Massachusetts Teacher Licensure · MTEL
MTEL General Curriculum Mathematics Subtest Practice Test & Study Guide
Prepare for MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 with independent practice, flashcards, and connected lessons. Understand the official assessment, choose a focused study route, and review the reasoning behind missed answers.
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MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 Practice Tests
Use the existing independent study form and review its explanations. Results are for study, not official certification scores.
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 Flashcards
Recall a concept and explain how it applies to a teaching situation or subject example.
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 Study Guides
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 assessment and course guidance
Use the official page to find the course description, assessment directions, and preparation resources. No matching Effortless Math book has been verified for this subject.
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 Quick Review
Refresh one weak skill before your next practice session.
MEET THE ASSESSMENT · CHOOSE YOUR NEXT SKILL
Know MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 before you start.
The official MTEL page lists General Curriculum Subtest 2: Mathematics, Science, and Technology/Engineering (278) as 60 multiple-choice questions and one open-response item. One or both subtests share four hours of testing time, plus the tutorial and agreement. An on-screen four-function calculator is provided for Subtest 2. Independent practice here supports learning and does not provide an official certification score. Confirm the required assessment with your state or program.
Counting, place value, and operations
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Fractions and decimals
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Ratios, proportion, and percent
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Official test readiness
Confirm your test code, format, and certification requirements with the official provider.
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 Practice Center
Each form runs 60 multiple-choice questions: 33 on mathematics and 27 on science and technology and engineering, matching the way Massachusetts weights the two subareas. Take a full form, then read the explanation under every question you missed and sort the misses by subarea before you plan the next week.
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MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 at a glance
Massachusetts redeveloped this test in August 2023. The old General Curriculum had a Multi-Subject subtest and a separate Mathematics subtest, 203, which allowed no calculator at all. That test is gone. Subtest 2 is now 278, it folds science and technology and engineering in alongside the mathematics, and it gives you a four-function calculator on screen. If your study guide says 203, it is preparing you for the wrong test.
| Subtest code | 278 (General Curriculum, Subtest 2: Mathematics, Science, and Technology/Engineering) |
|---|---|
| Replaces | The retired General Curriculum test 103/203, last administered August 20, 2023. Subtest 203 was mathematics only and permitted no calculator. |
| The other subtest | Subtest 1 is code 178, covering Language Arts and History/Social Science. Both subtests are required, and each is passed on its own. |
| Number of questions | 60 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-response assignment |
| Time limit | At a test center: 4 hours 15 minutes total appointment, covering one or both subtests: 15 minutes of tutorial and agreement, then 4 hours of testing. |
| Calculator | A standard four-function calculator is provided on screen for this subtest. You do not bring your own, and an on-screen calculator tutorial is available. |
| Format | Computer-based, by appointment at a test center. Subtest 2 assignments may be handwritten and scanned. |
| Passing score | 240 on a scale of 100 to 300, for this subtest on its own. |
| Fee | Check current fees with the official MTEL provider before registering. |
Massachusetts publishes three subareas with these weights: Mathematics, objectives 0011 to 0015, is 48 percent. Science and Technology/Engineering, objectives 0016 to 0019, is 42 percent. Integration of Knowledge and Understanding, objective 0020, is 10 percent and is the single open-response assignment. Those are score weights, not question counts. The vendor does not publish how many of the 60 multiple-choice questions fall in each subarea, so treat the 48 and 42 as a guide to how you split your hours rather than as a count of items.
The three subareas, in plain language
Massachusetts states each objective and lists what it expects under it. Here is what each subarea asks of you, with its published weight.
Mathematics (48 percent, objectives 0011 to 0015)
Elementary number, fractions and proportion, algebra, geometry, and data.
- Place value, factors and multiples, rounding, and the properties of operations
- Fractions as numbers, and why each fraction procedure works
- Ratios, rates, proportions, and percent problems
- Patterns, expressions, equations, inequalities, and linear relationships
- Two- and three-dimensional figures, area, volume, and the coordinate plane
- Unit conversion, graphs and tables, center and spread, and basic probability
Science and technology/engineering (42 percent, objectives 0016 to 0019)
Earth and space, life, and physical science, plus the engineering design process.
