Test Design and
Test Framework
Field 216: Business, Marketing, and Computer Education
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The test design below describes general test information. The framework that follows is a detailed outline that explains the knowledge and skills that this test measures.
Test Design
| Format | Computer-based test (CBT) |
|---|---|
| Number of Questions | 100 multiple-choice questions |
| Time* | 3 hours, 15 minutes |
| Passing Score | 240 |
*Does not include 15-minute CBT tutorial
Test Framework
Pie chart of approximate test weighting outlined in the table below.
| Test Subarea | Number of Test Objectives | Number of Scorable Items | Number of Non-Scorable Items | subarea weight as percent of total test score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subarea 1—Management, Law, and Ethics | 2 | 10 | 2 | 12 percent |
| Subarea 2—Accounting and Quantitative Analysis | 3 | 14 | 4 | 18 percent |
| Subarea 3—Economics, International Business, and Finance | 3 | 14 | 4 | 18 percent |
| Subarea 4—Marketing, Communication, and Entrepreneurship | 3 | 14 | 4 | 18 percent |
| Subarea 5—Career Development, Instruction, and Reading | 3 | 14 | 3 | 17 percent |
| Subarea 6—Computer Education | 3 | 14 | 3 | 17 percent |
| Totals | 17 | 80 | 20 | 100 percent |
Subarea 1—Management, Law, and Ethics
0001—Understand fundamental theories, functions, and procedures of business management.
For example:
- Analyze management functions, their implementation, and their application to various types of businesses and business situations.
- Identify major theories of management, their basic tenets, and their application to the successful operation of a business.
- Apply personal management skills (e.g., time management, communication, use of technology, networking, entrepreneurial thinking) necessary to function effectively in a business environment.
- Analyze data to make long-term and short-term managerial decisions and evaluate a business's competitive position within the industry.
- Demonstrate understanding of operations management principles and how to use these principles for developing an operations plan.
- Identify characteristics and the advantages and disadvantages of various business organizational structures.
- Identify responsibilities of human resource managers (e.g., recruiting, hiring, training, evaluating, and dismissing employees).
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role of organized labor, its interaction with management, and its influence on business and government.
- Recognize the effects of major business decisions on employees (e.g., corporate mergers, outsourcing, restructuring).
0002—Understand basic principles of business law and issues related to business ethics.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between law and ethics.
- Identify procedures for developing and applying a code of ethics.
- Identify the relationship between ethics and social responsibility in decision making.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the sources of law, the structure of the court system, and the differences between procedural and substantive law.
- Demonstrate knowledge of agency law, contract law, consumer law, and the law of sales as they relate to the conduct of business.
- Demonstrate knowledge of laws that apply to personal property, real property, and intellectual property.
- Demonstrate knowledge of environmental laws and energy use regulations and how they apply to business activities.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which advances in computer technology have influenced laws that affect business activities.
- Identify employee benefits, compensation, and laws related to human resource management (e.g., family medical leave, workplace safety, sexual harassment, antidiscrimination, disability).
Subarea 2—Accounting and Quantitative Analysis
0003—Understand accounting principles, the accounting cycle, and financial statements.
For example:
- Define accounting and explain the steps of the accounting cycle.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental accounting equation.
- Analyze source documents and describe the purpose of a journal and its relationship to the ledger.
- Explain the purpose of the closing process, journalizing and posting closing entries, and preparing a post closing trial balance.
- Prepare, interpret, and analyze financial statements (e.g., income statement, balance sheet).
- Demonstrate knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and their application for recording financial transactions and preparing financial statements.
- Apply accounting principles and financial statements for evaluating organizational performance and making sound business decisions.
0004—Understand procedures for determining the value of assets, liabilities, and owner's equity according to generally accepted accounting principles.
For example:
- Demonstrate understanding of appropriate valuation principles (e.g., depreciation) and the differences between assets, liabilities, and owner's equity.
- Explain the purposes of notes receivable and notes payable and apply procedures for maintaining the accounts receivable and payable subsidiary ledgers.
- Explain differences between fixed, variable, and mixed costs and the significance of these differences.
- Apply accounting procedures for calculating and analyzing cost, profit, and investment.
- Evaluate company performance by applying standard financial analyses.
0005—Understand basic techniques of quantitative analysis in business situations.
For example:
- Apply procedures for creating and interpreting charts and graphs containing economic and/or business information.
