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TExES Social Studies Information and Study Guide

Prepared by Dan Krutka | Contact Dan.Krutka@unt.edu to suggest changes

Introduction

Hello, teacher candidates! I have created this guide to help teacher candidates seeking to pass the social studies component of the TExES exam. You can click on the table of content headers to be taken to sections on test information, study plan, and study resources. I have tried to find the best free and online resources available, including text, videos, and podcasts. However, as I point out in the “study plan” section, it will be up to you to identify studying and note-taking strategies that are effective for you. Without good strategies in place, you may end up studying without the results you desire. I created and maintain this document so please contact me to suggest changes or make an appointment to receive assistance. Good luck with your preparations for the TExES exams and just as importantly as passing the test, I hope you learn social content that will help you prepare students as democratic citizens. Best,

Dan Krutka, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education University of North Texas dan.krutka@unt.edu Matthews Hall 206Q

Test Information

  • EC-6 students must pass all sections of the Core Subjects EC-6 (291) exam with 80% or better in order to pass the overall exam. Students must sign up to take the full Core Subjects EC-6 exam the first time they test. Students who do not pass only one section of the test may sign up to take just that section of the exam they did not pass. However, students who did not pass two or more sections of the exam should sign up to retake the full Core Subjects EC-6 (291) exam again, but skip sections they have already passed
  • As of September 1, 2015 the Texas Education Agency implemented a new rule that only allows candidates a total of five attempts on their certification exams. There are remediation policies in place which will require students who have failed 2 or more times to complete at least six clock-hours of study, take and pass a practice exam, or meet with faculty to develop a study plan. Students who are unable to pass their certification exam(s) after a fifth attempt will be required to petition TEA for additional attempts and will be required to complete at least 150 clock-hours of educational activities, as determined by TEA.
  • Students struggling with the Social Studies domain of the EC-6 exam should contact Dr. Krutka, the leading social studies faculty member, as he is familiar with the content and may be able to suggest further materials for preparation. You can contact Dr. Krutka at dan.krutka@unt.edu to discuss any struggles you may be having and for suggestions on how you might better prepare.
  • For step-by-step instructions on how to register for exams please review the TEAL/ETS Registration Guide. Exams are $131.00 each.
  • Please visit the TExES Advising Office in Matthews Hall, Room 103 if you have questions.

Study Plan

  1. Analyze your previous score report to identify the domains and competencies that are your strongest and weakest.
  2. Calculate your pass rate percentage by dividing the number of questions correctly answered from the total number of questions in each domain and competency.
  3. Prioritize content areas that require the most study. You should be aiming to answer 80% of the questions right in each domain.
  4. Download the Preparation Manual and Test-at-a-Glance booklets available for free on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program website. The Preparation Manual contains a Study Plan Sheet that you should print out and use in order to help you get organized. The Test at a Glance will review each of the standards a teacher candidate is being assessed by on their exam, and will go into detail about what you should know in each domain and competency.
  5. Locate resources that will help you review the content you need to study. This Google doc includes resources organized and prepared by Dr. Krutka that align with tested topics. The TExES office has a list of review materials also. There are books, study guides, websites with online content, and more. Once you know what content you are looking for (by analyzing what is covered under each domain and competency) you should be able to find materials to review. Refer to the courses where you learned that content, go back to class notes or textbooks if you still have them, talk to your faculty. Even taking a review session might help you prepare. Some students have also helped themselves prepare by making a lesson plan around the content they need to know.
  6. Identify study skills and note-taking strategies that are effective for you. The Crash Course series has 11 videos in their “Study Skills” playlist that might be helpful. Identify which topics are most relevant to you and consider watching them to develop a plan. More than anything, you should identify an effective note-taking strategy that you can use to prepare. For students working with Dr. Krutka, he will expect that you “show your work” as you seek help and are granted permission for additional TExES attempts.
  7. Give yourself enough time to thoroughly prepare for your next exam attempt. There is a 45 day waiting period between attempts. If you plan to test as soon as that 45 days are up, use your time wisely and study, and be realistic about how much time it will take you to familiarize yourself with the content you need to know. Even if you are just 1 or 2 points shy of passing the exam, you need to give yourself a mental break and make sure you are ready for that next attempt.

Study Resources

General Resources

Texas
United States

Specific Resources

These sources address a lot of content so you might identify areas in which you need help and then find the content.

KEY: Text (T); Video (V); Audio (A)

Competency 001 - Social Science Instruction

The teacher understands and applies social science knowledge and skills to plan, organize and implement instruction and assess learning.

Social Studies Standard

Key Terms

Study Materials

A. Understands the social studies content and performance standards that constitute the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

  
  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies - Elementary
B. Understands the vertical alignment of the social sciences in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) from grade level to grade level, including prerequisite knowledge and skills.  
  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies - Elementary

The teacher understands and applies knowledge of significant historical events and developments, multiple historical interpretations and ideas and relationships between the past, the present and the future as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
Competency 002 - History

Social Studies Standard

Key Terms

Study Materials

A. Demonstrates an understanding of historical points of reference in the history of Texas, the United States and the world (e.g., the Texas Revolution, the Republic of Texas and the annexation of Texas by the United States).

  

B. Demonstrates an understanding of the foundations of representative government in the United States, significant individuals, events and issues of the Revolutionary era and challenges confronting the United States government in the early years of the Republic.

  

C. Demonstrates an understanding of similarities and differences among Native American groups in Texas, the United States and the Western Hemisphere before European colonization.

  

D. Demonstrates an understanding of the causes and effects of European exploration and colonization of Texas, the United States and the Western Hemisphere.

