Georgia teaching field criterion-referenced tests, questions and answers about initial teacher certification [1976]

Georgia Teaching Field
CriterionReferenced
Tests
Received APR 03 1995
DOCUMENTS
'GA LI BRARIF'"
Questions & Answers
about Initial Teacher Certification

A major cooperative effort among groups of Georgia educators over the years has been to establish standards governing the teaching profession. Out of this effort has evolved the strong belief that a positive relationship exists between a teacher's demonstrated performance and his or her students' achievement. How and where this idea was born is difficult to determine. However, it was a recurrent theme as early as 1964, when I participated in a seminar with such leading educational authorities as James B. Conant, John Goodlad, Edward T. Ladd, and others. In subsequent years, educators in Georgia and throughout the nation began using field-based approaches in their teacher-training programs to enable new teachers to more effectively "put into practice what they had learned." These new approaches were the forerunners of Georgia's competency-based plans.
In 1972 the State Superintendent of Schools and the Chancellor of the University System appointed a steering committee of representative Department staff and private and public teacher educators to identify the steps needed to design and implement a competency-based teacher preparation and certification plan. The steering committee established a task force to reformulate teacher education programs on a competency-based design, to separate teacher preparation from teacher licensing through the use of evidence obtained outside the training institution for initial certification, and to design on-the-job assessment procedures to determine that beginning teachers demonstrate essential competencies.
This brochure describes one aspect of the multiple-evidence approach to initial teacher certification: to determine whether or not a potential teacher has the teaching field knowledge to perform successfully in the classroom.
This effort is a bold new venture to improve the teacher preparation and certification process in the state of Georgia. Your thoughtful response to the ideas presented here would be greatly appreciated.
H. Titus Singletary, Jr. Associate State Superintendent for Instructional Services

Several questions have been raised concerning the contract to develop tests for teachers which was approved by the Georgia State Board of Education at its November 1975 meeting. For your information and in communicating with others, the following responses may prove useful.

1

Why are these tests being developed?
To increase educational outcomes there is a

need to assess teachers so that certification

is based on demonstrated performance, assuring that

educational personnel have the competencies essen-

tial to facilitate the intellectual, social, emotional,

and physical growth of learners.

2 What type of competencies will these tests assess or measure? Of the three basic types of competencies-
knowledges, skills, and attitudes-these tests will assess only the knowledge essential to the particular teaching field. They will not attempt to measure skills, attitudes, or even the knowledge of teaching methods or strategies. These ather important competencies will be assessed both during student teaching and during a beginning teacher's first years on the job.

3

What teaching field areas do these tests cover?

This contract will produce tests in the fol-

lowing 10 teaching fields: Early Childhood, Middle

Childhood, Communication Arts, Social Science,

Mathematics, Science, Agriculture, Indust~ial Arts,

Home Economics, and Business.

4 Who will be required to take the tests? Only applicants for initial certification in
Georgia will be tested.

5

Are teachers presently holding certificates going to be recertified?

No. This new certification procedure is

not retroactive. The criterion-referenced testing

will not affect the status of currently practicing

teachers.

6

What type of test will be used? Criterion-referenced tests will be utilized,

in contrast to norm-referenced tests. A cri-

terion-referenced test is a set of questions developed

to measure an individual's performance on specific

instructional objectives. Each item is designed to

test the student's mastery of a particular objective.

A norm-referenced test, on the other hand, com-

pares an individual's performance with that of the

entire group taking the test; it does not determine

what specific skills and knowledges an individual

has or has not learned.

2

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Are the scores on the criterionreferenced tests the only basis for

initial certification?

No. Initial certification of teachers will be based

on a multiple evidence approach. In addition to the

tests, applicants for certification also will be judged

on their grades in appropriate college courses and

on local school system assessment of their student

teaching performance.

8

Who is organizing the development of teacher certification criterion-

referenced tests?

This project was initiated by the State Board of

Education on recommendations of the staff of the

Georgia Department of Education and the Teacher

Education Council. Performance-based certification,

of which the tests are one component, has been a

continuing aspiration in Georgia since the late 60's.

Detailed planning involving Georgia teacher educa-

tion institutions, professional associations, and lo-

cal education agencies has taken place over the

past th ree years.

