Section 3: Overview and Exam Framework
TX PACT: Social Studies: Grades 4–8 (718)

Exam Overview

Table outlining the test format, number of questions, time, and passing score.
Exam Name TX PACT: Social Studies: Grades 4–8
Exam Code 718
Time 3 hours and 15 minutes total appointment time
  • 15 minutes for CAT tutorial and compliance agreement
  • 3 hours testing time
Number of Questions 125 selected-response questions
Format Computer-administered test (CAT)

The TX PACT: Social Studies: Grades 4–8 (718) exam is designed to assess whether a test taker has demonstrated the requisite knowledge and skills for admission to an educator preparation program. The 125 selected-response questions are based on the Social Studies: Grades 4–8 exam framework. Questions on this exam range from grades 4–8. Your final scaled score will be based only on scored questions.

Domains and Competencies

Table outlining test content and subject weighting by sub area and objective.
Domain Domain Title Approx. Percentage of Exam
I History 50%
II Geography and Culture 19%
III Government 19%
IV Economics 12%
Pie chart of approximate test weighting, detailed in the table above.

The content covered by this exam is organized into broad areas of content called domains. Each domain covers one or more of the standards for this field. Within each domain, the content is further defined by a set of competencies. Each competency is composed of two major parts:

Domain I—History

Competency 001—Understand historical concepts, terms, sources, perspectives, and research skills.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of basic historical terms and concepts such as nation-state, theocracy, dynastic cycle, chronology, and periodization.
  2. Apply knowledge of basic reference sources used in historical research, including almanacs, information technology, bibliographies, periodical guides, encyclopedias, and biographical dictionaries.
  3. Distinguish between primary and secondary sources of historical information.
  4. Evaluate the uses and limitations of various historical source materials, including oral histories, newspapers, diaries, artifacts, personal correspondence, archival materials, census data, videos, and materials accessed through information technologies.
  5. Analyze cause-and-effect relationships between historical events and developments.
  6. Recognize central theses, main ideas, and supporting evidence in various sources of historical information.
  7. Distinguish between fact and opinion in historical narratives and interpretations.
  8. Draw inferences and conclusions from historical texts and interpretations.
  9. Analyze the purpose and perspective of diverse sources of historical information, including potential bias and the assumptions on which historical arguments are based.
  10. Interpret graphic representations of historical issues and events found in charts, diagrams, maps, timelines, political cartoons, and graphs.
Competency 002—Understand major developments in world history from the beginnings of human society to 1350 CE.

For example:

  1. Examine the Neolithic Revolution and the birth of human civilization, including the growth of agriculture, the domestication of animals, the organization of government, and the emergence of towns.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of major geographic, social, political, economic, and cultural characteristics of early civilizations in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas to 500 BCE.
  3. Analyze major events, developments, characteristics, and contributions of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
  4. Examine the principal beliefs, sacred texts, and historical development of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
  5. Examine major geographic, social, political, economic, and cultural characteristics of major civilizations and empires of Asia, Africa, and the Americas between 500 BCE and 1350 CE.
  6. Examine major geographic, social, political, economic, and cultural characteristics of the Islamic and Byzantine civilizations.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of the growth, principal features, and decline of medieval civilization in Europe.
  8. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major global events to 1350 CE.
  9. Analyze major social, economic, and cultural trends in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas from 4000 BCE to 1350 CE.
Competency 003—Understand major developments in world history from 1350 to 1850.

For example:

  1. Examine the origins, major developments, significant individuals, and lasting consequences of the European Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation.
  2. Analyze European expansion between 1450 and 1650, including the effects of colonization on Europeans and the indigenous societies they encountered.
  3. Examine the central ideas of major thinkers of the Scientific Revolution and the European Enlightenment and the influence of these ideas on events and developments in Europe and the Americas.
  4. Analyze the similarities, differences, and consequences of the English, American, and French revolutions and the wars for independence in Latin America.
  5. Evaluate economic, social, and political factors related to the emergence and spread of industrialization and the growth of urban centers in Europe.
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of major literary, artistic, intellectual, and scientific developments of this period in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
  7. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major global events and developments of this period.
  8. Analyze major social, economic, and cultural trends in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas from 1350 to 1850.
Competency 004—Understand major developments in world history from 1850 to the present.

