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Register by May 15 for NCATE math and biology  "benchmark" panels

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is inviting Kansas teachers to participate in one of the secondary mathematics and biology teacher panels that will make recommendations leading to professional benchmarks.

Registration must be completed by May 15. ETS will mail invitations to individuals on the registration list by May 23, and request a response by June 5. Individuals who fit within the criteria noted above and who would like to participate in the June 27 benchmarking panel for mathematics or biology can register with ETS. There is no honorarium associated with this opportunity and no substitute pay can be offered.

Working together with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), NCATE is moving into the second phase of a project to develop professional "benchmark" scores on licensure tests for secondary mathematics and biology teachers.  ETS is supporting these efforts by submitting their widely used Praxis II tests for alignment reviews and by conducting formal "standard setting studies" for the benchmarking project.

For Praxis II tests in both mathematics (0061, Mathematics Content Knowledge) and biology (0235, Biology Content Knowledge), panels representing individuals knowledgeable about NCTM or NSTA content standards for teacher candidates met several months ago. Those panels determined that the tests are sufficiently well aligned with their association's standards to provide valid evidence of candidate proficiencies.

In the second phase of the benchmarking project, another group, primarily comprised of teachers, will recommend the minimum performance level needed for new teachers. The goal is to establish a score through a professional peer process that might at some point serve as a common "benchmark" performance that could be used in the NCATE accreditation system.

The task, more specifically, is that each teacher on a panel is asked to make two judgments about individual test items: first, indicate whether the item is relevant for the job of a new teacher (a validity question), and second, indicate the proportion of new teachers who are just at the minimum level acceptable for classroom teaching who would answer correctly. Teachers on these panels receive training and have an opportunity to practice before they make their decisions.  

Panels of 15 to 20 secondary math and biology teachers are needed. If the number of panelists for each subject test present on the day of the meeting fails to reach at least ten, the benchmarking study cannot be conducted. The teachers should have at least one year of experience but not more than seven. The panels for each subject test should reflect the nation's multiple diversities--along racial/ethnic, geographic, gender, urban and rural dimensions.

The session, with both mathematics and biology teachers, will be convened in the Holiday Inn at BWI Airport outside Baltimore on Tuesday, June 27. ETS will cover each panelist's expenses for travel, lodging, and meals.

If interested, here is the necessary information:

Click on this web link : http://ntis12.ets.org/onyx/standardsetting.htm.
For question 1, select "NCATE," not the state where you are teaching.
Provide the requested "work" and "personal" information for question 2.
Select "content" for question 3 For question 4, select "mathematics" or "biology" as appropriate.
Respond to questions 5 through 12
Click "submit
 

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