Educating All Students (EAS) (Test Code 201)
Educating All Students (EAS, test code 201) is required across NYSTCE certification areas. It tests your ability to teach diverse student populations, support English language learners, serve students with disabilities and other learning needs, and build school-home-community relationships. It has 40 selected-response items and three constructed-response assignments, each focused on a different learner population.
Core rules and concepts
- Diversity: culturally responsive practice uses students' funds of knowledge; avoid deficit assumptions about culture, language, or income.
- English language learners: distinguish BICS (conversational fluency) from CALP (academic language); expect stages of second-language acquisition, including a silent period; scaffold with visuals, sentence frames, partner talk, and cooperative learning.
- Students with disabilities: IDEA governs IEPs; Section 504 provides access under civil rights law; the least restrictive environment (LRE) guides placement; accommodations change how a student learns, modifications change what is expected.
- Families and community: two-way communication, interpreters, confidentiality, and mandated reporting duties.
Worked example
An ELL student rarely speaks during whole-class discussion but writes strong summaries. What is the best response?
- Do not refer for special education; limited English is not a disability.
- Do not force a whole-class presentation without support.
- Provide low-stakes speaking scaffolds: partner talk, sentence frames, and pre-taught vocabulary.
- Reasoning: the student shows comprehension in writing but needs supported output practice to develop oral academic language.
Traps
- Equating limited English proficiency with cognitive deficit.
- Over-referring ELLs for special education.
- Confusing an accommodation with a modification.
- Discussing a student's disability in a public staff area.
- Assuming family disinterest when meetings conflict with work schedules or language barriers.