University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2012 Arkansas Teacher Licensure Cut Scores, Do They Indicate Highly Qualified eT achers? Karen K. Morton University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Elementary Education and Teaching Commons Recommended Citation Morton, Karen K., "Arkansas Teacher Licensure Cut Scores, Do They ndI icate Highly Qualified Teachers?" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 280. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/280 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. ARKANSAS TEACHER LICENSURE CUT SCORES, DO THEY INDICATE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS? ARKANSAS TEACHER LICENSURE CUT SCORES, DO THEY INDICATE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS? A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Statistics and Research Methods By Karen K. Morton University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Psychology, 1976 The College of William and Mary Master of Science in Mathematics, 1979 May 2012 University of Arkansas ABSTRACT The highly qualified provision of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act promoted licensure exams on a national level. The present study is an effort to explore the most commonly used Praxis licensure exams and their passing scores. Hypothesized was that passing scores are set at such a minimal level that they are ineffectual in identifying highly qualified teachers. More specifically, Arkansas’s low passing scores are examined by comparing the distribution of University of Arkansas Praxis scores to national trends.