“The state of Arizona is committed to maintaining a body of educators capable of enhancing student achievement and meeting the demands and expectations of the state’s dynamic and diverse society. In November 1997, the Arizona State Board of Education adopted rules regarding the evaluation of educators applying for state certifications. The rules require that applicants for teacher certification pass a test of subject knowledge. Candidates for teacher certification must also pass a test of professional knowledge. The Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments® (AEPA®) were designed to ensure that each certified teacher has the necessary knowledge to teach in Arizona public schools. Legislation also requires that applicants for administrator certification take the appropriate test for the Superintendent, Principal, or Supervisor certificate.
The AEPA address areas covered by the Arizona Academic Standards, the Arizona Professional Teaching Standards, and the Arizona Professional Administrative Standards. The tests are criterion referenced and objective based. A criterion-referenced test is designed to measure a candidate’s knowledge in relation to an established standard of performance (a criterion) rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates.
The explicit purpose of these tests is to help identify candidates for certification who have demonstrated the level of professional knowledge and skills judged to be important for Arizona educators. The purpose of the Basic Skills test is to provide an assessment that may be used by Arizona educator preparation programs for the purpose of assessing the basic skills of students in educator preparation programs. A set of objectives was developed for each test field to serve as the basis for test content. The test objectives reflect certification standards, curriculum materials, and content of educator preparation programs in Arizona. The objectives are broad, conceptual statements written in language that reflects the skills, knowledge, and understanding that an entry-level educator needs to practice effectively in Arizona schools. Each test is composed of questions that measure a candidate’s mastery of these test objectives. Each objective consists of two major parts: the objective statement, which broadly defines the subject matter that an entry-level educator needs to know, and the descriptive statement, which provides examples of the types of knowledge and skills covered by the test objective.”
Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (2008). Registration bulletin: Program overview. Retrieved on February 17, 2009, from
http://www.aepa.nesinc.com/PDFs/AZ_20082009RegistrationBulletin.pdf