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It can be challenging to prepare for your certification exams.  We recommend that you review the Flight Plan for your certification program to get familiar with your required exams, and understand your testing sequence and deadlines. Next, take a practice exam in the TExES Canvas course to get a baseline assessment of your strengths and needs. Once you have your baseline, you can begin to determine what resources will be most beneficial to help you prepare. 

Resources listed below are suggestions to help you get started. 

Online Study Guides and Books
  • Exam Preparation Manuals: The official study guides for each certification exam in Texas. These are the blueprint of your exams with an exam breakdown ((number of questions, timing, format), domains & competencies (exact content you’re tested on), detailed descriptions of what you need to know, sample questions and answer rationales, and test-taking strategies. If you look at nothing else -- you should at least look at the preparation manuals!
  • TEKS Standards - The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are the standards that your state certification exams are testing you over. Do you know what TEKS you will be responsible to teach or how to align them to each grade level? Being familiar with the TEKS will not only help you on your exams, but will help prepare you for your teaching career.
  • 240 Tutoring - The TExES Success Office has a partnership with 240 Tutoring that allows candidates to receive a special discount on their monthly subscription service for $25/month. To utilize this discount, contact COE-TSO@unt.edu for the discount link. You can also access the link in the TExES Canvas course.  240 Tutoring has study guides available for most initial certification areas as well as the Principal as Instructional Leader (268) certification. The unique difference with 240 Tutoring, is that you $25/month subscription gives you access to all the certification courses available on their site. If you have multiple exams to prepare for, this is the most cost-effective solution for you. To get the most out of this service, you will take a Diagnostic Test that will assess your areas of strengths and needs and build a study plan that will help target your areas of need. There are flashcards and quizzes along the way to help you gauge your understanding, as well as three full-length practice exams in each course. Students who fully engage with the instructional content, flashcards, and quizzes and pass a full-length practice exam are more likely to succeed on their real exam than those who do not fully utilize the course materials. Teacher candidates who complete a minimum of six-clock hours of study in the instructional content and pass a full-length practice exam with 80 or higher may submit their practice exam score report for test approval. The diagnostic test does not count as a full-length practice exam.
  • The Learning Liaisons: UNT now provides access to The Learning Liaisons (TLL)—a research-backed TExES test-prep platform built for future educators. An Independent HumRRO research study determined that TLL users earned 50% higher pass rates than leading competitors, including double the pass rate for first-time test takers. Studying just 30–40 minutes a day will have you finish each bootcamp in a few weeks so that you will be prepared to pass your test. TLL has a unique Three-Pillar Approach: Content, Pedagogy, and Test-Taking Strategy with clear explanations, not just practice questions. To receive a discount for $25/month, email COE-TSO@unt.edu for a link. You can also access the link in the TExES Canvas course.
  • Passage Preparation: While UNT does not have an official partnership with Passage Preparation, they are a TEA-approved CPE provider and, therefore, a recommended resource option for initial certification candidates. Passage Preparation does have materials for certifications that often have limited study materials available, such as Family Consumer Science, Physics/Math 7-12, and Art EC-12. They also offer materials for Educational Diagnostician, Principal as Instructional Leader, and School Librarian candidates. You can view their available courses and subscription prices at https://passagepreparation.com/states/texas/.
  • Certify Teacher: UNT's partnership with Certify Teacher allows initial teacher candidates to access the study materials they purchase for up to 3 years for a one-time $50 fee. For Educational Diagnostician and School Counselor candidates, the fee increases to $60; for Principal and Superintendent candidates the fee increases to $115. School Librarian candidates will soon have materials available. If you have multiple exams that you need to prepare for, you must individually purchase each course. You can view their available courses at https://certifyteacher.com/texes. To utilize the UNT discount, you will need email COE-TSO@unt.edu for the promo code. You can also locate the promo code in the TExES Canvas course.
  • Study.com — Videos, quizzes, and study guides for educator candidates in various subject areas. .
  • Mometrix - Offers a selection of study guides and flash cards for TExES certification exams.
  • Mometrix Academy - Use the free TExES practice test questions for select exams to get a better understanding of the TExES exam.
  • Pass the TExES - Offers books and e-books for a wide selection of TExES certification exams.
  • REA Test Prep: Offers both online and hard copy options for more common certification areas like Core Subjects EC-6, ESL Supplemental, PPR EC-12, Math 7-12, and Social Studies 7-12. 
  • Quizlet - Learning tools and flashcards for a variety of TExES exams. Search by your exam name and number (ex. TExES Core Subjects EC-6 291) to find various resources.
  • The TExES Success Office has study books available that students may check out at no charge to help them prepare for their exams. Due to limited availability, students are asked to only check materials out for 30 days at a time. Student who need the materials longer may ask for an extension if there is not a waiting list. Please email COE-TSO@unt.edu to find out if your book is available.
PPR EC-12 Resources
EC-6 and 4-8 candidates - ELAR
EC-6 and 4-8 candidates - Math
EC-6 and 4-8 candidates - Social Studies
EC-6 and 4-8 candidates - Science
Fine Arts, Music, Health, and PE
Science of Teaching Reading
ESL and Bilingual Supplemental
Special Education Specialist EC-12
Math 7-12
Science 7-12
History 7-12 and Social Studies 7-12
Dance 6-12
Principal as Instructional Leader
Tutoring Services

The TExES Success Office is not able to provide one-on-one or group tutoring sessions for content or subject area knowledge.  If you need tutoring, you will need to hire a private tutor.

When seeking tutoring services, you should have the following materials on hand so that your tutor can help you identify what it is you need to study: 1.) Preparation Manual for your exam, 2.) Practice Exam score report(s), and/or 3.) Previous score reports if you have taken the real TExES exam. 

Below are some options for tutoring:

  • TExES Exam Prep - Online one-on-one tutoring services for all certification fields.
  • Tutor Doctor - Private tutoring in subjects like Math, Science, English, and LOTE (Spanish and French).
  • Texas Teachers Today - Online courses and tutoring available for Core EC-6, LOTE Spanish, BTLPT, Bilingual and ESL Supplemental, and PPR EC-12 exams.
  • UNT Writing Center - Available to current students for help with structure, grammar, punctuation and more. Students who have a written component to their exams (such as ELAR 7-12, BTLPT, or LOTE exams) and struggle with writing, may wish to meet with a tutor prior to taking their TExES exam.
  • Private Tutors - For more personal tutoring, you may need to hire a private tutor.