Montgomery, Ala. – On December 15, 1981 the Allen v. Alabama Board of Education lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, contesting that the Alabama Initial Teacher Certification Testing program was racially biased. Since that time, numerous attempts have been made to make sure all teacher testing in the state of Alabama is valid, job related, and unbiased. After decades of litigation, consent decrees, court orders, monitoring, and redeveloping of the teacher certification testing program, an order has been issued terminating the Allen v. Board of Education litigation, allowing fair and equitable testing that makes sure all teachers demonstrate knowledge of the subject they teach.
“It’s a monumental day in our state’s history,” said State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton. “I want the public of Alabama to understand the milestone of this event and to know that every person who wants to teach in Alabama classrooms will have to pass a subject-matter test in what they plan to teach. A math teacher must pass a written math test, a physics teacher must pass a physics test, and so on. It’s been a long journey, but it was the right thing to do.”
In April of 2005, still operating under the federal court order, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the Praxis II test as a prerequisite for teacher certification. Final minimum passing scores were adopted by the State Department of Education (SDE) in June, 2007. When the plaintiffs did not object to the dismissal by the deadline of January 22, 2010, confirmed by the court, the longstanding case became ripe for dismissal. United States District Judge Myron Thompson signed the final order for dismissal on January 27, 2010. The dismissal came after the SDE submitted extensive evidence that teacher testing in Alabama met all stipulations required by law. The final tests were validated through local bias studies and content validation studies that confirmed the importance and job relevance of all test content. Alignment studies were performed to make sure test specifications lined up with teachers and students, and other statistical tests that authenticate the tests’ validity were performed.
Gov. Bob Riley said, “I am so proud of the accomplishments of this board. They have committed to achieving a level of educational excellence for our children and to be the best in the country. It all comes back to the quality of teachers so it’s common sense to have the best teaching program as a foundation. Our children deserve to have those world-class teachers.”
“The resolution of this case took dedication and persistence,” said David Boyd, Balch & Bingham LLP, the law firm representing the State Board of Education and the Department of Education. “Alabama can now go forward with teacher testing completely unencumbered by the courts and totally under the supervision of the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education. The key to resolving this case has been your willingness to do it right, fairly and professionally. Alabama now has a meaningful teacher testing program. No program in the country has undergone the scrutiny of this one.”
State Board of Education Member Stephanie Bell, District 3, said, “As a young reporter covering the beginning of the case, I never imagined I would be a member of the State Board of Education. I feel privileged and honored today to be part of resolving this case.”
Dr. Morton said closing the book on this chapter makes way for education to move forward with a certainty that Alabama’s children are receiving the quality instruction they deserve. “The public expects us as leaders in education to do all that we can to make sure students get the best education possible,” Dr. Morton said. “The Praxis II test is in place to ensure that teachers in the classroom have the knowledge necessary to teach.” Morton said although the process of getting to this point has been difficult, the result is a teacher testing model that can be used by the rest of the nation as battle-tested, unbiased example of teacher preparation and certification.
In addition to having a quality assurance mechanism on subject matter knowledge in place, the resolution of this case stops the financial hemorrhaging the SBE has had to endure. By law, the SBE has been responsible for financing the legal services, monitoring costs, and contracted services of both the SBE, as well as plaintiff’s attorney’s fees for almost 30 years. According to Dr. Morton, this case has cost approximately $9 million in legal fees, assessments, studies, test validations and monitoring committees.
State Board Vice President Randy McKinney said, “The resolution of this case is another step forward in raising our standards and raising the bar in classroom teacher quality. We can now use these resources in classrooms and not on legal fees.”
SNAPSHOT OF SIGNIFICANT OCCURRENCES
Under State Superintendent Dr. Wayne Teague’s administration
June 1981- June 1988: Alabama Initial Teacher Certification Program in effect.
December 15, 1981: Lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and teacher testing was discontinued.
October 25, 1985: Consent decree order by United States Middle District Court of Alabama.
July, 12, 1988: Alabama Initial Teacher Certification Testing Program suspended by the SBE due to lack of funding to redevelop the program under the rigid requirements of the consent decree.
Under State Superintendent Dr. Ed Richardson’s administration
1995-1999: SBE negotiated to redevelop the program.
January 2000: Amended consent decree allowed SDE to develop basic skills testing.
March 9, 2001: Basic skills test (not subject-matter testing) implemented and made a precondition for initial certification.
2001: No Child Left Behind (federal mandates for teacher testing become impetus for subject matter teacher testing negotiations).
November 2002: Discussions began with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to use Praxis II subject-matter tests for voluntary use to document Highly Qualified status
Under State Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton’s administration
December 14, 2004: Second amended consent decree entered into to allow use of Praxis II as a precondition for certification for initial certification in a teaching field or instructional support area.
April 14, 2005: SBE adopted selected subject assessments from the Praxis II for all first time certification applicants. Validation and standard setting studies were conducted to set minimum passing score requirements.
February 9, 2006: Provisional minimum passing scores were adopted by SBE.
June 1, 2007: Final minimum passing score requirements adopted by SBE became effective.
January 27, 2010: Lawsuit officially resolved and dismissal order signed.
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