Preparation Manual

Section 3: Overview and Exam Framework
English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 (117)

Exam Overview

Table outlining the exam format, number of questions, time, and passing score.

Exam Name	English Language Arts and Reading 4–8
Exam Code	117
Time	5 hours
Number of Questions	100 selected-response questions
Format	Computer-administered test (CAT)

The TExES English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 (117) exam is designed to assess whether an examinee has the requisite knowledge and skills that an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools must possess. The 100 selected-response questions are based on the English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 exam framework. Questions on this exam range from grades 4–8. The exam may contain questions that do not count toward the score. Your final scaled score will be based only on scored questions.

The Standards

Domains and Competencies

Table outlining exam content subject weighting by domain.

Domain	Domain Title	Approx. Percentage of Exam	Standards Assessed
I	Language Arts, Part I: Oral Language, Early Literacy Development, Word Identification Skills and Reading Fluency	33%	English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 I–III, VIII
II	Language Arts, Part II: Reading Comprehension and Assessment, Reading Applications, Written Language, Viewing and Representing and Study and Inquiry Skills	67%	English Language Arts and Reading 4–8 IV–VIII

The content covered by this exam is organized into broad areas of content called domains. Each domain covers one or more of the educator standards for this field. Within each domain, the content is further defined by a set of competencies. Each competency is composed of two major parts:

• The competency statement, which broadly defines what an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools should know and be able to do.
• The descriptive statements, which describe in greater detail the knowledge and skills eligible for testing.

Domain I—Language Arts, Part I: Oral Language, Early Literacy Development, Word Identification Skills and Reading Fluency

Competency 001—(Oral Language): The teacher understands the importance of oral language, knows the developmental processes of oral language and provides a variety of instructional opportunities for students to develop listening and speaking skills.

The beginning teacher:

1. Knows basic linguistic concepts (e.g., phonemes, segmentation) and developmental stages in acquiring oral language, including stages in phonology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics and recognizes that individual variations occur.
2. Knows characteristics and uses of informal and formal oral language assessments and uses multiple, ongoing assessments to monitor and evaluate students’ oral language skills.
3. Provides language instruction that acknowledges students’ current oral language skills and that builds on these skills to increase students’ oral language proficiency.
4. Plans, implements and adapts instruction that is based on informal and formal assessment of students’ progress in oral language development and that addresses the needs, strengths and interests of individual students, including English-language learners.
5. Recognizes when oral language delays or differences warrant in-depth evaluation and additional help or intervention.
6. Knows how to provide explicit, systematic oral language instruction and supports students’ learning and use of oral language through meaningful and purposeful activities implemented one-to-one and in a group.
7. Selects and uses instructional materials and strategies that promote students’ oral language development; that respond to students’ individual strengths, needs and interests; that reflect cultural diversity; and that build on students’ cultural, linguistic and home backgrounds to enhance their oral language development.
8. Understands relationships between the development of oral language and the development of reading and provides instruction that interrelates oral and written language to promote students’ reading proficiency and learning (e.g., preview-review, discussion, questioning).
9. Knows similarities and differences between oral and written language and how to promote students’ awareness of these similarities and differences.
10. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to strengthen students’ oral vocabulary and narrative skills in spoken language and teaches students to connect spoken and printed language.
11. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to teach students skills for speaking to different audiences for various purposes and for adapting spoken language for various audiences, purposes and occasions.
12. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to teach students listening skills for various purposes (e.g., critical listening to evaluate a speaker’s message, listening to enjoy and appreciate spoken language) and provides students with opportunities to engage in active, purposeful listening in a variety of contexts.
13. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to teach students to evaluate the content and effectiveness of their own spoken messages and the messages of others.
14. Knows how to promote students’ development of oral communication skills through the use of technology.

Competency 002—(Early Literacy Development): The teacher understands the foundations of early literacy development.

