Everything you need to know for the FCTE General Exam
Updated: Oct 6, 2022
The FCTE General Exam is the certification assessment every Education major student dreads. What exactly is on the exam? What study materials do I need to buy? What strategies do I need to acquire in order to master this exam? Well have no fear Heather Blackbeauty is here to answer all your questions. DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND COMMENT YOUR QUESTIONS.
What is the FCTE General Exam?
The FCTE General Exam or the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations is one of 3 certification exam needed to teach in the state of Florida.
What are the subjects the FCTE General Exam covers?
The The General Knowledge Exam consists of four subtests:
Essay Exam
English Language Arts
Reading
Mathematics
How many questions are there?
Fortunately, the General Knowledge Exam is divided into subject portions so you don't have to worry about getting math questions one minute and reading questions the next minute. You can even choose which subject you would prefer to start with first. The following are questions per subject:
Essay: NO multiple choice questions. Two Major writing prompt are given. Test takers must choose one of the two writing prompts to write about.
English Language Arts: 40 multiple-choice questions
Reading: 40 multiple-choice questions
Mathematics: 40 multiple-choice questions
How much time do I have to take the FCTE General Exam?
Essay Subtest: 50 minutes
ELS Subtest: 40 minutes
Reading Subtest: 55 minutes
Mathematics Subtest: 1 hour and 40 minutes
What study exam booklet do you recommend?
Take this from me you really don't need to invest in a lot of textbooks and study guides to take this exam (Don't waste the little time you have studying the wrong things!). Don't go busting the bank on all these no name exam books either. I found the CliffsNotes FTCE General Knowledge Test 4th Edition to be most helpful. Essentially everything you need to know is right in this book.
When do I recieve my test scores or results?
Unofficial pass/non-pass scores for the multiple-choice-only subtests is provided immediately after testing. The essay subtest is given one month after your examination testing date.
Any Studying tips?
1) DONT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO STUDY
There is no possible way you can skim the book once and pass the test. Don't cram information either. My best advice to you is to take it piece by piece each day. Don't only memorize the big ideas but memorize the details to. A month or two of studying every day would help tremendously and diminish stress.
2) TAKE YOUR TIME BUT MANAGE IT WISELY
Keep your eyes on the clock and manage your time wisely. Mark questions that you do not know and come back to them later. Yes , you can re-check your work before submitting (Thank GOD!)
3) DO NOT TAKE THE EXAM ALL AT ONCE
A strategy that teachers actively preach to their students is chunking. Chunking is a strategy that requires students to break apart concepts or pieces of information and analyze them in bits rather than as a whole. Preparing and ultimately taking this exam is no different. I scheduled my examination days or weeks apart because examination fatigue is a real thing. I wanted to be well rested for my exam.
5) SLEEP! SLEEP! SLEEP
I can not stress how important it is to get good nights sleep the day before the exam. Although, anxiety might be taking a toll on you, try to sleep. A good nights sleep produces better results
6) CARRY A SWEATER
Most testing centers are freezing! Don't leave your house without slipping on a small sweater just in case
7) SCRATCH PAPER MY FRIENDS!
Utilize your scratch paper during the math section. Don't worry if you use it all up they will give you more ( AND THERE IS A CALCULATOR IN THE MATH PORTION)
8) HAVE CONFIDENCE!