Licensure Deficiencies: Massachusetts

Analysis of Massachusetts's policies

Content Test Requirements: Massachusetts only requires its early childhood education teacher candidates, who are licensed to teach elementary grades through grade 2, to pass the MTEL Early Childhood test, which not only combines content with a pedagogy assessment but also does not report teacher performance in each subject area, meaning that it is possible to pass the test and still fail some subject areas.

Scientifically Based Reading Instruction—Tests and Standards: Massachusetts requires early childhood teacher candidates to pass its own Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) Foundations of Reading test, which is based on the state's standards and addresses the core areas of scientifically based reading instruction. However, candidates may also satisfy this test requirement by passing the MTEL Reading Specialist test. This test does not adequately address all of the components of the science of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Informational Texts: Early childhood education teacher candidates must be prepared for the key instructional shifts related to literacy that differentiate college- and career-readiness standards from their predecessors. The Foundations of Reading test requires teachers to "understand how to apply reading comprehension skills and strategies to informational/expository texts." The framework then offers an extensive list of examples for achieving this competency. The Reading Specialist test does not address the use of informational texts.

Literacy Skills: The Foundations of Reading assessment requires teachers to demonstrate "strategies for promoting comprehension across the curriculum by expanding knowledge of academic language, including conventions of standard English grammar and usage, differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English, general academic vocabulary, and content-area vocabulary." However, this is just one example under the broad test objective heading of "Understand vocabulary development." The Reading Specialist test does not address the use of informational texts.

Struggling Readers: Regarding struggling readers, Massachusetts's Foundations of Reading test requires the following:

• An understanding of formal and informal methods for assessing reading development—for example, assessment of the reading development of individual students (e.g., struggling readers)
• An understanding of multiple approaches to reading instruction—for example, awareness of strategies and resources for supporting individual students (e.g., struggling readers).

Citation

MTEL www.mtel.nesinc.com Test Requirement http://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel/testrequire.html Code of Massachusetts Regulations 603 CMR 7.03;7.04(2);7.06 and 7.08

Recommendations for Massachusetts

Require all early childhood candidates who are eligible to teach elementary grades to pass a subject-matter test designed to ensure sufficient content knowledge of all subjects.
Massachusetts should require all early childhood education teacher candidates who teach elementary grades to pass an elementary content test appropriately aligned with its college- and career-readiness standards. Although requiring a content test is a step in the right direction, the state should require separate, meaningful passing scores for each core subject covered on the test, including reading/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The state's current practice of using a composite passing score offers no assurance of adequate knowledge in each subject area and therefore fails to ensure that a candidate who achieves a passing score has the necessary subject-matter knowledge to teach a particular subject area.

Require teacher candidates to pass a rigorous assessment in the science of reading instruction.
Massachusetts is commended for requiring the Foundations of Reading assessment that ensures that its early childhood teacher candidates are adequately prepared in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom. The state undermines this strong policy by allowing candidates to meet the requirement with the Reading Specialist test. This assessment does not fully test knowledge and skills related to the science of reading and address all five instructional components of scientifically based reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Ensure that early childhood education teachers are prepared to meet the instructional requirements of college- and career-readiness standards for students.  

Incorporate informational text of increasing complexity into classroom instruction. 
Although Massachusetts is on the right track with its requirement of the Foundations of Reading test, which addresses knowledge of informational texts, the in-depth coverage of the topic is presented as an example. Therefore, the extent to which this information is required is unclear. Massachusetts is encouraged to make certain that its framework captures the major instructional shifts of college- and career-readiness standards, thereby ensuring that all elementary and early childhood candidates have the ability to adequately incorporate complex informational text into classroom instruction. Because candidates may also satisfy the reading test requirement by taking the MTEL Reading Specialist test, which does not address the knowledge of informational texts, Massachusetts is encouraged to require all candidates to take the Foundations of Reading test.

Incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject.
Although Massachusetts is on the right track with its requirement of the Foundations of Reading test, which addresses literacy skills, the in-depth coverage of the topic is presented as examples. Therefore, the extent to which this information is required is unclear. Massachusetts is encouraged to make certain that its framework captures the major instructional shifts of college- and career-readiness standards, thereby ensuring that all special education candidates have the ability to adequately incorporate literacy skills as an integral part of every subject into classroom instruction. Because candidates may also satisfy the reading test requirement by taking the MTEL Reading Specialist test,  which does not address the incorporation of literacy skills as an integral part of every subject, Massachusetts is encouraged to require all candidates to take the Foundations of Reading test.

Support Struggling Readers.
Although Massachusetts is on the right track with its requirements of the Foundations of Reading test, which addresses the use of assessments and strategies to support struggling readers, the coverage of the topic is presented as examples. Therefore, the extent to which this information is required is unclear. Massachusetts is therefore encouraged to strengthen its teacher preparation requirements and ensure that all candidates who teach the elementary grades have the ability to identify as well as support struggling readers.

State response to our analysis

Massachusetts recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis, however this analysis was updated subsequent to the state's review. In June of 2017, The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved revised regulatory language that grants the state department the authority to develop (and update) guidelines for the Subject-Matter Knowledge (SMK) Requirements used by providers to design teacher preparation programs and by the state in developing items and cut-scores for the MTEL. In anticipation of this, the state has already begun convening working groups from the field to update the SMKs in alignment with the 2013 MA Curriculum Frameworks. This will mean substantial revisions to expectations for teacher candidates in all programs with a focus on literacy across the subject-areas and an emphasis on college and career readiness for students. The guidelines will be out for public comment this fall and finalized by January 2018.

In addition, Massachusetts stated that it requires candidates for the Early Childhood educator license to pass the Early Childhood test, which assesses content knowledge (not pedagogy) in mathematics, history and social science, science and writing, as well as child development. There aren't a sufficient number of multi-choice items in each of these content areas to make a pass/fail decision for each subject. In order to meet this requirement, the state would, therefore, have to design a separate sub-test for each of these fields in order to assess individual subject-matter knowledge. Massachusetts stated that this would place an unnecessary burden on candidates for the Early Childhood license.

Updated: September 2020