Judge Rules Second Version of New York Teachers’ Exam Is Also Racially Biased

NY Times ^ | 6/5/2015

[Altura Ct.]

A federal judge on Friday found that an exam for New York teaching candidates was racially discriminatory because it did not measure skills necessary to do the job, the latest step in a court battle over teacher qualifications that has spanned nearly 20 years.

The exam, the second incarnation of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test, called the LAST-2, was administered from 2004 through 2012 and was designed to test an applicant’s knowledge of liberal arts and science.

But the test was found to fail minority teaching candidates at a higher rate than white candidates. According to Friday’s decision, written by Judge Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan, the pass rate for African-American and Latino candidates was between 54 percent and 75 percent of the pass rate for white candidates. Once it was established that minority applicants were failing at a disproportionately high rate, the burden shifted to education officials to prove that the skills being tested were necessary to do the job; otherwise, the test would be ruled discriminatory.

In creating the test, the company, National Evaluation Systems, sent surveys to educators around New York State to determine if the test’s “content objectives” were relevant and important to teaching. The samples for both surveys were small, however, Judge Wood said.

The judge found that National Evaluation Systems, now called Evaluation Systems, part of Pearson Education, went about the process backward.

“Instead of beginning with ascertaining the job tasks of New York teachers, the two LAST examinations began with the premise that all New York teachers should be required to demonstrate an understanding of the liberal arts,” Judge Wood wrote.

Joshua Sohn, a partner at the firm Mishcon de Reya, who represents the prospective teachers in the case, echoed the that sentiment.

[Altura Ct.]

Why waste time with testing? Just fire white people and pick how many you want.

[SkyDancer]

What? The test was printed on white paper?

[From The Deer Stand]

Hey, I have an idea. Why not “dumb down” the exam so anyone can pass it? End of discriminatory problem!

[Truth29]

Yep, testing is so passe. Just start with the conclusion you want and hire to met the predetermined composition you want.

[Major Matt Mason]

Kimba Wood has an odd background - pushed by Al D'Amato, nominated by Reagan, then was an AG candidate for Clinton until she had to step aside due to here use of an illegal as a nanny. Been married three times, and was considered the homewrecker in one instance. Pretty obviously a liberal, though, given most of her associations.

[CASchack]

Question 1: What is your name?

Question 2: ¿Como se llama?

END

[Uncle Miltie]

Corrections Officers should pass at a high rate, because NYC schools are merely pre-prisons.

[Uncle Miltie]

Corrections Officers should pass at a high rate, because NYC schools are merely pre-prisons.

[ealgeone]

ATTENTION: ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK RIGHT NOW!!!!

[a fool in paradise]

Was it graded on the curve?

[bboop]

The test failed minorities? Naw, minorities failed the test. DUH.

[bboop]

It wasn’t in Ebonics.

[Maine Mariner]

The presiding judge is the case is Kimba Wood, Bill Clinton’s second choice for attorney general. Zoe Baird was the first. Judge Wood hired a nanny that was not legally entitled to work in the USA. Zoe had the same problem as I recall. Nannygate was the name given to practice of getting caught employing illegal immigrants.

[Amendment10]

The only race-based issue that the states have amended the Constitution to expressly protect is voting rights as evidenced by the 15th Amendment. And not only do the feds have no constitutionally enumerated protections to apply to NY via the 14th Amendment where teacher exams are concerned, but the states have never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to decide policy for intrastate public schools.

So with all due respect to the federal judge in question, what law school did this judge get indoctrinated at? (I don’t really want to know.)

[cherry]

the special people will not be judged....get used to it...

[TexasGator]

So, the judge determined that knowledge is not required for a teacher to do their job.

[Political Junkie Too]

“Instead of beginning with ascertaining the job tasks of New York teachers, the two LAST examinations began with the premise that all New York teachers should be required to demonstrate an understanding of the liberal arts,” Judge Wood wrote.

What's wrong with a test called the "Liberal Arts and Sciences Test" testing the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences?

It seems to me that the beginning ascertain should be that they need a test called the "Knowledge of Teaching Tasks in New York City" test.

-PJ

[aquila48]

Strange how these tests never discriminate against Asians.

[aquila48]

Assumption: all races on the average are equal.
Reality: A test shows otherwise.

Action: change test until results agree with assumption.

[Still Thinking]

Judge Rules Second Version of New York Teachers’ Exam Is Also Racially Biased

Why, is it given in English? Or even worse, in cursive English?