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Section 3: Overview and Exam Framework
Marketing 6–12 (275)

Exam Overview

Table outlining the test format, number of questions, time, and passing score.
Exam Name Marketing 6–12
Exam Code 275
Time 5 hours
Number of Questions 100 selected-response questions
Format Computer-administered test (CAT)

The TExES Marketing 6–12 (275) exam is designed to assess whether an examinee has the requisite knowledge and skills that an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools must possess. The 100 selected-response questions are based on the Marketing 6–12 exam framework and cover grades 6–12. The exam may contain questions that do not count toward the score. Your final scaled score will be based only on scored questions

The Standards

Standard I

The marketing teacher understands and applies knowledge of the foundations of marketing, including principles and techniques related to business, economics, management and entrepreneurship.

Standard II

The marketing teacher understands and applies knowledge of marketing principles, concepts and techniques.

Standard III

The marketing teacher understands and applies principles, concepts and techniques related to international business and marketing.

Standard IV

The marketing teacher understands and applies knowledge of technological, quantitative, communication and career-development skills for the marketing sector.

Standard V

The marketing teacher knows how to advise and assist students in career planning and promote student development through work-based learning and participation in student organizations such as DECA.

Standard VI

The marketing teacher knows how to organize and manage an effective marketing education program and how to work with school, community and industry representatives to support the program.

Standard VII

The marketing teacher knows how to plan and implement effective and appropriate instruction and student assessment.

Domains and Competencies

Table outlining test content subject weighting by domain.
Domain Domain Title Approx. Percentage of Exam Standards Assessed
I Foundations of Marketing 25% Marketing 6–12: I
II Marketing Principles 33% Marketing 6–12: II, III
III Business Communication, Problem Solving and Technology 17% Marketing 6–12: I, II, IV
IV Marketing Education Program 25% Marketing 6–12: IV–VII
Pie chart of approximate test weighting, detailed in the table above.

The content covered by this exam is organized into broad areas of content called domains. Each domain covers one or more of the educator standards for this field. Within each domain, the content is further defined by a set of competencies. Each competency is composed of two major parts:

Domain I—Foundations of Marketing

Competency 001—The teacher understands business organization, management and concepts.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Identifies categories of business activity and how each activity is interdependent with marketing and evaluates organizational structures and their appropriateness for different types of businesses.
  2. Explains the impact of an international economy on business activities.
  3. Demonstrates knowledge of the history and characteristics of various industries and their significance and how they relate to today's marketplace.
  4. Understands functions of general business management (e.g., goal setting, planning, motivating), levels of management and the strengths and weaknesses of different management styles.
  5. Understands, models and demonstrates ethical behavior relevant to business and marketing.
  6. Identifies federal, state and local agencies and the laws and regulations that affect business and marketing.
  7. Understands the societal significance of business conduct, ways that businesses can contribute to the community and the responsibility a business has with regard to impact on the local environment.
  8. Lists major environmental influences on various industries.
  9. Describes and simulates activities to market a property.
  10. Understands the impact of business and marketing on society.
  11. Understands human resource management and the value of diversity in the workplace.
Competency 002—The teacher understands and applies basic economic principles.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Applies knowledge of economic concepts (e.g., supply and demand, pricing, business cycle, productivity, role of laws and regulations, economic measurements used to analyze the economy).
  2. Understands fundamental features of the U.S. free enterprise system (e.g., entrepreneurial opportunity, role of competition, profit, consumer choice, private ownership).
  3. Understands the relationships between business and the economy and the factors that shape a nation's economic system (e.g., what is produced, how it is produced, how it is distributed).
  4. Analyzes current economic conditions and indicators (e.g., gross domestic product, unemployment, standard of living) and their influence on markets.
  5. Understands how government economic policies (e.g., tax policies, subsidies, tariffs) affect the marketing aspects of business.
  6. Understands the nature of trade regulations and the impact of the antitrust regulation.
  7. Explains the determinants of exchange rates and their effects on the domestic economy.
Competency 003—The teacher understands and applies principles related to finances, accounting and mathematics in marketing and entrepreneurship.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Applies strategies for identifying entrepreneurial opportunities (e.g., buying an established business, expanding an existing business, buying into a franchise) and understands the benefits and costs (e.g., financial, time, emotional) of starting a business.
  2. Identifies the characteristics and purposes of different types of business ownership.
  3. Understands and explains accounting functions and terms.
  4. Demonstrates the use of common accounting forms to illustrate their functions and results.
  5. Understands types of revenues, expenses and liabilities.
  6. Understands the components, development and evaluation of business, harvest and location plans.
  7. Understands the relationship of marketing plans to business plans.
  8. Knows how to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for use in the marketing planning process.
  9. Understands the importance of financial and merchandise planning to entrepreneurial success and knows methods and procedures for financial planning.
  10. Explains how to evaluate and measure financial performance and analyze cost and profit relationships to guide business decision making (e.g., return on investment, return on assets, return on equity, debt ratios).
  11. Understands formulas and equations in business and marketing such as estimations, projections and performance.
  12. Understands how to compare and contrast pricing policies for an entrepreneurial venture.
  13. Knows how to distinguish between warranties and guaranties.
  14. Understands the nature and significance of business risks and basic principles of risk management.
  15. Examines types of consumer credit and the effects of credit on sales, prices and profit.
  16. Understands how to explain the nature of debtor-creditor and agency relationships.
  17. Understands the critical role of management (e.g., goal setting, planning, motivating) in the success or failure of entrepreneurial ventures.
  18. Describes the process of selecting, merchandising and advertising products in various industries.
  19. Knows how to categorize retailing activities and explain the interdependence of each activity in marketing and business.
  20. Knows how to analyze vendor performance in order to choose vendors and merchandise.

