Research evaluated priority populations in North Carolina and South Carolina to assess direct impact to a diverse educator workforce, leading to an eight-percentage point increase in pass rates

As the U.S. K-12 student population becomes more diverse, with students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic identities comprising the majority of public-school students, it is critical that the educator workforce reflect the make-up of today's classrooms. That prompted the creation of Study.com's "Keys to the Classroom" initiative, focused on building a more robust and representative teacher pipeline to support student outcomes.

As part of this initiative, Study.com partnered with TEACH, a national nonprofit that implements comprehensive, statewide teacher recruitment systems to identify and support prospective teachers on their path to the classroom, in North Carolina and South Carolina. Together, these two organizations examined the impact of test preparation on pass rates of priority populations, such as teachers of color, exam re-takers and teachers on conditional or temporary licenses. Certification exams are often a barrier to aspiring educators from diverse backgrounds, but research shows that intervention support leads to positive outcomes.

In a research partnership across ETS®, Study.com – an official partner of the ETS Praxis exam, and TEACH, this pilot demonstrates that teacher candidates with sufficient use of Study.com for test preparation consistently passed the Praxis exam at higher rates than candidates with less usage. Sufficient use of Study.com led to an 8-percentage point increase in pass rates overall although priority populations, which were over-represented in this study with 45% non-white and 40+% re-take candidates, were positively impacted more significantly. For example, among Black re-takers in North Carolina, there was a 34% increase in passage rates.

Key Findings

The study found a direct impact to the educator workforce that demonstrates targeted intervention and support works, especially among priority populations who historically have lower pass rates on certification exams. Only 38% of Black teacher candidates and 57% of Hispanic teacher candidates pass the Praxis exam even after multiple attempts while 75% of white candidates ultimately pass1.

Specifically:

1. Black teacher candidates in both N.C. and S.C. experienced a 12-percentage point increase in pass rate with sufficient use of Study.com for test prep.
2. In N.C., Black teacher candidates who re-took the Praxis exam following sufficient use of Study.com for test prep had a 17-percentage point increase in pass rate than for Black re-takers overall.
3. While Praxis exam re-takers overall tend to pass at lower rates, sufficient use of Study.com improved their scores by 12-percentage points in N.C. and by 7-percentage points in S.C.
4. Teacher candidates with temporary or conditional licenses in N.C. had a 10-percentage point increase in pass rate with sufficient use of Study.com than those without it.

"This partnership has enabled us to extend the support we offer to aspiring teachers by providing more necessary interventions on their preparation journey," explained Veronica Wilson, Co-Executive Director, TEACH. "The results of this study highlight that we can reduce the barrier of licensure exam passage that future teachers face when trying to get into – or stay in – the classroom, especially among diverse educator populations. And we can do it at scale."

Value of Diverse Teacher Pipeline

Nationwide, only 7% of teachers identify as Black while about 14% of public-school students identify as Black. That gap is even greater among Hispanic and Latine students who comprise nearly one-third of the public-school population but only 9% of educators identify as Hispanic or Latine2. These representation gaps impact students across multiple variables. For example, the likelihood that a student is seen as disruptive by a teacher of a difference race increases by 46% for students of color – that leads to disciplinary actions that are closely linked to future academic performance3. While teachers of color positively impact the outcomes for students of color, research shows they also positively impact white students across academic performance, critical thinking and creativity factors.

"Given the significant and systemic barriers that educators of color can encounter entering and advancing within the profession, it is essential for the industry to understand those barriers and address them through robust, targeted resources. This support is crucial for teachers' entry into the profession as well as for their long-term retention and success," said Dana Bryson, SVP, Social Impact at Study.com. "This study unequivocally reinforces the findings of other reports: when aspiring educators have access to comprehensive test preparation tools and resources, they achieve higher pass rates, directly addressing teacher shortages and creating a more equitable and representative education system that benefits all students."

"Ensuring that teacher candidates - especially those from diverse backgrounds - are fully supported and well-prepared for the Praxis exam is crucial to building a more equitable education system," said Paul Gollash, Senior Vice President of K-16, ETS. "By helping teacher candidates excel, we take an important step toward expanding access to opportunities that have historically been limited. Mentoring, coaching and other candidate development offerings create a teaching workforce that more accurately reflects the diverse communities they serve."

Impact and Reach

Both North Carolina and South Carolina face ongoing teacher shortages that disproportionately impact low-income students and students of color, populations that need more support. In North Carolina, the Governor's Office of Roy Cooper invested more than $1.3 million to support nearly 8,000 future teachers with test prep, which included more than 3,800 licenses from Study.com and 5,000+ test vouchers from ETS. In South Carolina, a close partnership with Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA) enabled 2,000+ aspiring teachers to receive support, more than 1,200 of whom used a donated license from Study.com. The TeachNC and TeachSC initiatives are supported by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the South Carolina Department of Education, respectively. 

Methodology

As part of this research project, 10,053 current and future educators across North Carolina and South Carolina received support from Teach.org and Study.com. Study.com provided 4,700+ licenses while TEACH purchased at least 5,000 Praxis test prep vouchers and provided them at no cost to participants. From that pool, the research pilot examined the test results and pass rates of 2,557 teacher candidates over 18 months who took a Praxis exam after joining TeachNC or TeachSC. Of those, 1,832 were in North Carolina and 725 were in South Carolina. The study also over-indexed in key, priority population segments as it relates to the educator workforce: 30% Black / African American and 44% exam re-takers. Almost 90% of both groups reported having a temporary or no license (89% in S.C. and 88% in N.C.). 

Sources:

1  National Council on Teacher Quality: https://www.nctq.org/publications/A-Fair-Chance
2  Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/12/10/americas-public-school-teachers-are-far-less-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-than-their-students/
3  Brown University: https://www.brown.edu/news/2019-07-18/discipline