Should standardized testing define our profession?

Over the years, we have worked with countless students who have struggled to meet the minimum cut scores on the standardized tests aspiring teachers are required to pass. These students rarely struggle in their methods classes, clinical experience, or their student-teaching placement, but passing the test (in this case, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators) is another matter. Here are just a few examples of students (with pseudonyms) who’ve had to spend significant amounts of time and money trying to clear this hurdle: 

Jay is a White man from a distant state who selected our university to earn his history education degree and compete as an athlete. He has taken the test five times and worked with Lisa, a senior faculty member, weekly for about seven months. Lisa encouraged him to get evaluated for learning disabilities, a process that took several months but resulted in a complex diagnosis of giftedness and disabilities that affect his writing. To receive test-taking accommodations, he will need to apply and wait for two to four months to be approved to take the test with extended time in a city two hours away. He has delayed his student teaching for a semester and is working in construction.  

Desiree is a White woman who came from a neighboring rural community to earn her elementary education degree. She worked extensively with Lisa on test-taking strategies for the reading test and learned that a yellow transparency helps her reading fluency. She has spent more than $1,000 taking the test over three years, with small improvements each time, and just recently passed her reading test on the sixth attempt. She recently volunteered that she does not want others to stop pursuing their dreams because of standardized tests.