Education majors put to the test: BCOE achieves 100 percent passage rate on license exams

Youngstown State University’s Beeghly College of Education has achieved a 100 percent passage rate on both the teacher and principal license examinations, an accomplishment that no other state university in Ohio achieved in the 2012-13 test period.

Between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013, 206 YSU education students passed the teacher license exams; another 19 students passed the principal license exams.

Charles Howell, dean of BCOE, said student success on these tests is the direct result of both the high quality of education candidates and their thorough preparation provided by the college.

“Our courses are closely aligned with the contents of those tests. Our faculty review the results, and they look at where students had trouble. They make sure their courses cover all the topics covered in them. That is one way we prep them for the test,” Howell said. “We maintain very high standards.”

Mary Lou DiPillo, associate dean of BCOE, added that university faculty members across campus contribute to test preparation measures.

“It takes a lot of help to prepare students so that they are successful on these tests, and I think you can say that this is really a campus-wide effort in achieving the success rates that students have,” DiPillo said.

High passage rates on these license exams can bolster the university’s reputation among employers who are hiring, assisting YSU students as they search for jobs after graduation.

“I think it builds confidence in our students and in those who are apt to hirer them — school administrators etc. — because they’re very concerned that the teachers they put in their classroom first of all know their content and secondly know how to teach their content,” DePillo said. “So when they see the pass rate that we have, I think they are confident that when they take a YSU student or YSU graduate, that they are hiring the best for their schools.”

Though a new license test has been implemented in 2013, Howell said BCOE is committed to maintaining the success the college has experienced in the past.

“Our faculty are very, very committed to student success. We have the highest placement rate in full-time, relevant occupations of any college. We know our students do well when they graduate, we know our students do well in student teaching and we want to maintain that record,” he said.