Prekindergarten/Primary PK–3

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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 50 multiple-choice questions Subtest 3: approximately 40 multiple-choice questions Subtest 4: approximately 40 multiple-choice questions
Time	Subtest 1: 1 hour and 10 minutes Subtest 2: 1 hour and 10 minutes Subtest 3: 1 hour and 10 minutes Subtest 4: 1 hour 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: Developmental Knowledge

table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall subtest score

Competency		Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1	Knowledge of child growth, child development, and relationships with families and the community	14%
2	Knowledge of the profession and foundations of early childhood (PreK–3) education	12%
3	Knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices	20%
4	Knowledge of developmentally appropriate curricula	12%
5	Knowledge of developmentally appropriate intervention strategies and resources available to meet the needs of all students	15%
6	Knowledge of diagnosis, assessment, and evaluation	14%
7	Knowledge of child guidance and classroom behavioral management	13%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of child growth, child development, and relationships with families and the community

1. Identify the major effects of genetics, health, nutrition, public policy, environment, and economics on child development.

2. Identify the developmental stages (e.g., social-emotional, cognitive, language, physical) and the milestones for the typically developing child.

3. Identify atypical development (e.g., social-emotional, cognitive, language, physical).

4. Identify and distinguish the influences of substance abuse, physical abuse, and emotional distress on child development.

5. Identify diverse family systems and recognize their influences on children's early experiences which contribute to individual differences and development and learning.

6. Identify the influence of scientific research on theories of cognitive and social development, the principles of how children learn, and the development and implementation of instructional strategies.

7. Identify and apply strategies to involve families in their child's development and learning in all phases of school programs.

8. Identify and apply strategies to facilitate family and community partnerships.

Competency 2—Knowledge of the profession and foundations of early childhood (PreK–3) education

1. Identify theorists, theories, and developmental domains (e.g., physical, cognitive, social-emotional) in the fields of early childhood education and their implications for the classroom teacher of young children.

2. Identify models of early childhood curriculum (e.g., Montessori, Creative Curriculum).

3. Identify and analyze the impact of federal and state laws on education in the classroom (e.g., English for Speakers of Other Languages, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

4. Identify professional organizations, websites, and scholarly journals in the field of early childhood education.

5. Interpret professional standards set by early childhood and elementary educational organizations (e.g., National Association for the Education of Young Children, Association for Childhood Education International, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Southern Early Childhood Association).

6. Analyze the relationships among current educational issues, trends, and legislation and their impact on the field of early childhood education.

7. Analyze and apply ethical behavior and professional responsibilities as they relate to young children, families, colleagues, and the community (e.g., Florida Educator Accomplished Practices, Florida Department of Education Code of Ethics, National Association for the Education of Young Children Code of Ethics).

Competency 3—Knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices

1. Identify and apply developmentally appropriate practices that guide effective instruction.

2. Identify the components of effective organization and management, such as classroom rituals, routines, and schedules.

3. Identify ways to organize furniture, equipment, materials, and other resources in an indoor or outdoor environment in order to support early childhood development and curricula.

4. Identify and analyze strategies for short- and long-term planning to set instructional goals in alignment with standards for developing teacher objectives.

5. Identify strategies for designing appropriate objectives and developing, implementing, and assessing lesson plans.

6. Identify and select developmentally and/or age-appropriate instructional materials that enrich and extend active learning.

7. Apply a variety of methods of flexibly grouping children for the purposes of instruction.

8. Identify and apply characteristics of an integrated curriculum.

9. Identify characteristics of play as related to children's social, emotional, and cognitive development.

10. Identify strategies for building and nurturing trusting relationships with students.

11. Analyze and evaluate the use of evidence-based practices to improve student achievement.

Competency 4—Knowledge of developmentally appropriate curricula

1. Analyze and select developmentally appropriate curricula that provide for all areas of child development (i.e., physical, emotional, social, linguistic, aesthetic, cognitive).

2. Identify strategies for facilitating the development of literal, interpretive, and critical listening and thinking skills.

3. Determine activities that support the development of fine and gross motor skills.

4. Select and apply strategies, including the use of technology, for presenting instruction and concepts related to health, safety, and nutrition.

5. Select and apply strategies, including the use of technology, for presenting instruction and concepts related to visual arts, music, drama, and dance.

