Making a  major change that will create new opportunities for those considering becoming teachers,  California recently passed the TK-12 Education Trailer Bill (AB 130), which will provide teaching credential candidates with additional pathway options other than the CBEST and CSET exams to satisfy both the basic skills requirement and subject matter competency.     

Called a “game-changer” by  officials, Gov. Newsom signed the bill in July. Though the law does not eliminate long-standing requirements, it provides candidates with additional options to satisfy these requirements without needing to complete exams that have proven to be a barrier for many talented aspiring teachers.

A video explaining the complicated details of the new state options was  provided by Dr. Kimberly Mayfield at Holy Names University at www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyhI63nMYIc

In her remarks, Mayfield referred to the long struggle of urban education leaders to modify or end these standardized tests for teachers, which have contributed to a dramatic shortage of trained teachers in public schools. 

“This is great news. Our well-regarded (Holy Names University) faculty member Kitty Kelly Epstein for more than 20 years has been fighting against these assessments. So, it’s a great day for us to see that her work has not been in vain, now that we have more pathways.”

Like all standardized tests, the CBEST ad CSET are a particular burden for Black, Latino, Asian and Indigenous candidates. Many find them restrictively costly and culturally biased in their content.

Among the changes:

Instead of taking the CBEST Exam, candidates may complete full-credit, college-level coursework with a letter grade of “B” or higher in the subject areas of Reading, Writing and Mathematics.  

Instead of taking the CSET Exam,   Single Subject Credential candidates may utilize a completed degree/major in one of the subjects of single subject credential defined in the statute.

For Multiple Subject Credentials, candidates may use a completed degree/major in liberal studies or an interdisciplinary major that addresses all the content areas of the Multiple Subjects credential.

For Mild/Moderate Education Specialists, candidates may complete a degree/major that meets the Multiple Subject requirements or be in a subject aligned to authorized CSET examination content areas used for an Education Specialist credential. 

Christy Price

Posts by Christy Price