Preparing for and Taking the Aepa Exam

The AEPA or Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments were designed in order to maintain a group of educators in Arizona who are capable of strengthening student achievement and meeting the requirements of the state’s varied society. The purpose of the AEPA is to ensure that each certified educator possessed the knowledge needed to teach successfully in Arizona’s public schools. When it comes time to prepare for and take the AEPA there are several things that the test taker can do in order to obtain the best results.

One of the most important things that a test taker can do is to find out what information will be covered on the test. Once this information is found it makes studying easier and time is not wasted spent on studying subjects that will not be covered on the exam.

• The subareas of the test can be used to determine how much importance is stressed on that subject. The more subareas there are, the more stress is implied on that subject. By doing this, the test taker can set priorities for what he or she needs to study for and set up a study plan accordingly.
• The test taker should also remember to study on subject areas that are already familiar as well as those areas that are not so familiar. To help with studying, a variety of resources can be utilized such as course books and any notes, textbooks that are currently being used in the classroom and any publications that may be available for studying for this test.
• Another important thing to remember is to study the way that is most comfortable – do not change study habits that have worked just because this is a major exam; use what works and stick to the study plan and schedule.

After studying the test taker should answer practice questions. These practice questions will allow the test taker to review the general test directions and get a feel for what the exam will be like. When taking the practice test there are several things that the test taker can do to help get in the mindset for taking the actual test:
• Simulate the testing environment as much as possible
• Time how long it takes to complete the questions; this will help to determine if more or less time can be spent on difficult questions

The practice questions typify the question formats that may be on the actual AEPA. The important thing to remember about the practice questions is that they are not designed to identify individual strengths and weaknesses or show what the overall performance on the AEPA will be. When taking the practice questions it is also a good idea to familiarize oneself with the answer sheet and the written response booklet, this way the test taker is not overwhelmed when he or she arrives at the test site.

On the day of the AEPA, there are a host of things that you can do to make yourself as comfortable as possible:
• Get a good night’s sleep and wake up early in order to eat a good breakfast
• Leave plenty of time to get to the test site early
• Dress in comfortable clothes and in layers so that you can adjust according to the temperature of the test room.
• It is also a considerate thought to wear soft-soled shoes so that you do not interrupt other test takers if you finish early and leave the room.
• If you are staying for both the morning and afternoon test sessions, bring a sack lunch that you can consume while waiting for the second session.

Once you enter the test room pay close attention to and adhere to any directions that are given both by the test administrator and those that are on the test. It is also a good idea to pace yourself and read each question carefully so that you understand all aspects of the question and what is required in the answer. Marking answers carefully is also important – especially if you skip a question that you are unsure of and want to come back to. If you are unable to answer a question, it is a good rule of thumb to try and eliminate as many answers as possible and guess from the remaining ones. The AEPA test score is based on the number of questions that have been answered correctly and there is no penalty for wrong answers; meaning that it is best to guess than to leave an answer blank. If any time is remaining when you have completed the test, it is a good idea to go back and check any answers that you were unsure of.