6. Select and apply strategies, including the use of technology, in developmentally appropriate ways to teach reading, mathematics, science, and social studies.

7. Select and apply strategies, including the use of technology, in developmentally appropriate ways to increase receptive and expressive vocabulary.

Competency 5—Knowledge of developmentally appropriate intervention strategies and resources available to meet the needs of all students

1. Select and analyze evidence-based instructional strategies to adapt curricula for children with diverse needs.

2. Identify characteristics of children with diverse needs in order to support their learning.

3. Identify and select resources and procedures that support children with diverse needs and their families.

4. Identify characteristics of children at risk for school failure and select appropriate intervention strategies for these children.

5. Identify major trends in educating children with exceptionalities and incorporate such trends in early childhood settings as appropriate.

6. Select and apply appropriate strategies for working with children who are in foster care and children who are migrant, transient, orphaned, or homeless.

7. Identify ways for accessing and appropriately using health information to monitor children's medical needs (e.g., medications for allergies) and/or other health impairments.

8. Identify needs for, and methods of, collaboration with other professionals in order to positively impact student learning.

9. Identify programs, curricula, and activities that address the language needs of children and their families with limited English proficiency.

Competency 6—Knowledge of diagnosis, assessment, and evaluation

1. Select and apply developmentally appropriate, reliable, and valid formal and informal screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic instruments and procedures that measure specific characteristics.

2. Identify procedures for accurately establishing, maintaining, and using formal and informal student records.

3. Interpret formal and informal assessment data to make instructional decisions about the educational needs of children.

4. Identify procedures for appropriately using authentic assessments (e.g., portfolios, observations, journals) to plan instruction that further develops a child's level of learning and interest.

5. Identify procedures and legal requirements that provide for productive family conferences or home visits, regarding the assessment, education, and development of children, in accordance with due process (e.g., IEP, RtI) and confidentiality.

6. Identify methods of observing, facilitating, and extending children's play to practice newly acquired abilities (e.g., through problem solving, imitation, persistence, and creativity).

7. Identify different types of assessments (e.g., norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, diagnostic, curriculum-based) and the purposes of each.

8. Identify and apply appropriate processes for monitoring struggling students (e.g., RtI, tiered interventions) and planning and implementing intervention strategies.

Competency 7—Knowledge of child guidance and classroom behavioral management

1. Identify and analyze developmentally appropriate components of a positive and effective classroom behavioral management system.

2. Apply developmentally appropriate positive strategies for guiding children's behavior and responding to challenging behaviors.

3. Identify opportunities for promoting children's positive self-concept and self-esteem, prosocial skills, and social-emotional development through interaction with peers and familiar adults.

4. Select developmentally appropriate problem-solving strategies for conflict resolution, self-regulatory behavior, and social interaction.

5. Select and analyze appropriate strategies for teaching character development to young children.

6. Identify the roles of early childhood professionals in collaboration with other professionals (e.g., social workers, school counselors, community liaisons) in helping children and their families cope with stressors.

 

Subtest 2: Language Arts and Reading

table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall subtest score

Competency		Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1	Knowledge of literacy and literacy instruction	24%
2	Knowledge of literary and informational texts	18%
3	Knowledge of foundational reading skills	24%
4	Knowledge of language elements used for effective oral and written communication	22%
5	Knowledge of assessments to inform literacy instruction	12%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of literacy and literacy instruction

1. Identify the components of emergent literacy (i.e., oral and written language development, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, print concepts) and early literacy (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension).

2. Identify common emergent literacy difficulties and apply strategies for prevention, intervention, and remediation.

3. Apply evidence-based practices for developing emergent literacy (i.e., oral and written language development, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, print concepts) and early literacy (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension).

4. Identify appropriate, multisensory emergent and early literacy activities (e.g., literacy songs, manipulatives, Elkonin boxes).

5. Select specific evidence-based practices (e.g., group size, explicit, systematic, differentiated, individualized, corrective feedback) for developing emergent and early literacy.

6. Identify the components of and techniques for creating a print-rich environment to impact classroom instruction.

7. Analyze the components of a structured literacy program (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension).

8. Identify effective methods and strategies to integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing across the curriculum.

9. Determine effective techniques for motivating students to engage in academic and personal reading (e.g., setting reading goals, encouraging self-selection of texts).

