The Alabama State Board of Education voted unanimously Sept. 11 to adopt a resolution modifying the foundational reading assessment required for initial teacher certification.

Board members approved the change after a public comment from Kelly Murray, certification officer for the College of Education and Professional Studies at Jacksonville State University, who read testimony from a student saying the prior testing sequence had imposed repeated costs and delays. "I unfortunately had to take it 6 times before I received my passing score, which resulted in me spending hundreds of dollars," Murray read, attributing the account to a senior teacher candidate named Katie.

Board member Dr. Mackey told colleagues the move shifts the state to a different, nationally used assessment and would give teacher candidates access to additional preparation resources. "By adopting the national assessment ... we get all these free resources that Miss Murray talked about this morning," Dr. Mackey said, adding the change is "one more step forward" to support early-grade teachers and to retain candidates who might otherwise leave the pathway to the classroom.

According to public comment presented at the meeting, the revised assessment program will offer better preparation tools, including tutoring and a full-length practice test, and (as described by the speaker) the opportunity to take the assessment at no charge if a candidate has failed three times. The board’s discussion described the change as multi-year and emphasized the department would continue to provide supports rather than merely changing the test.

The resolution was moved and seconded during the meeting; neither the motion maker nor the seconder were named on the record. The board recorded a unanimous vote to adopt the resolution.

The board did not provide a timeline in the public portion of the meeting for when the new assessment will replace the prior requirement. The change was described as part of an ongoing multi-year effort to align certification assessments with the science of reading and to expand supports for teacher candidates. Next steps for implementation and any details about administration, exact test name/number, or effective dates were not specified at the meeting.