Elementary Education K–6
For Testing until 12/31/2023

Printer icon Print

Competencies and Skills and Blueprint

The test design below describes general testing information. The blueprints that follow provide a detailed outline that explains the competencies and skills that this test measures.

Test Design

table describing the format of the test, including test time, number of questions, and required passing score
Format Computer-based test (CBT)
Number of Questions
  • Subtest 1: approximately 50 multiple-choice questions
  • Subtest 2: approximately 45 multiple-choice questions
  • Subtest 3: approximately 45 multiple-choice questions
  • Subtest 4: approximately 35 multiple-choice questions
Time
  • Subtest 1: 1 hour and 5 minutes
  • Subtest 2: 1 hour and 5 minutes
  • Subtest 3: 1 hour and 10 minutes
  • Subtest 4: 1 hour and 10 minutes
If you take 3 or more subtests in a single session, you will receive a 15-minute break.
Passing Score A scaled score of at least 200 per subtest; examinees must pass all 4 subtests to pass this test.

 

 

Competencies, Skills, and Approximate Percentages of Questions

Subtest 1: Language Arts and Reading

Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.



table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall test score
Competency Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1 Knowledge of the reading process 29%
2 Knowledge of literary analysis and genres 16%
3 Knowledge of language and the writing process 16%
4 Knowledge of literacy instruction and assessments 23%
5 Knowledge of communication and media literacy 16%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of the reading process

  1. Identify the content of emergent literacy (e.g., oral language development, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, decoding, concepts of print, motivation, text structures, written language development).

  2. Identify the processes, skills, and stages of word recognition that lead to effective decoding (e.g., pre-alphabetic, partial-alphabetic, full-alphabetic, graphophonemic, morphemic).

  3. Select and apply instructional methods for the development of decoding skills (e.g., continuous blending, chunking).

  4. Distinguish among the components of reading fluency (e.g., accuracy, automaticity, rate, prosody).

  5. Choose and apply instructional methods for developing reading fluency (e.g., practice with high-frequency words, readers theatre, repeated readings).

  6. Identify and differentiate instructional methods and strategies for increasing vocabulary acquisition across the content areas (e.g., word analysis, author’s word choice, context clues, multiple exposures).

  7. Identify and evaluate instructional methods and strategies for facilitating students’ reading comprehension (e.g., summarizing, self-monitoring, questioning, use of graphic and semantic organizers, think alouds, recognizing story structure).

  8. Identify essential comprehension skills (e.g., main idea, supporting details and facts, author's purpose, point of view, inference, conclusion).

  9. Determine appropriate uses of multiple representations of information for a variety of purposes (e.g., charts, tables, graphs, pictures, print and nonprint media).

  10. Determine and analyze strategies for developing critical-thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (e.g., making connections and predictions, questioning, summarizing, question generating).

  11. Evaluate and select appropriate instructional strategies for teaching a variety of informational and literary text.

Competency 2—Knowledge of literary analysis and genres

  1. Differentiate among characteristics and elements of a variety of literary genres (e.g., realistic fiction, fantasy, poetry, informational texts).

  2. Identify and analyze terminology and intentional use of literary devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole).

  3. Evaluate and select appropriate multicultural texts based on purpose, relevance, cultural sensitivity, and developmental appropriateness.

  4. Identify and evaluate appropriate techniques for varying student response to texts (e.g., think-pair-share, reading response journals, evidence-based discussion).

Competency 3—Knowledge of language and the writing process

  1. Identify and evaluate the developmental stages of writing (e.g., drawing, dictating, writing).

  2. Differentiate stages of the writing process (i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing).

  3. Distinguish among the modes of writing (e.g., narrative, informative/explanatory, argument).

  4. Select the appropriate mode of writing for a variety of occasions, purposes, and audiences.

  5. Identify and apply instructional methods for teaching writing conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, syntax, word usage).

  6. Apply instructional methods for teaching writer’s craft across genres (e.g., precise language, figurative language, linking words, temporal words, dialogue, sentence variety).

Competency 4—Knowledge of literacy instruction and assessments

  1. Distinguish among different types of assessments (e.g., norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, diagnostic, curriculum-based) and their purposes and characteristics.

  2. Select and apply oral and written methods for assessing student progress (e.g., informal reading inventories, fluency checks, rubrics, story retelling, portfolios).

  3. Analyze assessment data (e.g., screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic) to guide instructional decisions and differentiate instruction.

  4. Analyze and interpret students’ formal and informal assessment results to inform students and stakeholders.

  5. Evaluate the appropriateness of assessment instruments and practices.

  6. Select appropriate classroom organizational formats (e.g., literature circles, small groups, individuals, workshops, reading centers, multiage groups) for specific instructional objectives.

