A kindergarten teacher observes a student performing the overhand throw. The student swings the arm upward and back with the elbow flexed, rotates the trunk slightly toward the throwing side, and steps forward with the foot on the same side as the throwing arm. Which of the following best describes this student's throwing pattern?

The elementary stage of the fundamental movement phase

The transitional stage of the specialized movement phase

The initial stage of the fundamental movement phase

The mature stage of the fundamental movement phase

In a standard indoor volleyball match, a front-row player blocks an opponent's spike at the net, and the ball drops on the blocker's own side. The same player then passes the ball to a teammate, who sets it for a third teammate to attack over the net. Which of the following is the correct ruling?

Play continues, because a block does not count as one of the team's three hits

The team loses the rally, because the blocker contacted the ball twice in succession

The team loses the rally, because the block counted and the attack was a fourth hit

The rally is replayed, because a blocked ball that stays on the blocker's side is dead

A teacher removes the standing toe touch performed with straight knees from the class warm-up. This exercise is considered contraindicated primarily because it

places excessive stress on the ligaments and discs of the lower back

places excessive stress on the tendons and bursae of the shoulder joint

shortens the hamstrings and reduces range of motion at the hip joint

overloads the quadriceps and reduces the stability of the knee joint

A middle school teacher pairs students for a badminton lesson on the overhead clear. One partner performs while the other observes with a criteria sheet and gives feedback; then they switch. While circulating, the teacher speaks with the observers and does not correct the performers directly. Which of the following best explains the teacher's reason for communicating only with the observers?

It preserves the observer's role as the source of feedback for the partner

It keeps the performers moving so that activity time is not interrupted

It allows the teacher to grade the observers on their own skill performance

It lets the performers discover the critical elements without any feedback

A middle school physical education department is reviewing how its classes are organized to be sure they are consistent with Title IX. Which of the following practices is consistent with the law?

Grouping students within coeducational classes by skill, using objective standards applied without regard to sex

Scheduling separate boys' and girls' sections for every unit so that instruction can be delivered more efficiently

Giving boys priority in selecting activity electives in the years when more boys than girls enroll in the course

Assigning girls to the dance unit and boys to the weight training unit when both are offered in the same period

Grade 3 students, most of them 8 or 9 years old, have mature throwing, catching, and running patterns and are beginning to combine and apply these skills in a wide variety of lead-up activities. They are eager to try every activity offered and have not yet begun to choose or specialize in particular sports. According to the phases of motor development, these students are best described as being in which of the following?

The transitional stage of the specialized movement phase

The lifelong utilization stage of the specialized movement phase

The mature stage of the fundamental movement phase

The application stage of the specialized movement phase

In a standard game of pickleball, the server hits a legal serve, and the receiver lets it bounce and returns it. A player on the serving team moves forward and hits that return out of the air before it bounces, while standing behind the non-volley zone. Which of the following is the correct ruling?

A fault on the serving team, because the return of serve must bounce before it is hit

A legal shot, because only the serve itself is required to bounce before it is hit

A legal shot, because the player was standing behind the non-volley zone at contact

A fault on the receiving team, because the return of serve was not allowed to bounce

An elementary teacher gives fourth-grade students pedometers for a two-week unit. Which of the following uses of the pedometers is most appropriate?

Having each student find a baseline step count and set a personal goal to raise it

Having the class post daily step counts by name so that students compete for first place

Having each student use step counts to judge whether activity intensity is vigorous

Having each student reach the same step total in every lesson to earn full credit

A middle school teacher uses the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model. During a fitness circuit, a student completes every station without reminders, sets a personal target at each one, and records the results, but does not interact with or assist classmates. The student's behavior best represents which of the following levels of the model?

Self-direction, working independently toward personal goals

Caring and leadership, supporting the learning of classmates

Participation and effort, trying tasks under teacher direction

Respect, controlling behavior so that others are able to learn

A ninth-grade student with type 1 diabetes performs at grade level and does not need specially designed instruction, but must check blood glucose and sometimes eat a snack during physical education. Which of the following is the most appropriate means of documenting and providing these supports?

A Section 504 plan, because the student needs accommodations but not special education

An individualized education program, because a medical diagnosis qualifies a student for one

A physician's note each semester, because federal law does not cover health conditions

An adapted physical education placement, because the condition limits vigorous activity

TExES Physical Education EC-12 (258)

Free TExES Physical Edu 258 Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the TExES Physical Education EC-12 (258), with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Movement Knowledge and Skills, Health-Related Fitness, The Physical Education Program, Educating All Learners and Professional Practice.

