BLACK TEACHERS & LICENSURE EXAMS
This research project explored the relationship between high-stakes teacher licensure exam and Black teacher candidates. Specifically, the project explored how aspiring Black teachers experience taking the Praxis licensure exam. I began this project while a faculty member at Lincoln University, the first degree-granting historically Black university in the United States. The project drew from a range of disciplinary traditions to understand this topic. These traditions included social psychology, sociocultural theory, spatial studies, social network theories, and critical race studies. The study activated qualitative, survey, and sociometric research techniques.
This line of research received the 2018 Innovations in Research on Equity and Social Justice in Teacher Education Award from Division K of the American Educational Research Association.
Lincoln University & Oakland University
In collaboration with Lynnette Mawhinney & Kira J. Baker-Doyle
2008—2019
Selected project publications:
Petchauer, E. (2019). Navigating teacher licensure exams: Success and self-discovery on the high-stakes path to the classroom. Routledge.
Petchauer, E., & Baker-Doyle, K. (2019). “Next thing you know, her hair turned green”: Absurdity and uncertainty in high-stakes teacher test space. Critical Studies in Education, 60(1), 19-36.
Petchauer, E. (2015). Passing as white: Race, shame, and success in teacher licensure testing events for Black preservice teachers. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 18(6), 834-857.
Petchauer, E. (2014). “Slaying ghosts in the room”: Identity contingencies, teacher licensure testing events, and African American preservice teachers. Teachers College Record, 116(7), 1-40.