students testing abilities. Could you imagine administering the exit level TAKS to seniors in their spring semester? My hunch says that if that happened, districts would not have to lease the Don Haskins Center to hold Commencement Exercises.Did I mention that the TAKS/TAAS tests also untimed and administered free of charge no matter how many times a student tests?Did I also mention that a certified teacher may have to work past the normal school day hours to administer these tests to the students because the students have not finished the tests by the end of the school day?Did I finally mention that teacher’s do not receive over-time pay and do have personal lives that they put on hold many days to do what is ethically right for their students so that the students may receive a quality education?This leads us into the PPD portion of the TeXes. Mr. Bartlett reported that this portion of the teacher certification process tests a prospective teacher’s teaching ability. This is an incorrect statement.The PPD, which has a time limit, tests the individual on teaching theories such as Jean Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology Theory, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory, John Dewey’s Pragmatism and Functional Psychological Theories, just to name a few of the many education majors study in university.The PPD also includes some educational law, but not practical law, just a regurgitation of law history such as Brown v. Board of Education or Leoles v. Landers, etc.The PPD does not test a teacher’s capacity in their subject matter, it is just a regurgitation of a lot of information within an alotted time period.
Many teachers do not complete the test in three hours. The administator’s certification test is a five hour exam. It requires the examinee to answer scenario based questions in the perfect school, perfect school in theory basis. This means the tested school setting has an unlimited budget with perfect people, students, classes (no overcrowding) and parents who are very involved. A sort-of theory in action type of test.Besides the length of the test, the administrators test poses the following problem for the examinee. Many of these potential administrators have already worked in the educational system for more than five years. The perfect world scenario is very difficult to maintain as you test. Personal experience tends to creep and bias your the answers you give to each scenario. And again, this test has a 5 hour limit.
In conclusion, yes, we do need excellent, highly-qualified teachers in the classroom. We also need teachers who represent longevity, which is currently a major issue in the field of education. There are printed statistics that many teachers highly-qualified teachers leave the profession within the first five years because they realize they can go back to the private sector of employment and receive better benefits and pay for the same, if less, amount of work they are dedicating to the craft of being a teacher.And, as not to sound too righteous, I will elaborate on my testing history. I am multi-certified. My first certification test, I passed the first time. Then when NCLB was passed, I, to be compliant within the law, had to test in a number of areas, to be able to retain a highly-qualified status. I failed each of those areas the first time. I, again, paid the exorbitant testing fees and retook the test (three different exams to be exact) and passed. At this time I had already been teaching almost ten years on the pre-NCLB standards. Then I took my administrators test and passed that one on the first attempt.
Why I was able to pass that test the first time and the previous three exams on the second attempt, I really could not pinpoint an exact response, but each testing experience is a little different because the powers that be do not give the examinee the same set of questions for each time one tests.So, am I highly-qualified? Yes. Do I still teach? Yes. Do I feel my students learn and are successful? Absolutely!In posting this comment, I hoped to assist Mr. Bartlett in preparing a report that at least included more than one citation, no matter how credible the source as any good researcher would do, even when presenting a something worth debating. Is this the best research writing I have ever produced? Unfortunately, no, due to time constraints, but it does offer a few more bits of information that perhaps will offer your audience more background information that Mr. Bartlett did not offer in his original report. One other tidbit of information I would like to offer before I close is that “The List” did not offer the audience any information on whether what each teacher actually teaches vs. what particular test they took.I would also like to offer your audience the chance to do some of their own research. If any viewer wants to verify their teacher’s qualifications, all they have to do is go to the SBEC website, https://secure.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECONLINE/virtcert.asp and check on the teacher’s certificate. It is a matter of public record.So, as you sit at your planning tables, just like teachers do, contemplate the impact you, as journalist have on the general public, who may not have the same access to information; because we as teachers do consider our students as we plan our lessons…
What was the purpose of finding out how long it took teachers to pass exams? Is KVIA going to obtain a list of teachers who passed the first time? I would like that because my name is on it! It’s no wonder we do not get the respect we deserve!
I just wanted to commend Martin Bartlett for his I-Team report on the apparent failure of many teachers to pass their state certification exams. I am a teacher in El Paso, and I am personallyaware of many situations where certification policies are conveniently ignored for certain teachers but enforced for others. As many of us teachers are discovering, in the El Paso Independent School District, it’s ultimately not what you know that matters, it’s who you know that really counts. Thanks for exposing the realities of teaching in El Paso. Keep up the good work, KVIA!
