The Maine DOE and the State Board of Education are proposing changes this fall to the rules regarding the qualifying examinations for credentialing purposes for teachers, educational specialists and administrators.
The proposed changes to Chapter 13 stem from the regular regeneration (revision) process employed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Each Praxis exam undergoes regeneration every five years. ETS conducts a multi-state standard setting study designed to assemble two separate groups of current practitioners for two to three days to review the validity and reliability of the test being regenerated. The end result is a recommended cutoff score that is deemed appropriate for the just qualified candidate. Several of the tests required by the Department were recently regenerated, so the current Chapter 13 must be updated to reflect these changes.
Proposed changes in Chapter 13 include new test codes, new test titles, recommended cutoff scores and language to allow old tests no longer being administered to be used for up to five years after which time only the new tests will be accepted.
The proposed revisions to the rule are available here.
Written comments may be submitted to Maine DOE Legal Consultant Arthur Keenan via email at arthur.keenan@maine.gov; by mail at 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0023; or via hand delivery to the 5th Floor of the Burton Cross Office Building at 111 Sewall Street in Augusta. The deadline for all comments is 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1.