About the Tests

In 1995 the Oklahoma Legislature passed House Bill 1549, which required the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation (OCTP) [now the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (OEQA)] to develop and implement a competency-based teacher assessment system. The assessment requirements for teacher certification include tests of general education, subject-matter knowledge, and knowledge of basic professional education. To comply with the requirements for the testing component of the assessment system, the OEQA requested bids for test development and administration.

The OEQA selected the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson to develop and administer the Certification Examinations for Oklahoma Educators™ (CEOE™). These include the:

• Oklahoma General Education Test™ (OGET™) ™) (As of 5/5/2022: No longer a requirement for certification)
• Oklahoma Subject Area Tests™ (OSAT™)

The purpose of the CEOE program is to help ensure that all candidates seeking certification in Oklahoma have the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the job of an entry-level educator in Oklahoma public schools.

Description of the Tests

The tests included in the CEOE program are criterion referenced and competency based.

• A criterion-referenced test is designed to measure a candidate's knowledge and skills in relation to an established standard of competency (criterion) rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates.
• The content of each CEOE test is based on a set of test competencies contained in a framework that was developed for that test field (frameworks are available in the test preparation materials). OGET test competencies were derived from state core general education knowledge and skills, including critical thinking, communication, and computation. OSAT test competencies were derived from the Oklahoma Full Subject-Matter Competencies as well as national standards for subject-matter knowledge and skills of entry-level educators. All competencies were reviewed by committees of Oklahoma educators. Content validation surveys involving randomly selected Oklahoma school personnel and college and university faculty members were conducted for each test. The test questions were matched to specific competencies and were verified as valid by panels of Oklahoma educators. Field testing was conducted to ensure that the test materials were accurate and reasonable.