Program Overview
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) has contracted with the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson to assist in the development and administration of the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators® (GACE®). The purpose of the GACE is to assess the knowledge and skills of prospective Georgia public school educators. The GACE program helps the GaPSC meet its goal of ensuring that candidates have the knowledge and skills needed to perform the job of an educator in Georgia public schools. The GACE are aligned with state and national standards for educator preparation and with state standards for the P–12 student curriculum (Georgia Performance Standards).
The GACE are criterion-referenced, objective-based assessments 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. The tests were developed in consultation with committees of Georgia educators, educator preparation faculty, and other content and assessment specialists. Test questions were reviewed and approved by committees of Georgia educators. The passing score for each test is established by the GaPSC and is based on the professional judgments and recommendations of Georgia educators.
The following table provides an overview of the assessments offered by the GACE program:
| Assessment Type | Assessment Description |
| Basic Skills Assessment | The Basic Skills assessment is designed to assess knowledge and skills in the areas of reading, mathematics, and writing. The assessment is composed of three tests—both the reading and mathematics tests consist of selected-response questions; the writing test consists of selected-response questions and a constructed-response assignment. |
| Content Assessments | The content assessments test a variety of content knowledge areas. The middle grades assessments; the Latin assessment; Special Education: Reading, English Language Arts, and Social Studies; Special Education: Mathematics and Science; and the American Sign Language assessment are each a single test that consists of selected-response questions and constructed-response assignments. All other content assessments are composed of two tests—each test consists of selected-response questions and one or more constructed-response assignments. |
| Professional Pedagogy Assessment | The Professional Pedagogy assessment is designed to assess knowledge and skills in the areas of student development and learning, instruction and assessment, and professional roles and responsibilities. The Professional Pedagogy assessment is not required for those who have completed a state-approved educator preparation program. The assessment is composed of two tests—each test consists of selected-response questions and constructed-response assignments. |
| Educational Leadership Assessment | The Educational Leadership assessment is designed to assess knowledge and skills needed by educational leaders in Georgia public schools. The assessment is composed of two tests—each test consists of selected-response questions and constructed-response assignments. |
| Paraprofessional Assessment |
The Paraprofessional assessment is designed to enable individuals and school districts
to satisfy state and federal No Child Left Behind requirements that call for "highly qualified
paraprofessionals." These requirements indicate that paraprofessionals working in
Title I schools or paid with Title I funds must meet a rigorous standard of quality and
demonstrate, through formal state or local assessment,
|
For more details about the content of the assessments, refer to the GACE test designs and frameworks on the GACE Web site. See "Preparing for the Tests" for more information.
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