STR 293 EXAM AND PRACTICE EXAM NEWEST 2026 TEST BANK|
EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT VERIFIED ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALES / SCIENCE OF TEACHING READING 293 CERTIFICATION
ALREADY GRADED A+ (MOST RECENT!!)
EXAM STRUCTURE:
- Domain I: Reading Pedagogy (13%)
- Domain II: Reading Development: Foundational Skills (43%)
- Domain III: Reading Development: Comprehension (24%)
- Domain IV: Analysis and Response (20%)
INSTRUCTIONS:
This comprehensive examination is designed to assess the knowledge and skills
required for the TExES Science of Teaching Reading (293) certification. The
exam is based on scientifically based reading research, the Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), and
the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.
SECTION 1: DOMAIN I – READING PEDAGOGY (Questions 1-40)
1. According to the National Reading Panel report, which of the following is
NOT one of the five essential components of effective reading instruction?
A) Phonemic Awareness
B) Phonics
C) Spelling
D) Comprehension
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The National Reading Panel identified five essential components
of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension. Spelling is not one of the five essential components.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Phonemic awareness is one of the five essential components.
B) Phonics is one of the five essential components.
1
, D) Comprehension is one of the five essential components.
2. A kindergarten teacher is planning instruction to develop students'
phonemic awareness. Which of the following activities would be most
appropriate for this purpose?
A) Having students practice writing the letters of the alphabet
B) Asking students to identify the beginning sound in a spoken word
C) Teaching students to recognize high-frequency words by sight
D) Having students read decodable texts aloud
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Asking students
to identify the beginning sound in a spoken word is a phonemic awareness
activity that does not involve print.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Writing letters is a phonics/encoding activity, not phonemic awareness.
C) Recognizing high-frequency words is a sight word/vocabulary activity.
D) Reading decodable texts involves phonics and fluency, not phonemic
awareness.
3. A first-grade teacher is using a systematic, explicit approach to teach
phonics. Which of the following instructional practices best reflects this
approach?
A) Having students guess unknown words using picture clues
B) Teaching letter-sound correspondences in a clear, logical sequence
C) Encouraging students to use context clues to identify unfamiliar words
D) Allowing students to choose their own books for independent reading
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Systematic, explicit phonics instruction involves teaching
letter-sound correspondences in a planned, sequential manner, directly
explaining the relationships between letters and sounds.
2
, Why others are incorrect:
A) Guessing from pictures is not systematic or explicit phonics
instruction.
C) Using context clues is a comprehension strategy, not phonics.
D) Independent reading choice does not constitute systematic phonics
instruction.
4. A second-grade teacher is designing a formative assessment to determine
each student's ability to make a prediction. Which of the following
approaches should the teacher take when designing the assessment?
A) Ask students to retell the story in their own words
B) Have students guess what happens next in the text and provide support
with text evidence
C) Ask students to identify the main idea of the passage
D) Have students answer multiple-choice questions about the plot
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Formative assessment of prediction skills should require
students to make predictions based on text evidence and support their
thinking. This approach allows the teacher to assess both the
student's ability to predict and their use of text-based reasoning.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Retelling assesses comprehension, not specifically prediction.
C) Main idea identification assesses a different comprehension skill.
D) Multiple-choice questions may not accurately assess the process of
making predictions.
5. A third-grade teacher frequently uses an online application at the end of
a lesson that allows the teacher to post a small task or question for
students on the classroom computer. Throughout the day, students post
their individual responses for the teacher to review. In this scenario,
the teacher is using technology for which of the following assessment
purposes?
3
, A) Summative assessment
B) Diagnostic assessment
C) Formative assessment
D) Benchmark assessment
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The teacher is using technology for formative assessment. The
teacher is gathering ongoing information about student learning during
instruction to adjust teaching and provide feedback.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Summative assessment occurs at the end of a unit to evaluate learning.
B) Diagnostic assessment is given before instruction to identify
students' strengths and weaknesses.
D) Benchmark assessment is administered periodically to measure progress
toward standards.
6. A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five
Little Pumpkins to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The
teacher has several English Language Learners in the classroom. On one
page of the text, the pumpkins are scared because the wind has blown out
the candles. The picture shows just the pumpkins' scared eyes and the
lights out all around them. The teacher says, "All we can see are the
pumpkins' eyes. How do you think they are feeling right now?" A student
answers, "Sad. It dark." This response is expected of a student at what
level of English proficiency?
A) Beginning
B) Intermediate
C) Advanced
D) Advanced High
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The student's response "Sad. It dark" demonstrates the ability
to use short, simple sentences and some academic vocabulary, which is
4
EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT VERIFIED ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALES / SCIENCE OF TEACHING READING 293 CERTIFICATION
ALREADY GRADED A+ (MOST RECENT!!)
