State Required Examinations for Single Subjects Candidates

Secondary Education

CBEST - California Basic Educational Skills Test

The CBEST must be completed to gain full admission to the teacher credentialing program. The CBEST is a four-hour test consisting of three sub-tests: reading, mathematics, and writing. All students must earn a passing score on the CBEST prior to full acceptance into the Teacher Education Program and prior to taking any Educ* 400 level professional education courses. Applications for the CBEST are available in the Education Office and online at www.cbest.nesinc.com. Study guides are available at most bookstores and are on reserve in Concordia’s library.
* Please note there is a distinction between Edu and Educ courses. Educ course are credential courses. Edu courses are part of the undergraduate program. You do not have to pass the CBEST before you take 400 level Edu courses.

CSET - California Subject Examinations for Teachers

The CSET must be completed before student teaching although some exceptions apply for candidates who will not earn their credential in the same discipline as their major.
Federal legislation, No Child Left Behind, requires all teachers to be highly qualified. This requires the passage of a rigorous subject matter examination. In California, this examination is called the CSET.
Students going for a Single Subject Credential will take the appropriate single subject CSET examination. For instance, if you are planning on being a single subject history teacher you will take the CSET social science examination. Each single subject exam is broken into subtests that may be taken individually, in pairs, or all at one time. This is your choice.
Booklets from the National Evaluation Systems (CSET/SSAT test) and from ETS (Praxis) are available from the Education Office. These booklets contain general information on which tests are needed for a credential in each subject area as well as the application forms and due dates. You also can get information regarding the CSET examination from www.cset.nesinc.com.

TPA: Teacher Performance Assessment

During TPA Practicum and Student Teaching you will be completing the TPA. The TPA is comprised of four performance tasks. Each task measures a range of teaching strategies that you are learning during your credential coursework. These tasks are:
Subject Specific Pedagogy
Designing Instruction
Assessing Learning
Culminating Teaching Experience
You begin preparation for this assessment in Educ 201 Introduction to Teaching Careers II and continue throughout your coursework. In other words, Concordia prepares you to complete these tasks. You are well aware of and prepared for all the elements of each task before you attempt the tasks. Most of your course assignments will have elements of the TPA tasks incorporated into them. You will complete the Subject Specific Pedagogy and Designing Instruction Tasks in TPA Practicum & Seminar and the Assessing Learning and Culminating Teaching Experience tasks will be completed during Student Teaching.

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