Physical Education Teacher Certification Exams: A Comprehensive Guide
For aspiring physical education teachers, certification exams are a crucial step towards achieving their career goals. These exams, such as the Praxis Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge (5857), NES Physical Education (804), and FTCE Physical Education K-12 (063), evaluate the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively teach physical education in schools. This article provides a detailed overview of these exams, including their content, format, scoring, and preparation strategies.
Praxis Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge (5857)
The Praxis Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge (5857) exam is designed to assess the knowledge and skills of prospective entry-level K-12 health and physical education teachers.
Exam Format and Content
This exam contains 130 selected-response questions and has a time limit of 130 minutes. There are several different forms of selected-response questions, any combination of which may appear on the exam:
- Single-selection multiple-choice
- Hot spot
- Drag-and-drop
- Numeric entry
- Drop-down
- Sentence selection
The exam is organized into two main parts, Health Education and Physical Education, and is further split into five content categories.
Health Education
- I. Health Education as a Discipline/Health Instruction (26 questions)
- Health Education as a Discipline: This section covers reliable and valid sources of data, appropriate educational materials that meet the needs of diverse groups, major health behavior theories, curricular and extracurricular programs for student health needs, health-related data, assessment tools for determining school health needs, professional, ethical, and legal practices, continuing education, and effective communication, physical growth and development and character education.
- Health Instruction: This section covers aligning curriculum with district, state, and national standards, reflective teaching process, assessing learning needs for groups and individuals, classroom management, sequential instruction planning, effective implementation of instruction, and assessing student learning.
- II. Health Education Content (32 questions)
- Health Promotion and Prevention of Injury and Disease: This section covers nutrition, disease etiology, disease treatment and management, stress management and coping skills, research on chronic and communicable disease prevention, personal hygiene, goal-setting and decision-making for healthy lifestyles, effects of substance use and abuse, anatomy, physiology, and body system interrelationships, injury and sudden illness care.
- Healthy Relationships/Mental and Emotional Health: This section covers issues related to human sexuality, effects of decision-making on relationships, different types of abuse and violence, interpersonal communication, various mental and emotional health issues and prevention strategies, psychosocial development throughout life, and healthy interaction skills.
- Community Health and Advocacy: This section covers health-related careers, environmental health issues, delivering appropriate health-promoting messages, consumer health issues, individual responsibility to society and the environment, factors of decision-making in health policies, valid sources of health information, services, and products, role of the health educator as a liaison between school staff, students, parents, and the community, community health agencies available for referral and assistance, and health education advocacy opportunities.
Physical Education
- III. Content Knowledge and Student Growth and Development (22 questions)
- Core Concepts: This section covers exercise physiology, liability and legal considerations relating to equipment use, program selection, supervision, and class organization, principles of biomechanics and kinesiology, current and historical issues, trends, and developments in physical education, basic science terminology, basic science principles, concepts, and applications, effects of substance abuse on student health and performance, knowing the skills, rules, strategies, concepts, and techniques pertaining to movement activities, movement concepts, anatomy and physiology and exercise physiology.
- Student Growth and Development: This section covers developmental readiness to learn and refine movement patterns and motor skills, sequential and developmentally appropriate practice and learning opportunities, use of appropriate professional support services and resources, monitoring of individual and group performance, and perception in motor development.
- IV. Management, Motivation, and Communication/Collaboration, Reflection, and Technology (29 questions)
- Management and Motivation: This section covers organization and management of resources, effective behavior management plans, motivation of students to participate in physical activities, psychological and social factors that affect learning, promotion of positive relationships and establishing a productive learning environment.
- Communication: This section covers appropriate and specific feedback regarding student learning, skill acquisition, and motivation, respectful and considerate communication, and effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills, communication of classroom management.
- Collaboration: This section covers integration of knowledge and skills from multiple subject areas, promotion of physical activity opportunities, educational issues that cross subject matter boundaries and support of student growth and well-being via the establishment of productive relationships.
- Reflection: Development and growth as a reflective professional by using available resources and facilitation of change by using the reflective cycle.
- Technology: This section covers communication, instruction, networking, information presentation, recordkeeping, and resource allocation by using technologies and student learning activities that integrate information technology.
- V. Planning, Instruction, and Student Assessment (21 questions)
- Planning and Instruction: This section covers enhancing skill development by providing feedback, teaching of physical activity, skillful movement, and fitness via a wide variety of means, current issues and laws affecting physical education activities, basing unit and lesson plans on national, state, and local standards, identification and implementation of appropriate goals and objectives, provision of feedback to enhance the development of skills, sequencing of motor skill activities to improve learning, and safety and injury prevention guidelines, linking physical activities to learning experiences.
