Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Challenge of Teacher Licensure Tests‪.‬

Introduction The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the teacher testing requirements of Title II of the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 have accentuated the pressure on teacher preparation institutions across the country to be accountable for the quality of their teacher candidates and graduates. The way the two dominant policy instruments are applied, imply that the quality of teacher preparation is measured almost solely by candidates' performance on teacher licensure examinations, such as PRAXIS II. Consequently, teacher preparation institutions, as well as their faculty and students, understandably regard teacher licensure examinations as highstakes tests. For teacher preparation institutions, the consequences of poor performance on the tests include loss of public funding or even accreditation. For candidates, the consequence of not passing licensure test is equally grave the candidate would not be licensed. The serious implications of unacceptable level of performance on licensure tests put enormous pressure on institutions and generate anxiety among candidates. Teacher licensure test scores for 1999-2000 indicate that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) generally achieved scores lower than the minimum acceptable by their respective states (Southern Education Foundation, 2003). Understandably, the imperative of licensure tests is engendering institutional and programmatic activities in teacher preparation programs of HBCUs. Using initiatives at Kentucky State University as examples, the paper discusses the typical program quality and licensure test score enhancing efforts of the institutions. Some key policy implications of the current accountability environment are also discussed.