Elementary Education Certification Test – Study Guide with Key
Concepts and Practice Questions
Teachers can best promote the cognitive development of students in the early elementary
grades by planning learning experiences that:
a) include a variety of hands-on materials for helping students construct their own knowledge.
b) allow students to play a significant role in defining learning goals and objectives.
c) provide individual students with frequent opportunities to interact with the teacher.
d) follow a consistent format for introducing content to students across subject areas. - correct
answer ✔✔ a) include a variety of hands-on materials for helping students construct their own
knowledge.
According to the theoretical framework developed by Lev Vygotsky, a young child's cognitive
development is most strongly influenced by which of the following factors?
a) conversations and other interactions with adults or more able peers
b) encounters with conflicting ideas that lead to disequilibrium and motivate change
c) positive reinforcement from key individuals in the child's life
d) genetically programmed characteristics that unfold gradually throughout childhood - correct
answer ✔✔ a) conversations and other interactions with adults or more able peers
Which of the following is an important implication for teaching and learning of Gardner's theory
of multiple intelligences?
a) motivating teachers to identify ways of promoting students' aesthetic and motor
development within the context of subject area instruction
b) encouraging schools and teachers to adopt flexible criteria when evaluating students'
performance
c) prompting schools and teachers to recognize the benefits of broadening the types of learning
experiences offered to students
,d) urging teachers to use ongoing assessment to guide their curricular planning and
instructional practices - correct answer ✔✔ c) prompting schools and teachers to recognize the
benefits of broadening the types of learning experiences offered to students
An elementary teacher wishes to use scaffolding to promote student learning. Which of the
following is the best example of this strategy?
a) prompting students to identify personal goals that they hope to achieve whenever they are
preparing for an upcoming project b) marking errors in students' descriptive paragraphs and
then having the students rewrite the paragraphs correctly
c) holding weekly geography bees with students to review important information covered
during recent lessons
d) giving students charts labeled with relevant variables on which to record data they gather
during classroom science experiments - correct answer ✔✔ d) giving students charts labeled
with relevant variables on which to record data they gather during classroom science
experiments
A teacher is planning a unit on families and has developed several activities in which students
identify and discuss different kinds of families. In implementing these activities, the teacher
should make which of the following a priority?
a) inviting students' families to participate in the activities and discussions if they so desire
b) encouraging students to compare their individual families to those of their classmates
c) expressing acceptance of and respect for the diversity in students' family structures
d) sending students' families a summary of the activities and discussions - correct answer ✔✔ c)
expressing acceptance of and respect for the diversity in students' family structures
An elementary student who has a mild cognitive impairment is likely to experience the most
difficulty in which of the following areas?
a) working with a peer on a class activity
b) identifying personal interests
c) following classroom routines
, d) generalizing learned skills to new contexts - correct answer ✔✔ d) generalizing learned skills
to new contexts
A sixth-grade teacher wishes to assess students' ability to use the Internet to locate information.
Which of the following represents the best approach for assessing this skill?
a) preparing a multiple-choice test that requires students to select the appropriate Internet
search term for topics in various subject areas
b) developing an essay prompt that asks students to describe how they would use the Internet
to find specific information
c) creating a fill-in-the-blank quiz that requires students to list Internet search terms for selected
topics
d) designing a performance task in which students must use the Internet to answer a series of
questions - correct answer ✔✔ d) designing a performance task in which students must use the
Internet to answer a series of questions
A significant challenge for teachers in using essay tests to assess student learning is that such
tests:
a) tend to be difficult to align with instructional objectives.
b) are difficult to score fairly and objectively.
c) are ineffective in measuring certain types of thinking skills.
d) tend to encourage guessing in student responses. - correct answer ✔✔ b) are difficult to
score fairly and objectively.
An elementary teacher is developing several math enrichment activities. The teacher should be
aware that the most effective enrichment activities meet which of the following criteria?
a) They are designed to be completed independently.
b) They support or extend specific lesson objectives.
c) They incorporate the use of unusual materials and resources.
d) They provide an introduction to new content. - correct answer ✔✔ b) They support or extend
specific lesson objectives.
