MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading Online Center
This MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
MTEL Reading Practice Center
Take a full form, then read the explanation under every question you missed. Each explanation points to the exact line in the passage that decides the question. If you cannot find that line on your own, that is the habit to build before test day.
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MTEL Reading at a glance
Every candidate for a Massachusetts educator license takes Communication and Literacy Skills, and Reading is one of its two subtests. It is a straight adult reading test with no writing in it and no education content. What makes it different from the reading tests you have taken before is the sixth objective, which asks you to outline, summarize, and read a table or a graph. Candidates who skip that one lose about a seventh of the test.
| Subtest code | 101 (Reading) |
|---|---|
| Part of | MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills, which pairs Reading (101) with Writing (201). The two subtests are scored and passed separately, and both are required. |
| Number of questions | 42 multiple-choice questions. There is no constructed response on the Reading subtest. |
| Answer options | Four per question |
| Time limit | At a test center, one appointment of 4 hours 15 minutes covers one or both subtests. Taken online proctored on its own, Reading is allotted 3 hours; taken with Writing, Reading is allotted 1 hour 30 minutes. |
| Format | Computer-based at a test center or online proctored |
| Passing score | 240 on a scale of 100 to 300, for this subtest on its own. |
Massachusetts publishes a weight for every objective on this subtest, and the answer is refreshingly simple: all six carry 16.7 percent. That is seven questions each. There is no objective you can afford to skip and none worth over-preparing.
The six objectives, in plain language
Massachusetts states each objective and then lists what it expects. Here is what each one asks of you.
Objective 0001: Meaning of words and phrases (16.7 percent)
Working out what a word means here, in this sentence, in this passage.
- Use context to settle a word’s meaning
- Handle words with more than one meaning
- Read figurative language for what it does
- Use roots, prefixes, and suffixes
- Tell denotation from connotation
Objective 0002: Main idea and supporting details (16.7 percent)
Finding what the passage is actually about, and what holds it up.
- State the main idea of a passage or a paragraph
- Tell the main idea from the topic
- Identify the details that support a point
- Recognize an accurate restatement
Objective 0003: Writer’s purpose and point of view (16.7 percent)
Reading the writer as well as the writing.
- Identify why the passage was written
- Read tone and the words that create it
- Recognize the writer’s point of view and any bias
- Identify the intended audience
Objective 0004: Relationships among ideas (16.7 percent)
How the parts of a passage connect to each other.
- Recognize cause and effect
- Follow comparison and contrast
- Track sequence and process
- Recognize a generalization and what it rests on
- Use transitions as signals
Objective 0005: Critical reasoning (16.7 percent)
Judging an argument rather than just following it.
- Tell a fact from an opinion
- Identify a claim and the evidence for it
- Judge whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient
- Find an unstated assumption
- Recognize a flaw in reasoning
Objective 0006: Outlining, summarizing, and graphic information (16.7 percent)
The objective candidates forget, worth as much as any other.
- Organize passage content into an outline
- Choose an accurate summary
- Read a table, graph, or chart
- Match information to the right graphic form
A study routine for a 42-question reading subtest
This subtest rewards method more than knowledge. Three weeks of deliberate practice will move a score further than three months of reading widely.
Complete lesson map
Seventy-five lessons on reading and language, each opening in a new tab so you can keep this page open while you work.
Key ideas, details, and textual evidence
Inference, conclusions, and how ideas develop
Word meaning, word choice, and tone
Text structure, features, and organization
Purpose, perspective, and point of view
Evaluating claims, evidence, and reasoning
Integrating information across texts and formats
Sentence Foundations
Sentence Boundaries
Agreement, Verbs, and Pronouns
Punctuation and Capitalization
Spelling and Confused Words
Knowledge of Language
Before test day
One habit decides this subtest. Before you look at the answer choices, answer the question in your own words from the passage. Then find the choice that matches what you said. Candidates who read the choices first talk themselves into the one that sounds most sophisticated, and on this test that is almost never the right one.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading: study questions
What can I study in this MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading Online Center?
This MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Objective 0001: Meaning of words and phrases (16.7 percent), Objective 0002: Main idea and supporting details (16.7 percent), Objective 0003: Writer’s purpose and point of view (16.7 percent).
How should I use the MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills Reading resources?
Choose a topic or practice activity from this Online Center. Review the linked explanation, try the practice, and use the result to decide what to study next. Check each resource’s directions for its format and access requirements.
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