PRAXIS II Business Education Exam

The Business Education exam is a tool used to measure the basic knowledge of potential high school business teachers that encompasses a range of topics associated with business and business education. This exam is made up of 120 multiple choice questions and is administered over a 2 hour period. There will be seven areas of questioning and the questions are divided as follows:

• 24 questions covering Professional Business Education
• 20 questions covering Processing Information
• 17 questions covering Money Management
• 17 questions covering Office Procedures and Management, Communications, and Employability Skills
• 17 questions covering Accounting and Marketing
• 13 questions covering Business and Its Environment
• 12 questions covering United States Economic Systems

The portion of the exam covering Professional Business Education will include questioning on a wide variety of topics. Some of these topics include the purpose of business education, current methods of teaching, curriculum that is presently taught, lesson planning, ways of managing a classroom, and organizations for students.

A few of the topics that will be on the exam under the category of Processing Information are word processing and keyboarding; spreadsheets; graphics; and information that is typically processed, such as medical transcriptions or statistics.

The questions pertaining to the Money Management category will focus on the math and formulas used specifically in business, such as interest rates; topics associated with the education of consumers, such as consumer rights; and the subject matter of finance.

The Office Procedures and Management, Communications, and Employability Skills category concentrates on procedures and management in an office, such as recordkeeping; areas of communication associated with business, including oral and written, as well as telecommunications; and employment skills, such how to fill out applications and search for jobs.

For the Accounting and Marketing category, the questions regarding marketing will cover topics including buying and distribution, while the accounting questions will cover documents and systems of accounting.

The area of Business and Its Environment includes topics such as ethics, measuring productivity, evaluating workers, as well as questions regarding legal issues such as bankruptcy and insurance.

A few examples of topics that will be questioned in the category of United States Economic Systems are economic principles, government and banking, and free enterprise.

Since most individuals who take this exam have a degree in education, not in business, it is understood that some questions will be answered incorrectly.

PRAXIS II Business Education Practice Questions

1. To be effective, a businessperson should avoid:

A. choosing issues carefully
B. setting attainable objectives
C. considering the human impact
D. demanding compliance
E. developing workable solutions

2. Contracts must:

A. be a legally binding promise
B. be a verbal agreement and a handshake
C. be regulated by statute and common law
D. require all signers be of legal age
E. All of the above

3. An effective marketing campaign must be:

A. planned
B. well-written
C. professionally produced
D. accurate and factual
E. All of the above

4. Which of the following is usually not part of a budget?

A. Headcount
B. Employees' names
C. Funds availability
D. Allocations for purchase of large ticket items
E. Authorization authority

5. International business ethics is affected by:

A. cultural traditions
B. religious influences
C. different standards
D. outsourcing
E. All of the above

Answer Key For Business Education

1. Answer: D

To be an effective businessperson, one must be able to make decisions and solve problems; the two characteristics are closely related. Both require creativity, the ability to identify issues and options, and effectively implement solutions. A businessperson must choose issues carefully, set attainable objectives, develop workable solutions, and enlist the support of those involved in and affected by the change. Whatever decision-making process is used, an effective businessperson always considers the reason for the change, how people will be affected, and the probable consequences of the action. To do anything less will impact the end results and ultimately affect the bottom line.

2. Answer: E

A contract is a legally binding promise that explains what each party (person) agrees to do, to provide or to act on in exchange for adequate consideration. Adequate consideration is the benefit(s) the person can reasonably expect to receive if he agrees to the contract. It may be a written document or a verbal agreement and a handshake.

Both versions are recognized and enforced by the states' legal systems and the federal judiciary. Contracts are usually regulated by state statutes, common law (judge-made rulings), and private law. Private law covers the terms of the agreement between the people making the promise(s). In some states, private law may take precedence over state or common law. Contracts should never be entered into unless all parties understand the entire agreement. In order for the contract to be legally binding, all signers must be of legal age (in most states eighteen) and of sound mind (able to understand the terms of the agreement).

3. Answer: E

Effective marketing can have a profound effect on a business. Conveying the appropriate image is critical in today's global, competitive marketplace. Marketing of all types is expensive (some more than others), so if the campaign is not planned in detail, well written, and produced in a professional manner, the impact will be negative and a waste of money.

The first rule of any marketing campaign is to always respect the target audience-never talk down to them and never insult their intelligence with wild promises and ridiculous claims. The astute consumer will see the message for what it is and isn't anyway. The marketer should strive to develop a reputation for accurate, factual advertising. This will make it easier to attract clients and keep qualified buyers coming back. A potential seller or buyer may not need the services at the time he sees, hears, or reads the advertising piece, but if the message is clear and concise, it will be remembered when services are needed.

4. Answer: B

Many people consider budgets a waste of time because they rarely reflect reality. But there has to be some kind of plan showing how funds are allocated. The budget determines what funds will be available and when, how they will be spent, by whom and on what, and who will authorize the expenditures.

A PERSONNEL BUDGET is based on headcount. Generally, personnel costs are sixty to seventy percent of a budget plan, so headcount must be accurate and all associated costs included.

An OPERATING BUDGET includes costs associated with running a business. Some are fixed, some vary from month to month, but all must be budgeted. Most operating budgets are based on two to five years of historical data.

A CAPITAL BUDGET allocates funds for large ticket items. Many items considered capital expenses are depreciated on some sort of schedule, i.e. over three, five, or seven years. In some cases, the Internal Revenue Service sets the depreciation schedule.

5. Answer: E

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines ethics as "a set of principles of right conduct; a theory or system of moral values." Business ethics is applying this definition to an organization's or a country's approach to conducting affairs in the commercial arena Early on, business people did whatever was expedient to sell their goods and services and make a profit. Because of many factors, in the last few years, the international business community has been forced to take a look at some of its practices and find alternate ways of conducting commerce. The tricky issue is how to reconcile core values that may be very different in individual cultures. Issues being studied include:

• A search for accepted universal values
• Comparison of business traditions in different countries and cultures
• How religious perspectives affect commerce
• Varying standards, i.e., child labor, living wages, etc.
• Multinational groups outsourcing to take advantage of varying standards
• Conducting business with rogue governments