PACT PreK-4 Test -
For the Pennsylvania Educator Certification
Module -
Collaboration & Professionalism
IDEA LAW:
Public Law 94 -142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act/Education for the Handicapped Act (EHA), passed in 1975, and Public Law 99 -457, the EHA Amendments, passed in 1986, provided foundations that were expanded by new 1990 legislation. As a result, EHA was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
IDEA LAW:
The IDEA's six main principles follow:
1. Publicly funded education cannot exclude any student because of the student's disability.
2. The rights of students with disabilities and of their parents are assured by the protection of due process procedures.
3. The parents of students with disabilities are encouraged to participate in their children's educations.
4. The assessment of all students must be fair and unbiased.
5. All students must be given a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), and it must be provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE) where the student and other students can learn and succeed.
6. Information related to students with disabilities and their families must be kept confidential.
Interactions With Adults in the Learning Environment:.
Regarding teachers' roles, much of the focus is on observing children and their behaviors, helping children manage peer interactions, and giving children opportunities for developing peer-group social skills. Too often, a similar emphasis is not accorded to teacher's reflecting on their interactions and behaviors with other adults, learning to collaborate with other adults, and developing skills for conflict resolution and managing disagreements with other adults. Some experts say teachers should work diligently and deliberately to make adult interactions integral parts of daily classroom activity. For group early childhood education settings to attain their goals, adults must make and implement plans collaboratively. However, mandatory staff meetings are commonly occupied with curricular and administrative requirements; beyond these, little or no attention or time is applied to nurturing adult-adult relationships. Adults interact during in-service training and professional development experiences but rarely outside of daily classroom settings. Nevertheless, these experiences can be used as foundations for better adult-adult communication within early childhood education contexts. Conscious efforts to develop adult-adult relationships benefiting children's growth, development and learning are necessary.
Family & Community Relationships:
GENETIC AND BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON CHILDREN RELATIVE TO ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS:
Adapted children with one or both biological parents having histories of alcohol abuse, criminal records, and major psychiatric illness are at double the risk for drug abuse as those having biological parents without such histories. While this risk is genetic, differential environmental influences can exacerbate or mitigate children's biological risk for engaging in addictive behaviors.
ALFRED ADLER'S THEORETICAL CONCEPTS OF THE EFFECTS OF BIRTH ORDER ONLY CHILD AND OLDEST CHILD:
Neo-Freudian psychologist Alfred Adler proposed that a child's birth order relative to other children in a family is associated with corresponding influences on the child's personality and behaviors. For example, Adler found that the only child is regarded as a miracle of birth by parents with no prior experience of having a baby. This child receives the undivided attention of birth parents, who may be overprotective of the child and spoil him or her. Some general characteristics of only children include preferring adults' company, using adult language, enjoying being the center of attention from adults, and finding it difficult to share with other children.
Q.1. A student in a kindergarten class is playing at the water table, placing different toys in the water. The student notices that one toy floats and another sinks to the bottom and asks the teacher why some toys float. Which of the following responses from the teacher would be most strongly consistent with a constructivist approach to learning?
Ans: "Let's try to make some other things float and see if we can figure it out together."
( This question requires the candidate to demonstrate knowledge of major theories of child development and learning. Constructivist approaches to learning view the learner as an active participant in building understanding and knowledge. Hands-on exploration with concrete materials provides particularly effective opportunities for young children to construct knowledge. By extending the realistic and relevant learning situation in which the student is already actively engaged, the teacher can interact with the student in a meaningful way to help scaffold understanding and develop the student's awareness that knowledge is constructed.)
2. The most important reason for using varied assessment methods and formats with young children is that such an approach:
Ans: provides children with multiple avenues to demonstrate their learning.
(This question requires the candidate to recognize the importance of using multiple indicators to identify areas of individual need and to support the development of all students. Young children of the same age can vary significantly in their levels of development in various domains. They also differ in their cognitive styles and learning preferences. For example, some children may have more advanced language skills and be able to explain or write about what they know, while other children may be able to demonstrate their understanding by drawing pictures. Some children may prefer to work on some tasks independently and on other kinds of tasks with a group. Using a variety of assessment methods and formats that accommodate these differences gives all children opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned and understand.)
3. A preschool student has been receiving special education services and will continue to receive services in kindergarten. An IEP meeting is being planned for the student's transition to kindergarten. Which of the following roles is most appropriate for the general education kindergarten teacher to play in this IEP meeting?
