California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
YCNEULF • ACIR
RICA✦
✦
SUB 1 Reading Instruction Competence Assessment · Subtest 1: Fluency
ENSURING EXCELLENCE IN READING INSTRUCTION
CA CTC
RICA — Subtest 1: Fluency Examination
A CCU R A C Y · R AT E · P R O S O DY · A U TO M AT I C I TY · I N ST R U C T I O N · A SS E SS M E N T · D I F F E R E N T I AT I O N
ORGANIZATION California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) EXAM TYPE Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA)
SUBTEST Subtest 1 — Fluency Domain ACADEMIC YEAR
TOTAL QUESTIONS 25 Questions SUBJECT AREAS Fluency Components · Instruction · Assessment ·
Differentiation
FORMAT Multiple Choice — Select the Single Best Answer
FLUENCY EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
▸ Select the single best answer for each question based on RICA Subtest 1 fluency content specifications.
▸ Content covers: fluency components (accuracy, rate, prosody, automaticity), research-based instructional strategies (monitored oral reading, repeated reading, choral
reading, phrase-cued reading, reader's theater, whisper reading), assessment methods (WCPM, oral reading scales, Prosody Levels 1–4), differentiation for struggling
readers and English Learners, stages of reading development, and the role of word analysis/vocabulary/background knowledge in fluency development.
▸ Key frameworks: DRTA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity), Prosody Levels 1–4, and the relationship between automaticity and comprehension during independent
reading.
SECTION I — FLUENCY COMPONENTS, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT Questions 1 – 25
1. What are the three key components of reading fluency?
A. Decoding, encoding, and comprehension.
B. Accuracy, rate, and prosody.
C. Phonics, vocabulary, and sight words.
D. Speed, volume, and expression.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Accuracy, rate, and prosody.
RATIONALE The three components: ACCURACY (pronouncing words correctly orally), RATE (reading at appropriate speed by decoding words and reading
phrases/sentences), and PROSODY (expression, intonation, phrasing). AUTOMATICITY is the ability to look at words and read them aloud without
thinking — the foundation that enables fluent reading. Instruction for fluency uses MONITORED ORAL READING with teacher modeling, practice, and
feedback. Modeling can be done through read-alouds, books on tape, and think-alouds.
2. How is each fluency component assessed?
A. All components are assessed through a single written test.
B. Accuracy: oral reading with teacher recording errors; Rate: timed oral readings calculating WCPM; Prosody: oral reading assessing pitch, punctuation
response, and characterization.
C. Accuracy: silent reading tests; Rate: comprehension questions; Prosody: spelling tests.
D. All components are assessed through student self-report.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Accuracy: oral reading with teacher recording errors; Rate: timed oral readings calculating WCPM; Prosody: oral reading assessing pitch,
punctuation response, and characterization.
RATIONALE ACCURACY is assessed through oral reading where the teacher records errors. RATE is assessed through timed oral readings calculating Words Correct
Per Minute (WCPM). PROSODY is assessed through oral reading — evaluating appropriate pitch, response to punctuation, and characterization. The
Oral Reading Fluency Scale has four levels: Levels 3 and 4 are FLUENT; Levels 1 and 2 are NON-FLUENT. Level 4: most of the story read with
expression, reads mainly in large groups, story structure intact. Level 3: little expression, reads mainly in 3- or 4-word phrase groups, majority of
phrasing appropriate.
YCNEULF • ACIR
RICA✦
✦
SUB 1 Reading Instruction Competence Assessment · Subtest 1: Fluency
ENSURING EXCELLENCE IN READING INSTRUCTION
CA CTC
RICA — Subtest 1: Fluency Examination
A CCU R A C Y · R AT E · P R O S O DY · A U TO M AT I C I TY · I N ST R U C T I O N · A SS E SS M E N T · D I F F E R E N T I AT I O N
ORGANIZATION California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) EXAM TYPE Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA)
SUBTEST Subtest 1 — Fluency Domain ACADEMIC YEAR
TOTAL QUESTIONS 25 Questions SUBJECT AREAS Fluency Components · Instruction · Assessment ·
Differentiation
FORMAT Multiple Choice — Select the Single Best Answer
FLUENCY EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
▸ Select the single best answer for each question based on RICA Subtest 1 fluency content specifications.
▸ Content covers: fluency components (accuracy, rate, prosody, automaticity), research-based instructional strategies (monitored oral reading, repeated reading, choral
reading, phrase-cued reading, reader's theater, whisper reading), assessment methods (WCPM, oral reading scales, Prosody Levels 1–4), differentiation for struggling
readers and English Learners, stages of reading development, and the role of word analysis/vocabulary/background knowledge in fluency development.
▸ Key frameworks: DRTA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity), Prosody Levels 1–4, and the relationship between automaticity and comprehension during independent
reading.
SECTION I — FLUENCY COMPONENTS, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT Questions 1 – 25
1. What are the three key components of reading fluency?
A. Decoding, encoding, and comprehension.
B. Accuracy, rate, and prosody.
C. Phonics, vocabulary, and sight words.
D. Speed, volume, and expression.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Accuracy, rate, and prosody.
RATIONALE The three components: ACCURACY (pronouncing words correctly orally), RATE (reading at appropriate speed by decoding words and reading
phrases/sentences), and PROSODY (expression, intonation, phrasing). AUTOMATICITY is the ability to look at words and read them aloud without
thinking — the foundation that enables fluent reading. Instruction for fluency uses MONITORED ORAL READING with teacher modeling, practice, and
feedback. Modeling can be done through read-alouds, books on tape, and think-alouds.
2. How is each fluency component assessed?
A. All components are assessed through a single written test.
B. Accuracy: oral reading with teacher recording errors; Rate: timed oral readings calculating WCPM; Prosody: oral reading assessing pitch, punctuation
response, and characterization.
C. Accuracy: silent reading tests; Rate: comprehension questions; Prosody: spelling tests.
D. All components are assessed through student self-report.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Accuracy: oral reading with teacher recording errors; Rate: timed oral readings calculating WCPM; Prosody: oral reading assessing pitch,
punctuation response, and characterization.
RATIONALE ACCURACY is assessed through oral reading where the teacher records errors. RATE is assessed through timed oral readings calculating Words Correct
Per Minute (WCPM). PROSODY is assessed through oral reading — evaluating appropriate pitch, response to punctuation, and characterization. The
Oral Reading Fluency Scale has four levels: Levels 3 and 4 are FLUENT; Levels 1 and 2 are NON-FLUENT. Level 4: most of the story read with
expression, reads mainly in large groups, story structure intact. Level 3: little expression, reads mainly in 3- or 4-word phrase groups, majority of
phrasing appropriate.
