Eliz Markowitz
 PPR – Pedagogy & Professional Responsibilities
 Administered by Educational Testing Services
 CAT — Computer Administered Test
 Consists of 100 questions
 90 Scored
 10 Experimental
 Distributed across 13 core competencies
 You have 5 hours to complete the exam
 Designed to take 2.5 hours
 4 Domains
 13 Core Competencies
Domain
% of PPR
I
Designing instruction and assessment to promote student learning
34%
II
Creating a positive, productive learning environment
13%
III
Implementing effective, responsive instruction and assessment
33%
IV
Fulfilling professional roles and responsibilities
20%
 All Multiple Choice
 Single Questions
 Questions with Stimulus Material
 Clustered Questions
 Decision Sets
 www.ets.org
 Cost: $120
 Administered at Thompson Prometric Testing
Centers and UH
Competencies 1-4
 The teacher understands human
developmental processes and applies this
knowledge to plan instruction and ongoing
assessment that motivate students and are
responsive to their developmental
characteristics and needs.
Eliminate (B) because democratic processes within a group does little
to help a sense of individual autonomy. Eliminate (C) because young
adolescents still need structure in school. Middle school kids gone wild
would not be pretty. Eliminate (D) because primarily is extreme…and
every child would receive an A. (A) is the best answer because children
will still feel like they have control over their own lives.
 The teacher
understands student
diversity and knows
how to plan learning
experiences and
design assessments
that are responsive to
differences among
students and that
promote all students’
learning.

What is the question
asking?
 Do any options favor or




exclude a certain group?
What is possible to do?
What is impossible to do?
What should ALWAYS
happen?
What makes sense?

What is the question
asking?
 Do any options favor or




exclude a certain group?
What is possible to do?
What is impossible to do?
What should ALWAYS
happen?
What makes sense?
Eliminate (A); creating
individual assignments is not
feasible.
 Eliminate (B); students may
not appropriately select the
correct difficulty level.
 Eliminate (D); removing
students with disabilities from
activities defeats the purpose
of an inclusion classroom.
 (C) is the correct answer
because it addresses the
understanding of all students,
regardless of difficulty level.

 The teacher understands procedures for
designing effective and coherent instruction
and assessment based on appropriate
learning goals and objectives.

What is the question asking?
 What kind of activities require
critical thinking?

What is the question asking?
 What kind of activities require
critical thinking?
Eliminate (A) & (B); creating a
timeline or taking a multiplechoice test is low-level
thinking. You are simply
regurgitating facts.
 Eliminate (D); drawing a
picture, while it can be
creative, is information recall.
 (C) is the correct answer
because it allows the student
to be creative and share a wide
breadth of knowledge about
the subject matter.

 The teacher understands learning processes
and factors that impact student learning and
demonstrates this knowledge by planning
effective, engaging instruction and
appropriate assessments.

What are the key words?
 Intermediate-Level
 Speaking
 Academic

What would make the most
sense?

What are the key words?
 Intermediate-Level
 Speaking
 Academic

What would make the most
sense?
Eliminate (B); concept review
aids understanding, not aid
speech development.
 Eliminate (C); translations is for
beginning-level ESL students
and fails to aid speaking skills.
 Eliminate (D); grammar is for
advanced-level ESL students.
 (A) is the correct answer
because it modeling the correct
pronunciation will provide
students with a guide for speech
development.

Competencies 5 & 6
 The teacher knows
how to establish a
classroom climate
that fosters learning,
equity, and
excellence and uses
this knowledge to
create a physical and
emotional
environment that is
safe and productive.
Eliminate (A) & (D) because they are extreme, inappropriate, and
would just highlight the differences between Jerome and his peers.
Eliminate (B) because it is counterproductive. (C) is the best answer
because Jerome’s classmates will model their behavior after the
behavior of the teacher.
 The teacher understands strategies for
creating an organized and productive
learning environment for managing student
behavior.
Eliminate (A) because it is neither feasible nor intelligent. Eliminate
(B) and (C) because it is unreasonable for a kindergarten class to
adhere to a schedule or monitor its peers. (D) is the best answer
because children can be trained to respond to stimulus. Like Pavlov’s
dogs.
Competencies 7-10
 The teacher understands and applies
principles and strategies for communicating
effectively in varied teaching and learning
contexts.