- Apply computational methods for analyzing and interpreting business data.
- Apply algebraic operations and statistical analysis for interpreting and analyzing business data.
- Apply procedures for reporting and interpreting quantitative aspects of case studies.
- Apply mathematical procedures for analyzing and solving business problems in areas such as taxation, savings and investment, cash management, sales, inventory records, and depreciation.
Subarea 3—Economics, International Business, and Finance
0006—Understand fundamental principles of economics, basic economic concepts, and the operation of the U.S. and other economies.
For example:
- Apply knowledge of basic economic concepts (e.g., scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand, competition, exchange, interdependence, diminishing returns, economies of scale) for describing how economies and businesses function.
- Identify basic features of different economic systems (e.g., market, command) and competitive structures (e.g., oligopoly, monopoly) and their roles in producing, pricing, and distributing goods and services.
- Identify major features of the U.S. economy (e.g., freedom of exchange, private property, incentives) and the roles of core institutions, markets, and pricing in influencing economic activity.
- Identify fiscal policies used by the federal government to regulate the economy.
- Identify monetary policies used by the Federal Reserve Bank to regulate the economy.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the business cycle and macroeconomic measures of economic activity (e.g., consumer price index, gross national product, unemployment rate).
- Recognize the importance of productivity and factors that affect productivity (e.g., specialization, division of labor, investment, technological change) within an economic system.
0007—Understand principles and practices in international business.
For example:
- Recognize the importance and role of economic relationships between nations and how they affect business at all levels.
- Identify trends and developments in international business (e.g., interdependence) and special challenges in operations, human resources, and strategic management in international business.
- Demonstrate knowledge of social, cultural, communication, political, legal, ethical, and economic factors affecting the international business environment.
- Recognize the role of major international economic institutions in the global economy (e.g., World Bank, International Monetary Fund [IMF], World Trade Organization [WTO]).
- Identify entrepreneurial opportunities available in international business and the advantages and challenges associated with each.
- Demonstrate knowledge of factors that affect trade (e.g., balance of trade, trade barriers, marketing challenges, exchange rates, risk management, comparative and absolute advantage) and how international trade affects nations and businesses.
0008—Understand principles and practices of business and personal finance.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of factors that affect corporate finances and how financial data are used for making business decisions.
- Demonstrate knowledge of sources for business financing and the use of long-term and short-term credit.
- Apply knowledge and skills related to personal finance (e.g., earning income, budgeting, saving, paying taxes) and strategies for decision making when purchasing goods and services.
- Recognize the roles and characteristics of checking and savings options offered by financial institutions and different types of investment vehicles (e.g., stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts).
- Analyze factors that affect the choice of credit, the cost of credit, and the legal aspects of using credit.
- Analyze choices available to consumers for protection against risk and financial loss.
- Explain the financial implications of marriage, divorce, and child custody.
Subarea 4—Marketing, Communication, and Entrepreneurship
0009—Understand the principles of marketing, procedures for making marketing decisions, and the selling process.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the nature and role of marketing and its effect on individuals, businesses, and society.
- Analyze the influence of external factors on marketing (e.g., market demographics, government regulation, economic environment, technological advances).
- Identify the tools of market segmentation.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the elements, design, and purpose of a marketing plan.
- Demonstrate knowledge of product development and product distribution and their roles in the marketing mix.
- Demonstrate knowledge of product pricing and promotion and their roles in the marketing mix.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the steps involved in the selling process.
- Describe ways cultural differences, both domestic and international, affect marketing activities.
0010—Understand communication and human relations skills.
For example:
- Apply basic communication soft skills and techniques in a variety of business and professional situations.
- Apply effective listening and oral communication skills in a variety of business situations.
- Demonstrate knowledge of business customs, etiquette, and communication styles of various cultures.
- Demonstrate knowledge of effective written communication and formats for preparing various types of business communications.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the use of technology in business communications.
0011—Understand principles and procedures related to entrepreneurship.
For example:
- Recognize the characteristics and functions of entrepreneurs and assess the risks and rewards of owning a business.
- Identify the characteristics and advantages and disadvantages of the major forms of business ownership.
- Apply concepts, knowledge, and procedures necessary to start a business.
- Demonstrate knowledge of financing sources for starting a business.
- Identify procedures for developing a business plan for entrepreneurial ventures.
- Recognize issues and procedures involved in buying and operating a franchise business.
