California Commission on Teacher
2 TSETBUS • ACIR
✦RICA✦
SUB 2
Credentialing
Reading Instruction Competence Assessment · Subtest 2
CA CTC
ENSURING EXCELLENCE IN READING INSTRUCTION
RICA — Subtest 2 Examination
V O C A B U L A R Y · CO M P R E H E N S I O N · ST R U C T U R A L A N A LYS I S · G R A P H I C O R G A N I Z E R S · E L S U P P O RT
ORGANIZATION California Commission on Teacher EXAM TYPE Reading Instruction Competence
Credentialing (CTC) Assessment (RICA)
SUBTEST Subtest 2 — Vocabulary & Comprehension ACADEMIC YEAR
TOTAL QUESTIONS 25 Questions SUBJECT AREAS Vocabulary · Comprehension · Grammar ·
Assessment
FORMAT Multiple Choice — Select the Single Best
Answer
SUBTEST 2 EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
▸ Select the single best answer for each question based on RICA content specifications.
▸ Content covers: vocabulary development (context clues, structural analysis, morphemes), comprehension strategies (Venn
diagrams, star diagrams, retelling), academic language, cross-curricular reading, grammar and syntax, oral language transfer,
and English Learner support strategies.
▸ Key scenarios include: Jabberwocky nonsense poem for grammatical awareness, paragraph-building activities for ELs, and
formulaic book selection behaviors.
SECTION I — INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES & ASSESSMENT Questions 1 – 25
1. A third grader reads at grade level but always selects formulaic series books. What is the teacher's best response?
A. Require the student to stop reading the series entirely.
B. Provide books with similar themes or topics that are more challenging.
C. Allow the student to continue — any reading is beneficial.
D. Assign a specific book list the student must follow.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Provide books with similar themes or topics that are more challenging.
RATIONALE The best response is to provide books with SIMILAR THEMES OR TOPICS at a MORE CHALLENGING LEVEL —
leveraging the student's existing interests to stretch conceptual and language development. A student with
limited vocabulary who receives NO instructional intervention will FALL BEHIND peers and continue falling
further behind as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary. Context clues have an important limitation:
EXPLICIT context clues are not common in most texts, and implicit clues require background knowledge the
student may lack.
2 TSETBUS • ACIR
✦RICA✦
SUB 2
Credentialing
Reading Instruction Competence Assessment · Subtest 2
CA CTC
ENSURING EXCELLENCE IN READING INSTRUCTION
RICA — Subtest 2 Examination
V O C A B U L A R Y · CO M P R E H E N S I O N · ST R U C T U R A L A N A LYS I S · G R A P H I C O R G A N I Z E R S · E L S U P P O RT
ORGANIZATION California Commission on Teacher EXAM TYPE Reading Instruction Competence
Credentialing (CTC) Assessment (RICA)
SUBTEST Subtest 2 — Vocabulary & Comprehension ACADEMIC YEAR
TOTAL QUESTIONS 25 Questions SUBJECT AREAS Vocabulary · Comprehension · Grammar ·
Assessment
FORMAT Multiple Choice — Select the Single Best
Answer
SUBTEST 2 EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
▸ Select the single best answer for each question based on RICA content specifications.
▸ Content covers: vocabulary development (context clues, structural analysis, morphemes), comprehension strategies (Venn
diagrams, star diagrams, retelling), academic language, cross-curricular reading, grammar and syntax, oral language transfer,
and English Learner support strategies.
▸ Key scenarios include: Jabberwocky nonsense poem for grammatical awareness, paragraph-building activities for ELs, and
formulaic book selection behaviors.
SECTION I — INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES & ASSESSMENT Questions 1 – 25
1. A third grader reads at grade level but always selects formulaic series books. What is the teacher's best response?
A. Require the student to stop reading the series entirely.
B. Provide books with similar themes or topics that are more challenging.
C. Allow the student to continue — any reading is beneficial.
D. Assign a specific book list the student must follow.
CORRECT ANSWER B — Provide books with similar themes or topics that are more challenging.
RATIONALE The best response is to provide books with SIMILAR THEMES OR TOPICS at a MORE CHALLENGING LEVEL —
leveraging the student's existing interests to stretch conceptual and language development. A student with
limited vocabulary who receives NO instructional intervention will FALL BEHIND peers and continue falling
further behind as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary. Context clues have an important limitation:
EXPLICIT context clues are not common in most texts, and implicit clues require background knowledge the
student may lack.
