It looks like Metro's students of teacher education are not only learning how to give tests, but they know how to take them as well.

The Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) is required, by state statute, to report annually to the governor and the education committees of the General Assembly on how Colorado's teacher education programs are doing. The CCHE's "Report to Governor and General Assembly on Teacher Education," presented in December 2004, includes enrollment data, performance on assessments, results of a statewide survey of first-year teachers and reports on site visits to colleges.

In its report, the CCHE cites Metro students' perfect performance on the Program for Licensing Assessments for Colorado Educators (PLACE) exams, which are used to measure the preparedness of students in teacher education programs. All of the 258 Metro students who took the PLACE exam last year passed it, up from a 92 percent pass rate in the 2000-01 academic year.

Metro's pass rate on the PLACE exams contributed to the CCHE's determination to renew the licensure for its teacher education programs (see "CCHE reauthorizes teacher ed programs" at http://www.mscd.edu/%7Ecollcom/@metro/tw@metro_vol2/cche_twv2011205.htm).