; (C) acquires effective teaching or school leadership skills through the integration of pedagogy, classroom or school practice, and teacher or leadership mentoring; and (D) prior to completion of the program, earns a master’s degree, attains full State teacher or school leader certification or licensure, and demonstrates the prerequisite skills to advance student learning, which may be measured by a teacher or school leader performance assessment. (24) Teaching skills The term teaching skills means skills that enable a teacher to— (A) increase student learning, achievement, and the ability to apply knowledge; (B) effectively convey, explain, and provide opportunities for students to develop the skills aligned with the full depth and breadth of the State challenging academic standards, including the application of academic subject matter; (C) effectively teach higher-order analytical, critical thinking, evaluation, problem-solving, and communication skills; (D) employ strategies grounded in the disciplines of teaching and learning that— (i) are based on empirically based practice and evidence-based research, where applicable, related to teaching and learning; (ii) are specific to academic subject matter; and (iii) focus on the identification of students’ specific learning needs, particularly students with disabilities, students who are English learners, students who are gifted and talented, and students with low literacy levels, and the tailoring of academic instruction to such needs; (E) design and conduct an ongoing assessment of student learning, which may include the use of formative assessments, performance-based assessments, project-based assessments, or portfolio assessments, that measures higher-order thinking skills (including application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) and use this information to inform and personalize instruction