Of the 3,612 who took the reading comprehension test this October, 80 percent passed. Seventy-four percent of 3,609 teachers passed the writing portion of the test. And 67 percent of 1,879 teachers passed tests in their own subjects.
Teachers who took only one portion of the test during a sitting were more likely to show competency, statistics showed.
Nearly 6,000 of the state's more than 15,000 teachers took one or all of the tests this October.
The next round of teacher tests will be held in Jan. 8, 2000.
Teachers unions and some educational advocacy groups have criticized the tests as unfair, saying that the best educators often use skills that aren't easily measured by standardized examinations.
But state officials counter that the tests are a reliable predictor of classroom performance.
In 1993, in response to complaints about student performance and teacher conduct, a divided Beacon Hill passed an educational reform act, which was signed into law by William F. Weld '66.
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