certification > testing

Assessment of Teaching Assistant Skills Test (NYSATAS)

All candidates who apply on or after February 2, 2004 for a credential to work as a teaching assistant must submit evidence to a school district of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on the NYSATAS.

National Evaluation Systems, Inc. has developed a web site for NYSATAS. The web site contains information on test locations, registration, and fees as well as the NYSATAS preparation guide. The web site is now available at http://www.nysatas.nesinc.com/.

A CANDIDATE FOR A TEACHING ASSISTANT CERTIFICATION AFTER 2/2/2004, WHO ALREADY HOLDS A NYS TEACHING CERTIFICATION IN ANY TITLE, IS NOT REQUIRED TO TAKE THE ATAS.

NYSATAS may also be used to satisfy the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requirement that, by January 8, 2006, all Title I paraprofessionals must have either (1) completed two years of college (48 semester hours) or have an associate’s or higher degree or (2) passed a formal State or local assessment.

However, NYSATAS is not the only assessment that may be used for NCLB purposes. To learn about other possible assessments that LEAs may use, please refer to NCLB NYS Field Memo #10-2003, http://www.highered.nysed.gov/nclbhome.htm. The field memo explains that local educational agencies may use local tenure reviews or local performance reviews or other assessments as NCLB assessments provided that such assessments meet NCLB requirements. Decisions on what teaching assistants may use to satisfy NCLB requirements are made at the local level.