Ans: developing appropriate academic interventions and strategies to meet curricular goals
(This question requires the candidate to demonstrate knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the general educator as a collaborative member of the IEP team and as part of the team for transition planning. In the situation described, the general education kindergarten teacher will have the responsibility for providing instruction, accommodations, and supports for the student in the kindergarten classroom. The teacher also brings to the IEP meeting expertise regarding the general education curriculum, the type and pace of instruction that is provided, and the classroom environment the student will be entering. The role that most appropriately acknowledges the general education kindergarten teacher's specific areas of expertise and responsibilities with regard to the student is developing interventions and strategies that can be used with the student.)
4. A kindergarten student, who is typically easygoing and friendly, has begun acting out in class and being verbally aggressive toward peers. The teacher is consulting with the school counselor about these recent changes in the student's behavior. This consultation is likely to be most productive if the teacher begins by providing the counselor with which of the following pieces of information?
Ans: a description of the student's behavior and strategies the teacher has implemented
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of strategies for consulting and collaborating with colleagues and other professionals. When consulting with a colleague, it is important for a teacher to provide specific information that is directly relevant to the issue to be discussed. In the situation described, the kindergarten teacher has noted changes in a student's behavior and has decided to consult with the school counselor. There are several types of information that ultimately may need to be considered with regard to this student. Initially, however, it will be most helpful if the teacher prepares a clear description of the student's behavior, how it has changed, and the steps the teacher has taken to address the behavior. This will allow the counselor to focus quickly on particular points or make suggestions for additional strategies not already tried by the teacher.)
5. A recently hired prekindergarten teacher who is new to the area can best prepare to be an effective advocate for students by taking which of the following actions?
Ans: learning about the characteristics and needs of families within the community
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of strategies for serving as an effective, informed advocate for individual students and families. An important first step for a teacher who is new to an area is to become familiar with the local community and its population. By taking the initiative to learn about the particular characteristics of local families (e.g., culture, socioeconomic situation, and traditions), the teacher can be prepared to advocate for students in ways that are relevant and respectful to students and their families.)
1. A second-grade teacher uses evidence-based flexible grouping and selects different types of texts (e.g., decodable texts, leveled texts, chapter books) for different reading groups. These practices best demonstrate the teacher's awareness of the importance of which of the following principles of effective beginning reading instruction?
Ans: transitioning students to more challenging texts as they progress in their reading skills
(This question requires the candidate to demonstrate knowledge of best practices in early and emergent literacy and reading, including the importance of differentiating literacy instruction to address individual student's needs and their growing knowledge and skills. Providing early readers with guided practice reading connected text corresponding to their individual level of phonics knowledge is essential for promoting their ongoing fluency development. Evidence-based flexible grouping is the practice of varying the size and composition of instructional groups according to the goals of instruction and the demonstrated learning needs of individual students, as evidenced in ongoing informal assessments. Using this approach to plan reading groups allows the teacher to group together students with similar reading levels for instruction using a text at an appropriate level of challenge for those students. Furthermore, the teacher can closely monitor student progress and regularly adjust the composition of groups and assigned texts, thus transitioning individual students to more challenging texts as they progress in their reading skills.)
2. A first-grade student who demonstrates mastery of phonemic blending is having difficulty sounding out and blending VC and CVC words in printed word lists and connected text. Based on this information, the student would probably benefit most from an intervention designed to improve the student's:
Ans: letter-sound correspondence skills.
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of interventions in phonics. Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and phonemic blending skills is key for developing the early phonics skill of sounding out and blending simple, phonically regular VC and CVC words. Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is required to decode the component sounds from the sequence of letters, and skill in phonemic blending is needed to combine the sounds into a single word. The student described has mastered phonemic blending, so the likely source of the student's difficulty with this task is in correctly identifying the sounds represented by the letters in the printed words.)
3. In a fourth-grade class, providing explicit instruction focused on which of the following reading skills would most directly promote students' evaluative reading comprehension skills?
Ans: distinguishing between fact and opinion in a text
(This question requires the candidate to recognize different levels of comprehension. Readers exercise evaluative reading comprehension when they apply criteria external to a text to analyze the text or its content (e.g., evaluating the accuracy of the facts presented, and evaluating the effectiveness of stylistic choices). Authors of informational texts may occasionally identify personal opinions in the text explicitly. In general, however, readers must consider what they know about the word meanings (e.g., best, good, disappointing) or what they know about the world (e.g., whether a particular statement could be verified objectively) in order to distinguish statements of fact from statements of opinion in these texts.)
