Chicago Public Schools Test Blacklisting Teachers?

A new test meant to find better, more qualified teachers for the Chicago Public School system may be flawed, critics say

Rosalind Rossi, writing in The Chicago Sun-Times, reports that there is a controversy brewing in the Windy City regarding teachers and the qualification tests they are given in order to be hired by the Chicago Public Schools system.

A new questionnaire that probes the “soft skills” needed be a teacher has resulted in what critics call the “blacklisting’’ of hundreds of potential Chicago Public School teachers — including some who already had job offers, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Graduates of the Academy for Urban School Leadership’s teacher training program touted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel have, in effect, flunked the test. So has a winner of a prestigious Golden Apple scholarship. Likewise a special-education major who made the dean’s list at Michigan State University and was described as a “dream candidate’’ by a CPS principal who wanted to hire her.

Since the end of June, roughly 3,900 teacher applicants who have taken TeacherFit since June have scored low enough to be excluded from hiring.  Some were told to reapply in 18 months, but CPS is now rethinking that 18-month time-frame and whether to grant some low-scoring applicants some leeway.  A spokeswoman for the Chicago Public Education Fund, which spent $130,000 to develop TeacherFit for CPS use, says that the CPS believe strongly in TeacherFit’s validity and ability to identify strong teacher candidates.  She noted that similar tests are given during that application process in the business world.

However, deans of 22 Chicago area colleges of education are requesting a meeting with CPS officials over the use of TeacherFit as a tool that can completely knock a candidate out of the CPS teacher applicant pool, said Victoria Chou, dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“It’s smelling bad so far,’’ said Chou, who called some of the TeacherFit questions “crazy.’’ “I cannot help but think there hasn’t been enough evaluation undertaken before these high stakes are put into place.’’

Read the full story from Rossi here.