ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Woman and minorities are failing Missouri exams to enter teaching programs and to gain certification at higher rates, raising concerns.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1TceCXB ) reports that large numbers of college students are failing the tests required to become teachers. And while some argue that higher failure rates raise the bar for teacher quality in the long term, it’s feeding immediate concern of a shortage of women and minority instructors.

Both groups are failing the tests at higher rates on exams to enter teaching programs and to gain certification.

The gender gap is problematic because the tests are cutting off the very people most driven to the profession. Women represent three-fourths of the nation’s teachers.