Study Strategy
The materials I used were: TExES Social Studies 7-12 (232) Study Guide: Test Prep and Practice Questions for the TExES (232) Exam, Quizlet, Barron's AP American History flashcards, Princeton Review's AP World History flashcards, Crash Course World History, World History 2, American History, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology, History Channel's Texas Revolution documentary (on YouTube), CertifyTeacher software, and the TEA study manual. I studied approximately 1-3 hours per day, 5-6 times for week, for about 6 weeks. I started by reading through the Cirrus prep book. There's a lot of helpful mini quizzes throughout the readings, as well as two practice tests at the end of the book. After that, I tried to target my studies to my weaker areas. I started watching Crash Course videos starting about 4 weeks out. I rewatched videos on the subjects I felt I was weaker on the week of the test. Two weeks before my test, I got an account to CertifyTeacher, which I would highly recommend. The software is a little dated and the test bank wasn't as extensive as I would have liked, but it touched on all the major topics and provided great details in answer reviews. Their practice test were also most similar to the real thing. I did practice tests almost every day for those two weeks, until I knew every answer and the reasoning perfectly. I also got the AP flashcards a week before the test; they were helpful for quick review and gave me a good count of what I knew and didn't. I did Quizlet a little bit, but it didn't help me as much as I would have preferred. Lastly, I thoroughly reviewed the TEA study manual. That is the guide they use to shape the test, so I made sure I at least had a basic knowledge or understanding of every competency they listed.
Testing Strategy
The test was easier than I expected, however I know it was because of the time I spent studying. There is no way I would have done so well if I hadn't studied. I wouldn't say there is any "trick" to passing this test. you just have to buckle down and study. When I took the test, I went through it once, answered everything I felt confident about, and marked everything I wasn't sure about (about 30 questions). After I went through the test, I went back to the questions I marked and answered everything as best as I could. A lot of them had two answers I thought could be right, and I just tried to use the context and any knowledge I had about the subject to answer it as best I could. After I went through all the marked questions, I took a short break. I didn't need the break, but it was good to refresh myself for a few minutes and give my brain a break. I highly recommend taking a break. After the break I reviewed all 140 questions again then submitted my test. In all, it took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Many of the questions were VERY specific. If you didn't know the person or event, you basically had to guess. This was most apparent in the Texas History portion. Do not underestimate the difficultly of this domain. Study all the people and events on the TEA study manual, especially the more unknown names. I would not rely on general knowledge about Sam Houston, Stephen F Austin, the Alamo, etc. Know early and modern figures: civil rights leader, conquistadors, women leaders, governors, etc. For Econ, know concepts like supply/demand, inflation, currency. Know the important theories in Psych and Sociology, but keep in mind, this is a very small portion of the test. World and American history were pretty self-explanatory; study according to the TEA manual, and you should be fine. Many of the bigger themes or events were not on my test, so make sure you don't glaze over the lesser known events and people. Everyone studies differently, so try to tailor your own studying to your preferred style of learning. Use the TEA manual, read, watch videos, listen to podcasts. Don't just know what the event is, know why it happened and what it caused. That is important in the application of knowledge on the test. Give yourself enough study time before the test, buckle down and apply yourself, and you should do fine. Must haves: large study prep book, TEA study manual, flash cards, Crash Course videos. Highly recommended: CertifyTeacher.