4. A kindergarten student writes "tdirdmibk" in her journal and tells the teacher she wrote "Today I rode my bike." The student's writing sample most clearly demonstrates which of the following milestones is essential to spelling development in English?
Ans: awareness of the alphabetic principle
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of assessment in writing skills, including interpreting the results of assessments. The sequence of letters tdirdmibk in the student's writing sample corresponds to prominent sounds in the spoken sentence the writing represents. The letters td correspond to the first sounds in each syllable of the word today; the letter i represents the word I; the letters rd correspond to the consonant sounds in the word rode; the letters mi correspond to all the sounds in the word my; and the letters bk represent the consonant sounds in the word bike. The student's spelling is typical of emergent writers in an early stage of spelling development, and reflects an awareness of the alphabetic principle—the understanding that the writing system in English is alphabetic, i.e., that the letters used in written English represent the component sounds in spoken words.)
5. After an extended classroom discussion of the pros and cons of adopting a civic initiative, students are divided into two relatively equal groups, one of which supports the initiative while the other has reservations about it. The teacher could best use this situation to demonstrate the value of which of the following practices?
Ans: using compromise to resolve conflicts
(This question requires the candidate to demonstrate knowledge of ways of actively engaging children in developing their civic competence. An important responsibility of citizenship is being able to resolve conflicts in a respectful, nonviolent manner. In the situation described, the class is divided over the civic initiative, with about half having reservations about it. This presents a good opportunity to refocus the discussion to a dialog about what types of changes to the civic initiative might help those students with reservations to be more supportive of it and yet would still be acceptable to those who support it. While neither side may get 100% of what they want, the groups can come to a mutually acceptable compromise.)
6. Fourth-grade students are working in small groups to create dances to a song they have chosen. As they work, their teacher makes anecdotal notes on the students' discussions, work styles, and use of concepts related to movement and choreography that the class has previously studied. The teacher can best use these notes to accomplish which of the following goals?
Ans: documenting individual students' understanding and growth
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of assessment in arts and humanities. Anecdotal teacher notes about students' discussions, work styles, and use of previously learned concepts represent an informal method of assessment. Student performance is not being evaluated against established standards or rubrics. In the situation described, the teacher is only sampling individual students' discussions, work styles, and use of concepts as they work on the production phase of an art activity. The teacher's observations can help evaluate how well students understand the concepts they previously studied and whether additional instruction may be called for. Additionally, such anecdotal notes taken over time allow the teacher to keep a clear record of individual student's growth in the context of arts education.)
Module 3
1. During a learning activity about the oceans, a teacher has students solve problems involving starfish (five legs) and crabs (ten legs). Which of the following problems could the teacher use to demonstrate that some problems have more than one answer?
Ans: I saw 15 legs. How many crabs and starfish did I see?
(This question requires the candidate to demonstrate an understanding of mathematical communication and applications of mathematical concepts in real-world contexts. In the situation described, it is given that a starfish has 5 legs and a crab has 10 legs. Of the problems posed, only the one that provides the total number of legs seen (15) has more than one solution. The students need to consider all of the possibilities that result in 15 legs. For example, 3 starfish and no crabs would have a total of 15 legs, as would 1 crab and 1 starfish.)
2. A first-grade class is learning about light using mirrors and flashlights. After showing the class how mirrors and a variety of shiny objects reflect light, the teacher asks students if nonshiny objects can reflect light. The teacher hands out small flashlights to the students and asks them to explore this question. Which of the following strategies would be most effective for the teacher to use to help the students develop the ability to clearly explain what they learn from their exploration of reflected light?
Ans: discussing with each student what he or she is finding out about the reflection of light as the explorations are being conducted
(This question requires the candidate to apply knowledge of appropriate strategies, activities, teaching materials, tools, and technologies to support children's development and learning in physical science. Individualized discussion with each student during the activity allows each student the opportunity to express his or her observations and understanding without being influenced by other students' opinions. Working with individuals in this way also provides a means for the teacher to evaluate each student's participation in the activity and his or her thought process.)
3. A first-grade teacher is planning a game that involves tossing beanbags of different colors into targets marked on the floor with masking tape. The targets are in the shape of a square, a triangle, and a rectangle. The students must listen for which shape to aim for and which color beanbag to use. Which of the following strategies would make this activity inclusive of students with varying levels of motor development?
