Illinois Licensure Testing System Reading Specialist 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which ILTS test is required for the Illinois Reading Specialist endorsement?
- ILTS Reading Specialist test 176 (Correct answer)
- ILTS Elementary Education test 305
- ILTS APT test 101
- ILTS English Language Arts test 111
Correct answer: ILTS Reading Specialist test 176
ILTS test 176 (Reading Specialist) assesses the knowledge and skills required for the Illinois Reading Specialist endorsement.
Question 2: Which five components of reading were identified by the National Reading Panel as essential for effective literacy instruction?
- Vocabulary, fluency, spelling, writing, comprehension
- Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension (Correct answer)
- Phonics, grammar, writing, fluency, listening
- Phonemic awareness, decoding, encoding, syntax, pragmatics
Correct answer: Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension
The National Reading Panel identified phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as the five essential components of reading.
Question 3: What is the difference between a phoneme and a grapheme?
- A phoneme is a written unit; a grapheme is a spoken sound
- A phoneme is a unit of meaning; a grapheme is a syllable
- A phoneme is a spoken sound; a grapheme is a written letter or letter combination representing a sound (Correct answer)
- They are synonyms for the same concept
Correct answer: A phoneme is a spoken sound; a grapheme is a written letter or letter combination representing a sound
A phoneme is the smallest unit of spoken sound, while a grapheme is the written symbol (letter or letter cluster) that represents that sound.
Question 4: Which assessment tool provides a detailed picture of a student's decoding, word recognition, and oral reading accuracy?
- DIBELS Next
- Running record (Correct answer)
- STAR Reading test
- Maze fluency probe
Correct answer: Running record
A running record documents a student's oral reading behavior in real time, capturing substitutions, omissions, and self-corrections to assess accuracy and strategy use.
Question 5: What is the primary role of a Reading Specialist in an Illinois school according to ILA and ISBE standards?
- Replace classroom teachers for reading instruction
- Provide assessment, intervention, and coaching support to improve literacy outcomes (Correct answer)
- Administer only standardized reading tests
- Design state reading curricula exclusively
Correct answer: Provide assessment, intervention, and coaching support to improve literacy outcomes
Reading Specialists serve multiple roles including direct intervention with struggling readers, literacy coaching for teachers, and leading assessment-driven literacy improvement efforts.
Question 6: Which approach to phonics instruction teaches letter-sound correspondences explicitly and systematically from simple to complex patterns?
- Whole language instruction
- Embedded phonics
- Systematic synthetic phonics (Correct answer)
- Incidental phonics
Correct answer: Systematic synthetic phonics
Systematic synthetic phonics explicitly teaches letter-sound correspondences in a planned, sequential progression from simple to complex patterns.
Illinois Licensure Testing System Reading Specialist 1
Which ILTS test is required for the Illinois Reading Specialist endorsement?