Oklahoma History Professional Standards & Competencies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Oklahoma state agency is responsible for setting academic standards and certifying teachers?
- Oklahoma State Department of Education (Correct answer)
- Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education
- Oklahoma Board of Regents
- Oklahoma Educational Television Authority
Correct answer: Oklahoma State Department of Education
The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) oversees K-12 public education, sets academic standards, and manages teacher certification.
Question 2: What are the Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) for Social Studies designed to ensure students develop?
- Civic knowledge, geographic reasoning, historical thinking, and economic literacy (Correct answer)
- Standardized test scores above the national average
- Memorization of state capitals and dates
- Proficiency only in U.S. federal government structure
Correct answer: Civic knowledge, geographic reasoning, historical thinking, and economic literacy
The OAS for Social Studies emphasize integrated competencies including civic knowledge, geographic reasoning, historical thinking, and economic literacy.
Question 3: Under Oklahoma law, at which grade level is a dedicated Oklahoma History course typically required?
- 7th grade (Correct answer)
- 5th grade
- 9th grade
- 11th grade
Correct answer: 7th grade
Oklahoma state law mandates an Oklahoma History course as a graduation requirement, typically taught at the 7th grade level.
Question 4: Which Oklahoma legislation established the current framework for teacher evaluation and professional development accountability?
- Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) Evaluation System (Correct answer)
- No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
- Oklahoma Academic Improvement Act
- Race to the Top Initiative
Correct answer: Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) Evaluation System
The TLE Evaluation System is the state-mandated framework for evaluating teacher and leader effectiveness in Oklahoma public schools.
Question 5: What does the Marzano teacher evaluation framework, adopted by many Oklahoma districts, primarily emphasize?
- Research-based instructional strategies linked to student achievement (Correct answer)
- Standardized curriculum delivery with minimal deviation
- Administrative compliance and documentation over instruction
- Technology integration as the primary measure of effectiveness
Correct answer: Research-based instructional strategies linked to student achievement
The Marzano framework focuses on evidence-based instructional strategies that are directly correlated with improved student learning outcomes.
Question 6: Which competency is most critical for an Oklahoma History teacher when using primary sources from the early territorial period?
- Source analysis including context, corroboration, and close reading (Correct answer)
- Providing students with pre-summarized textbook versions only
- Limiting sources to those written by Oklahoma settlers
- Avoiding documents that present conflicting viewpoints
Correct answer: Source analysis including context, corroboration, and close reading
Historical thinking competency requires teachers to guide students in contextualizing, corroborating, and closely reading primary sources for authentic analysis.
Question 7: Professional standards for Oklahoma educators require that social studies teachers demonstrate content knowledge in which related disciplines?
- History, civics, geography, and economics (Correct answer)
- History and English language arts only
- History and natural sciences
- Civics and mathematics
Correct answer: History, civics, geography, and economics
Oklahoma's social studies teacher certification standards require demonstrated competency across history, civics, geography, and economics as integrated disciplines.
Which Oklahoma state agency is responsible for setting academic standards and certifying teachers?