Question 1 · Movement Knowledge and Skills
A kindergarten teacher observes a student performing the overhand throw. The student swings the arm upward and back with the elbow flexed, rotates the trunk slightly toward the throwing side, and steps forward with the foot on the same side as the throwing arm. Which of the following best describes this student's throwing pattern?
- A.The transitional stage of the specialized movement phase
- B.The elementary stage of the fundamental movement phase
- C.The initial stage of the fundamental movement phase
- D.The mature stage of the fundamental movement phase
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. The elementary stage of the fundamental movement phase
A step with the foot on the same side as the throwing arm, combined with some preparatory arm swing and limited trunk rotation, marks the elementary stage, in which coordination is improving but the pattern is still restricted. The initial stage shows a pushing action from the elbow with stationary feet and no rotation. The mature stage requires an opposite-foot step with sequential hip, trunk, and arm rotation.
Question 2 · Movement Knowledge and Skills
In a standard indoor volleyball match, a front-row player blocks an opponent's spike at the net, and the ball drops on the blocker's own side. The same player then passes the ball to a teammate, who sets it for a third teammate to attack over the net. Which of the following is the correct ruling?
- A.The team loses the rally, because the blocker contacted the ball twice in succession
- B.The team loses the rally, because the block counted and the attack was a fourth hit
- C.The rally is replayed, because a blocked ball that stays on the blocker's side is dead
- D.Play continues, because a block does not count as one of the team's three hits
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Play continues, because a block does not count as one of the team's three hits
In indoor volleyball a block is not counted as a team hit, so the team still has three contacts after it, and the blocker may legally make the first of them. The pass, set, and attack are therefore hits one, two, and three. Treating the block as the first hit or as a double contact is a common error; the block counts as a team hit only in the beach game.
Question 3 · Health-Related Fitness
A teacher removes the standing toe touch performed with straight knees from the class warm-up. This exercise is considered contraindicated primarily because it
- A.places excessive stress on the ligaments and discs of the lower back
- B.places excessive stress on the tendons and bursae of the shoulder joint
- C.shortens the hamstrings and reduces range of motion at the hip joint
- D.overloads the quadriceps and reduces the stability of the knee joint
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. places excessive stress on the ligaments and discs of the lower back
Hanging forward from the hips with the knees locked places the weight of the trunk on the ligaments and discs of the lumbar spine and can hyperextend the knees. A safer alternative is a seated or back-saver hamstring stretch. The exercise does not load the shoulder or the quadriceps, and it stretches rather than shortens the hamstrings; the hazard lies in the spinal position.
Question 4 · The Physical Education Program
A middle school teacher pairs students for a badminton lesson on the overhead clear. One partner performs while the other observes with a criteria sheet and gives feedback; then they switch. While circulating, the teacher speaks with the observers and does not correct the performers directly. Which of the following best explains the teacher's reason for communicating only with the observers?
- A.It keeps the performers moving so that activity time is not interrupted
- B.It allows the teacher to grade the observers on their own skill performance
- C.It lets the performers discover the critical elements without any feedback
- D.It preserves the observer's role as the source of feedback for the partner
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. It preserves the observer's role as the source of feedback for the partner
In the reciprocal style of the spectrum of teaching styles, the observer is responsible for giving feedback against the teacher's criteria, so the teacher talks with the observer about what was seen and said. Correcting the performer directly would take over that role and weaken the social and analytical purpose of the style. Maintaining activity time is a side benefit, not the reason, and performers still receive feedback from their partners.
Question 5 · The Physical Education Program
A middle school physical education department is reviewing how its classes are organized to be sure they are consistent with Title IX. Which of the following practices is consistent with the law?
- A.Grouping students within coeducational classes by skill, using objective standards applied without regard to sex
- B.Scheduling separate boys' and girls' sections for every unit so that instruction can be delivered more efficiently
- C.Giving boys priority in selecting activity electives in the years when more boys than girls enroll in the course
- D.Assigning girls to the dance unit and boys to the weight training unit when both are offered in the same period
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Grouping students within coeducational classes by skill, using objective standards applied without regard to sex
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, so physical education classes are generally coeducational. Grouping by ability is allowed when it rests on objective standards of individual performance applied without regard to sex. Routinely separate sections, assigning units by sex, and giving one sex priority in course selection all deny equal opportunity. Separation is permitted only in limited cases, such as during participation in contact sports.
Question 6 · Movement Knowledge and Skills