- Student Assessment: This section covers understanding fitness assessments, ways of interpreting assessment results, assessment of skill performance and fitness, types of assessments and methods, appropriate assessment techniques, student involvement in peer assessment and self-assessment, referral procedures, gathering and assessing student learning data.
Registration and Test Day
To register for the Praxis Health and Physical Education exam, candidates need to create an online account with ETS. Through this account, they can submit an application to take the exam. During registration, candidates will be asked to select the test-taking format (remote or at a testing center), test location (if taking the test at a testing center), and test date. The exam fee is $130.
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On the test day, those testing in person should arrive at the testing center 30 minutes before the scheduled time. They will need to show their admission ticket and two forms of valid identification, one of which must be a valid, government-issued photo ID. Personal items are not allowed in the testing center.
For remote testing, candidates must use a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam, speakers, and a microphone. Tablets, smartphones, or any other touchscreen devices are prohibited. Before exam day, candidates will need to download and install the ETS Secure Test Browser on their computer. During check-in, the remote proctor will ask for proof of identification and to observe the testing area via webcam.
Scoring
The Praxis Health and Physical Education exam is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly, which is the raw score. The raw score is then converted to a scaled score. The passing score varies depending on the state, but is generally 160. Official score reports are typically available about 5 weeks after testing.
NES Physical Education (804)
The NES Physical Education exam is used to assess the readiness of prospective teachers who wish to teach physical education in schools that follow the NES standards.
Exam Format and Content
The NES Physical Education (804) exam contains 100 multiple-choice questions and two open-response questions, with a time limit of 4 hours and 15 minutes. The exam is split evenly into five content subareas:
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- I. Physical Development and Motor Learning (20%)
- Human growth and development
- The body systems that produce movement
- Principles and characteristics of motor development and motor learning
- Critical elements and sequences of manipulative, locomotor, and nonlocomotor skills
- Principles of biomechanics and kinesiology
- II. Movement Activities (20%)
- Skills, techniques, activities, and safety practices for rhythmic movement and dance
- Skills, techniques, activities, and safety practices for sports and games, group activities, outdoor pursuits, and adventure learning
- Skills, techniques, activities, and safety practices for aquatics
- The relationship between movement activities and the development of responsible personal and social behaviors and traits
- III. Principles of Physical Fitness (20%)
- Principles of exercise physiology, fitness training, and physical fitness
- Principles and procedures for developing cardiorespiratory fitness plans
- Principles and activities for promoting muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility
- Principles of nutrition
- Strategies and activities for developing and maintaining healthy levels of body composition
- IV. The Physical Education Program (20%)
- The history, foundations, goals, and purposes of physical education
- Physical education instruction
- Physical education assessment techniques and strategies
- Legal, ethical, and safety standards and issues
- V. Integration of Knowledge and Understanding (20%)
- The two open-response questions.
Registration and Test Day
To register for the NES Physical Education exam, candidates need to create an account with Pearson VUE. The testing fee for this exam is $139.
On the test day, candidates should arrive at the Pearson VUE testing center about 30 minutes before the exam is scheduled to begin. They must sign in and present their photo ID to the proctor. Personal items are not allowed in the testing room.
Scoring
The NES Physical Education score is determined using a scaled scoring method. The raw score, which is the number of questions answered correctly, is converted to a numerical score on a scale of 100 to 300. To pass, the final score must be at least 220.
FTCE Physical Education K-12 (063)
240 Tutoring offers a free practice test for the FTCE Physical Education K-12 (063) exam. The practice test covers every concept tested on the FTCE Physical Education K-12 (063) and mimics the format and question types of the real exam. The practice test consists of 50 multiple choice questions. Candidates have unlimited time to complete all 50 questions. The FTCE Physical Education K-12 (063) practice test is scored on a range of 0 to 100.
General Preparation Strategies
Regardless of the specific exam, there are several general strategies that can help candidates prepare effectively:
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- Understand the Exam Format and Content: Familiarize yourself with the exam's structure, question types, and content areas. This will help you focus your study efforts on the most important topics.
- Utilize Practice Tests: Practice tests are invaluable tools for assessing your knowledge and identifying areas where you need to improve. They also help you get comfortable with the exam format and timing. 240 Tutoring and Mometrix offer practice tests for various physical education certification exams.
- Review Content: Thoroughly review the content covered on the exam. Use study guides, textbooks, and other resources to deepen your understanding of the key concepts and principles.
- Mimic Test Day Conditions: When taking practice tests, try to simulate the actual test day environment. Find a quiet place with minimal distractions, set a timer, and avoid using any unauthorized materials.
- Seek Support: Don't hesitate to seek help from teachers, mentors, or study groups. Discussing concepts with others can help you clarify your understanding and identify areas where you need additional support.
- Manage Test Anxiety: Test anxiety can negatively impact your performance. Practice relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or meditation, to help you stay calm and focused on test day.
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