Praxis PLT: PreK–12 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range of tasks a learner can complete with expert guidance but not yet independently; instruction targeted here is challenging yet achievable with scaffolding.

Conservation (Piaget)

Understanding that quantity, mass, or volume stays the same despite changes in appearance; typically achieved in the concrete operational stage, around ages seven to eleven.

Scaffolding

Temporary, responsive support such as modeling, prompts, or graphic organizers that lets a student complete a task beyond current independent ability, then is gradually withdrawn.

Industry versus inferiority

Erikson's elementary-school conflict in which children seek competence and peer recognition; repeated failure or harsh comparison can produce feelings of inadequacy.

Operant conditioning

Skinner's principle that behavior changes according to consequences: reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment decreases it, and schedules determine persistence.

Metacognition

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking, including planning, monitoring comprehension, and evaluating strategies; it separates strategic learners from passive ones.

Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation arises from interest and satisfaction in the task; extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards or pressures and can undermine intrinsic interest when overused.

Learning disability identification

Eligibility requires a processing or academic deficit not explained by sensory, motor, emotional, cultural, or environmental factors; response-to-intervention data may be part of the evidence.

Bloom's revised taxonomy

A hierarchy of cognitive processes ordered remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; objectives should specify the level and an observable performance.

Direct instruction

A teacher-led sequence of review, objective, small-step presentation with modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and cumulative review, suited to well-structured procedural content.

Differentiation

Proactively adjusting content, process, product, or environment in response to readiness, interest, and learning profile so all students work toward the same essential standards.

Cooperative learning elements

Positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, explicit social skills, and group processing; omitting any element reduces effectiveness.

Wait time

Pausing roughly three to five seconds after posing a question and after a student response; it increases response length, participation breadth, and reasoning quality.

Task analysis

Breaking a complex terminal skill into ordered component subskills so instruction can sequence and assess each prerequisite before combining them into the whole.

Higher-order questioning

Questions requiring analysis, evaluation, or creation, such as predicting, comparing, justifying, or critiquing evidence, rather than recall of a stated fact.

Formative assessment

Ongoing collection of evidence about learning used to adjust instruction and give feedback during the unit, not to assign a final grade.

Constructivism

The view that learners build understanding by connecting new information to prior knowledge through active experience, discussion, and reflection rather than passive reception.

Validity versus reliability

Validity means an assessment measures the intended construct; reliability means scores are consistent. Reliable scores can still be invalid if the wrong construct is measured.

Criterion-referenced assessment

An assessment interpreted by comparing a student's performance to a defined standard or learning objective, not to the performance of other students.

Standard error of measurement

An index of score imprecision used to build a confidence band around an observed score; smaller values indicate more dependable measurement.

Item difficulty and discrimination

Difficulty is the proportion answering an item correctly; discrimination is how strongly the item distinguishes high from low scorers. Negative discrimination signals a flawed item.

Analytic versus holistic rubric

Analytic rubrics score separate traits for diagnostic feedback; holistic rubrics assign one overall judgment faster but with less specific information about strengths.

Accommodation versus modification

An accommodation changes access (extended time, read-aloud) while keeping the construct intact; a modification changes content or expectations and alters what is measured.

Percentile rank

The percentage of a norming group scoring at or below a given score; it is not the percent of items answered correctly.

Assessment bias

Systematic error in which items or procedures advantage or disadvantage a group for reasons unrelated to the construct, such as unfamiliar cultural references or language load.

Professional learning community

A collaborative team of educators with a shared mission, collective inquiry into practice, action orientation, and a focus on results for student learning.

Reflective practice cycle

A structured loop of concrete experience, observation, analysis, and revised action; it converts classroom evidence into changes in subsequent instruction.

Mandatory reporting duty

Legal obligation of educators to report suspected child abuse or neglect to designated authorities promptly; internal notification does not substitute for the required report.

FERPA confidentiality

Federal law protecting education records, requiring legitimate educational interest for access and consent for most disclosure of personally identifiable student information.

Andragogy

Knowles' principles of adult learning: adults are self-directed, bring experience, need relevance, and prefer problem-centered learning over abstract content.

Two-way family engagement

Communication that exchanges information and expectations with families and invites them to support learning at home, rather than one-way announcements from school.

Scenario response structure

Name and define the relevant concept, tie it to specific scenario evidence, then state the concrete action and expected result, addressing each verb in the prompt.