Grade 3 students, most of them 8 or 9 years old, have mature throwing, catching, and running patterns and are beginning to combine and apply these skills in a wide variety of lead-up activities. They are eager to try every activity offered and have not yet begun to choose or specialize in particular sports. According to the phases of motor development, these students are best described as being in which of the following?
- A.The lifelong utilization stage of the specialized movement phase
- B.The mature stage of the fundamental movement phase
- C.The transitional stage of the specialized movement phase
- D.The application stage of the specialized movement phase
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The transitional stage of the specialized movement phase
In the specialized movement phase, the transitional stage (about ages 7 to 10) is marked by first attempts to combine and apply mature fundamental skills in lead-up activities, with interest spread across many activities. The application stage follows at about ages 11 to 13, when students begin narrowing their choices to particular sports based on ability and interest, and lifelong utilization comes later. The mature stage refers to single fundamental skills, not their combination in games.
Question 7 · Movement Knowledge and Skills
In a standard game of pickleball, the server hits a legal serve, and the receiver lets it bounce and returns it. A player on the serving team moves forward and hits that return out of the air before it bounces, while standing behind the non-volley zone. Which of the following is the correct ruling?
- A.A legal shot, because only the serve itself is required to bounce before it is hit
- B.A legal shot, because the player was standing behind the non-volley zone at contact
- C.A fault on the receiving team, because the return of serve was not allowed to bounce
- D.A fault on the serving team, because the return of serve must bounce before it is hit
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. A fault on the serving team, because the return of serve must bounce before it is hit
Under the two-bounce rule, the serve must bounce before the receiver hits it, and the return of serve must also bounce before the serving team hits it. Only after those two bounces may either team volley. Standing behind the non-volley zone satisfies a different rule and does not make the shot legal. The receiver did let the serve bounce, so the receiving team committed no fault.
Question 8 · Health-Related Fitness
An elementary teacher gives fourth-grade students pedometers for a two-week unit. Which of the following uses of the pedometers is most appropriate?
- A.Having each student find a baseline step count and set a personal goal to raise it
- B.Having the class post daily step counts by name so that students compete for first place
- C.Having each student use step counts to judge whether activity intensity is vigorous
- D.Having each student reach the same step total in every lesson to earn full credit
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Having each student find a baseline step count and set a personal goal to raise it
Pedometers count steps, a measure of activity volume, and they are most effective when students establish a personal baseline and set individual goals to increase it. Step counts do not indicate intensity, because slow and fast steps register alike. Public rankings and a single required total ignore differences in stride length and fitness and can discourage the students who most need encouragement.
Question 9 · The Physical Education Program
A middle school teacher uses the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model. During a fitness circuit, a student completes every station without reminders, sets a personal target at each one, and records the results, but does not interact with or assist classmates. The student's behavior best represents which of the following levels of the model?
- A.Caring and leadership, supporting the learning of classmates
- B.Participation and effort, trying tasks under teacher direction
- C.Respect, controlling behavior so that others are able to learn
- D.Self-direction, working independently toward personal goals
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Self-direction, working independently toward personal goals
The model's levels progress from respect for the rights and feelings of others, to participation and effort, to self-direction, to caring and leadership, and finally to transfer outside the gymnasium. Working without supervision, setting personal goals, and monitoring progress define self-direction. The student has moved beyond effort under teacher direction but has not yet shown the helping behaviors that characterize caring and leadership.
Question 10 · The Physical Education Program
A ninth-grade student with type 1 diabetes performs at grade level and does not need specially designed instruction, but must check blood glucose and sometimes eat a snack during physical education. Which of the following is the most appropriate means of documenting and providing these supports?
- A.An individualized education program, because a medical diagnosis qualifies a student for one
- B.A physician's note each semester, because federal law does not cover health conditions
- C.A Section 504 plan, because the student needs accommodations but not special education
- D.An adapted physical education placement, because the condition limits vigorous activity
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A Section 504 plan, because the student needs accommodations but not special education
Section 504 protects students whose physical or mental impairment substantially limits a major life activity and guarantees accommodations that provide equal access, even when the student does not need special education. An individualized education program under IDEA requires both a qualifying disability and a need for specially designed instruction, which this student does not have. Diabetes does not prevent vigorous activity, and federal civil rights law does cover health conditions.

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