Ans: reducing the distance the beanbags must be thrown and increasing the target size
(This question requires the candidate to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for implementing, modifying, and differentiating developmentally appropriate instruction in motor development and health. In this situation, reducing the distance the beanbags must be thrown and increasing the target size would result in decreased demands related to force, accuracy, and underhand throwing technique. Although the sequence of motor development is generally uniform, the rate at which individual children develop motor skills varies, and some children are more motivated or have more opportunities than others to practice throwing skills. Modifying the activity in the way described promotes the inclusion of all students and allows less experienced or less skilled students to achieve success alongside more experienced or more highly skilled peers.)
Read the Books for more information:
Arends, R. I. (2012). Learning to teach (9th ed.). Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill.
Research Applied to the Practical Problems of Teaching:
To be successful, teachers must have a solid understanding of the research that supports and defines effective teaching practices. They must also command a deep practical knowledge about students, how they learn, and the strategies that promote student learning. With this belief, Learning to Teach emphasizes how important research is to teaching and learning and shows how ideas from research can be applied to the practical problems faced daily by teachers.
The Research, Evidence-Based Side of Teaching
Much progress has been made over the past thirty years in clarifying and organizing the knowledge base on teaching and learning. It is important for teachers in the twenty-first century to have a command of the specialized knowledge that has accumulated over the past half-century and more. This knowledge will set teachers apart from the average person and provide them, as professionals, with some guarantees that they are using best practices.
Theory to Practice Connections.
Learning to Teach works to provide readers with the theory and rationale that underlie and support specific principles and practices. Each chapter has a Theoretical and Empirical Support section that provides a sampling of the research that is the basis of particular practices followed by an explanation of why a recommended practice or procedure works the way it does.
The Applied and Practical Side of Teaching
Although teaching is based on knowledge derived from theory and educational research, it also has an important applied and practical side. The content in Learning to Teach has been organized to help address many of the everyday problems faced by teachers. It takes those who are learning to teach behind, instead of in front of, the teacher’s desk to provide a practical and realistic view of what teaching is all about.
Multiple Models and Differentiation.
While Learning to Teach discusses various approaches and models of teaching independently in order to provide a comprehensive, research-based discussion of each, the reality is that teachers rarely use a particular approach alone. They generally use several in any given lesson or unit. In this edition, a chapter describes how to use multiple models in a lesson or unit and how to differentiate instruction to support individual student learning.
Diversity and Differentiation.
The discussion of diversity and differentiation is one that spans the entire text. It begins in Chapter 2 and focuses on student learning in diverse classrooms. The discussion started in Chapter 2 is continued through the rest of the text in sections that focus on diversity and differentiation for student learning in relation to the topic at hand. These special sections describe how teachers can adapt or differentiate their instructional practices to the wide range of abilities, diverse cultural backgrounds, and various special needs they face in their classrooms.
Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Technology.
It is important for beginning teachers to step into the classroom ready to use computers, communication, and digital technology in support of their teaching and to enhance student learning. A boxed feature, Enhancing Teaching with Technology, can be found in most chapters to help accomplish this goal. Computer and digital technologies pertaining to a particular chapter topic are highlighted and how these technologies are influencing education today and in the future is discussed.
Home and School.
An increasing amount of evidence suggests that home, family, and community matter a lot in what students learn. This feature was introduced in the eighth edition and refined in the current edition. It emphasizes the importance of developing family partnerships and staying connected to the students’ homes and communities. This feature is included in chapters where appropriate, and it provides beginning teachers with concrete guidance on how to work with parents and how to involve the community.
Support for Student Learning
Learning to Teach has several features created to support learning and to help readers
access and learn information from the text.
• Learning Goals. Each chapter begins with Learning Goals that focus the student on
key aspects of the chapter.
• Check, Extend, and Explore.
Each major chapter section concludes with “Check” questions to help the reader review the content covered, “Extend” questions that prompt reflection and also ask poll questions that the reader can respond to on the Online
Learning Center, and “Explore” listings of related Web site topics that can be linked
to through the Online Learning Center.
• Marginal Notes. Throughout the chapters, marginal notes highlight the main ideas and
define important concepts.
• Summary. Tied to the chapter-opening Learning Goals, the summary provides a
point-by-point review of the chapter’s content.
• Key Terms. Key terms with page references are listed at the end of each chapter. Definitions are listed in the book-ending Glossary.
Application and Interactive Opportunities
Although many aspects of teaching can be guided by the knowledge base, many others can be looked at from more than one point of view and require teacher problem-solving and reflection. Learning to Teach includes several applied features that allow teacher candidates to reflect on important issues, compare their ideas and opinions to those of experienced teachers, and practice what they are learning.
• Reflecting On . . . Each chapter begins with a short scenario and series of questions
designed to prompt readers to reflect on their own lives and classroom experiences
to prepare them for the content to follow. Readers can respond to the questions
through the Online Learning Center.
