TExES PPR EC-12 (160) Study Guide 2025-2026 (TExES Teacher Certification Test Prep)

52 days after Ronald Reagan left office, I took the National Teachers Exam in another state. I aced it. And I took those great scores and taught for a few years.Then I had a baby, and I quit teaching to stay home with her. We moved to Texas, and I decided that I wouldn't take the TExES quite yet. After all, I was going to be a stay-at-home mom for a while. I put the test off and made the decision to take it later.And then I had another baby, and another baby."Take the TExES later on," I kept telling myself. "You can always do it down the road. After all, you don't even know if you'll ever go back to teaching."So I didn't. I focused on my kids and was quite happy living the June Cleaver life.As previously noted, I had taken the NTE in the very early days of the first Bush administration. And as I lived my happy at-home life, time passed. All the way through the Clinton administration and through the next Bush administration and through the first Obama term, I was blissful in my life at home, centered around my family. I piled my kids into the minivan and drove them to music lessons and to ball practice and to driver's ed. This was what I wanted to do. I could teach other people's kids later on; this was the only shot I had with my own.And time passed and babies grew and suddenly it was the spring of 2015 and Mr. Obama was well into his second term.I looked around and realized that my youngest baby was getting ready to enter high school."Oh, my," I said to myself. "That happened quickly. Maybe you should see about taking the TExES."I told myself that was a great idea. I sent everything to the state, and they told me what I needed to do to get my certificates transferred.It was official. Like it or not, I was going to have to take the PPR . . . *26 years* after I had taken the NTE and 22 years after I had quit teaching to stay home!Suddenly, I realized that I was very rusty.How on earth was I going to prepare?A quick online search led me to this book. A few readings of reviews led me to believe that it was the one must-have for adequately preparing for my test. My friends at Amazon made sure I had it as soon as possible, and I sat down to prepare.I took the diagnostic test and was unimpressed with, though not surprised by, my score. After all, it had been more than a quarter of a century, and I was rusty.I read the book and took the first practice test.It was better, but still pretty ugly.I read the book again and took the second practice test.I was relieved to see that my score was much improved.Over the next few weeks, I repeated the entire cycle of diagnostic test, read, practice test 1, read, practice test 2.My scores began to improve by leaps and bounds.Other than the resources at the ETS site, this was my only method of preparation.On the day of the test, I walked into a room filled with test-takers who hadn't even been born yet the last time I took a test. They looked at me in confusion, as if perhaps one of the other youngsters taking the test had brought their overprotective mother along to hold their hand. Shock registered on their faces as I, two days past my 48th birthday, took a seat among them.As I waited for the test to start, I was nervous and bothered by the fact that I was potentially wasting money on a test I wouldn't pass. I was old. I was rusty. I was relying on a book to teach me things that had taken me 4 years to learn when I was young and fresh. This was probably a really bad idea.The test began.I kept waiting for the questions to get hard.They never really did.Out of the 100 questions on the test, I was confident in my answer for 92 of them. After I finished, I went back through all 100 questions again and changed 4 of my answers. I summoned all my courage, pressed 'submit', and went out to my car.On the way home, I began to second-guess myself. It was too easy! Surely I must have misread some things!I spent a nervous Friday-to-Tuesday waiting for my scores. I had been told they would likely be posted between 10:00 and 5:00 on Tuesday.I started checking at 6:15 am.At around 8:00, my husband (who hadn't left for the day yet) said, "Stop doing that! They'll be there when they get there. You aren't going to make them show up any sooner!""I know," I said, as I refreshed the screen again.Finally, at 1:37, the screen switched from saying ' no scores are available' to saying 'click Submit to view your scores'.I held my breath.I pushed the button.The screen took foreeeeeeever to load.When it finally did, I scanned frantically for my score. I thought I had probably passed, but I wasn't positive. My heart was beating out of my chest and I had broken a sweat.All of a sudden, the number 293 leaped out at me.Not only had I passed, but I had even done well!48 years old . . . 26 years out of college . . . 22 years as a stay-at-home mom.Please remember that I had bombed the diagnostic test the first time, and the first practice test was pretty miserable, as well. The information found in the book was useful, and it was excellent preparation for me. Let me say again that it was the only method of preparation that I used.If that doesn't recommend it, I don't know what else will.I leave you, gentle reader, with this -- if you ever move to a new state and they require a different test than the one you took, take that test as soon as soon as you can . . . within the same presidential administration, if possible.In a couple of decades, your old brain will thank you for it.

The book is so useful. I really like the idea of creating index cards with terms relating to the competencies for the PPR. I used this book and passed on my first try!

This study guide provides lots of useful information to help you get ready for your certification exam.

To start I have always been a HORRIBLE test taker. I could study for hours, feel confident about a test and still bomb it. I was recently offered a job during my student teaching but I needed to pass all my exams in three weeks in order to be hired. I had 14 days to study for my PPR. Originally I bought the practice exams on exam edge and started studying those. Immediately I wanted to cry because they were so hard and I had never seen some of the info in my life. I decided to order this book to actually study and learn the material before taking practice exams and I'm so glad I did.The book is well organized and easy to read and follow. I focused on key words for each competency and different theorists. I got all C's on all the practice tests and thought they were a little tricky. Although I felt the questions on the real test were VERY similar to these practice exams, the answer choices on the real test were easier to decipher the correct answer than on the practice exams. I was happy the practice exams were a little harder I felt like it prepared me well. The explanations on the practice exams were also very helpful to me. I spent way too much time focusing on theorists and the different stages. I had friends that said their PPR had tons of questions about theorists and mine didn't have one. (I guess it depends on which form you get). The real test is very similar to these practice exams (situation questions) rather than the exam edge practice exams which I felt were more factual and regurgitation of memorization. I did have quite a few questions about technology that threw me off, and a LOT about the ELPS it almost felt more like an ESL test. So be prepared to decipher between different levels of the ELPS based on work from students.I took my sweet time on the actual exam, I felt confident on about 50 questions and on about 30-40 questions I was able to narrow them down to two answer choices, then there were a few that I flat out guessed. I felt so-so leaving it because of large chunk of questions I didn't feel extremely confident about. BUUUUUUT I was shocked to find out 2 days later I made a 275!!!!! WOOOHOOO I was so relieved.I would definitely recommend this book for the price!

I took the PPR exam in early April 2019. I hadn't studied for this exam until about 3 weeks out. I used this book, the free test guide from TExES, and a practice exam from Pearson's website. This books has some pros and cons -Pro -* The book guides and helps you develop some strategies to help identify and answer certain quesations that helped me out a lot on the test.* The practice test questions are harder than the actual PPRCon -* The practice test questions are sometimes so convoluted that even after passing the PPR on my first try, I still disagree with a few of the explanations in the book.* This book doesn't necessarily provide a Lot of "study material", but rather should be used as a supplement to your study regimen.I would recommend this study book 8/10.Tips: Act as if every question and scenario are from the ideal perspective/standpoint. Don't over think things. Always circle/highlight the grade level, subject and outcome desired in each question.Best of luck to you!

I was skeptical to purchase this study guide because I didn’t know if it would be helpful for test prep based on online reviews alone. I am happy to report that I passed with flying colors and scored the highest on this specific TExES test because I used this study guide and took the practice online tests that are accessible once purchased. This study guide is comprehensive, easy to understand and worth every penny.