Helping Candidates Prepare

The following resources provide information and worksheets to help faculty assess candidates' readiness to test and to assist in guiding their test preparation.

• New York State Education Department

Links to the NYSED website, which describes the requirements for educator certification in New York State.

• Guiding Candidate Test Preparation

Provides faculty with some strategies for assisting candidates in preparing to take or retake a NYSTCE test.

• Test Preparation Worksheet

Enables candidates and faculty to assess candidate readiness for testing.

• Preparation/Study Guides

Links to the Preparation/Study Guides page that displays test preparation materials for each NYSTCE test. Each preparation/study guide contains information about the test design, sample multiple-choice questions and explanations of correct response, sample written assignments, and sample strong responses to the written assignments.

• Practice Tests

Links to the Practice Tests page where candidates may purchase online practice tests for some NYSTCE tests. These practice tests are designed to simulate the experience of taking a full-length NYSTCE test.

Institutions: Order practice test vouchers for your candidates

• CBT Tutorials

Links to the Computer-Based Testing Tutorials page where candidates will get a sense of what they will see when they begin their test at a Pearson Professional Center.

• Preparation Webinar

Providing preparation strategies for Multi-Subject: Teachers of Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 2): Mathematics 246 test

NYSTCE Flex Guidelines for Acceptable Support

This section outlines policies and guidelines for supporting candidates during their completion of the NYSTCE Flex. These guidelines apply to all support providers including faculty, supervisors, cooperating teachers, mentor teachers, peers, and others who may provide assistance (e.g., tutors).

The following activities constitute acceptable forms of support for candidates completing the NYSTCE Flex:

• Referring candidates to the NYSTCE Flex Handbook and discussing expectations related to demonstrating the depth of their content knowledge
• Discussing the New York State Standards available to be used in the NYSTCE Flex assessment and answering candidate questions related to the standards
• Reviewing the NYSTCE Flex assessment competencies and their associated performance expectations and performance indicators and discussing expectations related to demonstrating the depth of their content knowledge
• Referring candidates to a writing workshop or center for assistance in improving writing, as long as the assistance is not in the form of direct editing of candidate responses
• Reviewing the NYSTCE scoring rubrics with the candidate and providing guidance on how to use the rubric prior to submitting their NYSTCE Flex assessment, without providing direct editing or feedback of candidate responses
• Supporting the candidate to develop a schedule/timeline for completion of NYSTCE Flex
• Conducting "check-in" meetings to discuss timelines and progress on their submission
• Paraphrasing or answering candidate questions about the content of scoring rubrics, directions (including templates), or support documents such as the NYSTCE Flex assessment materials
• Encouraging candidates to self-assess draft responses against the appropriate NYSTCE scoring rubric without providing direct edits or feedback to responses
• Answering common questions about the NYSTCE Flex in a group setting
• Directing candidates to resources on current research and evidence-based practices, and to resources developed by experts in the field who are knowledgeable about the content NYSTCE Flex competencies
• Assisting candidates in understanding how to use the electronic platform for accessing materials and uploading submissions
• Providing and discussing support documents such as these guidelines for acceptable support and the NYSTCE Flex Rules of Test Participation

Although there may be many opportunities for support providers to encourage a candidate's deeper understanding and demonstration of NYSTCE content knowledge assessed, other supports are not acceptable within the NYSTCE Flex process. These unacceptable forms of support will undermine the use of the assessment as a determinant of a candidate's status with respect to the content knowledge requirements for New York State educator certification. Engaging in these activities may result in the voiding of the candidate's submissions and the imposition of sanctions on his or her educator certificate(s).

The following activities constitute unacceptable forms of support for candidates completing the NYSTCE Flex:

• Providing a candidate with the content or answer in response to the NYSTCE Flex registration
• Editing or otherwise providing feedback on a candidate's response
• Offering critique of a candidate's draft responses prior to submission for official scoring that provides specific, alternative responses or answers to prompts
• Uploading a candidate's responses to publicly available websites or through social media
• Suggesting or encouraging candidates to work together to prepare NYSTCE Flex submissions
• Suggesting or encouraging that a candidate provide their NYSTCE Flex as an exemplar to another candidate