Guiding Candidate Test Preparation

The information available here can help faculty members who are assisting candidates in preparing to take a PECT assessment.

An academic advisor might suggest to a candidate that he or she take the following steps in preparing to take a PECT assessment:

1. Begin by completing the Test Preparation Worksheet, where candidates record their academic background, reason for testing, certification requirements, and testing history, and complete a checklist of preparation steps for testing.
2. Complete the mapping the test objectives to courses taken activity for the test the candidate will be taking. This activity involves having candidates review the test objectives and their coursework to date, and record on a worksheet whether their studies have covered the knowledge and skills described by each test objective.
3. Suggest the candidate meet with his or her academic advisor to review the completed worksheets and test preparation steps taken to date, and to obtain assistance in evaluating his or her readiness to test.

When meeting with a candidate to review the completed materials listed above, an academic advisor may wish to take the following steps:

1. Review pages 1–2 of the completed Test Preparation Worksheet to assess the candidate's academic background, reason for testing, certification requirements, and testing history.
2. Review the completed worksheet for mapping the test objectives to the courses the candidate has taken to determine if he or she has completed sufficient coursework to take the assessment. Each PECT assessment comprises two or more modules; the advisor may find that the candidate is prepared to take one module, but not all. In this case, if there are objectives for which the candidate has not completed coursework and demonstrated the skills being assessed, the advisor may wish to recommend that the candidate take additional courses before testing.
3. Review pages 3–4 of the completed Test Preparation Worksheet to guide the candidate in gathering and using PECT preparation materials and, if needed, learning or reviewing test content and test-taking strategies.

PECT Preparation Materials for Candidates

In addition to the processes described above, advisors may wish to review with candidates the official PECT preparation materials that are provided on this website. These materials include general test-taking strategies, test objectives, sample test questions, and a full-length practice test for every PECT assessment, along with a list of additional resources for further study.