ASU Still Perfect on Math TExES

For the 18th straight year, Angelo State University students have maintained a 100 percent passing rate on the Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES) teacher certification test for secondary mathematics.

    Five ASU students took the TExES this spring and passed with an average score of 274 out of 300. ASU’s perfect passing rate streak began in 1998 and since then, all 172 of the ASU students who have taken the secondary mathematics exam after completing the ASU mathematics program have passed.

    This was the second year for the new TExES Math 7-12 exam that has replaced the previous Math 8-12 exam. During the previous 16 years that ASU maintained a 100 percent passing rate on the Math 8-12 exam, the state average was only about 50 percent.

    ASU students passing the secondary mathematics test this year to keep the streak alive were Caitlyn Conaway of North Richland Hills, Codi Foster of Haskell, Rachel Fuchs of Wall, Steven Jackson of The Colony and Steven Wusterbarth of Crane.

    Dr. Dionne Bailey, associate professor of mathematics, teaches the capstone course that the students must complete as a final preparation for the TExES.

     “During these 18 consecutive years, ASU students have received passing scores that are well above the state average,” Bailey said. “These students worked very hard to ensure that the perfect streak continues, and I am so proud of their accomplishments.”

This was the first year for Bailey to teach the capstone course after taking over from Ellen Moreland, who developed the curriculum and taught the capstone course for the first 17 years of the perfect passing rate streak. Moreland won ASU’s inaugural Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award for her efforts in 2009.

    “Over the past 17 years,” Bailey said, “Ellen developed a curriculum that has proven to prepare our mathematics students for the wide array of questions that span mathematical knowledge from all four years of undergraduate mathematics course work. She also made it easy for me to transition into this new role, generously offering her curriculum, expertise and support. The capstone instructor cannot successfully prepare the students for the state exam without a strong mathematics program and faculty that serve their students well.”    

    For more information, contact Bailey at 325-486-5425.