TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Online Center
This TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
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 can I study in this TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Online Center?
This TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Competency 001: Social science instruction, Competency 002: History, Competency 003: Geography, culture, science and society.
How should I use the TExES Core Subjects EC-6 Social Studies 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.
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