Each semester the Missouri State University English Education program hosts a panel of students who have recently taken and passed the Missouri General Education Assessment and Missouri Content Assessment, two requirements for progress toward state certification. These test takers are always incredibly valuable to their English education colleagues who are coming up on those assessment milestones in their English Bachelor of Science in Education (BSEd) careers.

The Missouri General Education Assessment (MoGEA) is the first big assessment all BSEd students must take and pass prior to admission to the Teacher Education program. There are four individual parts—Reading Comprehension, Writing, Math, and Science and Social Studies. English BSEd students ask panelists questions about how they successfully prepared for the test, what study methods they chose, and when they recommend taking the assessment. On Thursday, April 6, 2017, Ellen Stefan and Tiffany Taylor shared their experiences preparing for and passing the MoGEA.

The English-specific portion of the Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA) is the assessment students must pass in order to obtain their certification to teach high school English in Missouri’s schools. Student panelists are incredibly helpful as they advise colleagues about what to study specifically, including what course notes to absolutely hang onto and review. They comment frequently on the usefulness of their English content coursework. Current student teachers, Tori York and Christina Story, also walked future test takers through their own successful study methods.

The Missouri State University English Education program is committed to building and nurturing a community of teacher candidates who are well prepared to support each other as they prepare for their teaching careers.

Keep your eyes open for the Fall 2017 MoGEA/MoCA panel announcements coming next semester!