Competency 2—Knowledge of literary and informational texts

1. Select a variety of texts that build background knowledge and language skills.

2. Identify and distinguish the elements of various literary genres and formats of prose and poetry (e.g., traditional literature, fantasy, realistic fiction).

3. Analyze and compare literature with common themes written from a variety of viewpoints.

4. Identify instructional approaches and apply strategies for developing literary analysis (e.g., story-mapping, plot structure, literary devices).

5. Select appropriate techniques for encouraging students to respond to literature and informational texts in a variety of ways (e.g., retelling, dramatizing, writing).

6. Identify a variety of uses and purposes for multiple representations of information (e.g., maps, graphic representations, print and nonprint media).

7. Identify evidence-based practices (e.g., activating background knowledge, questioning, summarizing) for facilitating students' reading comprehension across the curriculum.

8. Identify and use text structures (e.g., cause and effect, chronological order, compare and contrast) to develop students' comprehension.

9. Identify informational text features and their purposes (e.g., glossary, headings, table of contents) to develop students' comprehension.

10. Apply instructional approaches and strategies for teaching informational literacy skills (e.g., reference materials, research skills).

Competency 3—Knowledge of foundational reading skills

1. Identify appropriate stages of word recognition development and apply teaching strategies to guide students through these stages (i.e., pre-alphabetic, partial-alphabetic, full-alphabetic, consolidated alphabetic, automatic stages).

2. Identify effective word analysis strategies that skilled readers use in the decoding process (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics).

3. Identify the components of reading fluency (i.e., accuracy, automaticity, rate, prosody) and apply evidence-based practices for developing reading fluency (e.g., practice with connected text, high-frequency words, timed repeated readings).

4. Select evidence-based practices and strategies for increasing vocabulary acquisition and development (e.g., tiered vocabulary, graphic organizers, morphemic and contextual analysis) across the curriculum.

5. Select and apply evidence-based practices for teaching essential comprehension skills (e.g., utilizing graphic organizers, activating background knowledge, developing content-specific vocabulary, asking questions).

6. Apply effective reading comprehension strategies (e.g., retelling, summarizing) for complex literary and informational texts.

Competency 4—Knowledge of language elements used for effective oral and written communication

1. Distinguish among the developmental stages of writing (e.g., drawing, scribbling, letter-like formations, strings of letters).

2. Identify developmentally appropriate writing strategies for developing print concepts (e.g., directionality) and conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation).

3. Determine the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, editing, publishing).

4. Identify and distinguish characteristics of various modes of writing (e.g., narrative, expository, argumentative).

5. Select and analyze the appropriate mode of writing for a variety of occasions, purposes, and audiences, using textual support, reader response, and research as needed.

6. Apply strategies for conducting research and incorporating textual evidence into written communication using direct and indirect citation.

7. Identify developmentally appropriate strategies for enhancing writers' craft (e.g., supporting details, dialogue, transition words).

8. Determine effective strategies for comprehension and collaboration (e.g., following multiple-step directions, following group rules, participating in group discussions).

9. Identify key elements in students' presentations of ideas (e.g., visual and digital components, organization of ideas, clarity of thought).

10. Analyze the increasing complexity of conventions of English (e.g., common prepositions, personal and possessive pronouns, subject-verb agreement, regular and irregular plural nouns).

11. Compare characteristics and uses of formal and informal language (e.g., oral, written).

Competency 5—Knowledge of assessments to inform literacy instruction

1. Identify appropriate oral and written methods for assessing individual student progress in reading and writing (e.g., fluency probes, conferencing, rubrics).

2. Interpret and analyze data from informal and formal reading assessments using qualitative measures (e.g., reading behaviors) and quantitative measures (i.e., screening, progress monitoring, diagnosis, outcome measures) to guide differentiated instruction.

 

Subtest 3: Mathematics

An on-screen reference sheet will be provided.

table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall subtest score

Competency		Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1	Knowledge of number concepts and operations in base-10	33%
2	Knowledge of algebraic thinking	16%
3	Knowledge of measurement, data collection, and analysis	15%
4	Knowledge of geometry and spatial concepts	13%
5	Knowledge of student reasoning and instructional practices	23%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of number concepts and operations in base-10

1. Identify ordinal and cardinal numbers for a set.

2. Identify and apply number concepts (e.g., one-to-one correspondence, conservation of number after rearrangement) and various ways to count efficiently.

