OC’s Education Program recognized for highest pass rates on the state licensing exams

OC education graduates achieved the highest overall pass rate in the state for all three teacher certification exams.

Oklahoma Christian University offers great programs that benefit its students in their future careers. Recently, OC’s School of Education continued that tradition with graduates earning the highest pass rates in the state on licensing exams in 2021. 

OC recently received the news from the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability in the Oklahoma Department of Education. The office chooses and approves the universities in Oklahoma that operate as licensing colleges for future teachers. The OEQA report comes out annually and includes test scores from students from the 23 Education Preparation Providers, also known as schools of education.

To be licensed, teachers must pass three exams: the Oklahoma General Education Test, Oklahoma Subject Area Test and the Oklahoma Professional Education Exam. The first two exams are more specific for licensing Elementary and Early Childhood Education, as well as Secondary Math and Science and Music. The OPTE has recently been replaced with the Praxis Performance Assessment of Teachers or PPAT, a performance-based assessment.

Including all three exams, OC averaged a 97.6% pass rate, and OC's OSAT pass rate was 100%, putting OC at the highest rate in the state. The next-highest pass rate was from the University of Oklahoma with 93.9%. This also makes OU and OC the only Oklahoma universities with passing rates above 90%. Statewide, the scores for all three exams ranged between 28.6% to 96.7%.

Darin Martin, professor of teacher education, is thankful for these results for the students at OC.

“Praise God for these great results,” Martin said. “Thanks to all our faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication to our students.”

OC students should be proud of their work in the past year. Senior Katie Welborn expressed how these scores will impact her in her career and the impact it will have on the university. 

“Seeing OC has such high passing rates is definitely a boost of confidence in knowing that we are prepared and capable to teach after all the hard work from our preparation program,” she said. “The professors in our department go above and beyond to support and prepare us, and it definitely shows through their intentionality and hard work. After equipping us with all the knowledge we need, they often invite us into their homes for a study group pouring in encouragement and reminding us that we are capable, seen, and smart.”