The beginning teacher:

1. Understands the significance of phonological and phonemic awareness for reading and typical patterns in the development of phonological and phonemic awareness and recognizes that individual variations occur.
2. Understands elements of the alphabetic principle (e.g., letter names, graphophonemic knowledge, the relationship of the letters in printed words to spoken language) and typical patterns of students’ alphabetic skills development and recognizes that individual variations occur.
3. Understands that comprehension is an integral part of early literacy.
4. Understands that not all written languages are alphabetic and that many alphabetic languages are more phonetically regular than English and knows the significance of this for students’ literacy development in English.
5. Understands that literacy acquisition generally develops in a predictable pattern from prereading (emergent literacy) to conventional literacy and recognizes that individual variations occur.
6. Understands that literacy development occurs in multiple contexts through reading, writing and the use of oral language.
7. Knows characteristics of informal and formal literacy assessments (e.g., screening devices, criterion-referenced state tests, curriculum-based reading assessments, informal reading inventories, norm-referenced tests).
8. Knows how to select, administer and use results from informal and formal assessments of literacy acquisition.
9. Knows how to use ongoing assessment to determine when a student needs additional help or intervention to bring the student’s performance to grade level, based on state content and performance standards for reading in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
10. Analyzes students’ errors in reading and responds to individual students’ needs by providing focused instruction to promote literacy acquisition.
11. Selects and uses instructional materials that build on the current language skills of individual students, including English-language learners, to promote development from emergent literacy to conventional literacy.

Competency 003—(Word Identification Skills and Reading Fluency): The teacher understands the importance of word identification skills (including decoding, blending, structural analysis and sight word vocabulary) and reading fluency and provides many opportunities for students to practice and improve word identification skills and reading fluency.

The beginning teacher:

1. Understands that many students develop word analysis skills and reading fluency in a predictable sequence and recognizes that individual variations occur.
2. Understands differences in students’ development of word identification skills and reading fluency and knows instructional practices for meeting students’ individual needs in these areas.
3. Understands the connection of word identification skills and reading fluency to reading comprehension.
4. Knows the continuum of word analysis skills in the statewide curriculum and grade-level expectations for attainment of these skills.
5. Knows how students develop fluency in oral and silent reading.
6. Understands that fluency involves rate, accuracy and intonation and knows the norms for reading fluency that have been established in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for various age and grade levels.
7. Knows factors affecting students’ word identification skills and reading fluency (e.g., home language, vocabulary development, learning disability).
8. Understands important phonetic elements and conventions of the English language.
9. Knows a variety of informal and formal procedures for assessing students’ word identification skills and reading fluency on an ongoing basis and uses appropriate assessments to monitor students’ performance in these areas and to plan instruction for individual students, including English-language learners.
10. Analyzes students’ errors in word analysis and uses the results of this analysis to inform future instruction.
11. Applies norms and expectations for word identification skills and reading fluency, as specified in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), to evaluate students’ reading performance.
12. Knows how to use ongoing assessment of word identification skills and reading fluency to determine when a student needs additional help or intervention to bring the student’s performance to grade level, based on state content and performance standards for reading in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
13. Knows strategies for decoding increasingly complex words, including using the alphabetic principle, structural cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, roots) and syllables and for using syntax and semantics to support word identification and confirm word meaning.
14. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to teach students to recognize high-frequency irregular words, to promote students’ ability to decode increasingly complex words and to enhance word identification skills for students reading at different levels.
15. Selects and uses appropriate instructional strategies, materials, activities and models to improve reading fluency for students reading at different levels (e.g., having students read independent-level texts, engage in repeated reading activities, use self-correction).

Domain II—Language Arts, Part II: Reading Comprehension and Assessment, Reading Applications, Written Language, Viewing and Representing and Study and Inquiry Skills

Competency 004—(Reading Comprehension and Assessment): The teacher understands the importance of reading for understanding, knows components and processes of reading comprehension and teaches students strategies for improving their comprehension.

The beginning teacher:

1. Understands reading comprehension as an active process of constructing meaning.
2. Understands the continuum of reading comprehension skills in the statewide curriculum and grade-level expectations for these skills.
3. Understands factors affecting students’ reading comprehension (e.g., oral language development, word analysis skills, prior knowledge, language background, previous reading experiences, fluency, vocabulary development, ability to monitor understanding, characteristics of specific texts).
4. Knows characteristics of informal and formal reading comprehension assessments (e.g., criterion-referenced state tests, curriculum-based reading assessments, informal reading inventories, norm-referenced tests).
5. Selects and uses appropriate informal and formal assessments to monitor and evaluate students’ reading comprehension.
6. Analyzes student errors and provides focused instruction in reading comprehension based on the strengths and needs of individual students, including English-language learners.
7. Knows how to use ongoing assessment to determine when a student needs additional help or intervention to bring the student’s performance to grade level, based on state content and performance standards for reading in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
8. Understands metacognitive skills, including self-evaluation and self-monitoring skills and teaches students to use these skills to enhance their own reading comprehension.
9. Knows how to determine students’ independent, instructional and frustration reading levels and uses this information to select and adapt reading materials for individual students, as well as to guide their selection of independent reading materials.
10. Uses various instructional strategies to enhance students’ reading comprehension (e.g., linking text content to students’ lives and prior knowledge, connecting related ideas across different texts, engaging students in guided and independent reading, guiding students to generate questions and apply knowledge of text topics).
11. Knows how to provide students with direct, explicit instruction in the use of strategies to improve their reading comprehension (e.g., previewing, self-monitoring, visualizing, retelling).
12. Uses various communication modes (e.g., written, oral) to promote students’ reading comprehension.
13. Understands levels of reading comprehension and how to model and teach literal, inferential and evaluative comprehension skills.
14. Knows how to provide instruction to help students increase their reading vocabulary.
15. Understands reading comprehension issues for students with different needs and knows effective reading strategies for those students.
16. Knows the difference between guided and independent practice in reading and provides students with frequent opportunities for both.
17. Knows how to promote students’ development of an extensive reading and writing vocabulary by providing them with many opportunities to read and write.

