The Social Studies test is designed to determine whether an examinee has the knowledge and skills necessary for a beginning teacher of social studies in a secondary school. The test is aligned with the National Standards for Social Studies Teachers and the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, developed by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). The development of the test was also informed by various other disciplinary standards, including the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies States Standards (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013), the National Standards for History (National Center for History in the Schools, 1996), the National Geography Standards (National Council for Geography Education, 2012), and the Voluntary National Content Standards for Economics (Council for Economic Education, 2010).

The test requires the examinee to understand and apply social studies knowledge, concepts, methodologies, and skills across the fields of United States history, world history, government and civics, geography, and economics. A number of the questions are interdisciplinary, reflecting the complex relationships among the social studies fields. Answering the questions correctly requires knowing, interpreting, and integrating history and social science facts and concepts.

Some of the 140 equally weighted selected-response questions are based on interpreting material such as written passages, maps, charts, graphs, tables, cartoons, diagrams, and photographs. Between 10 and 15 percent of the questions contain content assessing social studies thinking skills. This test may contain some questions that will not count toward your score.

Note: This examination uses the chronological designations B.C.E. (before the common era) and C.E. (common era). These labels correspond to B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini), which are used in some world history textbooks.