Study Guide
Purpose of This Preparation Guide
Recommendation for individuals using a screenreader: please set your punctuation settings to "most."
This preparation guide is designed to provide information about the content and format of a test for the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations trademark ( N Y S T C E registered trademark ) program. Education faculty and administrators at teacher preparation institutions may also find the information in this guide useful as they discuss the test with candidates. This preparation guide illustrates some of the potential types of questions that appear on a test; however, the set of sample questions provided in this preparation guide does not necessarily define the content or difficulty of the actual test. All test components (including, but not limited to, directions, question content and formats) may differ from those presented here. Furthermore, review of this preparation guide, in whole or in part, does not guarantee an increased likelihood of success on any of the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations. The N Y S T C E program is subject to change at the sole discretion of the New York State Education Department, and any changes will fully supersede the information presented in this document. As a reminder, candidates are responsible for contacting their certification officer(s) regarding any changes to the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations.
Test Design and Framework
For a complete overview of the assessment design and framework, review the
Bilingual Education Assessments Test Design and Framework
.
For information on computer-based testing for BEAs, please review the BEA computer-based testing tutorials.
This test consists of five sections:
Presentational Speaking section (Competencies 0007 and 0008): For the Presentational Speaking section of the test, you will record a spoken response to two assignments presented on-screen.
Interpretive Listening section (Competencies 0003 and 0004): You will listen to audio recordings containing spoken messages in either English or Spanish and answer selected-response (multiple-choice) questions presented on screen in the same language as the spoken message.
- For the first assignment, you will record your spoken response in English.
- For the second assignment, you will record your spoken response in Spanish.
Foundations of Bilingual Education (content and pedagogy) section (Competencies 0001 and 0002): You will respond to selected-response (multiple-choice) questions.
Interpretive Reading section (Competency 0005): You will read passages that represent a variety of authentic texts in Spanish and answer selected-response questions in Spanish.
Presentational Writing section (Competency 0006): You will write an essay in Spanish in response to an assignment.
The Presentational Speaking sections are administered first. You may complete the remaining sections of the test in any order and you can go back and review your responses to questions in these sections as needed throughout the remainder of the test duration. Please note, however, that you will start uppercase NOT end uppercase be able to replay the audio recordings in the Interpretive Listening section.
For sections containing selected-response questions, each question includes four response choices. Read each question and response choice carefully and choose the start uppercase ONE end uppercase correct response. You should answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of a response, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all.
At the test center, you will be provided with a felt pen and an erasable notebooklet on which you may take notes.