Teacher candidates who fall short on a required subject test for their license could get new ways to pass under a policy the State Board of Education will put to a final vote on November 20.¶
The changes to the board’s Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators policy would add options built by two testing companies, Pearson and ETS, the maker of the Praxis exams. They cover the content tests candidates take in the subjects they plan to teach, and candidates would still have to take the content test first.¶
Members of the State Board accepted the proposal unanimously on first reading in May, and the board’s agenda for the final vote describes the options as rigorous.¶
“These options provide additional, rigorous pathways for candidates to demonstrate content knowledge when minimum qualifying scores are not met,” the agenda reads.¶
How the Options Work
Under ETS’s current rules, a candidate who fails a Praxis test must wait at least 28 days to retake it.¶
ETS’s Praxis Bridge is for a candidate who misses the state’s passing score by no more than one standard error of measurement, a statistical range around the cut score. That candidate could complete a $50 self-paced learning module in their weakest area instead of retaking the whole test. The module ends with a knowledge check, and a candidate who finishes it gets a score report marked “Alt. Passed.”¶
Pearson’s Series Flex is aimed at candidates whose scores are just as close. Candidates would complete one assignment on their own, analyzing a topic to show their depth of knowledge, and submit it for scoring.¶
Two other options, Pearson Testlets and ETS’s Praxis Steps, split the test into smaller sections. Candidates can take sections as they finish coursework, keep their scores, and retake only the section they didn’t pass. ETS is rolling out Steps with its new Elementary Education Fundamentals test.¶
How Many Fall Just Short
ETS shared Tennessee data with board members at a learning session in July. On the mathematics section of the Praxis elementary education exam, 2,152 of 2,929 candidates passed on their first attempt between September 2023 and April 2026, and another 314 scored close enough to qualify for Praxis Bridge.¶
Counting each candidate’s best attempt, 2,667 of 3,191 passed, and 162 more fell within the near range.¶
ETS’s presentation also laid out the trade-off. Accepting scores one standard error below the cut makes it less likely that a qualified candidate is turned away, it says, but more likely that someone without the needed knowledge passes.¶
Debate Over Standards
ETS pitches the options to states as a way to get more certified teachers into classrooms, saying they reduce “barriers to the classroom without lowering standards.” Last year, a survey the State Board cited found Praxis content exams were major pain points for teacher candidates, and the board listed a review of its content test policies among its next steps, the Tennessee Firefly reported.¶
Board member Krissi McInturff raised concerns at a board meeting this summer that the changes could “water down” teacher certification standards, the Tennessee Firefly reported in July. Some board members also said they wanted to see how the changes would be measured before a final vote.¶
The final version of the policy had not been posted on the board’s website as of November 9, and the details here are from the version members accepted in May. Since then, the board has added reporting requirements to the policy, according to its agenda, which does not describe them. ETS told board members that candidates who pass through Praxis Bridge are counted as passing in the federal Title II reporting system.¶
Governor-Elect Marsha Blackburn said during the campaign that she would rethink how Tennessee licenses teachers, Chalkbeat Tennessee reported. She made the case in Chalkbeat’s candidate survey in August.¶
“While we need to hold our teaching professionals to the highest standard, we also need to make certain that our licensing processes aren’t causing us to miss out on individuals who would be great teachers,” wrote Blackburn.¶
The same State Board policy would let candidates in job-embedded preparation programs use the Foundations of Reading test to renew or advance a license. It also adds visual and performing arts endorsements, and academic endorsements in college, career, and technical education, to the areas where a degree in the subject can stand in for a content test.¶
Members take the final vote at their November 20 meeting at the Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute in Jamestown, which begins at 9 a.m.¶
