NYSTCE EAS (State Teacher Licensure Exams) cheat sheet

Equity differs from equality: equality distributes identical resources, while equity allocates supports according to individual student need so comparable outcomes become possible.

Funds of knowledge are the skills, networks, and knowledge families build through daily life; instruction that connects to them raises engagement and comprehension.

Culturally responsive teaching uses students' cultural frames of reference, prior experiences, and communication styles as scaffolds for new academic content.

Deficit thinking attributes low achievement to presumed flaws in students or families; asset-based framing identifies strengths usable as instructional starting points.

Stereotype threat is the risk of confirming a negative group stereotype about oneself; identity-safe cues, high expectations, and strategy-based feedback reduce it.

Disproportionality means a racial, linguistic, or socioeconomic group appears in special education, suspension, or restrictive placements at rates exceeding its enrollment share; referral data should be audited for bias.

Acculturation typically moves through curiosity, culture shock, adjustment, and adaptation; selective acculturation that retains home culture is associated with better academic outcomes.

Poverty-related stressors (housing instability, food insecurity, chronic stress) depress attention and attendance; predictable routines, consistent relationships, and access to materials buffer the effects.

BICS (conversational, context-embedded English) develops in roughly one to three years; CALP (context-reduced academic English) needs roughly five to seven years.

Krashen's five hypotheses: acquisition vs. learning, monitor, natural order, comprehensible input (i+1), and affective filter.

Second-language stages: pre-production/silent period, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, advanced fluency.

WIDA levels run 1 Entering, 2 Emerging, 3 Developing, 4 Expanding, 5 Bridging, 6 Reaching; content and language objectives should be planned at the student's current level.

The NYSESLAT is the annual English proficiency assessment used to determine continued ELL status and exit; exited students are monitored for two years.

SIOP/sheltered instruction components: lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, delivery, review and assessment.

Comprehensible input is delivered through visuals, gestures, modeling, realia, repetition, slower speech, and extended wait time rather than simplfied content.

First-language literacy transfers to English; maintaining L1 does not delay English acquisition and supports metalinguistic awareness.

Allowable ELL test accommodations include extended time, separate setting, bilingual glossaries, and read-aloud of directions (not of reading passages on reading tests).

IDEA guarantees FAPE in the least restrictive environment for eligible students aged 3 through 21, delivered through an IEP.

IDEA's 13 categories: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment.

Least restrictive environment decision rule: placement with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, with supplementary aids and services before removal to a special class.

Continuum of services: general education with supports, consultant teacher, resource room, integrated co-teaching, special class, home or hospital instruction, residential placement.

Accommodations change how content is accessed (extended time, preferential seating, breaks); modifications change what is taught or expected (reduced content, alternate achievement standards).

IEP required components: present levels of performance, measurable annual goals, special education and related services, program modifications and accommodations, placement, and progress reporting; transition planning begins by age 16 under IDEA (age 15 in New York).

RTI/MTSS tiers: Tier 1 core instruction for all, Tier 2 targeted small-group intervention, Tier 3 intensive individualized intervention, all driven by progress-monitoring data.

Section 504 covers a disability that substantially limits a major life activity and yields accommodations and access rather than specialized instruction.

Procedural safeguards include parental consent, prior written notice, access to records, independent evaluation, mediation, and due process hearings; initial evaluations require consent and reevaluation occurs at least every three years.

As mandated reporters, educators must report suspected child abuse or neglect to the New York State Central Register immediately by telephone and follow with a written report within 48 hours.

FERPA gives parents the right to inspect and request amendment of education records and bars disclosure without consent except for limited exceptions such as directory information and school officials with legitimate educational interest.

New York's Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) requires schools to prohibit and respond to harassment and bullying, including reporting incidents to the designated Dignity Act Coordinator.

Confidentiality rule: share student information only with staff who have a legitimate educational need to know; never discuss identifiable students in public spaces or on social media.

Co-teaching models: one teach/one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, team teaching; model is chosen by lesson purpose.

Assessment validity requires that accommodations match documented needs and that test items, vocabulary, and contexts are free of cultural bias unrelated to the construct tested.

Reflective practice is a cycle of gathering student data, analyzing it against goals, adjusting instruction, and re-evaluating; New York requires 100 CTLE hours per five years for certificate maintenance.

Professional ethics require maintaining appropriate boundaries with students, avoiding dual relationships, keeping accurate records, and reporting colleague misconduct through proper channels.

Epstein's six types of involvement: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community.

Family engagement differs from involvement: engagement means families share in decisions about learning and school governance, not merely attending events.

Title I schools must jointly develop a written parent and family engagement policy and a school-parent-student compact describing shared responsibility for achievement.

Effective school-home communication is two-way, uses multiple modes and languages, avoids jargon, and documents family responses and follow-up actions.

Common barriers to participation include limited English proficiency, inflexible work schedules, transportation, past negative school experiences, and differing expectations about parent roles.

Conference structure that increases family participation: open with strengths, cite specific work samples and data, ask for family observations, and close with written agreed action steps.

Personal contact (phone calls, home visits) produces stronger family engagement than newsletters or general flyers, which are often filtered out.