Taking my DESE certification test in about six weeks and trying to figure out if I'm on track. I've been doing maybe 90 minutes a day on content knowledge and pedagogy sections, and my practice scores are hovering around 68-72%. Not sure if that's enough or if I need to seriously ramp things up.
The part that's tripping me up most is the curriculum design questions. I keep second-guessing myself between two plausible answers and end up picking wrong about 40% of the time on those. The foundational content stuff feels more solid — probably 80%+ on those sections consistently.
Has anyone taken this recently and can tell me what the passing threshold actually felt like going in? I've seen different numbers thrown around and the official docs aren't super clear.
The curriculum design questions are brutal — I missed 35% of them on practice exams and still passed. The trick is understanding the underlying instructional theory, not just memorizing frameworks. Spend a few days just on backwards design and you'll see improvement.
Just a heads up — the real exam felt harder than most of the free practice materials I found online. The official prep materials were much closer to the actual difficulty. Worth paying for if you haven't already.
I passed mine last fall after about eight weeks of prep, averaging around 75 minutes a day. My practice scores were in the low 70s two weeks out and I ended up passing comfortably. Don't freak out if you're not in the 80s on practice tests yet.
Six weeks is plenty of time if you're being consistent. I did it in four weeks at about 2 hours a day and passed on the first attempt. Focus on the areas under 70% and leave your strong sections alone.
Honestly, I almost bailed around the four-week mark because my scores were stuck in that exact same range and I was convinced I just wasn't going to pass. What actually helped me was getting really specific about where I was losing points -- for me it was the special ed components, so I drilled into stuff like dese special education iep development until it clicked. Once I stopped doing general review and started targeting my weak spots, my scores jumped about 8 points in two weeks.
68-72% at six weeks out isn't a disaster, you've got time. I'd say 90 minutes is fine if it's focused practice, but if you're just passively reading through content you're probably wasting half of it. I passed with two weeks to spare and I wasn't some genius studier -- I just got honest about what I didn't know and stopped avoiding it.
I was in almost the exact same spot six weeks out -- mid-70s on practice tests, studying about an hour and a half a day, convinced I was either fine or completely screwed. What actually pushed me over the edge wasn't grinding more content, it was getting specific about the weak spots. For me that was the special ed portion. I found a dese special education iep development practice test and spent a few targeted sessions on just that section, and it clicked way faster than I expected once I stopped mixing it in with everything else.
Your scores aren't bad at all for where you are right now. Six weeks is enough time if you're honest with yourself about what's actually dragging your percentage down. Don't just keep taking full-length tests and hoping the number creeps up -- pull apart your wrong answers by category and you'll see a pattern pretty quickly. That shift alone probably added 8-10 points to my final score.
Honestly, 68-72% six weeks out is pretty close to where I was and I ended up passing. What actually clicked for me was stopping the broad content review and zeroing in on the competency statements for the specific sections I kept missing. I'd been studying everything evenly but that wasn't working -- once I pulled up the actual DESE framework and treated it like a checklist, my scores jumped fast.
Your study time sounds fine, it's more about how you're using it. If you're just reading through material passively that's probably why the scores aren't moving much. Practice questions with immediate feedback, even just 20-30 at a time with real focus, did way more for me than longer review sessions. You've got enough time if you tighten it up now.
Honestly, I almost bailed two weeks before my test date. I was scoring right around where you are, maybe a little lower on the pedagogy stuff, and I just kept thinking there was no way I'd be ready in time. But I stuck with it, kept doing practice questions every day, and ended up passing with a score I was actually proud of. The 68-72% range isn't bad at this point in your prep, you've still got six weeks to close the gap.
The thing that helped me most wasn't studying longer, it was being honest about which sections I was actually weak in versus which ones just felt scary. I spent too much time early on reviewing stuff I already knew because it felt comfortable. Wasn't the smartest move. If you can drill down on your real weak spots for the next few weeks and keep taking those practice tests to track progress, I think you've got a real shot at it.
Honestly, I was in almost the exact same spot as you about three months ago and I nearly talked myself out of continuing. 68-72% felt like I was spinning my wheels, and I kept thinking maybe I just wasn't cut out for this. But here's the thing -- those scores were actually pretty normal for that stage. What helped me most was drilling down on the specific standards I kept missing instead of just redoing full practice tests. I spent a whole week on dese/questions/content area teaching standards 2 and it clicked something for me that general review never did.
Six weeks is enough if you're consistent. I'd say your 90 minutes is fine but make sure you're not just passively reading -- do active recall, write out explanations like you're teaching someone else. I passed on my first try and I wasn't scoring above 75% until about two weeks before the test. Don't give up on yourself yet.