FTCE Professional Education Test (083) Study Curriculum

This set of flashcards covers 75 essential vocabulary terms for the FTCE Professional Education Test (083). Each term includes its definition to aid in studying and mastering key concepts for the exam.

Accommodation

A modification in instruction, assessment, or environment that supports a diverse learner without changing the content standard.

Accountability

The obligation of educators, schools, and districts to demonstrate measurable student learning results aligned to state standards.

Affective Domain

The dimension of learning related to emotions, values, attitudes, and motivation — one of Bloom's three learning domains.

Anticipation Guide

A pre-reading strategy in which students respond to statements before reading, activating schema and building curiosity.

Authentic Assessment

An evaluation approach requiring students to apply knowledge to real-world tasks rather than isolated test items.

BICS

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills — conversational English that ELLs typically develop in 1-3 years.

Bloom's Taxonomy

A hierarchical framework of cognitive learning levels: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create.

CALP

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency — the academic language needed for school success; takes 5-7 years to develop.

Classroom Management

The strategies and systems teachers use to establish and maintain an effective, organized, and safe learning environment.

Closure

The concluding phase of a lesson in which students summarize, synthesize, or reflect on key learning to consolidate understanding.

Co-Teaching

Two certified educators (typically a general and a special education teacher) jointly planning, delivering, and assessing instruction in one shared classroom.

Cognitivism

A learning theory emphasizing internal mental processes as central to learning.

Constructivism

A learning theory in which students actively build knowledge through hands-on experience, social interaction, and reflection.

Cooperative Learning

A structured instructional strategy in which students work interdependently in small groups toward shared academic goals.

Criterion-Referenced Assessment

A test measuring student performance against a fixed set of standards or learning objectives.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Pedagogy that uses students' cultural identities as assets to make learning more meaningful and equitable.

Data-Driven Instruction

An approach in which teachers regularly analyze student performance data to adjust instruction.

Differentiated Instruction

Adjusting the content, process, product, and/or learning environment to meet the varied readiness and interest of students.

Due Process

Legal protections ensuring students receive fair treatment in all educational decisions.

ELL (English Language Learner)

A student whose primary or home language is not English and who is developing English proficiency.

Equity

Providing every student access to the specific resources and opportunities needed for success.

ESOL

English for Speakers of Other Languages — the Florida framework for language instruction for ELL students.

Explicit Instruction

A structured, teacher-led approach featuring clear explanations, modeling, and guided practice.

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation derived from external rewards, incentives, or consequences.

FAPE

Free Appropriate Public Education — the IDEA guarantee ensuring students with disabilities receive required services.

FERPA

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act — a federal law protecting the confidentiality of student records.

Florida Code of Ethics

The professional standards governing Florida educators, emphasizing truth, excellence, and democratic citizenship.

Formative Assessment

Ongoing, low-stakes assessments used during instruction to monitor student learning and inform teaching.

Frayer Model

A graphic organizer for vocabulary: definition, characteristics, examples, and non-examples.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)

A process of identifying the purpose of a student’s challenging behavior to design effective interventions.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

A framework for shifting cognitive responsibility from teacher to student through phases: I Do, We Do, You Do Together, You Do Alone.

Graphic Organizer

A visual tool used to organize information and support comprehension.

Higher-Order Thinking

Cognitive tasks at Bloom’s higher levels, requiring reasoning, synthesis, and judgment beyond mere recall.

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

A legally binding document outlining a student’s special education needs and services.

IDEA

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — federal law ensuring students with qualifying disabilities receive free public education.

Inquiry-Based Learning

A student-centered approach where learners investigate questions and gather evidence.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation driven by internal satisfaction and personal interest.

K-W-L Chart

A three-column graphic organizer: What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I Learned.

Kounin's Withitness

A teacher’s awareness of everything happening in the classroom simultaneously.

Krashen's Affective Filter

The hypothesis that emotional factors block language acquisition.

Learning Objective

A measurable, student-centered statement specifying what students will know or be able to do.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A motivational theory proposing foundational needs must be met before higher-level needs can motivate learning.

Metacognition

The capacity to think about and regulate one's own learning processes.

Modification

A change to the content standard or curriculum itself to accommodate a student with a disability.

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner's theory proposing at least eight distinct intelligences.

NGSSS

Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.

Norm-Referenced Assessment

A test comparing individual student performance to a norming group.

PBIS

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports — a framework for establishing school-wide behavioral expectations.

Phonemic Awareness

The ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words.

Portfolio Assessment

A purposeful collection of student work used to demonstrate growth and achievement.

Prior Knowledge

The existing knowledge and experiences a student brings to a new learning situation.

Professional Learning Community (PLC)

A collaborative team of educators examining student data and strategies to improve outcomes.

Psychomotor Domain

The learning domain related to physical skills and coordination.

RAFT Strategy

A writing framework specifying Role, Audience, Format, and Topic.

Reciprocal Teaching

A comprehension strategy involving students leading discussions using four strategies: predict, clarify, question, and summarize.

Reflective Practice

The ongoing process of critically analyzing one’s own teaching to improve.

Reliability

The consistency of an assessment, producing similar results under similar conditions.

RTI (Response to Intervention)

A multi-tiered support framework for addressing academic or behavioral difficulties.

Rubric

A scoring guide articulating specific criteria for evaluation.

Scaffolding

Temporary instructional support provided to help students accomplish tasks they cannot yet perform independently.

Schema

An organized mental framework of prior knowledge used to process new information.

Section 504

A federal law requiring accommodations for students with disabilities.

SIOP

Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol — a model for teaching academic content to ELLs.

Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky's framework emphasizing cognitive development shaped by social interaction.

Standards-Based Instruction

Teaching designed around clearly defined performance standards.

Summative Assessment

Assessment administered at the end of a period to evaluate cumulative learning.

Think-Aloud

A metacognitive strategy where the teacher verbalizes their internal thought process.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

A language acquisition method using physical movement in response to commands.

Transfer

The ability to apply skills learned in one context to a different context.

UDL (Universal Design for Learning)

A framework for designing flexible instruction through multiple means of representation, action, and engagement.

Validity

The degree to which an assessment accurately measures the intended construct.

Vertical Alignment

The coordination of curriculum across grade levels to ensure coherent progression.

Vygotsky's ZPD

Zone of Proximal Development — the gap between what a learner can do independently and with guidance.

Wait Time

A practice of pausing 3-5 seconds after posing a question before calling on a student.