FRANKFORT — Kentucky State University was told Monday that at least half of its students taking a national exam for new teachers this year must pass.

        Otherwise, the school will lose its programs for training elementary and physical-education teachers ... programs whose students have had high failure rates in recent years.

        The same ultimatum was handed to Cumberland College for its aspiring special-education teachers.

        “It's time we have to start taking a stand,” said Lydia Coffey, chairwoman of the Education Professional Standards Board, which certifies teachers and teacher-preparation programs.

        A top administrator of Kentucky State said it would satisfy the mandate ... that in fact it has already exceeded a 50 percent pass rate, judging from preliminary test data he has seen.

        Scores will not be published until April. But “we have an inside track on the data,” E. Terry Magel, the university's interim vice president for academic affairs, told reporters.

        The national exam, Praxis II, actually is a collection of exams designed to measure a prospective teacher's knowledge of the subject he or she proposes to teach. Kentucky requires it for teacher certification. Some institutions require it for graduation, which Mr. Magel said Kentucky State will do in the spring.

        Kentucky State, in Frankfort, had the poorest showing among graduates who took the exam last August. Ten of 15 elementary education graduates failed to score above the 25th national percentile, the minimum required by Kentucky for certification. Four KSU graduates took a Praxis exam for physical education, and three failed.

        At Cumberland, a private school in Williamsburg, five students were tested in special education and four failed. The standards board considered that an aberration, Ms. Coffey said.

        Cumberland's Praxis pass rate over the last five years is 88.5 percent. If the pass rate among current test takers is at least 70 percent, the program will be free of further review under the standards board's action.

        However, the scores of KSU students were judged to be part of a pattern, not an aberration.

        Last year, eight of 22 passed the test for elementary education. Five of 12 passed the test for physical education.

        That followed pass rates for physical education of 40 percent in 1998 and 20 percent in 1999.

        Dissatisfaction with the scores apparently was a factor in the firing of President George Reid this year. His vice president for academic affairs, Kenoye Eke, resigned.

        “Everybody's embarrassed by the scores,” Mr. Magel said. “I think the (standards) board had to do something. They had to make a statement.”

        A review team dispatched to Kentucky State earlier this year concluded that a “primary factor” in low Praxis scores is “the low achievement level at which students enter the university.”

        Most of the Praxis test takers entered KSU with an ACT score under 21, according to the review team's report. Standards for being admitted to the teacher-education program are not applied consistently. “Limited basic skills” prevent some from completing test items in the allotted time.

        Mr. Magel said the university is doing more to give its students a fighting chance on Praxis. It has realigned curriculum, conducted workshops to prepare students for the test and is familiarizing faculty with the exams, Mr. Magel said.

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