PRAXIS II: Social Studies Content Knowledge (0081) w/CD-ROM (REA) - The Best Teachers' Test Prep for the PRAXIS

ABOUT THIS BOOK AND TESTWARE®  \ If you’re looking to secure certification as a secondary social studies teacher, many states and districts require the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge 0081 test\ (Praxis II 0081). Think of this book and the accompanying TestWare® as your toolkit to pass the test. It will help take the mystery and anxiety out of the testing process by equipping you not only with the nuts and bolts, but also, ultimately, with the confidence to succeed alongside your peers across the United States.  \   \ We at REA have put a lot of thought into this, and the result is a book that pulls together all the critical information you need to know to pass the test. Let us help you fill in the blanks—literally and figuratively! We will provide you with the touchstones that will allow you to do your very best come test day and beyond. In this guide,\ REA offers our customary in-depth, up-to-date, objective coverage, with test-specific modules devoted to targeted review and realistic practice exams, in printed form and on the enclosed TestWare® on CD-ROM, complete with the kind of detail that makes a difference when you’re coming down the homestretch in your preparation. We also include a quick-view answer key and competency-categorized progress chart to enable you to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. We strongly recommend that you begin your preparation with the TestWare® tests, which provide timed conditions and instantaneous, accurate scoring.  \  \ ABOUT THE PRAXIS SERIES  \ Praxis is Educational Testing Service’s (ETS) shorthand for Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers. The Praxis Series is a group of teacher-certification and licensing tests that ETS developed in concert with states across the nation. There are three categories of tests in the series: Praxis I, Praxis II, and Praxis III. Praxis I includes the paper-based Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) and the Praxis I Computer-Based Tests\ (CBT). Both versions cover essentially the same subject matter. These exams measure basic reading, mathematics, and writing skills and are often a requirement for admission to a teacher education program. \ Praxis II embraces Subject Assessment/Specialty Area Tests, of which the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge 0081 is a part. Most Praxis II examinations cover the subject matter that students typically study in teacher education courses such as language acquisition, school curriculum, methods of teaching, and other professional development courses. However, the Praxis II 0081 is expressly for prospective and practicing social studies teachers; it measures skills and knowledge in the areas of U.S. History, World History, Government/Civics/Political Science, Geography, Economics, and the additional behavioral sciences of Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology.  \ Praxis III is different from the multiple-choice and essay tests typically used for assessment purposes. With this assessment, ETS-trained observers evaluate an instructor’s performance in the classroom, using nationally validated criteria. The observers may videotape the lesson, and other teaching experts may critique the resulting tapes.  \  \ Who Takes the Test?  \ Most people who take the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge are seeking initial certification. Thirty-five states require the Praxis II 0081 and you should check with your state’s education agency to determine which Praxis examination(s) you should take; the ETS Praxis website (www.ets.org/praxis/) and registration bulletin may also help you determine the tests you need for licensure.  \  \ When and Where Can I Take the Test?  \ ETS offers the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge test three times a year,\ usually mid-month in March, June, and November. Pre-registration is required for this test, so contact your district’s administrative office for exact availability in your area.  \  \ How Do I Get More Information on the ETS Praxis Exams? \ To receive information on upcoming administrations of any of the Praxis II Subject Assessments, consult the ETS registration bulletin or website, or contact ETS at:  \ Educational Testing Service Teaching and Learning Division P.O. Box 6051\ Princeton, NJ 08541-6051 \ Phone: (609) 771-7395\ Website: www.ets.org/praxis \ E-mail: praxis@ets.org \ Special accommodations are available for candidates who are visually impaired,\ hearing impaired, physically disabled, or specific learning disabled. For questions concerning disability services, contact: \ ETS Disability Services: (609) 771-7780 \ TTY only: (609) 771-7714\ Provisions are also available for examinees whose primary language is not English.\ The ETS registration bulletin and website include directions for those requesting such accommodations. You can also consult ETS with regard to available test sites; reporting test scores; requesting changes in tests, centers, and dates of test; purchasing additional score reports; retaking tests; and other basic facts. \  \ Is There a Registration Fee?  \ To take a Praxis examination, you must pay a registration fee, which is payable by check, money order, or with American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa credit cards. In certain cases, ETS offers fee waivers. The registration bulletin and website give qualifications for receiving this benefit and describe the application process. Cash is not accepted for payment.  \  \ Can I Retake the Test?  \ Some states, institutions, and associations limit the number of times you can retest. \ Contact your state or licensing authority to confirm their retest policies. \  \ HOW TO USE THIS BOOK  \ What Do I Study First?  \ Read over REA’s subject reviews and suggestions for test taking. Take practice test\ 1 on the CD-ROM to determine your areas of weakness, and then restudy the material focusing on your specific problem areas. Studying the reviews thoroughly will reinforce the basic skills you will need to do well on the exams. Make sure to do the practice questions in this book so that you will be familiar with the format and procedures involved with taking the actual test.\ When Should I Start Studying? \ It is never too early to start studying; the earlier you begin, the more time you will have to sharpen your skills. Do not procrastinate! Cramming is not an effective way to study because it does not allow you the time needed to learn the test material.  \  \ FORMAT OF THE TEST  \ The Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge test covers six major content areas and has 130 multiple-choice questions. You will have 2 hours to complete the exam. \ A number of the questions are interdisciplinary and reflect the complex relationship among the multiple fields of social studies. Approximately sixty-percent (60%) of the questions require recall, knowledge, and recognition; the remainder will require higherorder thinking. You will be asked to interpret material such as written passages, maps,\ charts, table, diagrams and photographs. Ten-to fifteen-percent of the multiple-choice questions will contain content covering the diverse experiences of people in the United States with regard to gender, culure, and/or race, and/or content relating to Latin America, Africa, Asia, or Oceania.\  \ You should spend less than a minute on each question on each of the practice tests—\ and on the real exams, of course. You have to answer 130 questions in two hours.\ The reviews in this book will help you sharpen the basic skills needed to approach the exams and offer you strategies for attacking the questions. By using the reviews in conjunction with the practice tests, you will better prepare yourself for the actual tests.  \  \ You have learned through your coursework and your practical experience in schools most of what you need to know to answer the questions on the test. In your classes, you gained the expertise to make important decisions about situations you will face in the classroom.\ The reviews in this book will help you fit the information you have acquired in practice into its specific testable category. Reviewing your class notes and textbooks along with systematic use of this book will give you an excellent springboard for passing the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge (0081) test.  \  \ SCORING  \ The number of raw points awarded on the Praxis II Social Studies: Content Knowledge is based on the number of correct answers given. Most Praxis examinations vary by edition, which means that each test has several variations that contain different questions. The different questions are intended to measure the same general types of knowledge or skills. However, there is no way to guarantee that the questions on all editions of the test will have the same degree of difficulty. To avoid penalizing test takers who answer questions that are more difficult, the initial scores are adjusted for difficulty by using a statistical process known as equating. To avoid confusion between the adjusted and unadjusted scores, ETS reports the adjusted scores on a score scale that makes them clearly different from the unadjusted scores. Unadjusted scores or "raw scores” are simply the number of questions answered correctly. Adjusted scores, which are equated to the scale ETS uses for reporting the scores are called "scaled scores.” For each edition of a Praxis test, a "raw-to-scale conversion table” is used to translate raw to scaled scores. \  \ Unfortunately there is no way to predict how many questions answered correctly on our practice tests will correspond to the scores of the actual exam. As discussed above, each test is a different edition and, therefore, the questions on one edition may be slightly easier than the questions on another. Hence the conversion tables are adjusted for the level of difficulty on different tests in order to make the versions of the tests more equitable, and there is no way to predict which version of the test you will be given.  \  \ The easier the questions are on a test edition, the more questions must be answered correctly to earn a given scaled score. The college or university in which you are enrolled may set passing scores for the completion of your teacher education program and for graduation. Be sure to check the requirements in the catalogues or bulletins. You will also want to talk with your advisor. The passing scores for the Praxis II tests vary from state to state or district. To find out which of the Praxis II tests your state requires and what your state’s set passing score is, contact your state’s education department directly.   \  \  \ Score Reporting  \ When Will I Receive My Examinee Score Report and in What Form Will It Be?  \ ETS mails test-score reports six weeks after the test date. There is an exception for computer-based tests and for the Praxis I PPST examinations. Score reports will list your current score and the highest score you have earned on each test you have taken over the last 10 years. Along with your score report, ETS will provide you with a booklet that offers details on your scores. For each test date, you may request that ETS send a copy of your scores to as many as three score recipients, provided that each institution or agency is eligible to receive the scores.  \  

CONTENTS  CHAPTER 1   INTRODUCTION  About This Book and TestWare® About the Praxis Series How to Use This Book and TestWare®Format of the Test Scoring Studying for the Test Study Schedule The Day of the Test  CHAPTER 2   UNITED STATES HISTORY Physical Geography of North America Native American Peoples European Colonization Establishing a New Nation The United States Constitution Early Years of the New Nation Continued National Development Civil War Era Emergence of the Modern United States Progressive Era through the New Deal The Second World War and the Post-war Period Recent Developments  CHAPTER 3   WORLD HISTORY Human Society to Approximately 3500 BCE Development of City Civilizations Disruption and Reversal Emerging Global Interactions Political and Industrial Revolutions Conflicts, Ideologies, and Evolutions in the Twentieth Century CHAPTER 4   GOVERNMENT, CIVICS, AND POLITICAL SCIENCE Foundation of Government Economic Theories  Constitutional Foundations of the United States Government Structure and Function of a National Government Comparative Governement and Politics International Relations CHAPTER 5   GEOGRAPHY Spatial Perspective The Five Themes of Geography Maps and Mapping Types of Maps Geographic Tour of the World  CHAPTER 6   ECONOMICS The Economic Problem Demand and Supply Economic Systems How a Market Economy Works The Public Sector CHAPTER 7   BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES  Sociology Anthropology   Psychology PRACTICE TEST 1 Practice Test Detailed Explanations of Answers Answer Key and Competency Chart   PRACTICE TEST 2 Practice Test Detailed Explanations of Answers Answer Key and Competency Chart   INSTALLING REA’S TESTWARE®