Education students all over the state are preached to about the GACE, Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators, this exam is a test that all educators must take. The GACE has split up into three parts the GACE Ethics, which is an ethics exam, The GACE entry which is three parts the taker must make a 750 cumulative score on over the three parts, reading, writing, and math, and finally the GACE content, which is an exam over the content that they desire to teach. On July 1st, 2022, the GAPSC, Georgia Public Service Commission, took down the GACE entry exam. This is something very big for all education majors all over Georgia. According to Dr. Thoron, the head of the Agricultural Education and Agricultural Communications department at ABAC “What is changed is they have dropped the 2.5 GPA requirement, and they dropped that GACE entry.
We will still have GACE ethics requirements, and we will still have GACE content requirements.” While many students get to exempt from the GACE entry exams by their ACT or SAT scores, SAT verbal and math combined score above 1000 and ACT English and math combined score above 43, getting rid of the GACE entry exam does a lot for Georgia educators. The Agricultural education faculty were given the choice to decide how to replace the GACE at ABAC. According to Dr. Thoron, while the choice has not been set in stone yet, the requirements will be a C or better grade in the entry-level English class, a C or better grade in the entry-level math class, what he calls a “writing and critical thinking practicum” along with the teacher recommendation form and the 2.5 GPA that is currently used.
These changes will benefit those who took a break between graduating high school and coming to college. For an 18–20-year-old the high school level math in the GACE is not all that difficult but to someone who is later in their years =, this may be more difficult if the math has not been used since graduating. Overall these changes can benefit the lack of educators all over Georgia and hopefully bring some more in as well.
