The MTEL

Workshop Information:Communication and Literacy Skills (Test 01)

Workshop Fee

The Communication and Literacy Skills Test (Test 01)

The Subject Tests

NU Advisors on the Subject Tests

Test Anxiety? [to come]

Questions?

The MTEL

The Massachusetts Department of Education (MDOE) requires that all teachers planning to teach elementary, middle, or high school in the public schools of Massachusetts pass two competency tests:

1) Communication and Literacy Skills Test (Test 01)
2) Subject test (depending on the prospective teacher's major or area of specialization) click here, or scroll down


No student can student teach without passing all sections of the MTEL. Students should take the Literacy portion of the test as early as possible, before the end of the sophomore year. The subject matter test should be taken at the end of the middler year (or the middle of the third year for four-year students). Graduate students must complete the MTEL prior to practicum placement (year two for guidance and special education students). See Requirements for Student Teaching.

Passing both tests is required for initial certification in Massachusetts. See the Massachusetts DOE site for more details.

 

Workshop Information
Communication and Literacy Skills Test (Test 01)

At Northeastern, we offer a preparatory workshop on the Literacy and Communications Test (01) three to four weeks before each of the four testing dates. Students thus have enough time to prepare further on their own.

The Communication and Literacy Skills Test (Test 01)

The writing subtest is made up of four sections, and each section counts equally toward a candidate's total writing subtest score. These sections include:

1) Written Summary
In this section of the writing subtest, candidates are asked to summarize in their own words an extended written passage. Candidates must read the passage, identify its main ideas and essential points, and produce a written summary using the conventions of edited American English. Click here for tips on writing a summary, examples, and sample passages to practice.

2) Written Composition
Candidates are asked to prepare in their own words an extended written passage on a specified topic of general interest. They must produce a composition that is unified, well organized and developed, and written in edited American English. Click here for tips on writing on demand and sample essays.

3) Grammar and Usage
A. Multiple-choice items. Multiple-choice items are linked to brief written passages that contain grammatical, usage, or structural errors. Candidates must analyze the passages, recognize the errors, and identify proposed corrections.
B. Sentence correction items. Each sentence correction item presents a sentence that contains one or more grammatical or usage errors. Candidates must read the sentence, recognize the error(s), and rewrite the sentence in edited American English.
C. Grammar definition items. Each grammatical definition item asks candidates to define in their own words a grammatical item.

Click here for grammar review.

4) Spelling and Punctuation
Students listen to a recording of a short passage, and must transcribe it accurately.

The reading subtest is made of up two sections:

1. Reading Comprehension

2. Vocabulary

Workshop Fee

The fee for NU students and alumni is $50.00 for both workshops and $150.00 for those who are not members of the NU community. Participants must pay in advance at the Cashiers Office on campus. Please bring a valid ID to the workshop.

Cashiers Office
248 Richards Hall
Northeastern University
Boston MA 02115

 

The Subject Tests

Click here for subject test booklets.

 

NU Advisors: the Subject Tests

Each department and/or major has an MTEL advisor who will help you prepare for your subject test. She/he can advise you on specific courses to take, furnish a bibliography, and, in some cases, schedule workshops.

 

Test Anxiety?

[to come]