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While this process presents itself as a way to study for the exam, please don’t think that this is the only way to study. Every student learns differently, and this process may not be for you. Treat this as a framework, a suggestion of how to study, and always remember to adjust where needed to fit your needs.
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The average time that a DECA member gets to study between each stage of the competition is about six weeks. This 6-week schedule intends to set a competitive pace for a brand-new student. Competitors seeking an 80+ practice exam average may wish to progressively increase the difficulty of the schedule, or to repeat the schedule format over more weeks. Notes on how to effectively do this can be found under Week 1, “How To Increase Difficulty”.
Please note: It can be tempting to skip the worksheets or to not put much effort into them. However, studies show consistently that guided note-taking is one of the strongest working-memory trigger activities you can use. If you feel at any point that the schedule is too light, consider doing more study sheets before you jump to adding more practice exams or PI drills.
(Ahead of lectures, some weekly tasks may change just a little bit as I ensure the content focus perfectly matches the lectures. This will not mean removed tasks but may mean a few additional tasks.)
This study schedule— if you follow it closely— should theoretically teach you everything that would come up on an exam. Additionally, through PI drills and study, you also learn deeper applications of vocab and foundational concepts. This is anecdotal, but I applied a four-week version of this process before each stage of my competition, and I ended the school year with a practice exam average of 97% across all exam clusters. In total, that was 12 weeks of this process.
The specific wording used in lectures and weekly assignments is important. Getting mixed up on what is being assigned in tasks or referred to in lectures will set you behind schedule.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cluster | Seven specific career clusters which all events are sorted into. These are: |
For example, under the instructional area of Business Law, “Acquire foundational knowledge of business laws and regulations to understand their nature and scope.” | | Instructional Area ”Area” | A collection of performance elements under one broader category.
For example, “Business Law”. | | “Tier 1” Performance Elements | These are performance elements covering foundational concepts that apply to all clusters. These might also be referred to as ‘Business Administration Core P.I.’. | | “Tier 2” Performance Elements | These are performance elements covering concepts related to each specific cluster. | | “Tier 3” Performance Elements
”Pathways” | These are performance elements covering concepts related to specific pathways that are covered within a specific cluster. Students will not be informed ahead of testing of which pathway their exam will cover.
For example, two pathways for the Marketing cluster would be Marketing Management or Merchandising. | | “PQ” Performance Indicator Level | These are performance indicators with concepts meant to test foundational competency in the workplace. These are generally based on behaviors, ethics, or attitudes. | | “CS” Performance Indicator Level | These are performance indicators with concepts meant to test competency related to cluster-specific employment. These are generally based on the application of a single skill. | | “SP” Performance Indicator Level | These are performance indicators with concepts meant to test specialized competency related to advanced or applied understanding of concepts. These generally require the application of multiple skills or demonstrated understandings. |
This study process is rooted in two educational psychology theories: the Cognitive Load Theory, and the Constructivist Learning Theory.
The following three stages were developed with these two theories in mind, and emphasize learning in a way that seeks to reduce burnout and increase effectiveness.