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9

How are the specific needs of Georgia reflected in the project?

The entire project is tailored to reflect

Georgia's educational needs. The tests will measure

the applicant's knowledge of specific subject matter

content as defined by state and local goals, objec-

tives, curriculum guides and job analyses. By means

of surveys and on-site visits, Georgia teachers wi II

rate subject matter objectives as to importance and

frequency of use to insure that future practitioners

are tested on knowledge they wi II be expected to

teach in Georgia classrooms. In addition, both the

content and the tests themselves will be subject to

the approval of a Georgia-based ad hoc committee

in each teaching field.

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1 0 How well will an applicant have to perform on the test in order to pass? Each applicant must demonstrate mastery
of the content in the teaching field. A cut-off score for mastery of content will be established by judgments of expert panels and by analyzing the knowledge mastery of successful current teachers. This minimum score will be determined during field tryouts in accordance with legal guidelines. The score will clearly define those demonstrating competence and those not demonstrating sufficient competence in the teaching field. Once testing is in operation, no applicant's score will be compared with other applicants'. No set percentage of applicants will pass or fail. Theoretically, all applicants taking the test during any given year could pass.
11 Are currently practicing teachers being evaluated? No. This project will affect the certifica-
tion of future Georgia teaching applicants only. A number of current teachers in Georgia will be asked to participate in the project, but their assistance will be in assuring job-relatedness and establishing minimum mastery, and will not be of a personal, evaluative nature.
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12 How "job-related" are the tests? The primary concern is to assure that the tests actually reflect subject matter content that teachers must know in order to assist students to master expected skills or knowledge. Because the tests are being developed directly from needed competencies as specified by practicing Georgia teachers, unrelated skills will not be tested or used as criteria for certification. During the field tryouts, test items will be reviewed by practicing Georgia teachers for relevance to the teaching field.
13 Will the test items be field tested before they are put into use? Yes. There wi II be two field tryouts: one
small-scale tryout and one large-scale tryout. The small-scale tryout will evaluate the tests regarding item clarity, relationship of item content to actual job requirements, and overall impression of the items. The large-scale tryout will investigate item difficulty, item bias, reliability, ease of administration, accuracy, and precision. Appropriate item statistics will provide the basis for revision.
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14 Who will be involved in the field tryouts? A sample group of current teachers will
participate in the field tryouts, taking the criterionreferenced tests under simulated circumstances. Their performance will be considered as the total group. Individual performance will not be identifiable. The results of these tryouts will be the basis for revising and improving objectives and items.
15 Who will review the objectives and test items? In addition to the reviews by Georgia De-
partment of Education and N ES personnel, content experts and the ad hoc committees, all objectives and items will be reviewed for cultural, sex, racial, regional or religious bias. All objectives and test items will be judged for content congruence and examined for job-relatedness.
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16 How do the teaching certification criterion-referenced tests differ from the National Teacher Examination?
The National Teacher Examination (NTEl questions applicants on the philosophical and psychological foundations of educational practices. Testing of subject matter competence occurs only in selected areas of social studies, English, science, and mathematics. Teaching area examinations of the NTE do concentrate on specific subject matter preparedness, but they reflect the content of teacher preparation programs in contrast to Georgia goal-related and jobrelated content. The Georgia teaching certification criterion-referenced tests do not attempt to measure such issues as personality, motivation, and interest in children. They measure the content in the teaching field which has been empirically determined to represent the most important and frequently used skills or activities necessary for successful teaching.
17 How long will it take to complete this project? The project began in December 1975 and
will extend for 18 months. It is scheduled to be completed in May 1977.
18 How can you obtain more information about this project? Further information about the teaching
certification criterion-referenced tests can be obtained from:
Lester M. Solomon Coordinator of Development Georgia Department of Education 127 State Office Building Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Telephone: (404) 656-2688
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Office of I nstructional Services Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Jack P. Nix State Superintendent of Schools 1976
Produced by National Evaluation Systems, Inc. Post Office Box 226 Amherst, Mass. 01002 Telephone: (413) 549-1011

Georgia Department of Education Atlanta, Georgia 30334

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