“Losing One African American Preservice Teacher is One Too Many”: A Critical Race Analysis of Support for Praxis Core as African American Students Speak Out

Abstract

Background/Context

Praxis Core, an ETS general knowledge examination, is required for teaching licensure in many states. However, it exists within a history of racist testing from time of the first IQ and SAT tests. Because of Praxis Core, Preservice Teachers of Color are regularly denied entry into the teaching profession, a reality incongruent with the call for a more diverse teaching population.

Purpose/Research Question

While recognizing the need to eliminate racist gatekeepers to the profession, this study focused on providing Praxis Core support so that no more African American preservice teachers are lost to the test while working to dethrone it. To understand effective support, this study asked: What can we learn through the experiences of 10 African American preservice teachers at a Predominately White Institution (PWI) about characteristics of effective support as they prepare for the Praxis Core examination?

Research Design

Data were collected and analyzed using qualitative critical race methods and a framework grounded in culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedagogies. Data included student interviews and questionnaires, lesson plans, and emails among the researchers/instructors and students.

Results

The study identified characteristics of effective support as grounded instructors’ culturally responsive caring defined by: a commitment to student success and empowering students’ belief in their success; knowing each student well to understand strengths, fears, needs; establishing relationships considered by students to be trusting and comfortable; countering messages of ineptness by teaching students about the racist nature of the test and validating them as knowledgeable and capable; recognizing the linguistic dexterity of African American Language speakers and helping them use their linguistic abilities to conquer the tests; and emancipating students by making them aware of the sociopolitical intent as well as structure of the tests.

Conclusions/Recommendations

We offer recommendations recognizing that they are merely Band-aids when biased tests play a role in sustaining a predominantly White teaching force. While we work to change that, our study suggests the development of support systems by faculty who (a) do not settle for deflections from the need for this work; (b) can develop relationships deemed comfortable from students’ perspectives; (c) believe and can help students recognize that they are not broken but whole, intelligent, knowledgeable; (d) understand the biased nature of Praxis Core and can help students examine test items and strategize accordingly; and (e) can help students use their cultural and linguistic knowledge and dexterity to beat the testing game.

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