  7. Evaluate methods for the diagnosis, prevention, and intervention of common emergent literacy difficulties.

Competency 5—Knowledge of communication and media literacy

  1. Identify characteristics of penmanship (e.g., legibility, letter formation, spacing).

  2. Distinguish among listening and speaking strategies (e.g., questioning, paraphrasing, eye contact, voice, gestures).

  3. Identify and apply instructional methods (e.g., collaborative conversation, collaborative discussion, presentation) for developing listening and speaking skills.

  4. Select and evaluate a wide array of resources (e.g., Internet, printed material, artifacts, visual media, primary sources) for research and presentation.

  5. Determine and apply the ethical process (e.g., citation, paraphrasing) for collecting and presenting authentic information while avoiding plagiarism.

  6. Identify and evaluate current technology for use in educational settings.

 

Subtest 2: Social Science

Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.



table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall test score
Competency Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1 Knowledge of effective instructional practices and assessment of the social sciences 19%
2 Knowledge of time, continuity, and change (i.e., history) 26%
3 Knowledge of people, places, and environment (i.e., geography) 18%
4 Knowledge of government and the citizen (i.e., government and civics) 20%
5 Knowledge of production, distribution, and consumption (i.e., economics) 17%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of effective instructional practices and assessment of the social sciences

  1. Select appropriate resources for instructional delivery of social science concepts, including complex informational text.

  2. Identify appropriate resources for planning for instruction of social science concepts.

  3. Choose appropriate methods for assessing social science concepts.

  4. Determine appropriate learning environments for social science lessons.

Competency 2—Knowledge of time, continuity, and change (i.e., history)

  1. Identify and analyze historical events that are related by cause and effect.

  2. Analyze the sequential nature of historical events using timelines.

  3. Analyze examples of primary and secondary source documents for historical perspective.

  4. Analyze the impacts of the cultural contributions and technological developments of Africa; the Americas; Asia, including the Middle East; and Europe.

  5. Identify the significant historical leaders and events that have influenced Eastern and Western civilizations.

  6. Determine the causes and consequences of exploration, settlement, and growth on various cultures.

  7. Interpret the ways that individuals and events have influenced economic, social, and political institutions in the world, nation, or state.

  8. Analyze immigration and settlement patterns that have shaped the history of the United States.

  9. Identify how various cultures contributed to the unique social, cultural, economic, and political features of Florida.

  10. Identify the significant contributions of the early and classical civilizations.

Competency 3—Knowledge of people, places, and environment (i.e., geography)

  1. Identify and apply the six essential elements of geography (i.e., the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, uses of geography), including the specific terms for each element.

  2. Analyze and interpret maps and other graphic representations of physical and human systems.

  3. Identify and evaluate tools and technologies (e.g., maps, globe, GPS, satellite imagery) used to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

  4. Interpret statistics that show how places differ in their human and physical characteristics.

  5. Analyze ways in which people adapt to an environment through the production and use of clothing, food, and shelter.

  6. Determine the ways tools and technological advances affect the environment.

  7. Identify and analyze physical, cultural, economic, and political reasons for the movement of people in the world, nation, or state.

  8. Evaluate the impact of transportation and communication networks on the economic development in different regions.

  9. Compare and contrast major regions of the world, nation, or state.

Competency 4—Knowledge of government and the citizen (i.e., government and civics)

  1. Distinguish between the structure, functions, and purposes of federal, state, and local government.

  2. Compare and contrast the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in the world, nation, state, and community.

  3. Identify and interpret major concepts of the U.S. Constitution and other historical documents.

  4. Compare and contrast the ways the legislative, executive, and judicial branches share powers and responsibility.

  5. Analyze the U.S. electoral system and the election process.

  6. Identify and analyze the relationships between social, economic, and political rights and the historical documents that secure these rights in the United States.

  7. Identify and analyze the processes of the U.S. legal system.

Competency 5—Knowledge of production, distribution, and consumption (i.e., economics)

  1. Determine ways that scarcity affects the choices made by governments and individuals.

  2. Compare and contrast the characteristics and importance of currency.

  3. Identify and analyze the role of markets from production through distribution to consumption.

  4. Identify and analyze factors to consider when making consumer decisions.

  5. Analyze the economic interdependence between nations (e.g., trade, finance, movement of labor).

  6. Identify human, natural, and capital resources and evaluate how these resources are used in the production of goods and services.

 

Subtest 3: Science

Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.



table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall test score
Competency Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1 Knowledge of effective science instruction 20%
2 Knowledge of the nature of science 18%
3 Knowledge of physical sciences 20%
4 Knowledge of Earth and space 19%
5 Knowledge of life science 23%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of effective science instruction

  1. Analyze and apply developmentally appropriate researched-based strategies for teaching science practices.

  2. Select and apply safe and effective instructional strategies to utilize manipulatives, models, scientific equipment, real-world examples, and print and digital representations to support and enhance science instruction.

