If you are enrolled in college and pursuing a degree in education, you will likely need to take multiple lower-level courses before you can move on to more challenging material. But what if you already know that introductory information?
You could be a good candidate for DSST testing. The DSST Foundations of Education exam will help you earn college credit for what you already know. If this sounds like something you might want to do, you should make an appointment with your academic advisor to see whether your college or university accepts DSST testing. You can register for the DSST Foundations of Education exam with any college that delivers DSST exams.
Even though DSST exams are designed to measure what you already know, you should take time to review material that could appear on the exam. A DSST Foundations of Education study guide is the best way to start, as it provides a detailed outline of what will be on the exam, in addition to sample questions and suggestions for further reference.
The DSST Foundations of Education exam covers three broad topics of education:
- Contemporary Issues in Education
- Past and Current Influences on Education
- Interrelationships between contemporary issues and influences, past or current, in education. Most of the questions (43%) regard Contemporary Issues in Education, covering areas such as equity, governance, curriculum, morality/character, and professional issues.
One of the best ways to study for the DSST Foundations of Education exam is to compare a detailed outline from the study guide with the chapter outlines of textbooks, and study what matches up.
Most testing centers deliver the Internet-based DSST exam, although some still offer a pencil-and-paper version. The cost for the exam and associated fees usually comes to under $100, much less than you would pay for college credit earned in the classroom.
DSST Foundations of Education Practice Questions
1. According to author Joel Spring, one of the reasons for the development of nineteenth century common (public) schools was
A. to train young children to become culture warriors
B. to make it easier to acquire Native American lands
C. to ensure the dominance of Anglo-American values
D. to acclimate Irish immigrants to their new country
2. One of the components schools use to affect to the economy is
I. lower wages for teachers
II. standardized tests
III. corporate sponsorships
IV. ability grouping in elementary school classrooms
A. I, II and III only
B. I, III, and IV only
C. II and III only
D. II and IV only
3. The Head Start program was
A. one of the government’s War on Poverty programs started during the 1960s
B. a program designed to help non-English speaking students prepare for high school
C. a mandatory college preparatory program
D. a government program started in the 1980s to end hunger in public schools
4. In what way did the American Revolution change the purpose of the public education system?
I. The American Revolution succeeded in wiping out poverty
II. The American Revolution made Americans more aware of their religious roots
III. The American Revolution created jobs for children, taking them out of school
IV. The American Revolution taught Americans the importance of establishing unified colleges
A. I only
B. II and IV only
C. III
D. None of the above
5. Noah Webster and other post-Revolutionary leaders emphasized the importance of educating virtuous citizens who
I. would be patriotic Americans
II. would exercise their freedom responsibly
III. might one day become political leaders
IV. would see the need to expand public education
A. I, II and III only
B. I, II and IV only
C. II and III only
D. III and IV only
6. One of the social purposes of education is
I. to identify cultural weaknesses
II. to give government first choice of excelling students
III. to provide a means for selecting and educating future leaders
IV. to provide activities that will occupy children during the workday
A. I and II only
B. III only
C. IV only
D. None of the above
7. Unlike Noah Webster, Thomas Jefferson did not think education should be used to promote political values and mold virtuous citizens. Instead, Jefferson believed that
I. education should be available for the average citizen
II. students should be taught to form their own political beliefs through reason
III. the best political education came from reading history and newspapers
IV. future leaders should be identified early and educated all the way through college
A. I, II and III only
B. I, II and IV only
C. II, III and IV only
D. All of the above
8. Equality of educational opportunity refers to
I. providing quality education
II. giving all people the opportunity to attend any school they desire
III. providing everyone an equal opportunity to receive an education
IV. giving students equal opportunities in the classroom
A. I and IV only
B. III and IV only
C. II and III only
D. III only
9. In 1895 the U.S. Supreme Court initially interpreted the “equal protection” of the Fourteenth Amendment to also mean
A. segregated but equal
B. separate but fair
C. separate but equal
D. equal but safe
10. In order to enforce the desegregation of public schools, the Civil Rights Act of 1964
A. required a mandatory head count of students in each public school, categorized by race
B. required federal funding to be distributed evenly to facilitate the desegregation process
C. required all public schools undergoing integration to restructure their curriculum
D. required the mandatory withholding of federal funds from those schools that continued to segregate races
DSST Foundations of Education Practice Questions Answer Key