Domain II—Marketing Principles

Competency 004—The teacher understands fundamental concepts, goals and strategies of marketing.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands basic concepts in marketing (e.g., vocabulary, types of market segmentation, market identification, target market strategies, mass marketing) and their significance in the facilitation of merchandising activities.
  2. Understands the importance, functions and goals of marketing and understands management skills and procedures relevant to marketing functions.
  3. Describes each marketing function and the marketing concept and how they relate to various industries.
  4. Knows how to explain applicable grades and standards.
  5. Applies marketing strategy, the strategic-planning process and the development of a marketing plan.
  6. Defines branding elements and designs a product package, brand and label.
  7. Recognizes the impact and value of multiculturalism and multigenerationalism (e.g., culture, linguistics) in relation to specific industries, marketing and the workplace.
  8. Explains how the use of demographics has influenced the industry.
  9. Understands the role and purpose of marketing research (e.g., relationship to marketing plan, identifying markets).
  10. Understands the marketing research process and applies the steps of conducting marketing research to analyze demand, forecast sales and make other marketing decisions.
  11. Knows how to develop and make recommendations based on a research report.
  12. Evaluates informational texts, Web sites, technical manuals and other resources to identify reliable and credible information.
  13. Understands how to explain and record a list of the benefits and limitations of different types of marketing research.
  14. Identifies sources of primary and secondary data and collects information about the competition.
  15. Understands the characteristics and purposes of a marketing information system (MIS).
  16. Understands purchasing functions (e.g., resale/organization buying, consumer buying) and activities (e.g., completing purchase orders and invoices, buying habits).
  17. Describes the components of, the exchanges in, and the effects of media broadcasting on the event triangle.
  18. Explains Web log data mining and the use of electronic data interchange in marketing information and research activities.
  19. Understands and analyzes emerging trends in marketing and research.
Competency 005—The teacher understands product and service planning, pricing and distribution.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Identifies and applies components of the marketing mix (e.g., product, price, place, promotion, people) and understands how each component contributes to quality assurance and successful marketing.
  2. Understands the elements and processes of product and service planning, the stages of new-product planning, the stages of the product life cycle and the laws and regulations that affect new-product development.
  3. Explains the elements and principles of design and lists the steps from design to the finished product.
  4. Analyzes pricing policies, objectives, structures and strategies.
  5. Analyzes factors that affect pricing.
  6. Understands the concept of product mix (e.g., positioning products and services to create a desired business image) and its role in product and service planning.
  7. Understands and evaluates the significance of distribution plans and activities (e.g., transportation, storage, product handling, inventory control) and their cost.
  8. Understands which goods and services retailers use for daily operations.
  9. Analyzes how distribution channel members (e.g., manufacturers, wholesalers) facilitate the movement of products.
  10. Recognizes the role of geography and other variables in product and service distribution.
Competency 006—The teacher understands product promotion and the selling process.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands the role of promotion in creating and implementing marketing strategy and how to develop, implement and evaluate promotional plans and campaigns.
  2. Identifies the components of a promotional mix (e.g., advertising, selling, public relations, visual merchandising) and analyzes factors affecting promotional activities (e.g., laws, cultural diversity, target groups, consumer characteristics, technology).
  3. Demonstrates visual merchandising techniques for advertising marketing goods, services or ideas to increase interest and sales potential in product offerings.
  4. Analyzes types of advertising, elements of an advertisement and the role of advertising in a competitive environment and understands the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of different types of advertising media.
  5. Examines the potential impact of publicity and possible strategies for handling the results.
  6. Understands influences on customers and consumers, consumer credit and factors that influence buying and selling.
  7. Applies selling techniques, develops a sales presentation, exhibits methods for closing a sale, uses product and service knowledge and support activities to facilitate selling and demonstrates the steps in the selling process.
  8. Knows how to use special events to increase sales.
  9. Understands major laws that affect sales and promotion and understands sellers' and buyers' obligations under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
  10. Defines and explains the issues and cost associated with a sponsorship.
  11. Knows how to identify and examine benefits of sponsorship opportunities, types of sponsorship sales and relationship development.
Competency 007—The teacher understands and applies principles, concepts and techniques related to international business and marketing.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands basic economic concepts as they relate to international business and marketing (e.g., specialization, comparative advantage, opportunity cost, effects of different types of economic systems, international trade, impact of exports and imports, interdependence of nations).
  2. Understands business and marketing strategies, principles and techniques in situations involving international markets.
  3. Understands the issues and risks involved in entering international markets and the procedures for planning international marketing of business ventures.
  4. Describes how international marketing has affected various industries.
  5. Understands the differences in communication methods in global markets and applies strategies for adapting business systems to different cultural environments.
  6. Examines the advantages and disadvantages of international trade.
  7. Investigates the labor issues associated with international trade.
  8. Describes the cultural, economic and political factors considered when engaging in international trade.
  9. Explains the impact of cultural and social environments on international trade.
  10. Understands the international monetary exchange system and the effects of currency exchange fluctuations on international trade.
  11. Understands the reasons for the growth in international trade and investments and analyzes trends and their significance in international marketing.

