The FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination (test code 025) is the Florida subject area examination for certification to teach mathematics in grades 5 through 9. It is a computer-based test (CBT) of approximately 50 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours and 30 minutes, weighted 30 percent to algebra and 20 percent to student reasoning and instructional practice, with an on-screen scientific calculator provided during the test. The passing score, in the Florida Department of Education’s published form, is: A scaled score of at least 200. The FLDOE/Pearson examination fee is $150.
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What this examination certifies
The FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination is the subject area examination attached to Florida’s Mathematics (5-9) certificate. It measures two things at once, and its blueprint is honest about the split: the mathematics a middle grades teacher must command — number sense and proportionality, algebra, geometry, and data analysis, statistics, and probability — and the professional knowledge of how students reason about that mathematics and how it is taught. The official Test Information Guide organises the examination into five competencies: algebra alone carries 30 percent, student reasoning and instructional practice and geometry 20 percent each, and number sense and data analysis 15 percent each. Half the paper, in other words, is algebra plus pedagogy; a candidate who prepares only as a mathematician, or only as a teacher, has prepared for half an examination.
A note on naming, because Florida’s catalog invites one specific error and this page will not make it: this is the Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination — the test name FLDOE’s certification page maps to the Mathematics (5-9) certificate. It is not the Mathematics 6–12 examination (code 026), a separate, secondary-level examination on its own blueprint. This program covers the FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination — code 025, its five competencies and forty-seven published skills — and nothing borrowed from the grades 6–12 examination or from any other state’s middle school mathematics paper. The companion reference is the FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 Exam Guide, which sets out the route, the competencies and skills in full, and the sitting in detail.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Examination | FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 — Florida Teacher Certification Examinations, test code 025 |
| Certification | Subject area examination for Florida’s Mathematics (5-9) certificate — teaching mathematics in grades 5–9 |
| Format | Computer-based test (CBT) with approximately 50 multiple-choice questions; each question has four response options (A, B, C, D). Tests may include questions being evaluated for future administrations that do not affect the score |
| Length | 2 hours and 30 minutes of testing time; total appointment time is longer, and any time taken for breaks is considered part of the available testing time |
| Content | Five competencies under the official Test Information Guide: Algebra 30%; Geometry 20%; Student Reasoning and Instructional Practice 20%; Number Sense, Operations, and Proportionality 15%; Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability 15% — percentages are the guide’s approximate percentages of total test questions |
| Passing score | A scaled score of at least 200 |
| Examination fee | FLDOE/Pearson fee: $150 |
| Reference materials | An on-screen scientific calculator will be provided during the test; examinees may not bring their own calculator. A reference sheet is not provided for this test. Hand-held calculators may be available upon request |
| Delivery and scores | By appointment, year-round, at computer-based test sites throughout Florida and nationwide. On-site score reports are typically provided immediately after testing; all official score reports are released within 4 weeks of testing |
| Administrator | The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) owns the FTCE program; Pearson administers the examinations. PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with FLDOE or Pearson |
What the examination covers
Competency 1: Knowledge of Number Sense, Operations, and Proportionality — 15%
Nine skills carry the examination’s foundation competency. It examines comparing and converting between rational numbers in their various representations — fractions, terminating and repeating decimals, percentages, the number line; performing operations with rational numbers, using estimates and algorithms, and evaluating multi-step expressions under the order of operations, including integer exponents, grouping symbols, and absolute value; estimating irrational numbers, including square roots, and comparing them to rational numbers; representing and operating with real number approximations in scientific notation, with attention to significant digits; applying factors of whole numbers — common factors, least common denominator, greatest common measure; solving problems involving ratios and proportions, the guide’s examples running to mixtures, rates, measurement conversions, percent growth, taxes, and depreciation; applying the properties of operations — associative, commutative, distributive, and inverse relationships — in multi-step arithmetic; operating with radicals and with rational exponents under the laws of exponents; and interpreting operations on rational numbers and radicals in mathematical and real-world contexts. This is middle grades arithmetic taught at adult depth: every skill is an operation to perform or a judgement to make, not a definition to recite.
Competency 2: Knowledge of Algebra — 30%
Ten skills make algebra the largest competency on the paper — nearly a third of the examination. It examines identifying and applying numerical and algebraic patterns across tables, graphs, written descriptions, and formulas; evaluating functions and determining whether a relationship presented in various forms is a function, and of what type — the guide names linear, quadratic, cubic, exponential growth and decay, absolute value, square root, and cube root; applying operations with exponents and radicals to generate equivalent expressions; solving linear and absolute value equations and inequalities in one or two variables, representing solutions algebraically and graphically, and interpreting the key features of an absolute value function; identifying slope and intercepts from a graph, table, or equation and determining the equation of a line — through two points, through one point, parallel or perpendicular to a given line, with a given slope; solving and interpreting systems of two-variable linear equations and inequalities algebraically, graphically, and in real-world contexts; identifying and interpreting the intercepts, vertex, line of symmetry, and concavity of a quadratic function; analyzing quadratic functions and solving them by factoring, the quadratic formula, completing the square, and graphing; selecting graphical representations of exponential functions in growth and decay problems — depreciation, compound interest, population growth; and determining the impacts of shifting and scaling transformations on linear, quadratic, and absolute value functions. The competency’s centre of gravity is the function: candidates are examined on moving between a function’s forms and reading its features off any of them.