Concepts and Practice Questions
Teachers can best promote the cognitive development of students in the early elementary
grades by planning learning experiences that:
a) include a variety of hands-on materials for helping students construct their own knowledge.
b) allow students to play a significant role in defining learning goals and objectives.
c) provide individual students with frequent opportunities to interact with the teacher.
d) follow a consistent format for introducing content to students across subject areas. - correct
answer ✔✔ a) include a variety of hands-on materials for helping students construct their own
knowledge.
According to the theoretical framework developed by Lev Vygotsky, a young child's cognitive
development is most strongly influenced by which of the following factors?
a) conversations and other interactions with adults or more able peers
b) encounters with conflicting ideas that lead to disequilibrium and motivate change
c) positive reinforcement from key individuals in the child's life
d) genetically programmed characteristics that unfold gradually throughout childhood - correct
answer ✔✔ a) conversations and other interactions with adults or more able peers
Which of the following is an important implication for teaching and learning of Gardner's theory
of multiple intelligences?
a) motivating teachers to identify ways of promoting students' aesthetic and motor
development within the context of subject area instruction
b) encouraging schools and teachers to adopt flexible criteria when evaluating students'
performance
c) prompting schools and teachers to recognize the benefits of broadening the types of learning
experiences offered to students
,d) urging teachers to use ongoing assessment to guide their curricular planning and
instructional practices - correct answer ✔✔ c) prompting schools and teachers to recognize the
benefits of broadening the types of learning experiences offered to students
An elementary teacher wishes to use scaffolding to promote student learning. Which of the
following is the best example of this strategy?
a) prompting students to identify personal goals that they hope to achieve whenever they are
preparing for an upcoming project b) marking errors in students' descriptive paragraphs and
then having the students rewrite the paragraphs correctly
c) holding weekly geography bees with students to review important information covered
during recent lessons
d) giving students charts labeled with relevant variables on which to record data they gather
during classroom science experiments - correct answer ✔✔ d) giving students charts labeled
with relevant variables on which to record data they gather during classroom science
experiments
A teacher is planning a unit on families and has developed several activities in which students
identify and discuss different kinds of families. In implementing these activities, the teacher
should make which of the following a priority?
a) inviting students' families to participate in the activities and discussions if they so desire
b) encouraging students to compare their individual families to those of their classmates
c) expressing acceptance of and respect for the diversity in students' family structures
d) sending students' families a summary of the activities and discussions - correct answer ✔✔ c)
expressing acceptance of and respect for the diversity in students' family structures
An elementary student who has a mild cognitive impairment is likely to experience the most
difficulty in which of the following areas?
a) working with a peer on a class activity
b) identifying personal interests
c) following classroom routines
, d) generalizing learned skills to new contexts - correct answer ✔✔ d) generalizing learned skills
to new contexts
A sixth-grade teacher wishes to assess students' ability to use the Internet to locate information.
Which of the following represents the best approach for assessing this skill?
a) preparing a multiple-choice test that requires students to select the appropriate Internet
search term for topics in various subject areas
b) developing an essay prompt that asks students to describe how they would use the Internet
to find specific information
c) creating a fill-in-the-blank quiz that requires students to list Internet search terms for selected
topics
d) designing a performance task in which students must use the Internet to answer a series of
questions - correct answer ✔✔ d) designing a performance task in which students must use the
Internet to answer a series of questions
A significant challenge for teachers in using essay tests to assess student learning is that such
tests:
a) tend to be difficult to align with instructional objectives.
b) are difficult to score fairly and objectively.
c) are ineffective in measuring certain types of thinking skills.
d) tend to encourage guessing in student responses. - correct answer ✔✔ b) are difficult to
score fairly and objectively.
An elementary teacher is developing several math enrichment activities. The teacher should be
aware that the most effective enrichment activities meet which of the following criteria?
a) They are designed to be completed independently.
b) They support or extend specific lesson objectives.
c) They incorporate the use of unusual materials and resources.
d) They provide an introduction to new content. - correct answer ✔✔ b) They support or extend
specific lesson objectives.
