The Idaho Board of Education finalized its decision this week to drop the National Teachers Exam as a requirement for teacher certification.

At the same time, the board directed state education officials to replace it with another form of evaluation by April 1996.

State Superintendent Anne Fox initially opposed dropping the teacher’s exam, saying it created a statewide standard for starting teachers to meet. She said she approves of finding an alternative.

Ron Rankin, a government watchdog, asked the Coeur d’Alene School District this spring to retain the exam despite the state board’s action. No action has been taken on his request.

The replacement test will come too late for this year, he said. The National Teachers Exam is used in only a dozen states. It’s been criticized for racial and gender bias, and for failing to predict classroom performance.

, DataTimes