John Allen - PRAXIS II PLT EC, K-6, 5-9, 7-12 Book + Online

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PRAXIS II Principles of Learning and Teaching
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REA: THE LEADER IN TEACHER CERTIFICATION PREP

PRAXIS II

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING (PLT): EC, k-6, 5-9, and 7-12

John Allen and the Editors of Research & Education Association

Research & Education Association

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PRAXIS II PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING (PLT): EC, K-6, 5-9, and 7-12 with Online Practice Tests

Copyright 2014 by Research & Education Association, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number 2013920945

eISBN-13: 978-0-7386-8427-7

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: Publication of this work is for the purpose of test preparation and related use and subjects as set forth herein. While every effort has been made to achieve a work of high quality, neither Research & Education Association, Inc., nor the authors and other contributors of this work guarantee the accuracy or completeness of or assume any liability in connection with the information and opinions contained herein and in REAs software and/or online materials. REA and the authors and other contributors shall in no event be liable for any personal injury, property or other damages of any nature whatsoever, whether special, indirect, consequential or compensatory, directly or indirectly resulting from the publication, use or reliance upon this work.

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PRAXIS II PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING TESTS (PLT): EC, K-6, 5-9, AND 7-12

Access your Online Tools by following the instructions found at the back of this book.

Foreword

Dr. Ernest Balajthy

Professor of Education

State University of New York

Welcome to REAs preparation materials for the Praxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) examinations. Never before has teacher preparation and assessment been so much at the forefront of national interest about educational reform. In the early 2000s under the No Child Left Behind legislation, educational reformers emphasized curriculum and student assessment. Few then could have predicted todays national shift away from those issues and toward the current emphases on teacher education and teacher assessment.

The Praxis II: PLT examinations are used by many states to evaluate the quality of teachers who are about to begin their careers. This challenging test does not simply require you to recite memorized facts about students and teaching. It goes beyond the knowledge level of learning to demand your in-depth analysis and critical thinking and the application of what you know about teaching to situations and scenarios you will find in classrooms and in schools.

As the Praxis II: PLT examinations address todays changing times of reform and higher teaching standards, REA provides your preparation material based on an exciting new approach to understanding teacher assessment. The foundation of REAs preparation materials is a unique framework of levels of cognitive understanding on the Praxis II: PLT, from the most simple to the most complex, centered on research-based theoretical understandings including Benjamin Blooms Taxonomy of Learning Objectives, Robert Marzanos New Taxonomy, the 21st Century Learning Framework, and the cognitive developmental principles underlying the Common Core State Standards. REA has created its new framework to,

(1) carefully analyze the contents and processes assessed by the Praxis II: PLT examinations, and then, to

(2) create instructional materials, practice tests, and explicit feedback to optimally prepare you for the Praxis II: PLT testing experience. The practice tests were specially written, reviewed, and revised according to this REA analysis of the Praxis II: PLT tests. Feedback for each practice test question will lead you through an item analysis to choose the best answer based on the kind of thinking required on the Praxis II: PLT.

REAs instructional materials cover the broad range of teacher preparation topics included on the Praxis II: PLT. Instructional sections are strategically designed to enhance your learning experience in order to effectively and efficiently prepare you for the content and reasoning required on the test. Topical sections begin with a short set of Key Points, summarizing the top-level knowledge relevant to the topic. You can use these Key Points to refresh your memory of the topics and to pretest yourself on them, determining how much time and attention should be directed to study of the detailed material in that specific section.

In addition, the Praxis II: PLT will test your ability to see the relationship between your knowledge about teaching and your ability to make practical classroom decisions. This REA book includes frequent Classroom Application segments, boxed off from the text, to help you make these connections.

As you work through the materials offered by REA, we hope that you will consider this more than simply an assessment hoop through which your state teaching requirements require you to jump. We hope that these materials will provide you with powerful learning that reinforces what you learned in your teacher preparation coursework, and that sets you on firm intellectual and practical foundations as you begin your teaching career.

Dr. Ernest Balajthy is Professor of Education at the State University of New York at Geneseo. He has led teacher preparation courses in reading and language arts and has been director of the SUNY-Geneseo Reading and Literacy Center. A recognized leader in his field, he is the author of three books and many articles on reading and literacy. In a career spanning more than 35 years, Dr. Balajthy has been a classroom teacher, public school reading specialist, and teacher educator. His scholarly interests also include assessment and test development, technology education, and comprehension.

Contents

Practice Test 2 available online at www.rea.com/studycenter

Practice Test 2 available online at www.rea.com/studycenter