[This month’s blog comes to us from 240 Tutoring, a sponsor of our 2026 Day of Assessment Conference.]
The most successful educator preparation programs don’t work in isolation.
They build ecosystems where expectations are clear, support around certification test prep is structured, and accountability is shared.
When preparation is collaborative, outcomes change. Confidence grows. Pass rates rise. And programs gain clarity about how to support candidates more effectively.
Access Isn’t the Difference — Structure Is
Across the country, educator preparation programs are seeing a consistent pattern: access to test prep alone is not enough. What drives results is how exam preparation is introduced, reinforced, and monitored within the program.
Programs seeing the strongest gains pair support with authoritative accountability. Test prep is embedded into coursework and program milestones. Expectations are preloaded. Progress is visible. Intervention happens early, before frustration or disengagement sets in.
Authoritative Accountability in Practice
At Florida Gateway College, Pamela Carswell saw this shift firsthand.
“I saw my students’ pass rates go from 50% to 88% in a single year once I started monitoring how students were studying and performing on practice tests,” she shared.
What changed wasn’t the rigor of the certification tests — it was the structure around how students prepared for them. Students knew what was expected, how progress would be tracked, and that support was available when it mattered. A similar approach drove results at Miami Dade College School of Education, where faculty focused on
front-loading expectations rather than simply sharing test prep resources. Students were shown exactly how to study, what “studying with fidelity” meant, and how preparation connected directly to passing on the first attempt. Faculty reinforced expectations early and used data to guide support.
The result: 94% of candidates passed their certification tests on the first try.
At Midwestern State University, faculty began with a small pilot centered on consistency. As engagement and outcomes improved, the approach expanded across departments — driven by shared expectations and visibility into student progress.
Consistency Creates Cohort-Wide Success
This framework extends beyond initial certification. In a recent cohort of aspiring educational leaders at Texas A&M University, every principal who used structured test-preparation tools passed their leadership certification test — the highest pass rate the program had ever seen. Clear expectations and consistent reinforcement created the conditions for success at scale.
Scaling Accountability Without Adding Burden
Once programs establish clear expectations and consistent monitoring, the next challenge is scale. How do you meaningfully support all candidates without adding more work for faculty or staff?
Many programs plan to address this by using 240’s Workshops in a Box — a repeatable, scalable test prep workshop that reinforces expectations and connects coursework to how content appears on certification tests. By hosting guided workshops, programs help candidates overcome hesitation and build confidence to take the next step toward testing.
Learning From Peers to Strengthen Practice
Sustaining this level of accountability doesn’t happen in isolation. Educator preparation leaders across institutions are grappling with similar questions:
● How do we motivate candidates to study well?
● How do we prepare them for the reality of the classroom?
● How are programs accessing funding to support candidate learning?
240 Partner Conferences create space for this work. These gatherings bring together educator preparation leaders to share how they’re addressing common challenges and to learn directly from peers who are seeing results. Programs leave with practical strategies they can adapt rather than reinventing solutions on their own.
These events reinforce a simple truth: when programs stop guessing and start learning from peers, certification test prep becomes clearer, more consistent, and more effective.
Interested in learning alongside educator preparation leaders facing similar challenges? Click here to register for an upcoming 240 Partner Conference.
For more information on partnering with 240 Tutoring click here to visit their website.