Competency 005—(Reading Applications): The teacher understands reading skills and strategies appropriate for various types of texts and contexts and teaches students to apply those skills and strategies to enhance their reading proficiency.

The beginning teacher:

1. Understands skills and strategies for understanding, interpreting and evaluating different types of written materials, including narratives, expository texts, technical writing and content-area textbooks.
2. Understands different purposes for reading and related reading strategies.
3. Knows and teaches strategies to facilitate comprehension of different types of text before, during and after reading (e.g., previewing, making predictions, questioning, self-monitoring, rereading, mapping, using reading journals, discussing texts).
4. Provides instruction in comprehension skills that support students’ transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” (e.g., matching comprehension strategies to different types of text and different purposes for reading).
5. Understands the importance of reading as a skill in all content areas.
6. Understands the value of using dictionaries, glossaries and other sources to determine the meanings, pronunciations and derivations of unfamiliar words and teaches students to use these sources.
7. Knows how to teach students to interpret information presented in various formats (e.g., maps, tables, graphs) and how to locate, retrieve and retain information from a range of texts and technologies.
8. Knows how to help students comprehend abstract content and ideas in written materials (e.g., by using manipulatives, examples, diagrams).
9. Knows literary genres (e.g., historical fiction, poetry, myths, fables) and their characteristics.
10. Recognizes a wide range of literature and other texts appropriate for students.
11. Provides multiple opportunities for students to listen and respond to a wide variety of children’s and young people’s literature, both fiction and nonfiction, and to recognize characteristics of various types of narrative and expository texts.
12. Understands and promotes students’ development of literary response and analysis, including teaching students elements of literary analysis (e.g., story elements, features of different literary genres) and providing students with opportunities to apply comprehension skills to literature.
13. Selects and uses a variety of materials to teach students about authors and about different purposes for writing.
14. Provides students with opportunities to engage in silent reading and extended reading of a wide range of materials, including expository texts and various literary genres.
15. Engages students in varied reading experiences and encourages students to interact with others about their reading.
16. Uses strategies to encourage reading for pleasure and lifelong learning.
17. Knows how to teach students strategies for selecting their own books for independent reading.
18. Uses technology to promote students’ literacy and teaches students to use technology to access a wide range of appropriate narrative and expository texts.

Competency 006—(Written Language – Writing Conventions): The teacher understands the conventions of writing in English and provides instruction that helps students develop proficiency in applying writing conventions.

The beginning teacher:

1. Knows predictable stages in the development of writing conventions (including the physical and cognitive processes involved in letter formation, word writing, sentence construction, spelling, punctuation and grammatical expression) and recognizes that individual variations occur.
2. Knows and applies appropriate instructional strategies and sequences to teach writing conventions and their applications to all students, including English-language learners.
3. Knows informal and formal procedures for assessing students’ use of writing conventions and uses multiple, ongoing assessments to monitor and evaluate students’ development in this area.
4. Uses ongoing assessment of writing conventions to determine when a student needs additional help or intervention to bring the student’s performance to grade level, based on state content and performance standards for writing in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
5. Analyzes students’ errors in applying writing conventions and uses the results of this analysis as a basis for future instruction.
6. Knows writing conventions and appropriate grammar and usage and provides students with direct instruction and guided practice in these areas.
7. Understands the contribution of conventional spelling toward success in reading and writing.
8. Understands stages of spelling development (prephonetic, phonetic, transitional and conventional) and how and when to support students’ development from one stage to the next.
9. Provides systematic spelling instruction and gives students opportunities to use and develop spelling skills in the context of meaningful written expression.

