Praxis PLT: Grades 7-12 cheat sheet

Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+); abstract hypothetical reasoning emerges in the formal operational stage.

Erikson's adolescent crisis is identity versus role confusion; identity exploration, peer affiliation, and increasing autonomy are central developmental tasks in grades 7–12.

Kohlberg's levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience, self-interest), conventional (social approval, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal principles); most adolescents reason at the conventional level.

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is the gap between independent performance and assisted performance; scaffolding is targeted at tasks within that gap.

Maslow's hierarchy generally orders needs as physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, then self-actualization; unmet lower needs can interfere with higher-level engagement.

Self-determination theory holds that intrinsic motivation is supported by autonomy, competence, and relatedness; controlling extrinsic rewards can reduce intrinsic interest.

IDEA entitles eligible students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment with an individualized education program; Section 504 provides accommodations under a broader disability definition.

English learners typically develop BICS, conversational fluency, in about one to two years, while CALP, academic language proficiency, often takes five to seven years.

Bloom's revised taxonomy orders cognitive processes as remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create; objectives and assessments should be aligned to the intended level.

A measurable objective specifies an observable behavior, the conditions of performance, and a criterion, such as a graph, an identification task, and an accuracy standard.

Explicit direct instruction commonly follows review, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and feedback; it is efficient for well-structured knowledge and skills.

Cooperative learning requires positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, and structured roles; unstructured group work does not meet these criteria.

Wait time of roughly three to five seconds after a question increases response length, participation breadth, and higher-order thinking.

Backward design proceeds from desired results to acceptable evidence to learning experiences and instruction, keeping assessment aligned with goals.

Differentiated instruction adjusts content, process, or product according to readiness, interest, and learning profile while maintaining common learning goals.

Universal Design for Learning provides multiple means of representation, engagement, and action or expression so curriculum is accessible to diverse learners from the outset.

Formative assessment occurs during learning to adjust instruction and provide feedback; summative assessment occurs at the end to judge achievement or assign grades.

Validity is the extent to which an assessment measures the intended construct and supports the intended inferences; reliability is consistency across occasions, raters, or items.

Validity requires reliability, but reliability does not guarantee validity; a consistently miscalibrated test can be reliable but invalid for a given purpose.

Norm-referenced tests compare a student's performance with peers; criterion-referenced tests compare performance with a defined standard or objective.

Diagnostic assessment identifies prior knowledge, misconceptions, or skill gaps before instruction and informs planning.

A holistic rubric assigns one overall score; an analytic rubric scores separate criteria and provides more specific feedback to students.

Accommodations change how a student accesses an assessment, such as time, setting, or format, without changing the construct; modifications change content or expectations.

Item difficulty is the proportion of students answering correctly; the discrimination index compares performance of high scorers with low scorers, and extreme difficulty reduces discrimination.

Reflective practice follows a cycle of teaching, collecting evidence of student learning, analyzing outcomes, and adjusting instruction.

Professional learning communities focus on collaborative inquiry into student learning using data; administrative meetings are not equivalent to PLC work.

FERPA protects education records; parents and eligible students have rights to inspect records, and schools must limit disclosure of personally identifiable information.

Teachers are mandated reporters in every state and must follow district and state procedures when suspected child abuse or neglect is observed.

Effective family engagement uses two-way communication, multiple modes and times, cultural sensitivity, and avoidance of unexplained educational jargon.

Action research is teacher-led inquiry in which an educator identifies a problem, collects data, implements an intervention, and reflects on results.

Induction and mentoring programs provide structured support for beginning teachers, including observation, coaching, and professional development, and are associated with lower attrition.

Sustained, job-embedded, collaborative, and content-focused professional development is more effective than one-time workshops disconnected from classroom practice.

First identify the primary problem and the affected stakeholders; secondary details in a scenario should not drive the selected response.

Check developmental appropriateness before selecting a strategy; a technique effective for younger students may be unsuitable for adolescents.

If a student with an IEP or 504 plan is struggling, review whether required accommodations and services are being implemented before changing instruction.

For behavior scenarios, examine antecedents, behavior, and consequences, then teach a replacement behavior that serves the same function.

For assessment scenarios, align the method to the objective and use the resulting data to adjust instruction rather than merely assigning a grade.

For English learners, maintain grade-level content while providing comprehensible input, visuals, modeling, and language supports.

For motivation scenarios, build autonomy, competence, and relatedness and use specific, task-focused feedback rather than generic praise or rewards.

Safety, legal, and ethical concerns override instructional preferences; follow policy and reporting requirements before attempting classroom-level solutions.