2008–2009
ABOUT THE NEW MEXICO TEACHER
ASSESSMENTS
|
The New Mexico Staff Accountability Plan of 1981 mandated
assessment as part of the state’s teacher licensure requirements.
In response to this mandate, the State of New Mexico Public
Education Department (PED) selected Evaluation
Systems to fulfill the requirements
for a testing program by developing and administering
the New Mexico Teacher Assessments™. The explicit purpose
of these tests is to help identify candidates for licensure
who have demonstrated the level of knowledge and skills
that is important in performing the job of an educator in
New Mexico public schools.
The New Mexico Teacher Assessments address areas covered
by the Public Education Department Teacher Competencies
and Indicators and other state policy documentation. The
tests are criterion referenced and competency based. A
criterion-referenced test is designed to measure a candidate’s
knowledge and skills in relation to an established standard
rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates.
Test questions were developed using educational materials
relevant to New Mexico, such as textbooks, New Mexico
curriculum frameworks, teacher education curricula, and
licensure standards. The questions were reviewed by committees
of New Mexico educators, educator preparation faculty, and other content and
assessment specialists.
The New Mexico Teacher Assessments is a comprehensive
and integrative assessment program. Each test covers
a different facet of the teaching profession in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Teacher Assessments program includes the
following tests:
Test
Type
|
Test Description |
New Mexico Assessment of Teacher
Basic Skills™
|
The Basic Skills (01) test consists
of 100 selected-response questions and 1 constructed-response
assignment. The three broad areas of knowledge and
skills assessed in this test are reading comprehension,
written communication, and mathematics.
|
New Mexico Assessment of Teacher
Competency™
|
The Teacher Competency tests
consist of 75 selected-response questions, 3 restricted-response
assignments, and 1 extended-response assignment.
There are three versions of this assessment—Early
Childhood (05), Elementary (03), and Secondary (04). To determine
which version to take, see “Licensure
Requirements.”
|
| New Mexico Content Knowledge
Assessments™ |
The Content Knowledge Assessments
comprise 24 tests that separately test content knowledge
in the following fields:
Endorsement Content Knowledge Assessments
Middle-Level Assessments (100 selected-response
questions)
- Middle Level History, Geography, Economics, Civics and Government (26)
- Middle Level Language Arts (23)
- Middle Level Mathematics (24)
- Middle Level Science (25)
Secondary-Level Assessments (100 selected-response
questions)
- History, Geography, Economics, Civics and Government (16)
- Language Arts (12)
- Mathematics (14)
- Science (15)
Language Assessments (65 selected-response questions,
1 written constructed-response assignment, and 1
oral constructed-response assignment)
- French (18)
- German (19)
- Spanish (20)
Other Endorsement Content Knowledge Assessments (100 selected-response
questions)
- Family and Consumer Sciences (27)
- Health Education (28)
- Library/Media (30)
- Music (21)
- Physical Education (29)
- Reading (13)
- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (31)
- Visual Arts (22)
Licensure Content Knowledge Assessments (100 selected-response questions)
- Educational Administrator (35)
- Educational Diagnostician (33)
- Elementary Education (11)
- School Counselor (34)
- Special Education (32)
See “Licensure Requirements” to determine whether to take the middle-level
or secondary-level assessment for History, Geography, Economics, Civics and
Government; Language Arts; Mathematics; and Science. |
The New Mexico Teacher Assessments may include questions
that will not count toward an examinee’s score. These
questions are included in the test in order to collect
information about how they will perform under actual testing
conditions.
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