TExES PPR Concepts and Terms Exam
with complete solutions
ability grouping - Answer -A type of grouping where students are placed together
according to their skill level, in high, middle or low groups. The TExES exam does not
like this practice as research indicates that it is not very effective and has some
negative consequences.
abstract - Answer -Characterized only in thought; non-concrete. Considered apart from
concrete existence.Not applied or practical; theoretical.
active engagement - Answer -Student are actively participating in an activity in a
meaningful, hands-on way. This type of activity is more likely to help students to
understand and remember the concept or lesson.
acitve listening - Answer -Paying close attention to what is currently being said. Often
the listener is silently making mental notes and focusing on not just the content, but also
any emotional content, as well, and connecting what is being said to prior knowledge
and experience.
age appropriate - Answer -Instructional lessons, activities, etc, that fit the development,
language and ability level of the child. This is not necessarily the same thing as
developmentally appropriate, since a child's developmental level may not be the same
as his/her age level.
alternative assessment - Answer -A type of evaluation other than a conventional test. It
is sometimes used with students who cannot take a conventional test for some reason
or for whom a conventional test is not an accurate assessment of their knowledge or
ability.
analysis - Answer -Taking knowledge apart to understand how it fits together. It is one
of the higher order thinking skills.
application - Answer -Applying or using what is known to solve an actual problem.
Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee - Answer -In Texas a team that
determines a student's eligibility for special education services, reviews the eligibility on
a regular basis, and determines an appropriate individual education plan for the student.
,assessment - Answer -S way of monitoring progress; the act of testing, determining an
evaluation of a particular skill or content area; includes many different approaches and
formats, formal, informal and authentic evaluation procedures.
assimilation (Piaget) - Answer -According to Piaget this is the process of fitting new
ideas or concepts into existing ideas or concepts. It suggests that a child may change or
alter what he perceives in the outside world in order to fit his internal world.
authentic assessment - Answer -Using evaluations procedures that measure exactly
what learning has occurred. It literally means "real" and usually consists of a product
that the student produces to demonstrate knowledge or mastery of a skill.
autonomy - Answer -The process of becoming independent and regulating one's own
behavior.
Bloom's Taxonomy - Answer -Proposed by Benjamin Bloom this is a classification tool
developed to categorize learning from low level thinking to very high level thinking.
comprehension - Answer -Understanding and knowledge something, whether it is a
concept, content information, behavior, etc. It is often used in relation to reading
(reading comprehension) to indicate that a reader remembers and understands what
was read. But, it is not limited exclusively to reading.
constructivism - Answer -An instructional approach based on the theory on the idea that
children build understanding by an active learning process. Students build their own
learning and knowledge by exploration, discovery and questioning.
content validity - Answer -How well a test measures what is was designed to measure.
convergent thinking - Answer -Involves combining or joining different ideas together
Based on elements these ideas have in common. In short, it means putting the different
pieces of a topic back together in some organized, structured and understandable
fashion. Convergent thinking, then, is an essential part of the outlining and organizing
process.
deductive reasoning - Answer -The process of thinking from general terms to specific
terms; framing thinks so as to eliminate ideas or possibilities one by one
English as a Second Language (ESL) - Answer -A program for teaching the English
language to children whose first language is not English, although in practice it is much
more comprehensive than this and includes the teaching of academic content to
students with limited English proficiency. It involves effective instructional strategies for
teaching English to non-native speakers.
, ethical behavior - Answer -Acting in the highest moral principles and values. For
educators in Texas it means behavior and practices that conform to the Texas
Educators' Code of Ethics
evaluation - Answer -Critical thinking that involves making and supporting judgments.
This is one of the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's Taxonomy.
extrinsic motivation - Answer -Wanting to do something, behaving in a certain way or
achieving something because of some type of external reward. The reward could be
something tangible, i.e. money, food, etc. or it could be intangible, i.e. praise, better
grade, etc.
formal assessment - Answer -Measuring knowledge or skill acquistion by means of a
standardized test, very often using a commercially published test, although it doesn't
have to be commercially published to be formal, but it would need to be standardized.
formative assessment - Answer -Monitoring progress before and during learning in
order to guide any necessary adjustments and the pace of learning. Formative
assessment gives teh teacher inforamtion regarding how well students are
understanding a particular concept or skill in order to determine the effectiveness of the
instruction. It is done on an ongoing basis during instruction.
graphic organizers - Answer -A type of visual displaly, chart, graphic, etc. that helps
students with planning, organizing, connecting, engaging and evaluating their larning.
They are tools that assist teachers and students in the learning process. They take
many forms, venn diagrams, semantic maps, timelines, KWL charts, story maps,
outlines, etc.
grouping - Answer -Placing students together in order to for a lesson or other learning or
instructional activity. Groupins is sometimes done on the basis of a single student
characteristic, such as ability or ethnicity and when done on that basis it is not very
effective or desirable.
hands-on activities - Answer -activities designed so that they require students to get
actively engaged in the learning activity in a physical way.
higher oder questions - Answer -questions that engage the child in more complex
cogniive skills. It is usually used to refer to thinking process that are more sophisticated
and on the upper level of Bloom's Taxonomy.
instructional objectives - Answer -Specific and usually, but not always, written
statements regardng the exact goals or desired student outcomes for a lesson or other
learning activitiy. In other words, what the teacher hopes or expects to accomplish with
the lesson.
