PROGRAM OVERVIEW
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 the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson 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)
Other Endorsement Content Knowledge Assessments (100 selected-response questions)
Licensure Content Knowledge Assessments (100 selected-response questions)
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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