Reading and writing are the fundamental ways teachers communicate with their students. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Georgia Board of Education has mandated a test that evaluates how prospects for teaching positions in Georgia do at these very important fundamental skills. Those who are familiar with the educational system in that state will also be familiar with the GACE Basic Skills examination. The GACE tests an individual’s ability to read and write in a comprehensive manner.
The GACE is a test that determines who gets to teach in the state of Georgia, and so it is taken very seriously by all concerned. In fact, there are those in the community who are even willing to help the candidates by supplying study material and mock tests that can show the candidates where they need to improve. One of the companies that does this is Longsdale Publishing. This company offers what is considered to be one of the finest online prep courses available on the Internet or in print.
The official GACE reading test is quite comprehensive. It covers six major skill areas:
READING (Test Code 200)
0001 Understand the main idea and supporting details in written material.
0002 Identify a writer’s purpose and point of view.
0003 Analyze the relationship among ideas in written material.
0004 Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate written material.
0005 Use reading strategies to comprehend written materials.
0006 Determine the meaning of words and phrases.
Longsdale Publishing provides an extensive outline detailing each of these sections and what the student can expect to be quizzed on. For example, the “Identify a writer’s purpose and point of view” section covers a wide range of topics including the ability to recognize a writer’s expressed or implied audience. In the “Use reading strategies to comprehend written materials” section, students are asked about organizing and summarizing information as well as how to follow written instructions or directions.
In the “Determine the meaning of words and phrases” section, students are instructed on how to determine the meaning of figurative expressions. Longsdale’s online course enables students to have many practice sessions with the types of questions and situations they will encounter on the real test. In this atmosphere, they can go back as many times as they like to review sections and take sample tests.
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