Study Guide

Overview of the Tests

The Connecticut Teacher Certification Examinations (CTCE) program includes the Foundations of Reading, Early Childhood, and Reading Specialist tests. Information on testing requirements may be obtained from the Connecticut State Department of Education's website www.sde.ct.gov/sde/.

All tests included in the program are criterion referenced; that is, they are designed to measure a candidate's knowledge in relation to an established standard of competence (criterion) rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates. Each CTCE test is also objective-based; that is, it is based on content stated in a set of test objectives for the test field. The purpose of the tests is to help identify those candidates who have the appropriate level of knowledge judged to be important for educators in Connecticut public schools.

Description of the Tests

All tests in the CTCE program include 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items. For additional information, refer to the test's information page on the CTCE program website, www.ct.nesinc.com, or to section 3 of this preparation guide.

Structure of the Tests

While the content covered by each test in the CTCE program is different, the structure that underlies the content of the tests is similar. In general, the structure is as follows:

• The content of each test field is organized into subareas. These subareas define the major content domains of the test.
• Each subarea includes one or more test objectives. The test objectives are broad, conceptual statements, written in language that reflects some of the skills, knowledge, and understanding that an educator needs in order to practice in the test field in Connecticut public schools.

  The number of test objectives within a given subarea generally determines the proportion of multiple-choice items that will address that subarea on a test. In other words, subareas with a greater number of test objectives will generally receive more emphasis (i.e., have a greater number of corresponding multiple-choice items) on the test than those with fewer test objectives. The number of test items and subarea proportions for each CTCE test are indicated in section 3 of each field's preparation guide.

• Each test objective is clarified and further described by a descriptive statement, providing examples of the types of content covered by the test objective.
• Each multiple-choice item is written to assess understanding of a test objective. For each multiple-choice item there are four response options, one of which is the best response of the choices given. There is no penalty for guessing.

  Approximately 15 percent of the multiple-choice item section of each test includes items that are nonscorable. Nonscorable items are included so that data can be collected on their psychometric characteristics for consideration of their use as scorable items on future test forms.

• The open-response items, which comprise the "Integration of Knowledge and Understanding" subarea, provide examinees with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and understanding of the content subareas in the test objectives. Responses to the open-response items are expected to be appropriate and accurate in the application of subject-matter knowledge, to provide high-quality and relevant supporting evidence, and to demonstrate a soundness of argument and understanding of the field.

  The open-response items are designed to be comparable to each other in terms of information presented, the type of response required, and the difficulty of the items from one test to the next. Each open-response item is expected to take a typical examinee about 30 minutes to respond to. Although you can choose how much time to spend during the test session to respond to each open-response item, each item has been created so that an acceptable response could be written within 30 minutes.

The chart below illustrates the relationship among subareas, test objectives, descriptive statements, and test items in a test field.

Passing Requirements

The passing score for the CTCE is set by the Connecticut State Board of Education.

Your total test scaled score is based on your performance on all sections of the test and is derived by combining the scaled scores for the multiple-choice items and the open-response items. The scaled score for the multiple-choice items is obtained from the number of test items answered correctly. The scaled score for the open-response items is obtained from the scores assigned to the written responses. If you do not attempt an open-response item on the test, no points are contributed to your score for that test item.

For information about how responses to open-response items are scored, refer to section 5 of this preparation guide.