3. Apply concepts of place value to name, compare, round, and represent numbers in base-10 (e.g., 22 is two 10s and two 1s, one 10 and 12 1s, twenty-two 1s).

4. Apply concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve problems involving multi- and single-digit whole numbers.

5. Identify and compare fractions (e.g., equivalent fractions, fractions greater than one, fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator) represented by visual fraction models, words, expressions of the form m/n, and number lines in mathematical and real-world contexts.

Competency 2—Knowledge of algebraic thinking

1. Identify numerical patterns (e.g., additive, multiplicative, repeating, extending) using a variety of methods (e.g., written descriptions, variables, tables, graphs).

2. Determine and apply concepts of equality and inequality in equations involving any of the four arithmetic operations (e.g., balancing and comparing quantities).

3. Solve multi-step mathematical and real-world problems involving whole number arithmetic operations with unknown values.

4. Apply properties of operations in whole number arithmetic (e.g., associative, commutative, distributive properties).

Competency 3—Knowledge of measurement, data collection, and analysis

1. Identify measurable attributes of figures and real-world objects using standard (i.e., metric and U.S. customary) and nonstandard (e.g., strings, paper clips) units to analyze quantities (i.e., length, perimeter, volume, temperature, time, and weight/mass).

2. Identify instructional activities for teaching concepts of time and money (e.g., determining the value of combinations of coins or currency, making change, determining elapsed time).

3. Select methods to collect, sort, organize, and represent data (i.e., tally marks, pictographs, tables, circle graphs, line plots, and scaled bar graphs), including data with fractional values.

4. Analyze whole number data to draw conclusions about a given data set.

Competency 4—Knowledge of geometry and spatial concepts

1. Identify and compare 2D figures (e.g., circles, rectangles, quadrilaterals, triangles, hexagons) and 3D figures (e.g., spheres, cones, cubes, prisms) according to defining attributes (e.g., number of sides or faces, lengths of sides or edges, straight or curved edges, parallel edges, right angle corners, lines of symmetry).

2. Solve problems involving the perimeter of triangles and quadrilaterals and the area of rectangles (e.g., decomposition of a complex figure into rectangles).

3. Identify spatial concepts and geometric vocabulary in mathematical and real-world situations.

Competency 5—Knowledge of student reasoning and instructional practices

1. Identify and apply strategies for building fluency with addition, subtraction, and multiplication of multi-digit whole numbers (e.g., visual models, partial sums and products, arrays and area models, compensation, inverse relationship between the four operations).

2. Analyze learning progressions to demonstrate how students’ mathematical knowledge and skills develop over time among concrete, representational, and abstract modes of understanding.

3. Distinguish among the stages of students’ mathematical fluency (i.e., exploration, procedural reliability, procedural fluency) to recognize the role played by automaticity in each of those stages.

4. Identify strategies to guide students in applying mathematics to real-world situations, including using mathematics in other subject areas at their grade level.

5. Select and analyze instructional methods and tools, including technology (e.g., interactive whiteboards, handheld technology) and manipulatives (e.g., base-10 blocks, fraction circles, pictorial representations) for small and large groups of students according to the cognitive complexity of a task and students’ needs.

6. Identify and apply the use of mathematical thinking (e.g., use of patterns, structures, real-world contexts, multiple representations; assessing the reasonableness of solutions).

7. Analyze and interpret individual student mathematics assessment data (e.g., diagnostic, formative, progress monitoring, summative) to guide instructional decisions and differentiate instruction.

8. Identify and apply instructional methods to reinforce connections between mathematical topics within a grade level and the progression of mathematical topics from one grade level to the next.

9. Identify and apply appropriate instructional strategies for problem solving (e.g., drawing a picture, making a table, acting it out, writing an expression or equation).

 

Subtest 4: Science

table describing the competencies, skills, and approximate percentage of each competency's weight toward overall subtest score

Competency		Approximate Percentage of Total Subtest Questions
1	Knowledge of effective science instruction	19%
2	Knowledge of the nature of science	19%
3	Knowledge of the earth and space sciences	20%
4	Knowledge of the physical sciences	17%
5	Knowledge of the life sciences	25%

Competencies and Skills

Competency 1—Knowledge of effective science instruction

1. Analyze developmentally appropriate strategies for teaching science practices (e.g., observing, questioning, designing and carrying out investigations, developing and using models, constructing and communicating explanations).

