FTCE Professional Education Online Center
This FTCE Professional Education Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
FTCE Professional Education Practice Center
Take a full 150-minute form under real conditions, then read the explanation under every question you missed. On this test the explanation is the whole lesson: every wrong choice is something a real teacher might do, and knowing why it loses is what separates a pass from a retake.
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The Professional Education Test at a glance
Every candidate for a Florida Professional Certificate sits this test, whether they teach kindergarten or high school physics. It has no subject content in it at all. Instead it hands you a classroom and asks what a competent teacher does next. That sounds easy and it is not: the wrong answers are all things real teachers do, and several of them are things that worked for you as a student.
| Test code | 083 (Professional Education Test, often written PEd) |
|---|---|
| Who takes it | Every applicant for a Florida Professional Certificate, in every subject area. |
| Number of questions | Approximately 80 multiple-choice questions |
| Answer options | Four per question |
| Time limit | 2 hours 30 minutes |
| Format | Computer-based. Most items are short classroom scenarios; some describe a practice and ask what it accomplishes. |
| Competency weighting | Published. Instructional design 18%, delivery 18%, learning environment 15%, assessment 14%, professional improvement 12%, ethics 9%, English Language Learners 7%, literacy across the curriculum 7%. |
| Passing score | A scaled score of at least 200. |
Unlike the General Knowledge subtests, Florida does publish approximate percentages for this test, and they are worth reading as a study plan. Design, delivery, and the learning environment together account for about half the questions. Ethics is only about 9 percent, but those items are the cheapest points on the test because the answers follow from duties you can learn in an evening.
The eight competencies, in plain language
Here is what each competency actually asks you to do, and roughly how much of the test it carries.
Competency 1: instructional design and planning (18% of the test)
Can you build a lesson that starts where the students are and gets somewhere specific?
- Select and sequence learning objectives aligned to Florida standards and to the students in front of you
- Connect learning theory and developmental level to the design of a lesson
- Choose materials, resources, and technology that fit the objective rather than the topic
- Plan for the range in a class through content, process, product, and learning environment
- Build a lesson that moves from prior knowledge to new learning with a check along the way
- Design instruction that develops higher-order thinking rather than recall alone
Competency 2: student-centered learning environments (15% of the test)
Can you run a room where learning is the easiest thing to do?
- Establish routines, procedures, and expectations that prevent most behavior problems
- Respond to misbehavior in a way that keeps the student in the learning
- Arrange time, space, and grouping to support the task
- Build a climate where students take academic risks and speak to one another
- Support students from varied cultural, linguistic, and family backgrounds
- Teach and reinforce self-regulation, collaboration, and communication
Competency 3: instructional delivery and facilitation (18% of the test)
Can you teach the lesson you planned and change it when the room tells you to?
- Select a delivery method that fits the content and the learners
- Question at a range of cognitive levels and give thinking time
- Identify and address student misconceptions directly
- Give feedback that is specific, timely, and actionable
- Model, scaffold, and release responsibility to students
- Adjust instruction in the moment based on what students show you
Competency 4: assessment strategies (14% of the test)
Can you tell what students know, and act on it?
- Match the assessment type to the purpose: diagnostic, formative, summative
- Interpret assessment data to decide what to teach next
- Use rubrics, checklists, and performance tasks appropriately
- Apply accommodations and modifications correctly during assessment
- Judge validity, reliability, and bias in a classroom assessment
- Involve students in self-assessment and goal setting
Competency 5: continuous professional improvement (12% of the test)
Can you improve your own practice on purpose rather than by accident?
- Reflect on practice using evidence rather than impression
- Set and pursue a professional growth plan
- Use collaboration, coaching, and professional learning communities
- Apply what professional development offers to your own classroom
- Work with colleagues, specialists, and administrators on student needs
- Build productive partnerships with families and the community
Competency 6: the Code of Ethics and the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida (9% of the test)
Do you know what a Florida teacher must do, must report, and must never do?
- Apply the Principles of Professional Conduct to a described situation
- Meet mandatory reporting duties for suspected child abuse or neglect
- Protect student records and privacy under FERPA and Florida law
- Keep appropriate professional boundaries with students, including online
- Recognize conduct that must be reported and conduct that must be avoided
- Understand the consequences attached to violations of the Code
Competency 7: research-based practices appropriate for teaching English Language Learners (7% of the test)
Can you teach grade-level content to a student still learning English?
- Recognize the stages of second language acquisition and what each looks like
- Separate social language from academic language and plan for both
- Use comprehensible input, visuals, and scaffolds without lowering content
- Draw on a student’s first language and cultural knowledge as an asset
- Apply appropriate ELL accommodations in instruction and in assessment
- Understand the ESOL requirements a Florida teacher works under
Competency 8: effective literacy strategies that can be applied across the curriculum (7% of the test)
Can you help students read and write the texts of your subject?
