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PREPARING FOR THE TEST
The purpose of the Georgia Assessments for the
Certification of Educators® (GACE®) is to assess the knowledge and skills of prospective
Georgia public school educators. The GACE program helps the Georgia Professional
Standards Commission (PSC) 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).
This preparation guide provides information to help you prepare to take the GACE
as follows:
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This section includes information about available resources and their
use in understanding the design and content of the assessment, and strategies for
success on the day of the test.
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The following sections contain sample test questions
and additional test materials to assist you in your preparation.
 Understanding the Design and 
Content of the Test
The content knowledge assessed by the GACE is described
in the test design and framework for each assessment. You may view, print, or download the test design
and framework for any GACE assessment by selecting "Test Designs and Frameworks" on
the GACE Web site at www.gace.nesinc.com.
This section describes how to use the
test design and framework to understand both the design and content of each GACE
assessment.
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Test Design
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Read the test design to familiarize yourself with
the structure of the assessment. The test design outlines the following assessment components:
- the content areas covered on each test within the assessment
- the approximate number of questions in each content area
- the types of questions (selected-response questions and constructed-response assignments)
contained on each test
- the percentage of your total test score derived from each test section for tests that
contain both a selected-response and a constructed-response section
The following example illustrates the information provided
by the test design.
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Test Framework
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Read the test framework to understand
the content covered by the assessment and to determine your preparedness to test.
The test framework for each assessment is organized into subareas, objectives, and
descriptive statements as follows:
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Subareas define the major content domains of
the test. Subareas typically consist of several objectives. The number of objectives
may vary, depending on the breadth of content contained in the subarea.
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Objectives define the knowledge and skills that Georgia
educators and teacher educators have
determined to be important for educators to possess. Each objective is expanded
upon by descriptive statements.
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Descriptive statements provide examples of the range,
type, and level of content that may appear on the test for questions measuring the
objective.
Test questions are designed to measure specific test objectives.
The number of objectives within a subarea generally determines the number
of selected-response test questions that will address that subarea's content on the test. Subareas
that consist of more objectives will receive more emphasis on the test than subareas that consist of fewer objectives.
The following example from the Early Childhood Education test framework illustrates the relationship of a
selected-response test question to the subarea, objective, and descriptive statement in the framework to which
it corresponds. This same direct relationship between selected-response test questions and their corresponding
objectives applies to all GACE assessments.
Strategies for Success on the
Day of the Test
Review the following strategies to help you do your best when taking the GACE.
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Follow directions
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Listen to and follow
all test directions. This includes the oral directions that will be read by the
test administrators and any written directions.
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| Pace your work |
The test schedule is designed to allow sufficient time for you to complete your
test. You may wish to page through the test questions when you are instructed
to begin testing to help you gauge how to pace yourself. Remember to leave enough
time to respond to any constructed-response assignments.
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| Read carefully |
Do not try
to save time by skimming directions or by reading the test questions quickly. You
may miss important information and instructions.
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| Determine the "best answer" |
Your response to each selected-response question should be the best answer of the
alternatives provided. Read and evaluate all four answer choices before deciding
which one is best.
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| Guess wisely |
Your results on the selected-response section of
the test will be based on the number of questions you answer correctly. You will
not be penalized for guessing. If you are unsure about a question, use your knowledge
of the content area to eliminate as many of the alternatives as you can. Then select
among the remaining choices.
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| Designate your answers carefully |
Your responses to the selected-response
questions will be scored electronically. It is very important for you to designate your
answers carefully. If you skip questions,
be sure to go back later to answer them.
You may wish to use remaining time at the end of the test session to check
the accuracy of your work.
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Respond to the constructed-response assignment(s) fully
and clearly |
If the test you are
taking contains a constructed-response assignment, be sure to read and respond to
each part of the assignment. It is important for scorers to be able to understand
your response. Also, make sure that you have recorded your response to the constructed-response
assignment as instructed.
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Preparation Worksheets
In addition to the preparation materials describing the test design and content, the GACE program offers the following
worksheets to assist candidates in evaluating their preparedness to test:
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