History Department
FAQs
about the TExES
In the following “Social Studies” means Middle School or High School.
What
is TExES?
The Texas state
legislature directed the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) to
establish an assessment for teacher certification applicants that aligned with
the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the state curriculum for public
schools that became effective in 1998, and the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills (TAKS), the new state assessment for public school students that
becomes effective in 2002-2003. The
new test for teachers, the Texas Examination of Educator Standards
(TExES), is designed to insure that beginning teachers entering the classroom
have adequate knowledge of teaching and learning styles as well as knowledge in
the content areas. Students who seek
certification in middle school (grades 4-8) must pass both the Middle School
Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) TExES exam and the Middle
School Social Studies TExES exam. Students
seeking certification in high school (grades 8-12) must take and pass both the
Secondary PPR test and the History or Composite Social Studies TExES test.
The History TExES
contains approximately 90 multiple choice questions.
Most of these questions will be content-specific, but a small number will
address content-specific teaching methods. The
TExES contains standard multiple choice questions (one question and one answer =
“single item”); questions based on reading selections, pictures, graphs,
etc. (“stimulus response”); and questions comparing two or more concepts
(“comparative relationship”). Students
taking the 8-12 History TExES are tested in three areas, or domains: World
History; U.S. History; and Foundations, Skills, Research, and Instruction.
A student’s score, though, is not an average of these areas but a total
score based on the total number of questions on the test minus the number of
questions being field tested on that particular test form.
The 4-8 Social Studies
TExES also contains approximately 90 questions, most of which are
content-specific but some which cover content-related pedagogy issues.
Students taking the 4-8 TExES are tested in two domains: Social Studies
Content and Social Studies Foundations, Skills, and Instruction.
The 8-12 Composite Social Studies
TExES contains approximately 125-150 questions, testing students’ knowledge in
six domains: World History; U.S. History; Geography, Culture, and the Behavioral
Sciences; Government and Citizenship; Economics and Science, Technology, and
Society; and, Social Studies Foundations, Skills, Research, and Instruction.
The types of questions are the same as the History TExES, but we are
unsure how a student’s score will be figured on the 8-12 Social Studies TExES
at this time (8/2002).
So,
what are the main differences between the History and the Composite Social
Studies TExES’s?
There are two main
differences between the History and the Composite TExES.
First, the History test contains questions dealing only with the study of
history, while the Composite test covers four specific content areas: history,
government, geography, and economics. Because
of this, the Composite test contains more questions and requires students to
possess a fairly strong foundation in all subject areas.
Second, the Composite test questions each contain information from at
least two of the content areas; students, therefore, must be able to integrate
their knowledge and study to answer most questions.
All in all, the Composite test is much more difficult than the History
test.
Who
supervises and enforces policies and procedures for students wishing to receive
certification in Social Studies and/or History?
The Department of
History oversees all programs related to and advises all students interested in
teaching Social Studies (4-8 and 8-12) or History (8-12).
Who
in the History Department can I talk to about TExES?
Mr. Eric Gruver serves
the department as TExES Advisor and can answer specific questions that deal with
the intricacies that are the teacher certification process.
Mr. Gruver has served on numerous state-level TExES committees, and is a
certified teacher in
What
does it mean if I am “AT RISK”?
Based on data collected
and studied during the last few years, the History Department has determined
that students—undergraduate and post-baccalaureate—seeking certification who
have a History and/or Social Studies GPA below 3.0 and who have not
scored 75% or above on a departmental practice tests are “at risk” of
failing the TExES. Students in the
field-based program who are “at risk” will not be approved to enroll in
internship, thereby preventing them from completing the program.
Students teaching on an emergency permit who are “at risk” will not
be allowed take the History or Social Studies TExES until they complete all
content courses required and listed on the deficiency plan.
When
should I really be concerned if I am “AT RISK”?
Students should be
concerned about their status as soon as they decide to be a History or Social
Studies major. Since a student’s
History or Social Studies (SS) GPA can change each semester, it is advantageous
for students to always know their GPA and when it increases or decreases.
If a student has not scored 75% or above on a departmental practice test,
then the student needs time to review and retake the practice test.
If
I am “AT RISK,” what can I do to get approval to enroll in the
internship/residency semester?
A student who is “at
risk” can take more courses to raise his/her History/SS GPA and take the
History Department’s TExES practice test and score a 75% or above.
When the student’s History or Social Studies GPA rises to 3.0 and the
student scores a 75% or above on the practice test, that student will be
approved for internship by the History TExES Advisor.
When
can I take the History Department practice test and with whom do I make an
appointment?
Students should contact
Mr. Eric Gruver’s office (SS 107 or 903-468-6082) or the History Graduate
Assistants’ Office (SS 106 or 903-886-5214) during regular office hours in
order to make an appointment to take a practice test.
