ETS 5301 Reading Specialist Certification
Assessment Practice Exam WITH QUESTIONS AND
WELL VERIFIED ANSWERS
PART I — Assessment and Diagnostic Teaching
1.
A reading specialist administers a brief assessment to all first-grade students at the beginning of
the school year to identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties. What is the
primary purpose of this assessment?
A. Diagnosis
B. Screening
C. Progress monitoring
D. Outcome evaluation
2.
Which assessment would BEST determine whether a student can manipulate individual
phonemes in spoken words?
A. Running record
B. Phonemic-awareness assessment
C. Oral reading fluency assessment
,D. Vocabulary inventory
3.
A student reads the word ship as /s/ /h/ /i/ /p/. Which skill does this response most directly
indicate a weakness in?
A. Morphological awareness
B. Phonemic blending
C. Reading comprehension
D. Semantic knowledge
4.
Which characteristic is MOST important for an assessment intended to measure what it claims
to measure?
A. Reliability
B. Validity
C. Difficulty
D. Length
5.
A teacher gives the same spelling assessment twice within a short period and obtains very
similar results. This demonstrates:
,A. validity
B. reliability
C. fairness
D. sensitivity
6.
A criterion-referenced assessment primarily compares a student's performance with:
A. the performance of students in the same grade
B. a national sample
C. predetermined learning standards
D. the student's previous teacher
7.
A norm-referenced assessment is primarily designed to:
A. determine mastery of specific curriculum objectives
B. compare student performance with that of a representative group
C. identify individual instructional strategies
D. determine whether a lesson was effective
8.
, A third-grade student's oral reading is accurate but extremely slow and laborious. Which
assessment would provide the MOST useful additional information?
A. Oral reading fluency assessment
B. Vocabulary assessment
C. Writing assessment
D. Listening comprehension assessment
9.
A student reads:
The cat sat on the mat. The cat was happy.
When asked why the cat was happy, the student says, "Because it says so."
Which skill should the reading specialist investigate first?
A. Phonological awareness
B. Inferential comprehension
C. Alphabet knowledge
D. Letter formation
10.
A reading specialist wants to determine why a student consistently substitutes words with
similar meanings while reading. Which assessment is MOST appropriate?
Assessment Practice Exam WITH QUESTIONS AND
WELL VERIFIED ANSWERS
PART I — Assessment and Diagnostic Teaching
1.
A reading specialist administers a brief assessment to all first-grade students at the beginning of
the school year to identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties. What is the
primary purpose of this assessment?
A. Diagnosis
B. Screening
C. Progress monitoring
D. Outcome evaluation
2.
Which assessment would BEST determine whether a student can manipulate individual
phonemes in spoken words?
A. Running record
B. Phonemic-awareness assessment
C. Oral reading fluency assessment
,D. Vocabulary inventory
3.
A student reads the word ship as /s/ /h/ /i/ /p/. Which skill does this response most directly
indicate a weakness in?
A. Morphological awareness
B. Phonemic blending
C. Reading comprehension
D. Semantic knowledge
4.
Which characteristic is MOST important for an assessment intended to measure what it claims
to measure?
A. Reliability
B. Validity
C. Difficulty
D. Length
5.
A teacher gives the same spelling assessment twice within a short period and obtains very
similar results. This demonstrates:
,A. validity
B. reliability
C. fairness
D. sensitivity
6.
A criterion-referenced assessment primarily compares a student's performance with:
A. the performance of students in the same grade
B. a national sample
C. predetermined learning standards
D. the student's previous teacher
7.
A norm-referenced assessment is primarily designed to:
A. determine mastery of specific curriculum objectives
B. compare student performance with that of a representative group
C. identify individual instructional strategies
D. determine whether a lesson was effective
8.
, A third-grade student's oral reading is accurate but extremely slow and laborious. Which
assessment would provide the MOST useful additional information?
A. Oral reading fluency assessment
B. Vocabulary assessment
C. Writing assessment
D. Listening comprehension assessment
9.
A student reads:
The cat sat on the mat. The cat was happy.
When asked why the cat was happy, the student says, "Because it says so."
Which skill should the reading specialist investigate first?
A. Phonological awareness
B. Inferential comprehension
C. Alphabet knowledge
D. Letter formation
10.
A reading specialist wants to determine why a student consistently substitutes words with
similar meanings while reading. Which assessment is MOST appropriate?