- The solar system, Earth’s surface processes, the water cycle, weather and climate, and human impact
- Characteristics of life, structure and function, heredity, adaptation, and ecosystems
- Properties of matter, forms of energy, forces and motion, conservation, and waves
- Defining a design problem, criteria and constraints, materials, tools, and iteration
- The science and engineering practices applied across all three science domains
Integration of knowledge and understanding (10 percent, objective 0020)
One open-response assignment that joins the two content subareas.
- Analyze a described phenomenon, investigation, or design problem
- Bring the right mathematics to it: units, geometry, data, or a modeled relationship
- Answer the question that was actually asked
- Organize the response and support it with specific, accurate content
A study routine for two subjects and one assignment
Mathematics and science are close in weight, 48 against 42, so neither one can be the subject you skip. Most candidates arrive strong in one and thin in the other. Find out which you are in the first week.
Complete topic map
Forty-seven mathematics lessons, each opening in a new tab, followed by the science and engineering topics this subtest covers as a plain checklist.
Counting, place value, and operations
Fractions and decimals
Ratios, proportion, and percent
Algebraic thinking and patterns
The coordinate plane
Measurement and geometry
Data, statistics, and probability
Earth and space science (checklist, no lessons on site yet)
- 48The solar system and the relationships among its objects
- 49Lunar phases, eclipses, and the reason for seasons
- 50Weathering, erosion, deposition, and volcanism
- 51Plate boundaries, earthquakes, trenches, and mountain ranges
- 52The water cycle, watersheds, and where Earth’s water is
- 53Weather against climate, and the factors that shape each
- 54Natural hazards and how their effects are predicted and reduced
- 55Renewable and nonrenewable resources and human impact
Life science (checklist, no lessons on site yet)
- 56What distinguishes living things from nonliving things
- 57Plant and animal structures and the functions they serve
- 58Body systems working together to keep an organism alive
- 59Heredity, inherited traits, and traits shaped by environment
- 60Adaptation, natural selection, and evidence from fossils and anatomy
- 61Food webs, the cycling of matter, and the flow of energy
- 62Interactions among organisms and with their environment
Physical science (checklist, no lessons on site yet)
- 63Properties of materials and the particle model of matter
- 64States of matter and changes of phase
- 65Pure substances, compounds, mixtures, and solubility
- 66Physical changes against chemical reactions
- 67Forms of energy and energy transfer between them
- 68Forces, motion, friction, and gravitational attraction
- 69Collisions, speed, and kinetic and potential energy
- 70Conservation of matter and conservation of energy
- 71Waves, sound, light, reflection, absorption, and transmission
Technology and engineering (checklist, no lessons on site yet)
- 72The engineering design process from problem to prototype
- 73Criteria and constraints: materials, time, and cost
- 74Matching a material’s properties to its use
- 75Safe selection and use of measuring tools, hand tools, and fasteners
- 76Testing, comparing solutions, and revising a design
- 77Trade-offs and the effects of a design on society
Bringing it together for the open response
- 78Applying mathematics to a science or engineering scenario
- 79Reading a scenario for the task it actually sets
Before test day
Check the test number on whatever you are studying from. A guide labeled 203 was written for a mathematics-only subtest that Massachusetts retired in August 2023, and it will leave you with no science preparation at all. Once you are on 278, two habits pay off more than any others. Write the units on every quantity you handle, because unit conversion is where careful arithmetic still turns into a wrong answer. And on the open response, answer the exact question in the first sentence, then support it. The scorers are reading for whether you did the task, not for how much you wrote.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2: study questions
What should I know about the official MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 assessment?
The official MTEL page lists General Curriculum Subtest 2: Mathematics, Science, and Technology/Engineering (278) as 60 multiple-choice questions and one open-response item. One or both subtests share four hours of testing time, plus the tutorial and agreement. An on-screen four-function calculator is provided for Subtest 2. Independent practice here supports learning and does not provide an official certification score. Confirm the required assessment with your state or program.
Official source ↗How should I use these independent MTEL General Curriculum Subtest 2 study tools?
Start with a practice activity, review explanations for missed questions, and use quick review or flashcards for one weak topic. The practice results are study feedback, not official exam scores. Compare a book’s contents with your course or test requirements before buying.
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