For example:

  1. Analyze the causes and consequences of European imperialism, including interactions between imperialist powers and the people of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
  2. Analyze the causes, major events, and consequences of World War 1, including events and developments related to the Russian Revolution and the rise of totalitarian and authoritarian governments in Europe and Asia.
  3. Analyze the origins, major events, and consequences of World War 2.
  4. Evaluate major developments and issues related to the process of decolonization in postwar Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of the causes, major developments, and consequences of the Cold War, including U.S.-Soviet differences over Eastern Europe, economic and military alliances, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
  6. Examine major global challenges of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, including environmental degradation, terrorism, limited natural resource supplies, and economic imbalances among the world's peoples.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of major literary, artistic, intellectual, and scientific developments of this period in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
  8. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major global events and developments of this period.
  9. Analyze major social, economic, and cultural trends in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas from 1850 to the present.
Competency 005—Understand major developments in early U.S. history from the precontact period to 1789.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of important social, economic, and political features of major Native American cultures at the time of their first contact with Europeans.
  2. Examine major events and developments related to European exploration of North America.
  3. Analyze coexistence and conflict between Europeans and Native Americans, including differences in beliefs, values, and attitudes.
  4. Analyze economic, social, political, and cultural developments in Great Britain's North American colonies, including the growth of slavery and similarities and differences between the New England, mid-Atlantic, and southern colonies.
  5. Examine the French and Indian War and the major causes, events, and consequences of the Revolutionary War.
  6. Analyze the growth of the trans-Appalachian West, including the settlement of the Ohio River valley and the Northwest Territory.
  7. Analyze the evolution of national and state governments during and after the Revolution, including problems under the Articles of Confederation and major debates and compromises in the creation and ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
  8. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major events and developments in U.S. history during this period.
  9. Analyze major social, economic, and cultural trends in the colonies and the new nation from the beginnings of settlement to 1789.
Competency 006—Understand major developments in U.S. history from 1789 to 1877.

For example:

  1. Examine major political and constitutional developments of the early national and Jacksonian eras.
  2. Analyze events and developments related to westward expansion, including the impact of western settlement and growth on the Native American peoples.
  3. Analyze the causes and consequences of economic growth, industrialization, immigration, and the development of a national market economy during the first half of the nineteenth century.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of major events and developments in U.S. foreign relations during this period, including the War of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Mexican War.
  5. Analyze events and developments related to the spread of slavery and the evolution of a distinctive African American culture.
  6. Assess the origins and objectives of major reform movements of the period and the activities and achievements of key reformers.
  7. Analyze the principal causes, significant events, and major developments of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of major developments in literature, the arts, popular culture, science, and technology in the United States from 1789 to 1877.
  9. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major events and developments in U.S. history during this period.
Competency 007—Understand major developments in U.S. history from 1877 to 1929.

For example:

  1. Examine the settlement of the western United States and the consequences of expanding settlement for Native Americans.
  2. Analyze the industrialization of the U.S. economy and the clash between industrial capitalism and organized labor.
  3. Examine immigration to the United States after the Civil War and the impact of immigration and urbanization on U.S. society.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the racial division of southern society after 1877, including the enactment of Jim Crow laws; racial segregation and discrimination in the North; and the efforts of African Americans to resist segregation, disenfranchisement, and violence.
  5. Examine the economic, political, and social development of the United States during the Progressive Era, and the impact of Progressive reforms on U.S. society.
  6. Analyze the rise of the United States as a world power, key issues in the debate over U.S. expansionism, and the causes and consequences of U.S. participation in World War 1.
  7. Examine major social, economic, political, and cultural events and developments of the 1920s, including the woman suffrage movement, Prohibition, and the Harlem Renaissance.
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of major developments in literature, the arts, popular culture, science, and technology in the United States from 1877 to 1929.
  9. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major events and developments in U.S. history during this period.
Competency 008—Understand major developments in U.S. history from 1929 to the present.

For example:

  1. Analyze the causes of the Great Depression and the government response to economic collapse and social dislocation during the 1930s.
  2. Examine major events and developments related to U.S. participation in World War 2, including war mobilization and the impact of the war on the U.S. economy and society.
  3. Analyze major events and developments in U.S. foreign policy from the beginnings of the Cold War to the Iraq war.
  4. Analyze major social and economic developments in the United States since 1945, including the postwar economic boom, deindustrialization, and economic globalization.
  5. Analyze major political and constitutional developments in the United States since 1945.
  6. Examine the goals, strategies, and achievements of the struggle for African American equality and other major social and political movements of the post–World War 2 period in the United States.
  7. Analyze immigration to the United States and changes to U.S. immigration policy during this period.
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of major developments in literature, the arts, popular culture, science, and technology in the United States from 1929 to the present.
  9. Recognize the contributions of significant individuals and chronological relationships between major events and developments in U.S. history during this period.

 

Domain II—Geography and Culture

Competency 009—Understand geographic terms, concepts, sources, and research skills.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the five fundamental geographic themes (i.e., location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region).
  2. Apply the six essential elements of geography (i.e., the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography).
  3. Apply basic geographic terms and concepts such as habitat, ecology, interdependence, assimilation, demographic cycle, and cultural diffusion.
  4. Recognize basic characteristics of maps and globes and the advantages and disadvantages of standard map projections.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics and uses of various geographic reference sources, tools, and technologies.
  6. Interpret geographic information presented in various visual formats.
  7. Apply skills and procedures used in geographic research, including formulating appropriate research questions, identifying main ideas, analyzing cause-and-effect relationships, and drawing conclusions.
Competency 010—Understand physical features, physical systems, and the interaction between the environment and human societies.

