MTTC cheat sheet

Phonological awareness is the broad umbrella skill (syllables, rhymes, onsets/rimes); phonemic awareness is the narrower ability to isolate and manipulate individual phonemes.

The five essential components of reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

In base-ten place value, each position represents ten times the value of the position to its right, so the 4 in 400 is ten times the 4 in 40.

A fraction a/b denotes a parts of a whole partitioned into b equal parts; equivalent fractions name the same quantity and share a common value.

Common informational text structures are description, chronological sequence, compare-contrast, cause-effect, and problem-solution.

The writing process is recursive rather than linear: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, with returns to earlier stages as needed.

A controlled scientific investigation changes one independent variable, measures a dependent variable, and holds all other conditions constant.

Primary sources are original artifacts or raw data from the period studied; secondary sources interpret, summarize, or analyze primary sources.

Separation of powers assigns legislative, executive, and judicial functions to distinct branches, while checks and balances let each branch limit the others.

Pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman) combines subject mastery with knowledge of representations, examples, and the misconceptions typical of that content.

The concrete-representational-abstract sequence moves instruction from manipulatives to drawings to symbols, building meaning before procedural fluency.

A wait time of three to five seconds after a question, and after a student response, increases response length, participation, and reasoning quality.

Worked examples reduce cognitive load for novices; as expertise grows, examples are faded into independent problem solving.

Formative assessment occurs during instruction to shape teaching; summative assessment occurs after instruction to judge achievement.

Higher-order questions (analyze, evaluate, create) elicit reasoning and extended discourse; lower-order questions (recall, identify) check basic knowledge.

Representative misconception: students believe heavier objects fall faster; it is displaced by eliciting the prediction, testing it, and comparing results.

Academic language instruction targets content-specific vocabulary plus the discourse structures and syntax used to reason in the discipline.

Gradual release of responsibility sequences modeled instruction, guided practice, collaborative practice, and independent practice.

IDEA entitles eligible students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education, an individualized education program, and the least restrictive environment.

Section 504 is a civil rights antidiscrimination law providing accommodations and equal access; it does not require specialized instruction.

English learners are typically identified first by a home language survey, then by a valid English proficiency screening or assessment.

FERPA gives parents and eligible students the right to inspect education records, request amendment, and limit disclosure without consent.

Teachers are mandated reporters: reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect must be reported to the designated agency.

Confidential student information may be shared only with school personnel who have a legitimate educational interest.

Teacher classroom speech is generally curriculum-related and school-regulated; academic freedom is narrower than free expression outside school.

Professional ethics require avoiding dual relationships with students and maintaining appropriate boundaries in and out of school.

Due process procedures govern dismissal and discipline of tenured teachers, including notice, a hearing, and the opportunity to respond.

Backward design (Wiggins and McTighe) proceeds in three stages: identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences.

A complete objective names the audience, an observable behavior, the conditions of performance, and the criterion or degree of mastery.

Bloom's revised taxonomy orders cognition as remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; objectives should be sequenced accordingly.

A lesson plan typically includes standards, objective, materials, anticipatory set, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, closure, and assessment.

Differentiation can modify content, process, product, and learning environment in response to readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Unit planning sequence skills from simpler to more complex and front-loads a check of prerequisite knowledge.

Instructional time should be allocated in proportion to the difficulty and importance of the objective, with planned transitions and checks for understanding.

Local objectives should be mapped explicitly to the adopted state or national standards before instruction is designed.

Validity is the degree to which an assessment measures the intended construct and supports the intended score inferences; reliability is score consistency.

Norm-referenced scores compare a student to a norm group; criterion-referenced scores compare performance to a defined standard.

Formative assessment is assessment for learning (feedback, adjustment); summative assessment is assessment of learning (grading, accountability).

Item difficulty index p is the proportion of examinees answering correctly; values between roughly 0.30 and 0.80 usually maximize information.

The discrimination index is the proportion correct in the high-scoring group minus the proportion correct in the low-scoring group.

Analytic rubrics score traits separately; holistic rubrics assign one overall score to the whole performance.

Reliability evidence includes test-retest, parallel forms, internal consistency, and inter-rater agreement.

The standard error of measurement estimates the variability in observed scores from imperfect reliability and defines a confidence band around a score.

Accommodations change how a student accesses content; modifications change the content or the performance expectations themselves.

Schön distinguishes reflection-in-action (adjusting while teaching) from reflection-on-action (reviewing after the lesson).

Gibbs's reflective cycle has six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan.

Kolb's experiential learning cycle is concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.

Action research is a repeating cycle of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting on one's own classroom practice.

Reflection data sources include student work, assessment results, lesson video, peer observation notes, and student feedback.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, and provide a criterion for judging progress.

Achievement data disaggregated by subgroup reveals equity gaps that whole-class averages can mask.

A teaching portfolio pairs artifacts with reflective commentary to document growth against professional standards.