GACE: Reading

The Reading assessment, offered as part of the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators, is divided into two tests.

The first test consists of 60 selected-response questions (80% of the test score) and 2 constructed-response assignments (20% of the test score). The content areas covered by the first test are reading assessment, foundations of reading development, and reading development. The topics covered by the reading assessment subarea are: formal and informal techniques for assessing reading; strategies for interpreting and communicating the results of reading assessments; and using assessment data to plan and implement instruction for students at diverse skill levels. The topics covered by the foundations of reading development subarea are: language, acquisition, reading processes, and theories of reading development; the role of phonological awareness in reading development; strategies for promoting phonological awareness skills; the role of phonemic awareness in reading development and strategies for promoting phonemic awareness skills; and methods for promoting literacy as a lifelong skills. The topics covered by the reading development subarea are: strategies for promoting students' understanding of concepts about print and the alphabetic principle; the role of phonics and other word-analysis skills in promoting reading development; and strategies for promoting fluency at the word level and text level.

The second test consists of 60 selected-response questions (80% of the test score) and 2 constructed-response questions (20% of the test score). The content areas covered by the second test are comprehension, reading, literature, and reading across the curriculum. The topics covered by the comprehension subarea are: the factors affecting reading comprehension; the methods for applying various comprehension strategies throughout the reading process; and the selection of reading materials for different purposes. The topics covered by the reading and literature subarea are: the characteristics of the various genres of literary and informational texts; the interpretation of literary texts from various genres, cultures, and time periods; and the various strategies for developing and reinforcing students' reading comprehension skills as they relate to literary texts. The topics covered by the reading across the curriculum subarea are: the instructional strategies for developing and reinforcing reading comprehension skills as they relate to informational texts; for promoting content-area knowledge through reading; for improving research habits and study skills; for promoting and expanding vocabulary development; and for varying instruction for different texts and purposes.

The examination must be completed within four hours. The total test score is placed on a scale of 100 to 300, with 220 as the lowest passing score. Scores are based on the number of selected-response questions answered correctly and the scores assigned by judges to the constructed responses. Test-takers will also receive performance indices indicating their success in each subarea of the examination. Scores will be available approximately a month after the date of the examination; unofficial results are posted on the internet, and an official score report is mailed to the test-taker, the Professional Standards Commission, and the institution specified by the test-taker during registration.

Practice Questions

1. A third-grade teacher leads a student through a guided reading exercise, in which teacher and student alternate reading pages aloud and the student is occasionally asked to make plot predictions. What aspect of reading skill does this activity target?

A: comprehension
B: phonemic awareness
C: fluency
D: vocabulary development

2. Which of the following phonemic skills is addressed during kindergarten instruction?

A: diphthongs
B: onset sound
C: blends
D: digraphs

3. A fourth-grade teacher decides to group students together to work on an extensive project over several months. This instructional method runs the risk of alienating what kind of learner?

A: intrapersonal
B: naturalistic
C: kinesthetic
D: logical

4. Which of the following factors plays the greatest role in academic vocabulary development?

A: reading comprehension
B: breadth of reading
C: phonemic awareness
D: pragmatic understanding

5. A fifth-grade teacher wants to introduce a lesson on figurative language. Which of the following activities would be most appropriate?

A: Reading a list of all of the types of figurative language
B: Constructing a diorama
C: Brainstorming some common figurative expressions
D: Watching a documentary on poetry

Answer Key

1. A. Guided reading ensures that students are incorporating effective reading comprehension strategies.
2. B. Kindergarten students usually focus on the beginning sound in a word, known as the onset.
3. A. Intrapersonal learners tend to work better by themselves and may have trouble working in a group for a long period.
4. B. Research suggests that students who read widely have larger vocabularies.
5. C. A good way to start this kind of lesson is to show students how they use figurative language in everyday conversation.