School health teams commonly address the needs of students with asthma, which requires specific knowledge and skills. To develop a skilled school health team, a competency-based framework for managing asthma in schools was developed. A modified Delphi with 31 panelists was completed. Consensus (=80% agreement) was reached for all 148 items…

A survey of 46 states found that about half the states are using or studying special education teacher competency tests. The paper analyzes survey results by specific content areas being tested, including basic knowledge, identification and characteristics of special needs students, processing skills, assessment, learning theory, teaching…

This 2004 revision represents a refinement of the competencies to reflect current technologies and to incorporate future technological developments. The three Competency Goals are unchanged from those adopted for the 1992 Standard Course of Study. They are: (1) The learner will understand important issues of a technology-based society and will…

This article presents the knowledge and skills determined by the Council for Exceptional Children to be necessary for assistive technology specialists. These competencies are designed to provide guidelines for districts as they seek to employ a specialist and guide individuals interested in serving as specialists in their professional development.…

A survey of 63 educational interpreters employed in two rural states, found only 10 interpreters had completed interpreter preparation programs, with 5 of these having no course work related to education. The mean score of 43 assessed using the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment was 2.6, below the level of "coherent". (Contains…

The common core knowledge and skills essential for all beginning special education teachers, developed by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), are reprinted, along with the CEC Code of Ethics. The article also provides a rationale for the standards and background information on their development and adoption. (JDD)

Stanford University's Teacher Assessment Project studied teacher assessment by situating teacher thinking and acting within circumstances attributable to subject matter, grade level, and sociocultural context. The article examines why, if assessments are to improve educational quality in diverse classrooms, they must hold all teachers accountable…

This paper examines approaches used to define essential knowledge and skills for teachers entering special education practice. The paper proposes alternative models for conceptualizing essential knowledge and skills in special education, focusing on meaningfulness of teachers' knowledge, sources of knowledge, and acquisition of knowledge.…

Several tests available from the Educational Testing Service (Princeton, New Jersey) have been used or are candidates for use by the Tennessee State Department of Education as initial public school personnel licensure endorsement area tests. The first of the two reports contained in this document (i.e., the Executive Report) describes a study of…

Memphis State University conducted a study for the Tennessee Department of Education to determine the validity of 11 previously unvalidated, extensively revised, or new Educational Testing Service (ETS) tests as measures of the skills and knowledge required for specific initial certification endorsements of public school personnel in Tennessee.…

After a brief review of recent research concerning teacher testing, this paper presents concrete examples of multiple-choice test items that assess more than teachers' minimal, basic knowledge. Specifically, multiple-choice test items used for the assessment of pedagogical content knowledge (C-P items) are contrasted with items used for the…

Comparative data and results of validation and standard-setting studies are presented for five subject-matter tests for teacher certification in two states. The five tests evaluated were available from the Educational Testing Service (ETS): one National Teacher Examination specialty area test (special education); and four tests from a consortium…

In 1988 a study was conducted to determine the validity of candidate teacher licensure examinations for use in Tennessee under the 1984 Comprehensive Education Reform Act. The Department of Education conducted a study to determine the validity of 11 previously unvalidated or extensively revised tests for certification and to make recommendations…