NYSTCE Test

The New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (NYSTCE) is a mandatory assessment series that teachers must pass in order to be certified in the state of New York. This assessment is criterion-referenced, meaning the questions are created to gauge how much the student knows about certain objectives, as opposed to a test which measures one student against another. The goal of the assessment is to find out which prospective teachers have the knowledge and ability needed in order to successfully perform the role of teacher in a New York public school system.

The questions for this NYSTCE test assessment were written based on educational course books, programs of study for teachers and state certification standards. The questions will be in multiple-choice and written-answer format. All written answers must be completed inside the test booklet. If your written answer falls in one of the following categories, it cannot be scored at all:

• The answer was not on the allocated topic.
• The answer could not be read or heard.
• The answer was not in the language needed for the test.
• There was not enough original writing to merit any score.

The complete score will be in the 100-300 range. Each prospective teacher needs to achieve a score of at least 220 to pass the assessment. Candidates that do not pass will get an account of the particular areas that were unsatisfactory. Candidates may take the test as many times as necessary until a passing score of 220 or higher is achieved. Once the test is passed, a candidate may not take it again.

The following are the assessment choices for the NYSTCE test:

• Liberal Arts and Sciences Test (LAST)
• Elementary Assessment of Teaching Skills - Written (ATS-W)
• Secondary Assessment of Teaching Skills - Written (ATS-W)
• Content Specialty Tests (CSTs)
• Bilingual Education Assessments (BEAs)
• Communication and Quantitative Skills Test (CQST)
• Assessment of Teaching Skills - Performance (ATS-P) (video submission)