2. Identify strategies and skills for facilitating children's experiences in ways that support their active inquiry, naturalistic exploration, talk and argument, and conceptual development.

3. Identify and analyze strategies for formal and informal learning experiences to provide science curriculum that promotes children's natural curiosity about the world (e.g., active hands-on experiences, active engagement in the physical world, student interaction).

4. Identify ways to organize and manage the early childhood classroom for safe, effective science teaching and learning (e.g., procedures, equipment, layout).

5. Identify and select developmentally appropriate formal and informal assessments to evaluate prior knowledge, to guide instruction, and to evaluate the impact of science experiences on student learning.

6. Select and analyze small- and large-group strategies to help students explain the concepts they are learning, provide opportunities to introduce formal science terms, and to clarify scientific concepts and misconceptions.

7. Select and apply safe and effective instructional strategies when using curricular and instructional tools and resources such as physical and conceptual models, scientific equipment, realia, and print and digital representations to support and enhance science instruction.

8. Apply scientifically and professionally responsible decision-making regarding the selection of socially and culturally sensitive science content and activities.

Competency 2—Knowledge of the nature of science

1. Identify and apply basic process skills (e.g., observing, inferring, classifying, measuring) and developmentally appropriate science practices (e.g., analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, engaging in argument from evidence).

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

3. Analyze the dynamic nature of science as a way of understanding the world (e.g., tentativeness, replication, reliance on evidence).

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

5. Evaluate the relationship between claims (e.g., including predictions), evidence (i.e., scientific knowledge, observations) and explanations (i.e., linking claims to evidence, drawing conclusions).

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

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 considerations of science technology in society including cultural, ethical, economic, political, and global implications.

Competency 3—Knowledge of the earth and space sciences

1. Identify the living and nonliving composition of the Earth's surface and the properties of the nonliving materials that make up Earth's surface (e.g., soil, minerals, rocks, water).

2. Identify the processes that change the surface of the Earth.

3. Analyze the effects of the law of gravity on objects on Earth and in space.

4. Identify and distinguish distant objects seen in the daytime and nighttime sky (e.g., Sun, stars, planets, Moon).

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

6. Interpret and predict the direct and indirect effects of the Sun's energy on Earth, including plants, animals, water, land, and air.

7. Identify the components and significance of space research and exploration (e.g., timelines, tools and equipment, benefits and cost to society).

8. Identify and describe repeated patterns in the Sun-Earth-Moon system (e.g., the day-night cycle, phases of the Moon, seasons).

9. Analyze the impact of human activity on renewable and nonrenewable resources and natural events, including preparation for severe weather related events (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding).

Competency 4—Knowledge of the physical sciences

1. Sort matter by its observable qualitative properties (e.g., shape, color, states, texture, hardness) and quantitative properties (e.g., mass, volume, temperature, weight, density).

2. Categorize matter as an element, compound, or mixture and compare the similarities and differences among them.

3. Identify and differentiate between physical and chemical changes in matter.

4. Identify and compare types, characteristics, and functions of energy.

5. Identify and analyze ways energy is transferred between objects or the surrounding air.

6. Analyze and compare the relationship between forces (e.g., push or pull) and an object's change in position, direction, and/or speed.

Competency 5—Knowledge of the life sciences

1. Identify how plants and animals respond to their environment.

2. Identify basic concepts of heredity (e.g., why offspring resemble their parents).

3. Classify plants and animals into major groups according to characteristics (e.g., physical features, behaviors, development).

4. Compare the ways living things meet their basic needs through interaction with and dependence on one another when sharing an environment (e.g., competition, predation, pollination).

5. Identify basic characteristics of living and nonliving things.

6. Identify and describe the basic structures, behaviors, and functions of plants and animals that allow them to carry out their life processes (e.g., grow, reproduce, and survive).

7. Identify and compare the structure and functions of major systems of the human body.

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

9. Identify and compare processes of sexual and asexual reproduction in plants, animals, and microorganisms.

10. Identify the variety of habitats within ecosystems and analyze how they meet the needs of the organisms that live there.

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