Future Research Proposal- L. Parker

Problem Continued...

• The future researcher will share data from an accredited NC Educator Preparation Program at an HBCU which clearly reflects the strong need for more intentional Praxis CASE test preparation strategies to improve pass rates on the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators also known as CASE, and formerly called Praxis I.
• National and Statewide Teacher Shortage

• The unsuccessful mastery of Praxis CASE results in denial of admission into the teacher education program and upper level education courses, delayed program completion and graduation, and provides another indirect contributor to the North Carolina teacher shortage.

Purpose

Projected

Problem

Solution

Result

The purpose of this future mixed method study is to use research questions both quantitative and qualitative to investigate the effectiveness of several candidate support options during a Summer Bridge 1 week camp for test preparation that focuses on the content in The Praxis CASE.

The goal is to get more students to pass the Praxis as early as possible using test tasking strategies from the camp utilizing their High School skills.

Significance

The significance of the future research:

• higher student performance linked to higher student achievement.
• insures program matriculation at the HBCU
• Intended to share as best practices with Educator Preparation Programs (EPP's) to help students
• overall focus is to tackle the NC teacher shortage and College of Education pass rates.

The Question Section

Area of Focus

My future research questions are on the initial teacher assessment, which is the Praxis Core Academic Skills also known as “CASE’ for Educators. I will use interviews and surveys to evaluate the controlled environment provided to to students to focus on test preparation.

• According to Latiker, Washington, Johns, Jackson, and Johnson (2013) most states have adopted the Praxis Exam Series by Educational Testing Services (ETS) as their state licensure exams. Praxis I, focuses on the areas of reading, writing, and math as well as Praxis II which is a content area exam.

• Longwell, Mcilheran, Schroeder, & Scheele (2013) shares that the above fact has caused many teacher certification programs to design workshops that prepare their students for the respective certification exam.

• Also, over 40 states now requiring the Praxis exam and the focus for most of these programs has been on preparing for the Praxis I exam.

• Goldhaber, Liddle, & Theobald (2013)-a direct correlation exists between the success of the future teacher in the classroom and performance on state required assessments taken by students. This will strengthen the possibility of improved retention of qualified teachers.

Due to lowered passing rates on teacher testing in recent years, there has been growing popularity of alternative teacher certification, which is largely due to the serious teacher shortage across the country (Cochran-Smith et al., 2011).

In 2004, 43 states, plus the District of Columbia, reported having some type of alternative route for certifying teachers, whereas only 8 states said they had alternative routes in 1983 when the National Center for Education Information began collecting such data. (Zhang & Zeller, 2016)

. Few issues in education threaten the nation as seriously as the present and growing shortage of teachers. Teacher attrition is high among teachers across the nation and is one of the most serious causes of teacher shortage (Ingersoll, 2004).

• Jorissen (2002) adds that the longer preparation programs combine pedagogical training with a supervised field experience they are more likely to produce teachers who are satisfied and committed to remaining in teaching.

Examining an HBCU is extremely significant due to the national shortage of African American teachers into the field. Nearly ten years ago minority students made up more than 40 percent of public school enrollment and African American teachers represented 8 percent of that population. Today, African American teachers comprise only about 5 percent of the teacher workforce. (Educational Testing Services [ETS], 2011)

• The dissertation similar to the future research being proposed studies minorities both African American and Hispanic students Praxis Preparation Skills. The institution also utilized Plato as well as “LEL” which is an online database designed to provide test preparation in basic skills and career advancement.

• The study did not call for special treatment, but rather providing these preparation tools to counteract proven test bias.

• Bennett, Christine I, McWhorter, Lynn M., Kuykendall, John A.(2006).Will I Ever Teach? Latino and African American Students' Perspectives on PRAXIS I.American Educational Research Journal; Washington. Vol. 3, 3.

Dissertation

Summary of the Design Plan

The future researcher will encourage the faculty and camp participants to offer authentic feedback as apart of the camp completion and openly share their experiences for program improvement and this research. The collection of data should be fairly easy to gather from the state and current HBCU as evidenced by a current strong professional relationship with Educational Testing Services who developed the PRAXIS CASE .

Potential modifications due to perceived limitations

• The researcher would acknowledge that not all test preparation strategies will be effective for every student participating in the camp. I also acknowledge and there is no “one size fits all” method to assisting students with passing the assessment. Also, students could possibly find all methods helpful and not deem one more effective or comfortable over the other.
• The future researcher also acknowledges that this Title III funded grant Summer Camp is unique to Universities in The U.S and resides on a small HBCU in North Carolina.