• Reflections from the Classroom—Case Study. Each chapter concludes with a classroom case or teaching situation that is followed by reactions to the scenario from two
classroom teachers.
• Portfolio and Field Experience Activities. Organized by Learning to Teach chapters,
these activities constitute a field guide that assists teacher candidates in gathering
and interpreting data, examining their own experiences, and developing a professional portfolio. The activities are on the Online Learning Center and each is matched
to one or more of the INTASC principles.
• Lesson Planning Exercises and Practice Activities. The Online Learning Center includes two types of interactive activities that were designed to help teacher candidates apply what they are learning by giving them the opportunity to plan lessons and engage in a variety of practice activities. The Lesson Planning Exercises walk the student through planning a lesson based on particular approaches to teaching. The student is given a task and the tools (background information about a real classroom, student descriptions, video clips, sample lesson plans, etc.) to complete it.
Each task constitutes one step in planning a lesson based on a particular model. The standalone Practice Activities allow the student to complete an activity that a teacher would typically do.
Portfolio Resources.
Many teacher candidates today are required to have a professional portfolio. To help students with the construction of portfolios, the Portfolio and Field Experience Activities section of the Online Learning Center includes an introduction to portfolios as well as many activities that can become portfolio artifacts.
Additionally, many of the text features can guide portfolio exhibit development. Resources to Prepare for the PRAXIS II™ Exam. Today, most states require teacher preparation students to pass the Educational Testing Service’s PRAXIS II™ Principles of Learning and Teaching Exam before they are provided an initial teaching license.
Resource Handbook II of this edition includes resources aimed at helping students
prepare for the PRAXIS II™ exam using Learning to Teach.
Teaching offers a bright and rewarding career for those who can meet the intellectual and social challenges of the job. Despite the spate of reports over the years critical of schools and teachers, most citizens continue to support schools and express their faith in education. The task of teaching the young is simply too important and complex to be handled entirely by parents or through the informal structures of earlier eras. Modern society needs schools staffed with expert teachers to provide instruction and care for children while parents work.
In our society, teachers are given professional status. As professionals, they are expected to use best practices to help students learn essential skills and attitudes. It is no longer sufficient for teachers to be warm and loving toward children, nor is it sufficient for them to employ teaching practices based solely on intuition, personal preference, or conventional wisdom. Contemporary teachers are held accountable for using teaching practices that have been shown to be effective, just as members of other professions, such as medicine, law, and architecture, are held to acceptable standards of practice.
Art of Teaching.
Like most human endeavors, teaching has aspects that cannot be codified or guided by scientific knowledge alone but instead depend on a complex set of individual judgments based on personal experiences. Nathaniel Gage (1984), one of the United States’ foremost educational researchers, some years ago described the art of teaching as “an instrumental or practical art, not a fine art aimed at creating beauty for its own sake”
Murry Bowen’s Family System Theory:
Dr. Bowen identified four basic family relationship patterns within what he called the nuclear family emotional system. These patterns dictate where problems develop when the family system is under tension. Bowen labeled these patterns as 1. marital conflict
2. disfunction in one spouse
3. impairment of one or more children
4. emotional distance
the latter of which is assosiated with the first three. Regarding the impairment of one or more children, the parents focus their anxieties on one or more of their children. Their percention of the child is either negative or idealized. The more the parents focus on one child, the more that child reciprocally focuses on them, becoming more reactive to parental expectations, needs, and attitudes than siblings are. This process undermines the child’s differentiation of self, a key factor in healthy individual development, according to Bowen. The child becomes more susceptible to internalizing or externalizing family tensions, affecting his/her social relationships, school performance, and physical and mental health.
“Ghost Child” and the Adopted Child:
Adlerian psychoanalytic theory describes a child who is born after an older child has died as having a “ghost” ahead of him or her. Such a child, called a “ghost child”, is likely to be subject to overprotection by the mother, who fears losing him or her after losing a child previously. The child may respond to parental overprotectiveness by taking advantage of the parent to get what he or she wants. Alternatively, some ghost children resent feeling parental comparisons to the deceased child, whose memory parents have idealized; in this case, the child may rebel. Adler noted that adoptive parents can be so grateful to have a child and so anxious to make up for the child’s loss of biological parents, that they may spoil him or her; thus, the adopted child is more liable to develop very demanding, spoiled behaviors. The adopted child may ultimately either resent his or her biological parents for rejecting and/or leaving him /her or idealiza them, negatively comparing the adoptive parents.