Primary Purpose or Main Idea

Why did the author bother to
write this? (Other than to make
your life difficult.)

Eliminate anything that doesn’t
fit with the point of the
exercise.

Primary Purpose or Main Idea

Why did the author bother to
write this? (Other than to make
your life difficult.)

Eliminate anything that doesn’t
fit with the point of the
exercise.

Eliminate (A); students are
giving opinions, not questions.

Eliminate (B); journaling is not
group work.

Eliminate (D); vocabulary is
never mentioned and irrelevant.

(C) is the correct answer
because the students will be
able to see how much
knowledge they have gained
during class.
 The teacher provides appropriate instruction
that actively engages students in the learning
process.

What is self-concept?

What would help develop
knowledge of self-concept?

What is self-concept?

What would help develop
knowledge of self-concept?

Eliminate (A) & (B); factual
knowledge is not related to selfconcept.

Eliminate (C); translations is for
beginning-level ESL students
and fails to aid speaking skills.

(D) is the correct answer
because influences of your life,
culture, and upbringing all
contribute to an individual’s
self-concept.
 The teacher incorporates the effective use of
technology to plan, organize, deliver, and
evaluate instruction for all students.
Eliminate (A) & (C) , while these statements may be true, they are
irrelevant. Eliminate (B) because having the latest information is not
as important as having relevant information. (D) is the best answer
because accurate research requires valid resources.
 The teacher monitors student performance
and achievement; provides students with
timely, high-quality feedback; and responds
flexibly to promote learning for all students.

What do we need to know?

What does holistic mean?
 Word association
 Roots

What do we need to know?

What does holistic mean?
 Word association
 Roots

Eliminate (B); separate is not
together. So is it holistic?

Eliminate (C); the teacher is
giving a grade-not the students.

Eliminate (D); ranking is
irrelevant.

(A) is the correct answer
because it matches the basing a
score on the overall quality,
looking at the writing as a
whole, definition of holistic.
Competencies 11-13
 The teacher understands the importance of
family involvement in children’s education
and knows how to interact and communicate
effectively with families.

What makes a two-sided
conversation?

Not this:

What makes a two-sided
conversation?

Not this:

Eliminate (A); one action from
one person is not a two-way
conversation.

Eliminate (C) & (D); signed
report cards and planners are
not conversations.

(B) is the correct answer
because a meeting to discuss
goals means that people are
having a conversation. Brilliant.
 The teacher enhances professional
knowledge and skills by effectively
interacting with other members of the
educational community and participating in
various types of professional activities.
Eliminate (B), (C), and (D) because a classroom aide’s role does not
include curricula planning or instruction, teaching, or designing
activities. (A) is the best answer because the aide is there to help
Jerome participate, to the best of Jerome’s ability, in the instruction
planned by the teacher.
 The teacher understands and adheres to legal
and ethical requirements for educators and is
knowledgeable of the structure of education
in Texas.
Eliminate (A) because there is no evidence that Jerome needs
extend to basic daily living skills. Eliminate (C) because there is no
evidence that this balance would help Jerome. Eliminate (D) because
the level of Jerome’s peers is not a valid measure of his own level. (B)
is the best answer because Jerome’s IEP must be followed in
accordance with state and federal law.
 Answers that use extreme language
 Answers that are correct…but for a different
question
 Answers that conflict with commonly
accepted educational practices
 Answers that contradict Texas state law
 Answers that marginalize or insult people
STELLAR WORDS
NOT-SO-STELLAR WORDS
Higher-Level Thinking
Higher-Order Thinking
 Model
 Foster
 Most Likely
 Most Appropriate

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Worksheets
List
 Handout
 Confront
 Lecture
 Predetermined
 All Students
 Know the directions and format of exam
 Read all possible answers
 Use process of elimination
 Work at a steady pace
 Practice under real testing conditions
 Practice to build endurance
 Check your work
 Don’t go out and party. That would be dumb.
 Have a good breakfast
 Work through a case; it will wake up your brain
 Dress comfortably
 Arrive at the testing center at 7:30AM for the
morning administration or 1:30PM for the
afternoon administration
 Bring 2 forms of ID
 Bring #2 pencils. NONE will be provided.
 Don’t Panic
 You will rock this test out. No doubt.
 Ask ‘em
 The State of Texas.