- Teach academic and content vocabulary in every subject
- Use before, during, and after reading strategies with content text
- Teach text structure and text features so students can use them
- Support comprehension through questioning, summarizing, and discussion
- Build content-area writing that shows thinking
- Recognize and respond to a student who is struggling with content text
A study routine that fits a 150-minute test
Eighty scenario questions in two and a half hours is a long sit, and the failure mode is drift: by question sixty candidates start picking the answer that sounds nicest instead of the one that is next. Practice the endurance, not just the content.
The full competency map
Every skill the eight competencies cover, grouped as the test groups them. This is the checklist to work through before test day. Nothing here is subject content; all of it is professional practice.
Competency 1: Instructional design and planning (18%)
- 01Select and sequence learning objectives aligned to Florida standards and to the students in front of you
- 02Connect learning theory and developmental level to the design of a lesson
- 03Choose materials, resources, and technology that fit the objective rather than the topic
- 04Plan for the range in a class through content, process, product, and learning environment
- 05Build a lesson that moves from prior knowledge to new learning with a check along the way
- 06Design instruction that develops higher-order thinking rather than recall alone
- 07Plan interdisciplinary connections and real-world application
Competency 2: Student-centered learning environments (15%)
- 08Establish routines, procedures, and expectations that prevent most behavior problems
- 09Respond to misbehavior in a way that keeps the student in the learning
- 10Arrange time, space, and grouping to support the task
- 11Build a climate where students take academic risks and speak to one another
- 12Support students from varied cultural, linguistic, and family backgrounds
- 13Teach and reinforce self-regulation, collaboration, and communication
- 14Use positive behavior support and consistent, respectful correction
Competency 3: Instructional delivery and facilitation (18%)
- 15Select a delivery method that fits the content and the learners
- 16Question at a range of cognitive levels and give thinking time
- 17Identify and address student misconceptions directly
- 18Give feedback that is specific, timely, and actionable
- 19Model, scaffold, and release responsibility to students
- 20Adjust instruction in the moment based on what students show you
- 21Use grouping, discussion, and student talk to deepen understanding
Competency 4: Assessment strategies (14%)
- 22Match the assessment type to the purpose: diagnostic, formative, summative
- 23Interpret assessment data to decide what to teach next
- 24Use rubrics, checklists, and performance tasks appropriately
- 25Apply accommodations and modifications correctly during assessment
- 26Judge validity, reliability, and bias in a classroom assessment
- 27Involve students in self-assessment and goal setting
- 28Communicate results to students and families in usable terms
Competency 5: Continuous professional improvement (12%)
- 29Reflect on practice using evidence rather than impression
- 30Set and pursue a professional growth plan
- 31Use collaboration, coaching, and professional learning communities
- 32Apply what professional development offers to your own classroom
- 33Work with colleagues, specialists, and administrators on student needs
- 34Build productive partnerships with families and the community
Competency 6: The Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct (9%)
- 35Apply the Principles of Professional Conduct to a described situation
- 36Meet mandatory reporting duties for suspected child abuse or neglect
- 37Protect student records and privacy under FERPA and Florida law
- 38Keep appropriate professional boundaries with students, including online
- 39Recognize conduct that must be reported and conduct that must be avoided
- 40Understand the consequences attached to violations of the Code
Competency 7: Research-based practices appropriate for teaching English Language Learners (7%)
- 41Recognize the stages of second language acquisition and what each looks like
- 42Separate social language from academic language and plan for both
- 43Use comprehensible input, visuals, and scaffolds without lowering content
- 44Draw on a student’s first language and cultural knowledge as an asset
- 45Apply appropriate ELL accommodations in instruction and in assessment
- 46Understand the ESOL requirements a Florida teacher works under
Competency 8: Effective literacy strategies that can be applied across the curriculum (7%)
- 47Teach academic and content vocabulary in every subject
- 48Use before, during, and after reading strategies with content text
- 49Teach text structure and text features so students can use them
- 50Support comprehension through questioning, summarizing, and discussion
- 51Build content-area writing that shows thinking
- 52Recognize and respond to a student who is struggling with content text
Before test day
Most people who fail this test are not bad teachers and did not run out of time. They picked answers that sound supportive instead of answers that move the student forward. Two habits fix that. First, on any scenario, decide what the evidence in front of you actually shows before you read the choices. Second, when two answers both look reasonable, choose the one that keeps the student doing the thinking. The ethics items are the exception: there the rule decides, not your judgment, so learn the duties cold and take those points.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
FTCE Professional Education: study questions
What can I study in this FTCE Professional Education Online Center?
This FTCE Professional Education Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Competency 1: instructional design and planning (18% of the test), Competency 3: instructional delivery and facilitation (18% of the test), Competency 4: assessment strategies (14% of the test).
How should I use the FTCE Professional Education resources?
Choose a topic or practice activity from this Online Center. Review the linked explanation, try the practice, and use the result to decide what to study next. Check each resource’s directions for its format and access requirements.
Resources from Effortless Math · Editorial standards