Only 53 percent of prospective Massachusetts teachers passed the most recent state-administered competency test in October, according to data released yesterday by the state Department of Education.

The news comes in wake of complaints by the state's teachers unions that Governor A. Paul Cellucci's actions have created a climate in which educators feel the Commonwealth has robbed of classroom autonomy.

Speaking to reporters before the test results were announced yesterday, one educational expert who supports the unions said the political pressure exerted by Cellucci and state legislators has contributed to a decline in teacher morale.

"The policy community is putting this enormous challenge on teachers, that is, educating all students to high standards, and at the same time expressing doubt about the competency of teachers," said Paul S. Reville, a lecturer at Harvard's Graduate School of Education.

"The teachers find that undermining," he added.

The 53 percent overall passing rate is slightly below the results from the competency test administered in June, when 57 percent passed.

The examinations--which teachers must pass in order to receive their licenses--test basic skills in reading comprehension, writing and expertise in a particular subject area.

Teachers must pass all three sections but don't have to take all the sections at once.

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.

The legislation mandated that, beginning in 1998, teachers be certified by obtaining a passing score on a standardized test.

When first administered in April of that year, only 41 percent of test-takers passed, igniting debate throughout the Commonwealth.

Advocates of the exams say the results prove their point--that many teachers in the classrooms were not qualified for their jobs.

Katherine Kelley, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers (MFT), told The Crimson earlier this year that the tests have become a political weapon, wielded by legislators with axes to grind.

"[Teachers] are constantly castrated for not doing their jobs when they're spending hours upon hours doing extra work," she said. "They've gotten no credit and they've gotten constant bashing."

But since the tests are supported by a majority of the state's educational governing board and its commissioner, David P. Driscoll, they are still in use. And recently, there have been signs that teachers are warming to the idea of testing.

In early November, the MFT proposed a list of 20 changes to the process. Among them, the union said it supports repealing waivers that allow uncertified--but qualified--teachers to teach in certain areas.

Cellucci said he welcomed the MFT proposals.

The imbroglio over teacher testing is one part of the larger push for educational reform by testing.

Cellucci has also overseen the implementation of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System Tests, which measure student aptitude. Those scores have been low, prompting some educational experts to question their utility and others to question whether the entire school system is in crisis.

---Wire services contributed to the reporting of this story.