Domain III—Business Communication, Problem Solving and Technology

Competency 008—The teacher understands basic elements of effective business communication and problem solving.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands factors that can affect a business's image and the roles of public relations, publicity and advertising in a successful business.
  2. Knows how to identify a company brand promise.
  3. Identifies and demonstrates customer service.
  4. Determines client needs and wants as the first step of the marketing concept and responds with planned, personalized communication to influence purchase decisions.
  5. Understands the social and communication skills needed to work effectively in the marketing aspects of business.
  6. Understands the methods for achieving business and marketing objectives.
  7. Understands how to use appropriate customer service, customer relationships and workplace strategies to increase the likelihood of a sale.
  8. Applies features of various types of business communications (e.g., business letter, presentation).
  9. Understands the responsibilities of team leaders and team members (e.g., leadership characteristics, team functions and formation, teamwork in problem solving, result measurement and acknowledgement).
  10. Understands and applies steps in the problem-solving and decision-making processes in the marketing aspects of business.
  11. Understands quantitative methods of analysis (e.g., forecasting, profit analysis) as they apply to marketing functions and marketing research.
  12. Understands basic mathematical concepts (e.g., percentages, mathematical operations) as they apply to marketing.
Competency 009—The teacher understands the use of technology, the Internet and e-commerce in the marketing aspects of business.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands basic technology concepts and terms related to business and marketing.
  2. Understands the influence of technology on business and marketing.
  3. Understands the scope of the Internet in marketing (e.g., search engines, Website development, structure and design, legal implications).
  4. Understands different types of technology applications (e.g., spreadsheet, database, desktop publishing, communications technology) as they relate to the marketing aspects of business.
  5. Identifies transactional sales data through electronic means.
  6. Understands and applies technology for a variety of marketing purposes (e.g., receiving and sending business communications; designing; advertising; pricing; selling; placing orders; production; creating charts, graphs and business documents; creating advertisement layouts; managing inventory; distribution).
  7. Analyzes various marketing functions on existing websites and understands the importance of search engine optimization.
  8. Explains how to obtain an Internet name and how to identify methods of determining the Internet identity of a business.
  9. Develops website goals and objectives and describes criteria for identifying a potential website product or service.
  10. Understands the fundamentals of computer networking and communication systems in business environments.
  11. Understands the characteristics, role, advantages and disadvantages, collection and payment options and legal obligations of e-commerce in marketing and business.
  12. Understands the ethical, safety and security issues related to the use of computer technology in business and marketing.
  13. Applies computer technology in an ethical, safe and secure manner.

