An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Business Education Certification Programs in Texas

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of preparation delivery programs available to those who seek business education teacher certification in Texas. There are three types of delivery programs in business education in Texas: (a) "traditional" certification programs delivered by institutions of higher education, and "alternative" programs that consist of (b) regional service centers/school districts and (c) entrepreneurial certification programs. Effectiveness of the certification delivery programs was operationalized using the institutional passing rates of students taking the Texas Examination of Educators Standards (TExES) Business Education 6-12 examination. A within-subjects design was used to examine passage rates across years and by certification type. A repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) with a between-subjects factor was used to determine the effectiveness of each certification delivery program type. Results indicated that institutions of higher education delivery programs had descriptively higher average passage rates than regional service centers and entrepreneurial program, but the results were not statistically or practically significantly different. Institutions' six-year average passing rates from 2006-2012 were analyzed by certification delivery program type using a one-way ANOVA. There was no statistically significant difference between groups. However, the results were practically significant indicating that higher education delivery programs may be more effective than regional service center/school districts and entrepreneurial programs at preparing business education teachers as measured by the institutional performance on the TExES Business Education 6-12 examination. Based on the results, teacher candidates may consider attending institutions of higher education for preparation to teach business education in Texas schools, although further research is needed to support these findings regarding the effectiveness of delivery programs in Business Education 6-12. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]