RICA Examination

I'm "studying" for the RICA exam, which is one element of getting your CA State Credential. This is a sample question as given in the test preparation guide:

Mr. White wants to do a better job of teaching meaning vocabulary. He realizes that there are many words in the English language that his fifth graders don't know (how astute of him). Which words should he select for his meaning vocabulary lessons?

a. Words that are topically related to each other and words needed to comprehend a reading selection
b. The best idea is to proceed in alphabetical order. First, teach words that begin with A, then proceed to words that begin with B.
c. Select words the children are most interested in learning.
d. He should start by teaching the meanings of the words his students already know because that will help them learn key strategies for learning words they don't know.

I'm almost offended by the question, except that one of my pet peeves is how easily people toss around the phrase "I'm offended by . . ." The question simply lends credence to the belief I have that a not-insignificant portion of this credentialing process is a waste of my time (except for the fact that I will then have a piece of paper entitling me to more money per month).

When I was a senior in high school, my AP English teacher once noted that a "well-constructed multiple choice exam" is one of the most difficult tests to create. The difficulty arises in the need to provide 3 to 5 plausible, logical responses to one question while ensuring only one response is a defensible response. (And then she gave us the assignment of creating a well-constructed multiple choice exam about the novel we were reading.) The question above? NOT an example of a well-constructed multiple choice question.

I'd wager that, with just an itty-bitty amount of thought and absolutely no teacher training whatsoever, most of you non-teachers out there could figure out the correct answer. (It's "A," if you want to check your guess.)

What is the point of tests like this in the certifying of teaching ability? The method by which we certify teachers needs to be completely overhauled. Adding more standardized test hoops through which to jump is not going to ensure the best teachers graduate into the field. Adding more "tasks" that credential candidates have to complete and have scored by committee is not going to ensure that the best teachers end up in front of the classroom. And requiring the submission of endless "lists of best practices" which we are then encouraged to paste in our planning books "for easy reference" in various subject areas is for sure not going to ensure students aren't shortchanged by incompetency in the classroom.

I chose this program partially because it seemed like the program most in touch with what was really needed for fledgling teachers -- time in the classroom. (Also because it was half the cost of Cal Poly and let me keep working while going to school.) Unfortunately, they still have to comply with state requirement after state requirement and pass the requirements along to us. Not that anyone is going to listen to me, but I think that someone needs to seriously consider how to create an apprenticeship type program for new teachers. This idea isn't original to me (I credit the best kindergarten teacher I know, my mom, for it), but it makes more and more sense the further I get into the bureaucracy of credentialing.

With an apprenticeship program, the prospective teacher would be paired with a mentor and act as a teacher's aide. Over time the apprentice would be given more and more responsibility for the students until s/he and the mentor are effectively co-teaching. At that point, the apprentice is ready to move into his/her own classroom. While working as an aide and moving up to co-teacher, the apprentice could and should continue to study theory and be tested in the ability to implement the theory. But all effective teachers are perpetual students; the difference would be the elimination of busy work. The apprentice can immediately implement and test results in the classroom.

Obviously, I don't have all the answers. While I don't recommend anyone take my path of getting into teaching (being tossed into the deep end of junior high without any training whatsoever), I do think that getting into the classroom and being supported by incredible mentors on a daily basis did more to teach me the fundamentals of teaching than any activity in this whole program. It doesn't hurt that I have been absorbing best practices in teaching for more than 20 years simply by listening to my mom over the years, but again, that simply lends support to my belief that mentors do more for molding good teachers than any class can do.

This post started out as a vent on the RICA exam and turned into something more (and yet less at the same time, with its rambling nature and abrupt ending). I guess I better get back to studying for the RICA, so that I can upload my sample test to my faculty advisor. After that I have one more "Expected Learning Outcome" (a set of 10 activities) and a summary of a literacy case study to complete, and I will be finished with Term 3. Giving me five whole weeks to do whatever I want to do (which is train my dogs, read a lot, host Liz and kids, purge my house of clutter, ride the train to Oregon, and maybe take a road trip down south).