This is probably a long shot, but I’ll ask anyway.
I’m going to be starting a teaching licensure program. One of the requirements Oregon has is that I must pass this 60 question test called Protecting Student and Civil Rights in the Educational Environment. I looked at the sample questions in the link, and while they aren’t absurdly easy, I was able to think about each question - “which answer makes the most sense?” - and I got 9 of 10 correct.
I’m curious if anyone has taken this test. Do I need to study for this thing?
I got certified to teach in Oregon a few years ago (and ORELA was the name of one of the tests), so I’m assuming this is just a smaller section of the ORELA exam, because the name you’ve provided isn’t ringing any particular bells with me.
The entire ORELA exam(s) is(are) a FUCKING joke. And if you can’t pass the ORELA being shitfaced drunk, blindfolded, while a weasel claws off your balls, you don’t belong in a classroom (that’s how stupidly easy it is).
The idea that the ORELA exam weeds anyone out of teaching is extremely sad. I think it’s just a way for these licensing boards to make extra money.
So, you should be fine.
(The PRAXIS exams, should you be required to take them, actually might require a few neurons firing in order to pass, and I’d recommend taking them a bit more seriously. But only a bit)
I’m pretty sure this civil rights exam is a new thing, only since '09 or '10.
I did take the basic Praxis exams a couple of years ago, and it was a joke. Without studying I got a near perfect score. I also have to take an NES content specialty exam, for math, which has me a little nervous only because it’s 150 questions in 3 hours and 45 minutes - that’s 90 seconds per question. I’m worried that if the whole test consists of problems that have to be worked out, getting stuck on one question will put me behind on the rest of the test.
I was visiting a relative and happened to look at a licensure study guide that one of their friends had. It was a child care certification sort of thing - not school teaching. There were some questions about common household illnesses like symptoms of the common cold that might require some memorization, but a lot of the questions were just common sense and picking the answer that resulted in increased disclosure to parents, supervisors, and regulators and reduced risks of harm to children as much as reasonably possible without being obsessive compusive was almost always the right one. Always remove broken glass from playpens and notify your supervisor if a child has already injured themself stepping in it. Don’t falsify paperwork.
I’m concerned about taking the math portion of the ORELA. I’m RIDICULOUSLY bad at math and have never taken geometry or statistics. I wasn’t required for my undergraduate degree.
I don’t mean to sound rude, but honestly, if you can’t pass the ORELA math portion, I really don’t think you belong in the classroom, even if you won’t be teaching math. Find some ORELA practice exams and study hard and do your best. If you don’t pass it, take it as a sign that you should probably find something else to do with your life.
Get a book or study guide and work through it. I took my GREs at 29, having not taken a math class since I barely squeaked through Algebra 2 more than a decade ago. Yes, it’s basically high school math, but I had to learn it entirely from scratch, and hadn’t really ever learned it the first time.
Anyway, I slowly and diligently worked through a couple GRE math books, working an hour or two a day, and my scores were fine. None of this stuff requires brilliance, and you can brute force your way through it.
Teachers have a certain set of legal and ethical obligations that they need to be aware of, is all.
Anyway, ConstantlyQuestioning, follow drewtwo’s advice. That exam isn’t going to be college-level math. It’s mostly going to be, “does this guy know how numbers work?” math. A little bit of review should be fine, but if you want to be certain you can go to your local bookstore and choose from any number of study guides with CDs and practice tests.
A basic understanding of civil rights is absolutely necessary to be able to teach effectively. You’d be astonished by the number of teachers who think it’s okay to proselytize their religious beliefs or political views. Or the teachers who think it’s okay to treat boys and girls differently. Or the administrators who think it’s okay to censor student publications or forbid student events based on something that ends up being a protected class.
If a person cannot prove they understand that student civil rights are to be protected, they have no business in a classroom.
It literally is that. It’s like… the most basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There is no algebra or anything on it. At least, when I took it.
There were literally questions like:
Which number is largest in the following list?
A) 2.0100
B) 2.0001
C) 2.1010
D) 2.1100
If you fail the ORELA you are a moron, it’s just that simple.
Such bullshit. The ORELA is the northern version of the CBEST, and anybody who can’t pass it (as noted above, in better words than I could ever come up with) “shitfaced drunk, blindfolded, while a weasel claws off your balls” shouldn’t be allowed to breed, much less become a teacher. While passing it doesn’t mean you can teach, flunking it means you shouldn’t. You can teach classroom management. You can’t fix stupid.
Glad you agree, and I’m not the only one!!!
Oh I had to take the CBEST too, believe it or not, before the ORELA. And the ORELA was about this much harder than the CBEST. That is to say, I didn’t study one iota for either and passed both handily, and walked out of each very, very early.
The CBEST and ORELA exist for one purpose only: to wrest as much money from people as possible as they slog their way through the ridiculous bureaucracy involved becoming a teacher.
I’m so glad I’m not a teacher anymore.
But I will reiterate it for the record: the ORELA was a joke when I took it. Maybe it’s harder now than before. …maybe.