with complete solutions
ability grouping - Answer -A type of grouping where students are placed together
according to their skill level, in high, middle or low groups. The TExES exam does not
like this practice as research indicates that it is not very effective and has some
negative consequences.
abstract - Answer -Characterized only in thought; non-concrete. Considered apart from
concrete existence.Not applied or practical; theoretical.
active engagement - Answer -Student are actively participating in an activity in a
meaningful, hands-on way. This type of activity is more likely to help students to
understand and remember the concept or lesson.
acitve listening - Answer -Paying close attention to what is currently being said. Often
the listener is silently making mental notes and focusing on not just the content, but also
any emotional content, as well, and connecting what is being said to prior knowledge
and experience.
age appropriate - Answer -Instructional lessons, activities, etc, that fit the development,
language and ability level of the child. This is not necessarily the same thing as
developmentally appropriate, since a child's developmental level may not be the same
as his/her age level.
alternative assessment - Answer -A type of evaluation other than a conventional test. It
is sometimes used with students who cannot take a conventional test for some reason
or for whom a conventional test is not an accurate assessment of their knowledge or
ability.
analysis - Answer -Taking knowledge apart to understand how it fits together. It is one
of the higher order thinking skills.
application - Answer -Applying or using what is known to solve an actual problem.
Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee - Answer -In Texas a team that
determines a student's eligibility for special education services, reviews the eligibility on
a regular basis, and determines an appropriate individual education plan for the student.
,assessment - Answer -S way of monitoring progress; the act of testing, determining an
evaluation of a particular skill or content area; includes many different approaches and
formats, formal, informal and authentic evaluation procedures.
assimilation (Piaget) - Answer -According to Piaget this is the process of fitting new
ideas or concepts into existing ideas or concepts. It suggests that a child may change or
alter what he perceives in the outside world in order to fit his internal world.
authentic assessment - Answer -Using evaluations procedures that measure exactly
what learning has occurred. It literally means "real" and usually consists of a product
that the student produces to demonstrate knowledge or mastery of a skill.
autonomy - Answer -The process of becoming independent and regulating one's own
behavior.
Bloom's Taxonomy - Answer -Proposed by Benjamin Bloom this is a classification tool
developed to categorize learning from low level thinking to very high level thinking.
comprehension - Answer -Understanding and knowledge something, whether it is a
concept, content information, behavior, etc. It is often used in relation to reading
(reading comprehension) to indicate that a reader remembers and understands what
was read. But, it is not limited exclusively to reading.
constructivism - Answer -An instructional approach based on the theory on the idea that
children build understanding by an active learning process. Students build their own
learning and knowledge by exploration, discovery and questioning.
content validity - Answer -How well a test measures what is was designed to measure.
convergent thinking - Answer -Involves combining or joining different ideas together
Based on elements these ideas have in common. In short, it means putting the different
pieces of a topic back together in some organized, structured and understandable
fashion. Convergent thinking, then, is an essential part of the outlining and organizing
process.
deductive reasoning - Answer -The process of thinking from general terms to specific
terms; framing thinks so as to eliminate ideas or possibilities one by one
English as a Second Language (ESL) - Answer -A program for teaching the English
language to children whose first language is not English, although in practice it is much
more comprehensive than this and includes the teaching of academic content to
students with limited English proficiency. It involves effective instructional strategies for
teaching English to non-native speakers.
, ethical behavior - Answer -Acting in the highest moral principles and values. For
educators in Texas it means behavior and practices that conform to the Texas
Educators' Code of Ethics
evaluation - Answer -Critical thinking that involves making and supporting judgments.
This is one of the higher order thinking skills in Bloom's Taxonomy.
extrinsic motivation - Answer -Wanting to do something, behaving in a certain way or
achieving something because of some type of external reward. The reward could be
something tangible, i.e. money, food, etc. or it could be intangible, i.e. praise, better
grade, etc.
formal assessment - Answer -Measuring knowledge or skill acquistion by means of a
standardized test, very often using a commercially published test, although it doesn't
have to be commercially published to be formal, but it would need to be standardized.
formative assessment - Answer -Monitoring progress before and during learning in
order to guide any necessary adjustments and the pace of learning. Formative
assessment gives teh teacher inforamtion regarding how well students are
understanding a particular concept or skill in order to determine the effectiveness of the
instruction. It is done on an ongoing basis during instruction.
graphic organizers - Answer -A type of visual displaly, chart, graphic, etc. that helps
students with planning, organizing, connecting, engaging and evaluating their larning.
They are tools that assist teachers and students in the learning process. They take
many forms, venn diagrams, semantic maps, timelines, KWL charts, story maps,
outlines, etc.
grouping - Answer -Placing students together in order to for a lesson or other learning or
instructional activity. Groupins is sometimes done on the basis of a single student
characteristic, such as ability or ethnicity and when done on that basis it is not very
effective or desirable.
hands-on activities - Answer -activities designed so that they require students to get
actively engaged in the learning activity in a physical way.
higher oder questions - Answer -questions that engage the child in more complex
cogniive skills. It is usually used to refer to thinking process that are more sophisticated
and on the upper level of Bloom's Taxonomy.
instructional objectives - Answer -Specific and usually, but not always, written
statements regardng the exact goals or desired student outcomes for a lesson or other
learning activitiy. In other words, what the teacher hopes or expects to accomplish with
the lesson.
