Study Guide
Program and Assessment Information
The Ohio Assessments for Educators will:
- Offer rigorous, state-of-the-art computer-based assessments for Ohio educators to demonstrate required content knowledge and skills
- Help the State Board of Education meet its goals of improving student performance and preparing candidates for college and career success by developing, licensing, supporting, and retaining quality educators
- Provide assessments based on contemporary standards of teaching and learning, including Ohio's New Learning Standards
About the Assessments
The assessments included in the program are criterion referenced and standards based. Criterion-referenced assessments are designed to measure a candidate's knowledge and skills in relation to an established standard of performance (a criterion), rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates. The assessments are aligned with Ohio standards, including Ohio Educational Preparation Standards, Ohio Educator Standards, and Ohio Student Standards. The assessments are computer-based. All assessments include multiple-choice questions, and some assessments also include one or more constructed-response assignments. The available testing time varies by test and ranges between 90 minutes and 295 minutes. There is a 15-minute tutorial on computer-based testing prior to each assessment, which is not counted as part of the testing time.
The Assessment Validation Process
The following tasks are completed for all assessments in the Ohio Assessments for Educators program.
| Task | Description |
|---|---|
| Validate the Assessment Frameworks | The content of each assessment is documented in the assessment framework. An assessment framework is divided into content domains. A content domain contains one or more competencies, each corresponding to one or more of Ohio's New Learning Standards, the Ohio Educational Preparation Standards, and/or the Ohio Educator Standards. Each competency is further defined by a set of descriptive statements of knowledge that together articulate the knowledge and skills measured by the assessment questions associated with that competency. The assessment framework also provides information on the relative weighting that will be applied to each content domain. Ohio educators and educator preparation program faculty complete content validation surveys to verify the relationship between assessment content, as defined by the assessment frameworks, and the knowledge and skills important for performing the job of an educator in Ohio schools. |
| Review and Validate Assessment Content | All assessments include multiple-choice questions, and some assessments also include one or more constructed-response assignments. Committees of Ohio educators and educator preparation faculty are convened to review assessment items. Items are reviewed by a Bias Review Committee (BRC) and Content Advisory Committees (CAC). The BRC reviews assessment items for potential bias and inclusion of diversity. The CAC validates the items to ensure that they are accurate, appropriate, free from bias, and job-related. |
| Set Passing Scores | For each assessment, a committee of Ohio educators and educator preparation faculty convenes to make recommendations that will be used to establish the passing score for each assessment. The final passing scores are approved by the State Board of Education. |