For example:

  1. Recognize major landmasses, significant landforms, and important bodies of water in the United States and in other parts of the world.
  2. Recognize various types of physical features such as gulfs, deltas, capes, isthmuses, peninsulas, and archipelagoes.
  3. Recognize the principal elements of climate and major global and regional climatic patterns.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the ways physical processes shape the physical features of the earth.
  5. Recognize the location, distribution, and uses of natural resources in the United States and throughout the world, and the influence of natural resources on human populations.
  6. Analyze ways human societies modify the physical environment and adapt to environmental change, including the role of technological innovation and development in the creation and solution of environmental problems.
  7. Analyze the effects of physical factors such as climate and topography on the development and characteristics of human societies.
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of the causes and effects of current environmental problems such as global warming and tropical deforestation.
  9. Examine how geographic factors have influenced historical events and developments.
Competency 011—Understand human systems.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the linguistic, social, religious, economic, and political features of contemporary cultural groups in major world regions.
  2. Analyze the diffusion of ideas, beliefs, and cultural traits from one culture to another.
  3. Examine historical and contemporary patterns of human settlement and how human settlements have changed over time.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the distribution of the world's human population, the reasons for population growth and decline, the causes and consequences of human migrations, and contemporary trends in world population.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of how social institutions function within societies, including their roles in promoting socialization and maintaining social control.
  6. Analyze how cooperation and conflict shape cultural interactions, create political divisions, and influence control of the earth's resources.

 

Domain III—Government

Competency 012—Understand political science concepts, terms, perspectives, and research skills.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of basic political science terms and concepts, such as gerrymandering, enumerated and implied powers, sovereignty, judicial review, balance of power, and social contract theory.
  2. Analyze the emergence and spread of democratic and representative government.
  3. Recognize major characteristics of various systems of government, and similarities and differences between the political system of the United States and other contemporary and historical political systems.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics and uses of various political science reference sources and research tools.
  5. Interpret historical and contemporary political science information represented in various visual and graphic formats.
  6. Apply skills and procedures used in political science research, including formulating appropriate research questions, collecting and presenting information, and drawing conclusions.
Competency 013—Understand the foundations of U.S. government, the U.S. political process, and the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.

For example:

  1. Analyze major principles and ideas contained in key documents of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848, and the Gettysburg Address.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental principles, key articles, and significant amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
  3. Analyze the significance of landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, and United States v. Nixon.
  4. Examine the major features of the U.S. electoral system, the ways citizens participate in the political process, and the skills needed for effective participation in public affairs.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.
  6. Analyze developments and events in U.S. history that have increased or diminished individual rights and popular participation in the political process.
Competency 014—Understand the structure, organization, and operation of different levels of government in the United States.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the organization and responsibilities of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.
  2. Analyze the ways in which the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances influence the operation of the federal government.
  3. Examine how laws are enacted at the federal and state levels of government in the United States, including the role of lobbyists and special interest groups in the legislative process.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental features of the U.S. legal and criminal justice systems.
  5. Examine how U.S. foreign policy is made, the roles of the president and Congress in the foreign policy process, and factors influencing the formulation of U.S. foreign policy.
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of the structure and functions of state and local governments in the United States, and the ways in which federal, state, and local governments divide and share power and responsibility.

 

Domain IV—Economics

Competency 015—Understand basic economic concepts, microeconomics, and consumer economics and personal finance.

For example:

  1. Apply basic economic terms and concepts, such as scarcity, the laws of supply and demand, opportunity cost, economic incentives, inflation, and recession.
  2. Compare fundamental features of traditional, market, command, and mixed economic systems.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of the factors of production (i.e., land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship) and how they are combined to produce goods and services.
  4. Analyze the organization and operation of market economies, including the roles of entrepreneurs, competition, prices, and the laws of supply and demand.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of basic forms of business organization and of factors affecting business operations and decisions.
  6. Apply basic principles of consumer economics to accessing information, evaluating advertising claims and marketing promotions, making purchases, and utilizing consumer protection laws.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles of personal finance, budgeting, credit, and savings and investment.
Competency 016—Understand macroeconomics and international economics.

For example:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the major components of the U.S. economic system, including banks, financial markets, labor unions, corporations, and consumers.
  2. Analyze the causes and effects of unemployment, inflation and deflation, and factors influencing the business cycle.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of how fiscal policy influences economic activity.
  4. Recognize the functions of monetary policy and the role of the Federal Reserve System in regulating the nation's money supply and moderating inflation and recession.
  5. Analyze how government regulation influences financial and business operations, protects workers, and affects consumers.
  6. Analyze the reaction of the federal government to economic crises in U.S. history.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles of international economics and of factors influencing the operation of the international economic system.
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