In addition, a practice test will be administered at the conclusion of
Dr. Ford’s TExES workshops (see below) for any interested students.
How
long can the History Department prevent me from enrolling in internship?
As long as a student is
“at risk,” he/she will be prevented from enrolling in internship.
Will
I need History Department approval to take the TExES if I was approved for the
internship/residency semester?
Based on SBEC’s
“completer rule” (effective in the Spring 2002), a student who completes all
course work required by a degree program or a deficiency plan
(post-baccalaureate students) may take the TExES.
A student who wishes to take the History or Social Studies TExES prior to
the completion of his/her degree plan or deficiency plan requirements must have
approval from the History TExES Advisor.
The History Department
encourages all students to attend any activity that will help them succeed on
the TExES. Students who are not
“at risk,” however, are not required to attend workshops before requesting
approval to enroll in internship/residency.
Only students who are “at risk” must attend workshops prior to
receiving approval to enroll in internship/residency.
When
may I take the TExES?
Undergraduate students
who score 75% or above on the practice test may be cleared to take the relevant
TExES as early as the semester prior to their enrollment in internship/residency
semester. Undergraduate students who
do not score 75% or above will not be allowed to enroll in internship/residency
and, therefore, will not be allowed to take the relevant TExES.
Post-baccalaureate
students who hold degrees from or who have completed any course work at
A&M-Commerce may take the relevant TExES if they score 75% or above on a
practice test at any time during their program.
Otherwise, these students will take the TExES when they complete all
requirements (content and education courses) listed on the deficiency plan.
Post-baccalaureate students who hold
degrees from other institutions and who have not taken any courses at
A&M-Commerce may take the relevant content TExES one time prior to receiving
a deficiency plan. A student who
passes the exam will be exempt from all content courses; a student who fails the
exam will be required to complete all deficiency plan requirements before he/she
will be allowed to retake the TExES.
How
long can the History Department prevent me from taking the History or Composite
Social Studies TExES?
Students who are “at
risk” will not be cleared to take either the History or Composite Social
Studies TExES until they remove the “at risk” designation, or until they
become program completers.
Can
I be exempt from receiving History Department approval to enroll in
internship/residency or register for the TExES?
Undergraduate and
post-baccalaureate students in the field-based program must be approved by the
History Department’s TExES Advisor before enrolling in internship/residency.
Can
I take the TExES prior to completing my degree or deficiency plan?
Any student wanting to
take the TExES prior to the completion of his/her degree program or deficiency
plan must be approved by the History Department’s TExES Advisor.
I
have a major in History, but I want to take the Composite Social Studies TExES.
Will the History Department give me approval?
Students with degree
plans in History only or those seeking certification in History will only be
cleared to take the History TExES. The
Composite Social Studies test covers government, geography, and economics, in
addition to History, and the History Department believes that History-only
majors are unprepared for the Composite test.
Likewise, students with a Broadfield major who have taken adequate course
work will be cleared by the History TExES Advisor to take the Composite Social
Studies test but not the History TExES.
What
does the History Department offer to help students review for the ExCET?
The History Department
offers three main services to help students prepare for the TExES.
First, Dr. Judy Ford offers a series of workshops during each long
semester that focus on the styles of TExES multiple choice questions and
strategies for answering those questions. These
workshops do not contain specific content reviews.
Second, under the
direction of Mr. Gruver and the History Graduate Assistants, the History
Department conducts a film series each semester that provides students with
content from various TExES competencies. The
film topics change each semester in order to provide students with a broader
coverage of historical topics. Students
should see the Graduate Assistants’ Office for the schedule of film
presentations.
Third, the History Department has a
TExES Advisor to help students prepare for the TExES.
Mr. Gruver can answer questions about the TExES itself, and he can tutor
students if they are having difficulties in one area of the History or Composite
Social Studies TExES.
Should
I be concerned about the TExES or History Department policies if I am not
seeking teacher certification?
The History Department
understands that some History and Social Studies majors (excluding middle school
majors who cannot finish their degree programs without completing student
teaching) have no desire to receive teaching certificates and teach History or
Social Studies in public school. The
bulk of majors, however, do complete teacher certification requirements either
as undergraduates or as post-baccalaureate students teaching on emergency
permits. Many History and Social
Studies graduates who had no plans to teach in public schools have returned to
TAMU-C to take teacher certification courses.
The History Department, therefore, now takes steps to make sure that all
students who have degrees in History or Social Studies have adequate course work
to be successful teachers. In other
words, regardless of a student’s status as an undergraduate, that student will
be held to the Department’s policies concerning TExES if he/she returns to
complete teacher certification.
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