EXAM STRUCTURE:
- Domain I: Reading Pedagogy (13%)
- Domain II: Reading Development: Foundational Skills (43%)
- Domain III: Reading Development: Comprehension (24%)
- Domain IV: Analysis and Response (20%)
INSTRUCTIONS:
This comprehensive examination is designed to assess the knowledge and skills
required for the TExES Science of Teaching Reading (293) certification. The
exam is based on scientifically based reading research, the Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), and
the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.
SECTION 1: DOMAIN I – READING PEDAGOGY (Questions 1-40)
1. According to the National Reading Panel report, which of the following is
NOT one of the five essential components of effective reading instruction?
A) Phonemic Awareness
B) Phonics
C) Spelling
D) Comprehension
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The National Reading Panel identified five essential components
of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension. Spelling is not one of the five essential components.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Phonemic awareness is one of the five essential components.
B) Phonics is one of the five essential components.
1
, D) Comprehension is one of the five essential components.
2. A kindergarten teacher is planning instruction to develop students'
phonemic awareness. Which of the following activities would be most
appropriate for this purpose?
A) Having students practice writing the letters of the alphabet
B) Asking students to identify the beginning sound in a spoken word
C) Teaching students to recognize high-frequency words by sight
D) Having students read decodable texts aloud
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Asking students
to identify the beginning sound in a spoken word is a phonemic awareness
activity that does not involve print.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Writing letters is a phonics/encoding activity, not phonemic awareness.
C) Recognizing high-frequency words is a sight word/vocabulary activity.
D) Reading decodable texts involves phonics and fluency, not phonemic
awareness.
3. A first-grade teacher is using a systematic, explicit approach to teach
phonics. Which of the following instructional practices best reflects this
approach?
A) Having students guess unknown words using picture clues
B) Teaching letter-sound correspondences in a clear, logical sequence
C) Encouraging students to use context clues to identify unfamiliar words
D) Allowing students to choose their own books for independent reading
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Systematic, explicit phonics instruction involves teaching
letter-sound correspondences in a planned, sequential manner, directly
explaining the relationships between letters and sounds.
2
, Why others are incorrect:
A) Guessing from pictures is not systematic or explicit phonics
instruction.
C) Using context clues is a comprehension strategy, not phonics.
D) Independent reading choice does not constitute systematic phonics
instruction.
4. A second-grade teacher is designing a formative assessment to determine
each student's ability to make a prediction. Which of the following
approaches should the teacher take when designing the assessment?
A) Ask students to retell the story in their own words
B) Have students guess what happens next in the text and provide support
with text evidence
C) Ask students to identify the main idea of the passage
D) Have students answer multiple-choice questions about the plot
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Formative assessment of prediction skills should require
students to make predictions based on text evidence and support their
thinking. This approach allows the teacher to assess both the
student's ability to predict and their use of text-based reasoning.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Retelling assesses comprehension, not specifically prediction.
C) Main idea identification assesses a different comprehension skill.
D) Multiple-choice questions may not accurately assess the process of
making predictions.
5. A third-grade teacher frequently uses an online application at the end of
a lesson that allows the teacher to post a small task or question for
students on the classroom computer. Throughout the day, students post
their individual responses for the teacher to review. In this scenario,
the teacher is using technology for which of the following assessment
purposes?
3
, A) Summative assessment
B) Diagnostic assessment
C) Formative assessment
D) Benchmark assessment
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The teacher is using technology for formative assessment. The
teacher is gathering ongoing information about student learning during
instruction to adjust teaching and provide feedback.
Why others are incorrect:
A) Summative assessment occurs at the end of a unit to evaluate learning.
B) Diagnostic assessment is given before instruction to identify
students' strengths and weaknesses.
D) Benchmark assessment is administered periodically to measure progress
toward standards.
6. A kindergarten teacher is planning to read the book Pete the Cat: Five
Little Pumpkins to the class and ask some text-dependent questions. The
teacher has several English Language Learners in the classroom. On one
page of the text, the pumpkins are scared because the wind has blown out
the candles. The picture shows just the pumpkins' scared eyes and the
lights out all around them. The teacher says, "All we can see are the
pumpkins' eyes. How do you think they are feeling right now?" A student
answers, "Sad. It dark." This response is expected of a student at what
level of English proficiency?
A) Beginning
B) Intermediate
C) Advanced
D) Advanced High
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The student's response "Sad. It dark" demonstrates the ability
to use short, simple sentences and some academic vocabulary, which is
4
