47% of Teacher Candidates Fail 2nd Test

Nearly half of 2,500 aspiring Massachusetts teachers failed the latest round of teacher certification exams, marking a slight improvement over a previous test that sparked public outrage and led to calls for drastic education reform.

Fifty-nine percent of the state’s prospective educators flunked an April exam. In July, 47% failed, with repeat test-takers performing especially poorly.

The controversy over teaching candidates began when education board members agreed to lower the earlier test’s passing grade so an additional 260 test-takers could slide by. They subsequently voted to reinstate the original, higher grading scale, reversing themselves under public pressure and causing the interim education commissioner to lament “political forces” and resign.

In July, 145 people took the entire test again because they had failed all three sections; only nine managed to pass on the second attempt. About half of those who tried for a second time to pass just reading or writing portions failed again. Both tests included questions along the lines of “What is a preposition?” and “Define the word ‘abolish.’ ”