TExES Reading Specialist (151)

1. Question 1 · Oral Language

   A kindergarten teacher is planning her first oral blending lessons and asks the reading specialist why the program begins with words such as 'mat,' 'sun,' and 'fan' rather than 'bat,' 'top,' and 'cap.' Which of the following is the best explanation?
   • A.Words that begin with nasal and fricative sounds are taught first because they appear most often in the high-frequency word lists used in kindergarten.
   • B.The vowels in 'mat,' 'sun,' and 'fan' are long vowel sounds, which kindergarten students perceive and blend more easily than the short vowels in the other words.
   • C.The first sounds in 'bat,' 'top,' and 'cap' are produced with a long flow of air, so they are harder for young children to hear separately from the vowel.
   • D.The first sounds in 'mat,' 'sun,' and 'fan' are continuant sounds that can be stretched and held without distortion, which makes blending easier to model.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. The first sounds in 'mat,' 'sun,' and 'fan' are continuant sounds that can be stretched and held without distortion, which makes blending easier to model.

   Continuant (continuous) sounds such as /m/, /s/, and /f/ can be held ('mmmat') so the teacher can connect them smoothly to the vowel, which supports blending. Stop sounds such as /b/, /t/, and /k/ are brief bursts that cannot be stretched, and stretching them adds a distorting vowel ('buh'). The vowels in these words are short, not long, and frequency in word lists is not the reason.

2. Question 2 · Word Identification

   A first-grade teacher is introducing the high-frequency word 'said.' Which of the following approaches best reflects current research on how irregular words become sight words?
   • A.Have students chant the letter names s-a-i-d several times while clapping, without saying the sounds that the letters make.
   • B.Map the regular sounds /s/ and /d/ to their letters and mark 'ai' as the irregular part that must be remembered by heart.
   • C.Show the word on a flashcard each day and have students draw a box around its outline so they remember its overall shape.
   • D.Place the word in a predictable sentence with a picture so students can figure it out from the picture and the first letter.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Map the regular sounds /s/ and /d/ to their letters and mark 'ai' as the irregular part that must be remembered by heart.

   Orthographic mapping research shows that even irregular words are stored by connecting their letters to sounds; most of 'said' is regular, and only the 'ai' spelling of /e/ needs special attention (the heart-word approach). Word shape and letter-name chanting do not build letter-sound bonds, and guessing from pictures and first letters is not a reliable word-reading strategy.

3. Question 3 · Oral Language

   A fifth-grade teacher says she uses reciprocal teaching: each student completes a worksheet with boxes labeled predict, question, clarify and summarize while reading silently, and she collects and grades the sheets. Which feature of reciprocal teaching, as described by Palincsar and Brown, is most clearly missing?
   • A.A requirement that students read every text aloud in round-robin order before completing any of the strategies
   • B.Teacher modeling and guided dialogue in which the leader role gradually shifts to students as they take turns
   • C.Weekly vocabulary quizzes on words from each text so that students can clarify unknown words independently
   • D.The use of leveled texts below grade level so that students can apply all four strategies without difficulty
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Teacher modeling and guided dialogue in which the leader role gradually shifts to students as they take turns

   Reciprocal teaching is a dialogue: the teacher models the four strategies, then students take turns leading the group discussion with scaffolding that fades over time. Completing the strategies individually on a worksheet removes the social, scaffolded talk that makes the approach effective. Round-robin reading and lowering text levels are not features of the method.

4. Question 4 · Oral Language

   A teacher tells a parent at a conference that her son "got 45 percent on the national reading test, so he basically failed." The student is in fourth grade. The score report shows a percentile rank of 45 and a stanine of 5. How should the reading specialist clarify the result?
   • A.He scored at about the 5th grade level, which is a grade higher than his actual enrollment in fourth grade
   • B.He answered 45% of the items correctly, which is below the passing standard but close to the class average
   • C.He scored below average because any percentile rank under 50 indicates performance below grade-level standards
   • D.He scored as well as or better than about 45% of students in the norm group, which is in the average range
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. He scored as well as or better than about 45% of students in the norm group, which is in the average range

   A percentile rank compares a student with the norm group: a rank of 45 means he scored as well as or better than about 45% of that group, and stanine 5 is the middle, average band. It is not percent correct. Ranks just under 50 are still average, and a stanine is not a grade level.

5. Question 5 · Students with Reading Difficulties, Dyslexia, and Reading Disabilities

   The mother of a first grader receiving Tier 2 reading intervention submits a written request for a dyslexia evaluation. A teacher on the campus team says the student must first complete 12 more weeks of intervention. What is the most appropriate response from the reading specialist?
   • A.Tell the mother that dyslexia cannot be reliably identified until the end of third grade, when reading is fully assessed
   • B.Ask the mother to obtain a private diagnosis first so that the school has outside evidence before considering a request
   • C.Agree that the evaluation should wait until the student has finished both Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention successfully
   • D.Explain that intervention cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation and that the request must be addressed promptly
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Explain that intervention cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation and that the request must be addressed promptly

   Parents may request an evaluation at any time, and an RTI or MTSS process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation for a suspected disability; the school must respond under IDEA procedures. Requiring completion of tiers or a private diagnosis would violate these protections.