Domain IV—Marketing Education Program

Competency 010—The teacher knows how to organize and manage an effective Marketing Education program and how to work with others to support the program.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Applies strategies (e.g., joining professional organizations, subscribing to professional journals, attending conferences, researching on the Internet) and identifies their role in keeping abreast of and applying current research, trends and practices in the marketing sector of business.
  2. Understands methods and strategies for planning, implementing, maintaining and evaluating a Marketing Education program, including student organizations (e.g., DECA).
  3. Understands the importance of basing classroom instruction on the approved Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
  4. Understands the roles and responsibilities of advisory committees and how to organize and work effectively with them.
  5. Understands procedures for developing articulation agreements with educational institutions.
  6. Applies procedures for developing and maintaining training agreements and training plans for programs that have a work-based learning component.
  7. Applies strategies for working effectively with community and industry representatives and local and civic organizations to encourage involvement in and support for the Marketing Education program.
  8. Applies professional development and lifelong learning skills and techniques to ensure continuous improvement.
Competency 011—The teacher understands how to promote student development and assist students in career planning and work-based learning.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Identifies various career opportunities in marketing and the education and training requirements associated with these careers, including the role of industry and professional licenses/certifications.
  2. Evaluates student interests, skills, abilities, self-assessments and aptitudes to determine strengths and needs related to career planning and development.
  3. Understands employers' expectations, appropriate work habits (e.g., time management, positive customer relationships, ethics) and the personal characteristics necessary for a successful career in marketing.
  4. Analyzes and evaluates alternative responses to workplace situations based on legal responsibilities, employer policies and personal or professional ethical considerations.
  5. Identifies and explains the personal and long-term consequences of unethical or illegal behaviors.
  6. Understands company policies and procedures (e.g., discrimination, harassment, inequality).
  7. Understands procedures for obtaining employment in marketing and related fields and strategies for assisting students in career planning and development.
  8. Understands goal development and implementation.
  9. Understands the goals, purposes and models of work-based programs (e.g., mentoring, co-op experiences, job shadowing) and the connections between classroom learning and work-based learning.
  10. Applies strategies for coordinating programs with work-based learning components (e.g., developing individualized training plans, maintaining records, evaluating student progress, analyzing data to determine program effectiveness).
  11. Understands the legal, ethical and safety issues associated with marketing careers.
  12. Understands the purposes, characteristics, functions and structures of student leadership organizations (e.g., DECA) and understands and manages relationships between classroom learning and student organizations.
  13. Understands the roles and responsibilities of advisors to student organizations (e.g., DECA), the procedures for developing a program of activities and conducting effective meetings, and the strategies for encouraging student participation in these organizations.
  14. Understands and promotes the personal development and career development skills and techniques essential for student success.
Competency 012—The teacher knows how to plan and implement effective and appropriate instruction and student assessment.

The beginning teacher:

  1. Understands state content and performance standards in marketing education as defined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
  2. Understands and applies instructional strategies that engage students, provide positive and effective learning experiences, and model business practices (e.g., group brainstorming, research, team projects, studies).
  3. Applies strategies for working effectively with students who have diverse strengths, needs and backgrounds.
  4. Applies strategies for integrating marketing education with concepts and skills in other academic areas (e.g., language arts, mathematics, science, social studies).
  5. Understands and applies a variety of instruments and methods (e.g., performance-based methods) for evaluating instructional effectiveness, student progress and student needs.
  6. Applies strategies for using current and emerging technologies as tools for learning, communicating and assessing marketing education concepts in the classroom.

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