Competency 3: Knowledge of Geometry — 20%
Eleven skills — the longest skill list on the blueprint — carry geometry’s fifth of the paper. The competency examines classifying triangles, quadrilaterals, and solids by their defining attributes; applying formulas for the area of triangles and composite figures; applying formulas for the volume and surface area of solids, including right solids, Cavalieri’s principle, and nets for non-right solids; solving problems involving perimeter, circumference, and area of two-dimensional figures and surface area and volume of three-dimensional figures; solving problems on the coordinate plane; solving problems involving proportional relationships between similar two- and three-dimensional figures; applying the Triangle Inequality Theorem, the Pythagorean Theorem, and its converse; applying the formula for the sum of interior angles of polygons, the Triangle Sum Theorem, properties of angles, parallel lines cut by a transversal, and relationships between angles of triangles; applying translations, rotations, reflections, and scaling transformations to demonstrate congruence and similarity; applying the Side-Side-Side, Side-Angle-Side, Angle-Side-Angle, Angle-Angle-Side, Angle-Angle, and Hypotenuse-Leg criteria to prove pairs of triangles congruent or similar; and determining the center, radius, and equation of a circle and selecting its graphical representation. Note the dual character: formula fluency sits alongside genuine proof — the congruence criteria are instruments for establishing that triangles must match, not vocabulary.
Competency 4: Knowledge of Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability — 15%
Nine skills examine the data competency. It covers identifying and determining measures of central tendency and measures of variation for a numerical data set; interpreting information and patterns from a numerical data display and from the shape of its distribution — symmetry, gaps, clusters, outliers, mode, range; identifying displays for univariate numerical and categorical data, the guide naming histograms, box plots, bar charts, and frequency tables; determining estimates for a population total, mean, and percentage from survey data; identifying statistical questions and samples for drawing inferences about a population; determining the properties of correlations in bivariate data in scatter plots and frequency tables; selecting linear functions that fit real-world bivariate data suggesting a possible linear association, and interpreting their intercepts; determining theoretical probabilities of outcomes and events in simple and repeated experiments; and determining and comparing experimental and theoretical probabilities to make predictions and draw conclusions. The competency runs in both directions — from data to display and back to claim — and its probability half is explicitly comparative.
Competency 5: Knowledge of Student Reasoning and Instructional Practice — 20%
The professional competency, and the one that converts a mathematics examination into a teaching examination. Its eight skills examine analyzing real-world contexts across subject areas to represent them with appropriate mathematical expressions and equations; identifying appropriate methods to facilitate instruction in mathematical strategies, concepts, and procedures, with fluency; identifying opportunities for students to evaluate the reasonableness of their results and assessing the validity of students’ mathematical arguments; identifying patterns to make connections between problems across subject areas, and analyzing a sequence of concepts for mathematical continuity within and across grade levels; selecting appropriate mathematical representations — the guide names verbal statements, pictures, graphs, and algebraic expressions — and instructional tools for teaching concepts to all students; analyzing learning progressions across concrete, representational, and abstract modes of understanding; analyzing and interpreting individual student assessment data to guide instructional decisions and differentiate instruction; and analyzing students’ mathematical misconceptions, errors, and gaps in knowledge and choosing instructional approaches to promote achievement. Its final skill is the examination in miniature: a student’s wrong answer is presented, and the candidate must diagnose the reasoning inside it — a task solitary problem-solving practice, by itself, never rehearses.
The route, in order
Step 1 — Confirm this is your examination
The Florida Bureau of Educator Certification decides which tests a candidate needs, after the candidate applies for certification. Confirm with the Bureau that the FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination (025) is the subject area examination on your file — and that it is this examination, for grades 5–9, and not the Mathematics 6–12 examination — before you register or prepare.
Step 2 — Register and schedule
Registration runs through the official FTCE program site. Tests are by appointment, year-round, and you schedule your test during registration, based on available dates, at computer-based test sites located throughout Florida and nationwide. The FLDOE/Pearson examination fee is $150. When you register, you must agree to abide by all testing rules and policies — read them at registration, not at the test center door.
Step 3 — Sit the examination
Approximately 50 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours and 30 minutes, delivered as a computer-based test (CBT), each question carrying four response options. Your total appointment time will be longer than the testing time, and any time taken for breaks counts as part of your available testing time — there is no pause in this examination’s clock. An on-screen scientific calculator will be provided; you may not bring your own calculator, and no reference sheet is provided — every formula the geometry skills name must be carried in memory. Hand-held calculators may be available upon request. The test may include questions being evaluated for future administrations that do not affect your score and cannot be identified, so every question earns full effort.