6. Question 6 · Oral Language

   A sixth grader often interrupts classmates, speaks to the principal in the same casual way he speaks to friends, and takes a teacher's sarcastic remark ('Great, another late assignment') as praise. His vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation are age-appropriate. His difficulties most clearly involve which system of oral language?
   • A.Pragmatics, the social rules for using language appropriately across situations and listeners
   • B.Morphology, the system of meaningful word parts such as prefixes, suffixes, and inflectional endings on words
   • C.Phonology, the sound system of a language and the rules for how its speech sounds combine and are produced
   • D.Syntax, the rules that govern how words are ordered and combined to form grammatical phrases and sentences
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Pragmatics, the social rules for using language appropriately across situations and listeners

   Turn-taking, adjusting register to the listener, and interpreting a speaker's intent (such as sarcasm) are pragmatic skills. His vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation are typical, so semantics, morphology, syntax, and phonology are not the concern.

7. Question 7 · Word Identification

   While reading a science text, a fifth grader thinks aloud: 'Unbreakable ... I see un- at the beginning, and that means not. Break is the main word. And -able means you can do it. So unbreakable means it can't be broken.' Which word identification strategy is the student using?
   • A.Structural analysis, identifying a prefix, a base word, and a suffix and combining their meanings
   • B.Syllable-type analysis, labeling each syllable as closed, open, or vowel-consonant-e to pronounce it
   • C.Orthographic mapping, linking every phoneme in the word to its grapheme to store it as a sight word
   • D.Contextual analysis, using the surrounding sentences in the text to infer the meaning of the word
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Structural analysis, identifying a prefix, a base word, and a suffix and combining their meanings

   The student separates 'unbreakable' into the prefix 'un-,' the base 'break,' and the suffix '-able' and uses the meaning of each part, which is structural (morphemic) analysis. He does not refer to surrounding text, label syllable types, or map individual sounds to letters.

8. Question 8 · Oral Language

   A sixth-grade teacher runs literature circles in which students fill in role sheets (discussion director, word finder, connector) each week. Discussions have become a round of students reading their sheets aloud with little interaction. Which change would most improve the literature circles?
   • A.Grade each role sheet for completeness so that students take their preparation for discussion more seriously
   • B.Assign new roles each week so that every student practices all the roles before the circles are discontinued
   • C.Have the teacher lead each circle and ask comprehension questions so that every student answers in turn
   • D.Fade the role sheets and have students bring their own questions and journal responses to open discussion
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Fade the role sheets and have students bring their own questions and journal responses to open discussion

   Roles are meant as temporary scaffolds; when they become rote, fading them and having students bring their own questions and written responses supports genuine, student-led conversation about books. Rotating roles keeps the same rote structure, and teacher-led questioning turns the circle into recitation rather than authentic response.

9. Question 9 · Oral Language

   A reading specialist gave a fifth grader an informal reading inventory. Listening comprehension level is the highest passage level at which the student answers at least 75% of questions correctly when the passage is read aloud to him. The following data summarize the results.

   Measure	Result
   Highest instructional reading level	Grade 2
   Listening comprehension level	Grade 5
   Word recognition in isolation, grade 3 list	55% correct
   Oral reading, grade 3 passage	86% accuracy

   Which plan makes the best use of these results in planning his reading instruction?
   • A.Use grade 2 text for teacher-guided reading and decoding practice, and grade 5 text read aloud for discussion of content
   • B.Use grade 2 text for all reading and content work, since a student should never work with text above his reading level
   • C.Use grade 5 text for all of his guided reading, since his listening level shows he understands text written at his grade level
   • D.Use grade 3 text for his independent reading, since his oral reading accuracy shows that it is his independent level
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Use grade 2 text for teacher-guided reading and decoding practice, and grade 5 text read aloud for discussion of content

   His instructional reading level (grade 2) is the right level for teacher-supported reading in which he applies decoding skills. His listening level (grade 5) estimates his potential comprehension when word recognition is not a barrier, so grade-level text read aloud or in audio form builds vocabulary and knowledge. Guided reading in grade 5 text would be at frustration level, limiting all work to grade 2 text restricts his language growth, and 86% accuracy on the grade 3 passage is frustration level, not independent level.

10. Question 10 · Students with Reading Difficulties, Dyslexia, and Reading Disabilities

    A campus coordinator proposes evaluating a third grader suspected of dyslexia only under Section 504 and then providing dyslexia instruction through a 504 plan. Under the current Dyslexia Handbook, what should the reading specialist advise?
    • A.Delay any evaluation until the student's next universal screening confirms that dyslexia is the likely cause of the difficulty
    • B.Proceed under Section 504, since students with dyslexia must receive 504 services before any IDEA referral is made
    • C.Refer the student for evaluation under IDEA, since dyslexia instruction is considered specially designed instruction
    • D.Ask the family to obtain a private dyslexia evaluation, since schools may evaluate for dyslexia only after a medical diagnosis
    Show answer and explanation

    Answer: C. Refer the student for evaluation under IDEA, since dyslexia instruction is considered specially designed instruction

    Under the current handbook, a student suspected of dyslexia is referred for a full individual and initial evaluation under IDEA, because dyslexia instruction is treated as specially designed instruction. Section 504 remains relevant for accommodations, but it is not a required step before IDEA, and schools cannot delay or shift the evaluation to families.

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