Contact: Joe Farris
Mississippi State University students have a 99 percent passing rate on the state's licensing exam for aspiring school teachers.
Of 300 MSU students completing requirements in a teacher preparation program that last year took one or more of the required Praxis tests, 298 passed all of the tests they took--a success rate of 99.3 percent.
Mississippi requires candidates for teacher certification to pass both a professional knowledge test for teachers and a test on an academic content area such as English or biology. The state is one of 35 using the Praxis Series of tests produced by Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J.
Out of 169 at MSU who took the Principles of Teaching and Learning test required for all prospective teachers, 168 passed. Of 247 who took a subject area test such as mathematics or history, 245 passed. All 13 students taking a separate test for special education teachers also passed.
"We're pleased that these results demonstrate that the Mississippi State University teacher education program is producing competent and qualified teachers for the state's classrooms," said Dean of Education William H. Graves.
"This high pass rate is indicative of the quality of students entering teacher education programs and the dedication of the faculty members at Mississippi State University who teach our teacher candidates," he said.
A total of 517 students were admitted into the teacher education programs at Mississippi State during 1999-2000 after completing a 45-credit-hour core curriculum in subjects such as English and mathematics with satisfactory grades and test scores. Among students previously admitted to upper-level teacher education classes, 328 participated in supervised student teaching during the 1999-2000 academic year.
MSU students preparing to become teachers must complete 16 weeks of supervised student teaching prior to graduation. Teams of three-to-five experienced classroom teachers in Mississippi public schools supervise groups of three-to-five student teachers.
Forty-four such school-based clinical instructors, along with 43 full-time university faculty members, make up the supervising faculty for student teachers.
The overall PRAXIS II pass rate among all of Mississippi's colleges and universities is among the nation's highest, Graves said.
"The state's overall pass rate demonstrates that Mississippi's future teacher work force is among the best prepared in the nation," Graves said. "We are pleased to see so many well-prepared teacher candidates graduating from Mississippi's other universities and colleges."
For more information, contact Dean Graves at (662) 325-3717.