Step 4 — Read the result in the program’s terms
On-site score reports are typically provided immediately after testing, though on-site reporting may not be available for tests being redeveloped or revised; all official score reports are released within 4 weeks of testing. The result is stated against the published standard: a scaled score of at least 200. The full route and blueprint are in the companion FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 Exam Guide.
What makes this examination demanding
The first demand is concentration of weight. Algebra at 30 percent and student reasoning at 20 percent together are half the paper, so the examination is decided in two places: fluent, multi-form function work, and the analysis of student thinking. The second demand is the short paper’s arithmetic: approximately 50 questions in 150 minutes allows three minutes a question on average — generous until a multi-step algebra item, a volume problem, and a misconception scenario arrive in sequence, each consuming more than the average while the recall items that would balance them are few. The third demand is the tool rule. A scientific calculator is provided on screen, which rewards candidates who have practised with that instrument — its key order, its exponent and radical entry — and penalises, in time, candidates whose fluency lives on a hand-held device they cannot bring; and with no reference sheet, the formulas are part of the knowledge, not part of the furniture. The fourth demand is the redeveloped blueprint itself: preparation material built on older outlines misallocates study time in exactly the places the current paper is heaviest.
The credential at work
The Mathematics (5-9) certificate is Florida’s middle grades mathematics credential. Its holder teaches across the grades where the subject changes character — from elementary arithmetic to secondary algebra and geometry — exactly the span the competencies describe: proportionality and rational-number fluency at one end, quadratic and exponential functions at the other, and a professional competency examining whether the teacher can carry students across that transition. In a state where mathematics is a perennial shortage area, the middle grades route is also a principal entry point into mathematics teaching.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Practice in the examination’s own shape. The FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 examination is approximately 50 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours and 30 minutes, and the program in the works practises in that shape: timed work at the real pace — three minutes a question as a budget, not a metronome — weighted to the official blueprint, with algebra carrying the largest practice share, as it carries the largest share of the paper, and worked practice on the on-screen scientific calculator’s terms.
Written from the primary sources. The program is written from the official Test Information Guide — the five competencies, the forty-seven skills, and the guide’s approximate percentages — and from the official test page for code 025. It teaches the blueprint as currently published, including the student reasoning competency at its full weight and the calculator position exactly as the test page states it.
The mathematics worked, and the teaching examined. Because the guide’s skills run on performance verbs — solving, applying, analyzing, determining — the program practises the operations themselves: moving a function between table, graph, and formula; proving triangles congruent from the named criteria; comparing experimental and theoretical probability; and diagnosing the misconception inside a described student’s work.
The whole candidate, not only the test-taker. Around the practice, the program carries the Florida route as FLDOE and Pearson publish it — confirming the examination with the Bureau of Educator Certification, registration and scheduling, the break rule that keeps the clock running, and the published passing standard stated exactly as FLDOE states it.
Preparation only. This is preparation for an examination owned by the Florida Department of Education and administered by Pearson. PassProfessor is not affiliated with FLDOE or Pearson, and the Department does not endorse third-party preparation materials. Nothing here substitutes for any certification requirement.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the examination, and how long is it?
Approximately 50 multiple-choice questions, in 2 hours and 30 minutes of testing time, delivered as a computer-based test (CBT). Each question has four response options. Total appointment time is longer than the testing time, and break time counts against the testing time.
What is the passing score?
A scaled score of at least 200 — stated exactly as the Florida Department of Education publishes it. FLDOE publishes no percentage-correct or number-of-questions equivalent for that standard, and this page does not invent one.
How is the examination weighted?
By the official Test Information Guide’s approximate percentages of total test questions: Algebra 30%; Geometry 20%; Student Reasoning and Instructional Practice 20%; Number Sense, Operations, and Proportionality 15%; Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability 15% — five competencies, forty-seven skills.
What does the examination cost?
The FLDOE/Pearson examination fee is $150 — a third-party fee charged by the testing program, separate from any preparation program.
Is this the same examination as Mathematics 6–12?
No. Mathematics 6–12 (code 026) is a separate examination on its own blueprint for the secondary grade band. This program covers FTCE Middle Grades Mathematics 5–9 (code 025) only; preparation for one does not substitute for the other.
Is a calculator provided?
Yes — an on-screen scientific calculator will be provided during the test, and examinees may not bring their own calculator. Hand-held calculators may be available upon request. A reference sheet is not provided, so the formulas named in the skills must be known, not looked up.
When do I receive my score?
On-site score reports are typically provided immediately after testing, although on-site reporting may not be available for a test being redeveloped or revised. All official score reports are released within 4 weeks of testing.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with FLDOE or Pearson?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Florida Department of Education or Pearson, and confers no certification. FLDOE does not endorse third-party FTCE preparation materials.