  

I. Demonstrates an understanding of historical information and ideas in relation to other disciplines.

 

J. Demonstrates an understanding of how to formulate historical research questions and use appropriate procedures to reach supportable judgments and conclusions in the social sciences.

  

L. Knows the characteristics and uses of primary and secondary sources for historical research (e.g., databases, maps, photographs, media services, the Internet, biographies, interviews, questionnaires, artifacts); analyzes historical information from primary and secondary sources; understands and evaluates information in relation to bias, propaganda, point of view and frame of reference.

  

Q. Applies knowledge of the concept of chronology and its use in understanding history and historical events.

  

S. Demonstrates an understanding of the foundations of representative government in the United States, significant individuals, events and issues of the Revolutionary era and challenges confronting the United States government in the early years of the Republic.

T. Demonstrates an understanding of westward expansion and analyzes its effects on the political, economic and social development of the United States and Texas, including its effects on American Indian life.

  

U. Analyzes ways that political, economic and social factors led to the growth of sectionalism and the Civil War.

  

V. Understands individuals, issues and events involved in the Civil War and analyzes the effects of Reconstruction on the political, economic and social life of the United States and Texas.

  

W. Demonstrates an understanding of major United States and Texas reform movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (e.g., abolitionism, women's suffrage, civil rights, temperance).
  • To be added
  • To be added
    • Note: The TExES test makers put very little emphasis on women's histories so this material, while very important, is unlikely to appear on the test.
  • Key ideas: Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), Frances Willard, & Prohibition; National Consumers League & Florence Kelley; Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, & birth control movement; Jane Addams & Hull (settlement) House; Suffrage Movement, Seneca Falls Convention (1848), (nativist) NAWSA, Alice Paul & NWP, & 19th Amendment (1920); Failure of Equal Rights Amendments
  • Key Qs: In what ways did women's social and political rights change in the U.S. by 1920?
  • Key ideas: Cold War; suburbs, Levittowns, & car & consumer culture; Civil Rights movement; de jure & de facto segregation, redlining; Mendez v. Westminster (1947); NAACP & Thurgood Marshall; Brown v. Board of Education (1954) & Massive Resistance; Rosa Parks & Montgomery Bus Boycott; Martin Luther King, Jr & SCLC; Little Rock 9
  • Key Qs: How did the U.S. economy & society change after WWII? What people & events catalyzed the 1950s Civil Rights Movement?
  • Key ideas: Greensboro Sit-ins; CORE Freedom Rides; James Meredith at Ole Miss; Jim Crow; Birmingham activism; JFK, Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, assassination; MLK's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”; 1963 March on Washington; Civil Rights Act of 1964; Freedom Summer (1964); Voting Rights Act of 1965; LBJ, the Great Society, Medicare & Medicaid; Black Power; Malcolm X; Black Panther Party; Vietnam & Anti-War Movement; Latino worker activism & Cesar Chavez; American Indian Movement (AIM); LGBTQ rights & Stonewall Riots; Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, & Environmentalism; Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, & the (2nd wave) Feminist Movement; Warren Court: Mapp v. Ohio (1961); Gideon v. Wainwright (1963); NY Times v. Sullivan (1964); Griswold v. Connecticut (1965); Miranda v. Arizona (1966); Loving v. Virginia (1967); Roe v. Wade (1973); U.S.-Vietnam War, Tet Offensive (1968), & anti-war protests; Richard Nixon “law & order”
  • Key Qs: What is the Cold War & why did the U.S. fight in Vietnam? How did rights for African-Americans, Latino workers, women, & the environment change? What 1950s and 1960s national laws and court cases still affect the U.S. today?
X. Demonstrates knowledge of boom and bust cycles of leading Texas industries (e.g., railroads, the cattle industry, oil and gas production, cotton, real estate, banking, computer technology).  

Y. Demonstrates an understanding of important individuals, issues and events of the twentieth and

twenty-first centuries in Texas, the United States and the world (e.g., urbanization, Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, the Second World War, growth of the oil and gas industry).

  


Competency 003 - Geography and Culture

The teacher understands and applies knowledge of geographic relationships involving people, places and environments in Texas, the United States and the world; the teacher also understands and applies knowledge of cultural development, adaptation, diversity and interactions among science, technology and society as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

Social Studies Standard

Key Terms

Study Materials

To be added

 

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To be added

 

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Study resources for this competency will be added in the future.

Competency 004 - Economics

The teacher understands and applies knowledge of economic systems and how people organize economic systems to produce, distribute and consume goods and services.

Social Studies Standard

Key Terms

Study Materials

C. Demonstrates knowledge of the ways people organize economic systems and of the similarities and differences among various economic systems around the world.

 

E. Applies knowledge of the effects of supply and demand on consumers and producers in a free-enterprise system.

 

More study resources for this competency will be added in the future.

Competency 005 - Government and Citizenship

The teacher understands and applies knowledge of concepts of government, democracy and citizenship, including ways that individuals and groups achieve their goals through political systems.

Social Studies Standard

Key Terms

Study Materials

B. Understands and applies the purpose of rules and laws; the relationship between rules, rights and responsibilities; the fundamental rights of American citizens guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and other amendments to the United States Constitution; and the individual's role in making and enforcing rules and ensuring the welfare of society.

 
D. Demonstrates knowledge of key principles and ideas contained in major political documents of Texas and the United States (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, Texas Constitution) and of relationships among political documents.  

I. Understands and promotes students' understanding of the impact of landmark Supreme Court cases.

  

More study resources for this competency will be added in the future.

Quizzes

These quizzes provide low level memorization of specific details, but can provide a break and way to review some people, places, and things.