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The reading examination elementary candidates sit

A candidate seeking an early childhood or elementary field in Texas takes an additional examination on the teaching of reading, which Texas calls the Science of Teaching Reading examination, on top of the content examination and the pedagogy one.

Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.

What it is for

A candidate planning an elementary certificate budgeted for two examinations and two study periods, and found a third waiting in the last month of her programme, at the exact point when she was also finishing her placement. Nobody had hidden it. She had read a page about certification in general instead of the page about the field she had chosen.

How to think about it

Once you have named your field, go to the state's page for that specific field and read the list of required examinations there, not the general page. Early childhood and elementary bands carry the reading examination; most secondary single-subject fields do not. Then count the examinations and put each one on a calendar before the placement starts.

Worked example

Field named, with its grade band, because the band is what triggers the extra test
Requirements attach to the band, not to the person.
Elementary band, so three examinations rather than two
Written on the calendar as three separate study periods.
Secondary single subject, so two examinations
The same road with one fewer gate.
Each examination dated before the placement begins where the programme allows
The placement year is the worst time to be studying for anything.

Your turn

Name the subject of the extra examination Texas elementary candidates take.

Elementary field, so three exams: content, pedagogy, and

The trap

Reading a certification checklist written for the whole state and assuming it covers your field. The requirements attach to the field and the grade band, and the only list that is true for you is the one on the state's page for your field.

Practise the reading examination elementary candidates take on HoneA question on it now, a real problem where there is one, and it is remembered for review. Free, no email needed.