TExES Core Subjects EC-6 · Subtest 903
TExES Core Subjects EC-6: Social Studies (903) Practice Test & Study Guide
Prepare for TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies with independent practice, flashcards, and connected lessons. Understand the official assessment, choose a focused study route, and review the reasoning behind missed answers.
Free study tools · Focused review · Official study guidance
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Practice Tests
Use the existing independent resource for study feedback; its results are not official certification scores.
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Flashcards
Use the existing independent resource for study feedback; its results are not official certification scores.
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Study Guides
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies assessment and course guidance
Use the official page to find the course description, assessment directions, and preparation resources. No matching Effortless Math book has been verified for this subject.
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Quick Review
Use the existing independent resource for study feedback; its results are not official certification scores.
MEET THE ASSESSMENT · CHOOSE YOUR NEXT SKILL
Know TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies before you start.
The official Texas page lists Social Studies (903) within Core Subjects EC–6 (391) as 40 selected-response questions with 50 minutes of testing time. The complete exam has five subject exams. Core Subjects EC–6 candidates also need the separate Science of Teaching Reading (293) exam; confirm your certification requirements with Texas guidance. Independent practice here supports learning and does not provide an official certification score.
Social science skills
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Civics and government
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
United States history
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Official test readiness
Confirm the current test code, format, and certification requirements before registering.
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Practice Center
Take a full 50-minute form, then read the explanation under every question you missed. The explanations give the actual history rather than a hint, because on this subtest the gap is usually a fact you never had rather than a reasoning slip.
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TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies at a glance
Forty questions in fifty minutes is the tightest pace of the five Core Subjects subtests, about 75 seconds each. The content is broad: United States history, Texas history, geography, economics, and government, plus a competency on how to teach all of it. Candidates who trained outside Texas are usually thinnest on Texas history and the structure of Texas government, and both come up.
| Subtest code | 903 (Social Studies) |
|---|---|
| Part of | TExES Core Subjects EC-6, test code 391, alongside English Language Arts and Reading (901), Mathematics (902), Science (904), and Fine Arts, Health and Physical Education (905). Each subtest can be taken and retaken on its own. |
| Number of questions | 40 selected-response questions |
| Answer options | Four per question |
| Time limit | 50 minutes |
| Format | Computer-administered. Items include direct questions, source excerpts, described maps, data tables, and classroom situations. |
| Competencies | Five: social science instruction, history, geography and culture, economics, and government and citizenship. |
| Passing score | A scaled score of 240. |
Texas does not publish how many questions come from each competency on this subtest. What is reliable is that history carries the most ground and that Texas content appears throughout, in history, in geography, and in government. If your preparation was not Texas specific, that is where to start.
The five competencies, in plain language
Texas states each competency in one sentence. Here they are, with what each one asks of you.
Competency 001: Social science instruction
The teacher understands and applies social science knowledge and skills to plan, organize and implement instruction and assess learning.
- Plan social studies instruction aligned to the TEKS
- Teach with primary and secondary sources
- Build inquiry: questions, evidence, and argument
- Use maps, timelines, charts, and artifacts as teaching tools
- Assess social studies learning beyond recall
Competency 002: History
The teacher understands and applies knowledge of significant historical events and developments, multiple historical interpretations and ideas and relationships between the past, the present and the future as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
- Native American cultures, European colonization, and early settlement
- The American Revolution, the Constitution, and the early republic
- Texas history: Spanish and Mexican eras, revolution, republic, statehood
- Civil War, Reconstruction, industrialization, and the twentieth century
- Chronology, cause and effect, and multiple interpretations of the same event
Competency 003: Geography, culture, science and society
The teacher understands and applies knowledge of geographic relationships involving people, places and environments in Texas, the United States and the world; the teacher also understands and applies knowledge of creative development, adaptation, variation and interactions among science, technology and society as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
- Map and globe skills: scale, legend, latitude and longitude, projection
- Physical and human regions of Texas, the United States, and the world
- Human and environment interaction, settlement, and migration
- Culture, cultural diffusion, and the ways groups adapt
- How science and technology have changed how people live
Competency 004: Economics
The teacher understands and applies knowledge of economic systems and how people organize economic systems to produce, distribute and consume goods and services.
- Scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, and incentives
- Goods and services, producers and consumers
- Supply, demand, and markets
- Money, saving, banking, and trade
- Comparing economic systems and the role of government
Competency 005: Government and citizenship
The teacher understands and applies knowledge of concepts of government, democracy and citizenship, including ways that individuals and groups achieve their goals through political systems.
- Purposes of government and the principles of American democracy
- Federal, state, and local government, including Texas government
- Founding documents and the rights they protect
- Rights and responsibilities of citizens
- How individuals and groups influence public policy
A study routine that fits 50 minutes of testing
Seventy-five seconds a question leaves no time to reason your way to a date you never learned. This subtest rewards coverage, and the fastest coverage is the deck.
Complete lesson map
Thirty-one lessons across history, civics, geography, and economics. Each one opens in a new tab so you can keep this page open while you work.
Social science skills
Civics and government
- 06Types of Government↗
- 07Principles of American Constitutional Democracy↗
- 08The Constitution, Federalism, and Amendments↗
- 09The Three Branches and Checks and Balances↗
- 10Rights, Liberties, and Civic Responsibilities↗
- 11Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections↗
- 12Contemporary Public Policy↗
- 13Key Historical Documents↗
United States history
Economics
Before test day
Two things decide this subtest. The first is Texas content, which candidates from other states routinely underestimate and which appears in three of the five competencies. The second is pace: at 75 seconds a question you cannot afford to reconstruct anything, so the facts have to be recall rather than reasoning. On the source items, take the narrowest reading the document supports and move on.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies: study questions
What is the official TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies assessment format?
The official Texas page lists Social Studies (903) within Core Subjects EC–6 (391) as 40 selected-response questions with 50 minutes of testing time. The complete exam has five subject exams. Core Subjects EC–6 candidates also need the separate Science of Teaching Reading (293) exam; confirm your certification requirements with Texas guidance. Independent practice here supports learning and does not provide an official certification score.
Official source ↗How should I use these independent TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies study tools?
Start with a practice activity, review explanations for missed questions, and use quick review or flashcards for one weak topic. The practice results are study feedback, not official exam scores. Compare a book’s contents with your course or test requirements before buying.
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