  3. Identify and analyze strategies for formal and informal learning experiences to provide science curriculum that promotes students’ innate curiosity and active inquiry (e.g., hands-on experiences, active engagement in the natural world, student interaction).

  4. Select and analyze collaborative strategies to help students explain concepts, to introduce and clarify formal science terms, and to identify misconceptions.

  5. Identify and apply appropriate reading strategies, mathematical practices, and science-content materials to enhance science instruction for learners at all levels.

  6. Apply differentiated strategies in science instruction and assessments based on student needs.

  7. Identify and apply ways to organize and manage a classroom for safe, effective science teaching that reflect state safety procedures and restrictions (e.g., procedures, equipment, disposal of chemicals, classroom layout, use of living organisms).

  8. Select and apply appropriate technology, science tools and measurement units for students’ use in data collection and the pursuit of science.

  9. Select and analyze developmentally appropriate diagnostic, formative and summative assessments to evaluate prior knowledge, guide instruction, and evaluate student achievement.

  10. Choose scientifically and professionally responsible content and activities that are socially and culturally sensitive.

Competency 2—Knowledge of the nature of science

  1. Analyze the dynamic nature of science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories that explain natural phenomena (e.g., durability, tentativeness, replication, reliance on evidence).

  2. Identify and apply science and engineering practices through integrated process skills (e.g., observing, classifying, predicting, hypothesizing, designing and carrying out investigations, developing and using models, constructing and communicating explanations).

  3. Differentiate between the characteristics of experiments (e.g., multiple trials, control groups, variables) and other types of scientific investigations (e.g., observations, surveys).

  4. Identify and analyze attitudes and dispositions underlying scientific thinking (e.g., curiosity, openness to new ideas, appropriate skepticism, cooperation).

  5. Identify and select appropriate tools, including digital technologies, and units of measurement for various science tasks.

  6. Evaluate and interpret pictorial representations, charts, tables, and graphs of authentic data from scientific investigations to make predictions, construct explanations, and support conclusions.

  7. Identify and analyze ways in which science is an interdisciplinary process and interconnected to STEM disciplines (i.e., science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

  8. Analyze the interactions of science and technology with society including cultural, ethical, economic, political, and global factors.

Competency 3—Knowledge of physical sciences

  1. Identify and differentiate among the physical properties of matter (e.g., mass, volume, texture, hardness, freezing point).

  2. Identify and differentiate between physical and chemical changes (e.g., tearing, burning, rusting).

  3. Compare the properties of matter during phase changes through the addition and/or removal of energy (e.g., boiling, condensation, evaporation).

  4. Differentiate between the properties of homogeneous mixtures (i.e., solutions) and heterogeneous mixtures.

  5. Identify examples of and relationships among atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds.

  6. Identify and compare potential and kinetic energy.

  7. Differentiate among forms of energy, transformations of energy, and their real-world applications (e.g., chemical, electrical, mechanical, heat, light, sound).

  8. Distinguish among temperature, heat, and forms of heat transfer (e.g., conduction, convection, radiation).

  9. Analyze the functionality of an electrical circuit based on its conductors, insulators, and components.

  10. Identify and apply the characteristics of contact forces (e.g., push, pull, friction), at-a-distance forces (e.g., magnetic, gravitational, electrostatic), and their effects on matter (e.g., motion, speed).

Competency 4—Knowledge of Earth and space

  1. Identify characteristics of geologic formations (e.g., volcanoes, canyons, mountains) and the mechanisms by which they are changed (e.g., physical and chemical weathering, erosion, deposition).

  2. Identify and distinguish among major groups and properties of rocks and minerals and the processes of their formations.

  3. Identify and analyze the characteristics of soil, its components and profile, and the process of soil formation.

  4. Identify and analyze processes by which energy from the Sun is transferred (e.g., radiation, conduction, convection) through Earth’s systems (e.g., biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere).

  5. Identify and analyze the causes and effects of atmospheric processes and conditions (e.g., water cycle, weather, climate).

  6. Identify and analyze various conservation methods and their effectiveness in relation to renewable and nonrenewable natural resources.

  7. Analyze the Sun-Earth-Moon system in order to explain repeated patterns such as day and night, phases of the Moon, tides, and seasons.

  8. Compare and differentiate the composition and various relationships among the objects of our Solar System (e.g., Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets).

