I will be using the math certification exam as an example but the process can be applied to other subjects as well.
1) In my opinion, the best practice exams are those that are the most similar to the format, content, and degree of difficulty to the actual exam. Since prior actual exams are not available to study from you will have to do some research on where to find other resources. Your State Board of Education website may have some practice materials available as a free download and they will give you some insight into what the actual exam is like. They will also have information on all the topics covered in this exam. I would print out the list of topics and use this as a gauge to measure the effectiveness of a practice exam. Obviously not every topic will be tested on every exam but you want to practice on an exam that will cover the most topics on the list.
3) Check with your school or your alternative certification program to see what study materials they have available or do some research on the internet to see what materials are available. Talk with others who have passed the test and see who they recommend. Ask them how representative the study material they used was of the actual exam.
4) Once you feel you are ready to take a practice exam, sit down and do exactly that, practice. For example, I knew that my math certification exam had 90 problems in it and a 5 hour time limit. I took those 5 hours divided it by 90 questions to get an average of about 3 minutes per question so I strove to answer questions in that amount of time. Not everybody has the time to sit down and take a 5 hour uninterrupted practice exam but striving to answer questions quickly and correctly in a timed fashion can go a long way in relieving the stress that most people feel when taking a test. Try to take it in a quiet room that will most simulate the test taking environment. The more comfortable you get taking practice exams in a quiet environment the more comfortable you will be when you are actually taking the exam. In fact, you can get to the point where you feel like you are just taking another practice exam which you have mastered many times, when in reality you are taking the actual exam with a positive and confident attitude.
5) Should you not pass the exam on your first try, please do not get discouraged. Look at this as a learning experience. Now you have seen an actual exam. Perhaps the material you had did not help you prepare sufficiently. Now that you know what the exam looks like you can go find some better material that will be more representative of the test. Use the topic list that you downloaded from the State Board of Education and check off each topic as you master it. If your preparation materials do not cover a topic, go out and get some additional reference material, it's always better to be over prepared than under prepared. Go out and conquer that exam the second time if you didn't get it the first time.
I sincerely hope that this article was of some use to you. Good luck and congratulations in choosing such a noble profession.
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Tony Cadena
I have a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from DePaul University in Chicago, IL. I spent 13 years in the insurance industry as an actuary. I offer tutoring services in all math subjects and practice exams for certification to be a math teacher. Life is too short to not be passionate about what you do. Come visit me on my website: http://www.equationstation.com/TExES_mathematics_135_test_prep.html
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