Competency 007—(Written Language — Composition): The teacher understands that writing to communicate is a developmental process and provides instruction that promotes students’ competence in written communication.

The beginning teacher:

1. Knows predictable stages in the development of written language and recognizes that individual variations occur.
2. Promotes student recognition of the practical uses of writing, creates an environment in which students are motivated to express ideas in writing and models writing as an enjoyable activity and a tool for lifelong learning.
3. Knows and applies appropriate instructional strategies and sequences to develop students’ writing skills.
4. Knows characteristics and uses of informal and formal written language assessments and uses multiple, ongoing assessments to monitor and evaluate students’ writing development.
5. Uses assessment results to plan focused instruction to address the writing strengths, needs and interests of all individuals and groups, including English-language learners.
6. Uses ongoing assessment of written language to determine when a student needs additional help or intervention to bring the student’s performance to grade level, based on state content and performance standards for writing in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
7. Understands the use of self-assessment in writing and provides opportunities for students to self-assess their writings (e.g., for clarity, interest to audience, comprehensiveness) and their development as writers.
8. Understands differences between first-draft writing and writing for publication and provides instruction in various stages of writing, including prewriting, drafting, editing and revising.
9. Understands the development of writing in relation to the other language arts and uses instructional strategies that connect these various aspects of language.
10. Understands similarities and differences between language (e.g., syntax, vocabulary) used in spoken and written English and helps students use knowledge of these similarities and differences to enhance their own writing.
11. Understands writing for a variety of audiences, purposes and settings and provides students with opportunities to write for various audiences, purposes and settings.
12. Knows how to write using voices and styles appropriate for different audiences and purposes, and provides students with opportunities to write using various voices and styles.
13. Understands the benefits of technology for teaching writing and writing for publication and provides instruction in the use of technology to facilitate written communication.

Competency 008—(Viewing and Representing): The teacher understands skills for interpreting, analyzing, evaluating and producing visual images and messages in various media and provides students with opportunities to develop skills in this area.

The beginning teacher:

1. Knows grade-level expectations in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and procedures for assessing students’ skills in interpreting, analyzing, evaluating and producing visual images, messages and meanings.
2. Uses ongoing assessment and knowledge of grade-level expectations in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to identify students’ needs regarding the interpretation, analysis, evaluation and production of visual images, messages and meanings and to plan instruction.
3. Understands characteristics and functions of different types of media (e.g., film, print) and knows how different types of media influence and inform.
4. Compares and contrasts print, visual and electronic media (e.g., films and written stories).
5. Evaluates how visual image makers (e.g., illustrators, documentary filmmakers, political cartoonists, news photographers) represent messages and meanings and provides students with varied opportunities to interpret and evaluate visual images in various media.
6. Knows how to teach students to analyze visual image makers’ choices (e.g., style, elements, media) and evaluate how these choices help to represent or extend meaning.
7. Provides students with opportunities to interpret events and ideas based on information from maps, charts, graphics, video segments and technology presentations and to use media to compare ideas and points of view.
8. Knows steps and procedures for producing visual images, messages and meanings to communicate with others.
9. Teaches students how to select, organize and produce visuals to complement and extend meanings.
10. Provides students with opportunities to use technology to produce various types of communications (e.g., class newspapers, multimedia reports, video reports) and helps students analyze how language, medium and presentation contribute to the message.

Competency 009—(Study and Inquiry Skills): The teacher understands the importance of study and inquiry skills as tools for learning in the content areas and promotes students’ development in applying study and inquiry skills.

The beginning teacher:

1. Understands study and inquiry skills (e.g., using text organizers; taking notes; outlining; drawing conclusions; applying test-taking strategies; previewing; setting purposes for reading; locating, organizing, evaluating and communicating information; summarizing information; using multiple sources of information; interpreting and using graphic sources of information) and knows the significance of these skills for student learning and achievement.
2. Knows grade-level expectations for study and inquiry skills in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and procedures for assessing students’ development and use of these skills.
3. Knows and applies instructional practices that promote the acquisition and use of study and inquiry skills across the curriculum by all students, including English-language learners.
4. Knows how to provide students with varied and meaningful opportunities to learn and apply study and inquiry skills to enhance their achievement across the curriculum.
5. Uses ongoing assessment and knowledge of grade-level expectations in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) to identify students’ needs regarding study and inquiry skills, to determine when a student requires additional help or intervention, and to plan instruction.
6. Responds to students’ needs by providing direct, explicit instruction to promote the acquisition and use of study and inquiry skills.

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