  9. Identify major events in the history of space exploration and their effects on society.

Competency 5—Knowledge of life science

  1. Identify and compare the characteristics of living and nonliving things.

  2. Analyze the cell theory as it relates to the functional and structural hierarchy of all living things.

  3. Identify and compare the structures and functions of plant and animal cells.

  4. Classify living things into major groups (i.e., Linnaean system) and compare according to characteristics (e.g., physical features, behaviors, development).

  5. Compare and contrast the structures, functions, and interactions of human and other animal organ systems (e.g., respiration, reproduction, digestion).

  6. Distinguish among infectious agents (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites), their transmission, and their effects on the human body.

  7. Identify and analyze the processes of heredity and natural selection and the scientific theory of evolution.

  8. Analyze the interdependence of living things with each other and with their environment (e.g., food webs, ecosystems, pollution).

  9. Identify and analyze plant structures and the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration, and reproduction (i.e., sexual, asexual).

  10. Predict the responses of plants to various stimuli (e.g., heat, light, gravity).

  11. Identify and compare the life cycles and predictable ways plants and animals change as they grow, develop, and age.

 

Subtest 4: Mathematics

An on-screen reference sheet will be provided.

Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.



table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall test score
Competency Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1 Knowledge of student thinking and instructional practices 26%
2 Knowledge of operations, algebraic thinking, counting and number in base ten 28%
3 Knowledge of fractions, ratios, and integers 18%
4 Knowledge of measurement, data, and statistics 16%
5 Knowledge of geometric concepts 12%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of student thinking and instructional practices

  1. Analyze and apply appropriate mathematical concepts, procedures, and professional vocabulary (e.g., subitize, transitivity, iteration, tiling) to evaluate student solutions.

  2. Analyze and discriminate among various problem structures with unknowns in all positions in order to develop student understanding of operations (e.g., put-together/take-apart, arrays/area).

  3. Analyze and evaluate the validity of a student’s mathematical model or argument (e.g., inventive strategies, standard algorithms) used for problem solving.

  4. Interpret individual student mathematics assessment data (e.g., diagnostic, formative, progress monitoring) to guide instructional decisions and differentiate instruction.

  5. Select and analyze structured experiences for small and large groups of students according to the cognitive complexity of the task.

  6. Analyze learning progressions to show how students’ mathematical knowledge, skills, and understanding develop over time.

  7. Distinguish among the components of math fluency (i.e., accuracy, automaticity, rate, flexibility).

Competency 2—Knowledge of operations, algebraic thinking, counting and number in base ten

  1. Interpret and extend multiple representations of patterns and functional relationships by using tables, graphs, equations, expressions, and verbal descriptions.

  2. Select the representation of an algebraic expression, equation, or inequality that models a real-world situation.

  3. Analyze and apply the properties of equality and operations in the context of interpreting solutions.

  4. Determine whether two algebraic expressions are equivalent by applying properties of operations or equality.

  5. Evaluate expressions with parentheses, brackets, and braces.

  6. Analyze and apply strategies (e.g., models, estimation, reasonableness) to solve multistep word problems.

  7. Apply number theory concepts (e.g., primes, composites, multiples, factors, parity, rules of divisibility).

  8. Identify strategies (e.g., compensation, combining tens and ones) based on place value to perform multidigit arithmetic.

Competency 3—Knowledge of fractions, ratios, and integers

  1. Compare fractions, integers, and integers with integer exponents and place them on a number line.

  2. Convert among standard measurement units within and between measurement systems (e.g., metric, U.S. customary) in the context of multistep, real-world problems.

  3. Solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions, including mixing whole numbers and fractions, decimals and percents by using visual models and equations to represent the problems and their solutions.

  4. Select the representation (e.g., linear, area, set model) that best represents the problem and solution, given a word problem or equation involving fractions.

  5. Solve real-world problems involving ratios and proportions.

Competency 4—Knowledge of measurement, data, and statistics

  1. Calculate and interpret statistics of variability (e.g., range, mean absolute deviation) and central tendency (e.g., mean, median).

  2. Analyze and interpret data through the use of frequency tables and graphs.

  3. Select appropriate measurement units to solve problems involving estimates and measurements.

  4. Evaluate the choice of measures of center and variability, with respect to the shape of the data distribution and the context in which the data were gathered.

  5. Solve problems involving distance, time, liquid volume, mass, and money, which may include units expressed as fractions or decimals.

Competency 5—Knowledge of geometric concepts

  1. Apply geometric properties and relationships to solve problems involving perimeter, area, surface area, and volume.

  2. Identify and locate ordered pairs in all four quadrants of a rectangular coordinate system.

  3. Identify and analyze properties of three-dimensional shapes using formal mathematical terms such as volume, faces, edges, and vertices.

  4. Classify two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on mathematical properties.