Subarea 5—Career Development, Instruction, and Reading
0012—Understand business careers and career development.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of personal characteristics, abilities, and skills for succeeding in the workplace and the importance of workplace expectations to career development.
- Apply strategies for helping students develop a comprehensive set of goals and a career development plan.
- Identify transferrable competencies and job-specific skills related to career and job options.
- Demonstrate knowledge of career resources for projecting career opportunities and trends.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the career-planning process, strategies for locating career opportunities, and the use of effective pre-employment communications.
- Identify the benefits of school and community involvement in career development.
- Apply strategies for helping students make the transition from school to work and understand the importance of lifelong learning.
0013—Understand how to plan, deliver, and evaluate instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter in the content area of business, marketing, and computer education.
For example:
- Apply instructional strategies that promote students' understanding of concepts in business-related fields.
- Apply instructional strategies that meet the needs of diverse learners.
- Apply strategies for selecting and using technological tools in an elective, ethical, and legal manner.
- Use relevant information, resources, and research, including professional standards, to design curriculum and assessment.
- Apply strategies for developing and maintaining collaboration with students, colleagues, community members, business/industry, and parents/guardians.
- Apply strategies for designing curricula and assessments for promoting students' skills and knowledge required for success in the workplace.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the goals and functions of student organizations, the roles of advisors to such organizations, and strategies for fostering student leadership skills.
- Apply strategies for participating in professional organizations and developing a plan for continued personal and professional growth.
0014—Understand the process of reading and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' reading development in the content area of business, marketing, and computer education.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of how to provide purposeful opportunities for students to read, write about, and discuss content in order to improve their understanding.
- Demonstrate knowledge of how to incorporate relevant literature in the curriculum and encourage students' independent reading, research, and inquiry related to business education.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role of vocabulary understanding in supporting students' reading comprehension and concept development and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' discipline-specific vocabulary development.
- Apply knowledge of strategies for preparing students to read text effectively and for teaching and modeling the use of comprehension strategies.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for developing students' ability to comprehend and critically analyze discipline-specific texts, including using graphic organizers; analyzing and summarizing an author's argument, claims, evidence, and point of view; evaluating the credibility of sources; and synthesizing multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for evaluating, selecting, modifying, and designing reading materials appropriate to the academic task and students' reading abilities (e.g., analyzing instructional materials in terms of readability, content, length, format, illustrations, and other pertinent factors).
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for providing continuous monitoring of students' reading progress through observations, work samples, and various informal assessments and for differentiating business education instruction to address all students' assessed reading needs.
Subarea 6—Computer Education
0015—Understand basic computer technology principles, terminology, and keyboarding applications.
For example:
- Analyze the impact of information technology on business, society, and global information sharing.
- Demonstrate the ability to use technology for gathering, evaluating, and using information and for communicating, collaborating, conducting research, and solving problems.
- Identify computer terminology and current and emerging computer hardware components and peripherals (e.g., input/output devices).
- Develop proper input techniques used to generate text and data (e.g., keyboarding, voice, virtual reality).
- Demonstrate knowledge of how to evaluate, select, use, and troubleshoot various types of hardware and peripheral equipment.
0016—Understand principles and procedures related to computer software, programming, and information management.
For example:
- Identify the features and functions of different types of productivity software and their uses in business.
- Apply procedures for evaluating, selecting, and using various types of software, including application software.
- Demonstrate understanding of the logic of programming; the steps in program design and the programming process; how to develop, code, enter, and run computer programs; and how to recognize and locate common programming errors.
- Recognize characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of different programming languages and the properties and uses of data types and variables.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics and uses of conditional and repetitive control structures.
- Apply knowledge of loops and conditionals in computer programming.
0017—Understand principles and procedures related to computer networks and the Internet and the maintenance, security, ethics, and integrity of technology systems.
For example:
- Demonstrate knowledge of terminology and concepts related to computer networks and the characteristics of local area networks (LANS), wide area networks (WANS), and wireless configurations.
- Identify basic structure and features of the Internet, network protocols, and concepts related to data transfer on the Internet.
- Demonstrate knowledge of security, privacy, and risk management related to information systems, networks, and the Internet.
- Demonstrate knowledge of issues related to legal and ethical use of computer technology and intellectual property rights when dealing with electronic data and information.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for selecting and acquiring computer hardware, software, and peripherals.