Al Baker reports in The New York Times, New York is moving toward changing the way licenses are granted to teachers, de-emphasizing tests and written essays in favor of an approach that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans, homework assignments and videotaped instruction sessions. Under the current standards, education students must sit for and pass three written exams. The new classroom assessment will replace two of those exams. New York is one of more than two dozen states implementing this type of change to its certification process. The new standards are expected to go into effect statewide in 2014. Read the full story in The New York Times.