Examining Paths to Success by Assessing Performance of Undergraduate Pre-service Teachers on High-stakes Texas Examinations of Educator Standards Teacher Certification Exams

The purpose of the study was to identify predictors of success for pre-service teachers in state mandated high-stakes teacher certification exams. In the last decade, Texas legislators have centered their attention in the preparation and certification of educators and have turned to more rigorous accountability measures to reach their objective of having programs be more selective about the candidates they prepare. The uniqueness of the student population at the institution served as the catalyst to bring to light the importance of not leaving behind these vulnerable populations. A path analysis model was developed to analyze the relationships of four exogenous and two endogenous variables in 378 cases. Additionally, the study aimed to identify if the variables in the model affect native and transfer students alike as they pursue their dream of becoming fully certified teachers. Native students are identified as students who completed all of their academic training at the Border University, while Transfer students started their academic training at an institution other than Border University. The study identified SAT, qualifying exams and GPA to be the best predictors of success on the TExES content and PPR teacher certification exams. Additionally the study also found that, on the TExES content exam, the effect of these factors is different for transfer students’ performance. The study concluded that educator preparation programs across the state of Texas should place close attention to these three factors in their admission process, not as gatekeepers, but rather as an early warning system to foster student success