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ICTS Basic Skills & Elementary/Middle Grades with CD (ICTS Teacher Certification Test Prep) ReviewThis does not help students.
There are fundamental flaws with the ICTS Basic Skills Test system period.
It is not a cheap test to take - it is not covered by grants or scholarships, it is pretty much
out of pocket.
You can use this prep material, the prep material on the ICTS website, or any of the host of other
ICTS 300 test prep books available, but it won't help you.
Why? Because you will never know what you missed on the test.
That's right. ICTS only gives you your numeric score and a pass/fail graph results.
Each test section you took has a results page. They all lead to the exact same page, which is only the graph and number (like Reading - 199). You will never be allowed to see your test answers, never allowed to know what areas in which you are weak.
This is a huge flaw. ICTS claims they can't give back test results because people would cheat. Sounds to me like the only ones cheating are the folks at ICTS. They cheat the students out of any real help this way.
Let's say you scored 180 on the math out of a possible 300 (and the needed 240). Okay, you missed the goal by at least 60 points.
So, where is your weakness? Instead of results that even go so far as to say you got 80% of the algebra questions right, 40% of the geometry questions right and 75% of the basic math right, you get a blanket number with no breakdown. You won't know if you are weak in geometry or some other area. You might have had a perfect score on all the geometry, but messed up the algebra questions, and need to review algebra. You'll never know.
As it is, this is a nice financial racket for ICTS, but only milks the students. The Basic Skills 300 is very expensive to take.
The majority of students now fail this test after the Sep 2010 changes. I don't think a whole set of students suddenly got dumber, but that is what this test would lead someone to think. It keeps a lot of very good students out of their desired major, because without a score of at least 240 on each of the sections of this test, you cannot get into the education programs. Wanted to be a teacher since you were in elementary yourself? Can't think of anything else you've ever wanted to do? well, time to rethink your life, because Illinois has decided for you that if you can't pass their test with random hidden scoring, you can't possibly teach.
What this test DOES do is show who can test well, or who is fresh out of high school.
Those people who love tests as a challenge or personal game to be won will love it. The white-knuckle testers, those
who break out into a sweat when they hear the word "test" will likely fail.
Those who are recent high school graduates will have all of this sort of data fresh on their minds, and probably do okay.
If you are older, it has been a while since you were in school and you want to go back for a teaching certificate
now that your kids are older, good luck with passing! You probably won't be able to get certified in Illinois. After all, there is a
shortage of teachers, IL certainly does not rank highly in national testing results, so instead of helping more students
get into good programs, they keep them at arm's length and lock them out. There are people with master's degrees who cannot
pass this test. Of course, they won't know why either, because of the ICTS policy of not sharing ANYTHING about your test results
with you except the grand total.
Until ICTS can help students know WHAT they missed so they can study harder, it is a total shot in the dark, and both a waste
of money and time. The education programs in the state of Illinois are already very limited in scope and in the amount of space for students. They don't put education as a priority here, in my opinion. I didn't grow up here, thank goodness. But my spouse who did still is lacking in some very basic skills. Much like many states are doing, teachers teach to meet federal funding guidelines, rather than making sure all students have the skills they are trying to teach. They have a tight timeline and can't really spend the time with students like they should - the principal will be on their backs about meeting the school goals for federal funds.
So, ICTS helps to feed the un-education machine here by putting this test as a requirement, with nothing but practice tests to go on - there is NOTHING a student can do to help find out what they are missing on the tests. NOTHING. So, students continue to practice a broad variety of skills in hopes of passing it the next time they take it. Good luck - it's another random shot. You'll still not know what you missed or didn't miss - only the little black and white graph that will tell you if you tested good enough to apply to an education program.
So, to sum up, if you don't pass the test the first time, you won't know why. You can, however, pay even more money out to ICTS for another chance to waste a morning several months later, long after you need to have passed. You can't get into the IL education programs to help you learn to be an effective teacher until you can prove you already know everything and don't need the program.
Yep - if you can do a great job on the test and already HAVE all the skills, then we'll let you into the education program, and you can spend the next two or three years taking classes that might or might not help you actually be a good teacher. But hey - it's only money and time. Those are both endless, right? Right? (And I think we've all had teachers that were very smart themselves, probably passed this test with a great score, but who can't manage to communicate the subject matter to the students, or who makes the students hate the subject after being in one of their classes! What a waste of human resources - this test rules out a lot of very good people who are not strong test takers.)
This test proves NOTHING except showing who is good at taking tests.
It shows NOTHING about the potential to be a great teacher.
You can practice until you see test questions in your sleep, but you still will never know what you need to work on, because
ICTS keeps it all a secret.
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