This subtest focuses on the essential content knowledge needed for teaching elementary reading and language arts. The 60 one-point questions and 3 two-point questions measure two kinds of content knowledge.

The first kind is the content knowledge needed to do the work of the student curriculum, such as identifying the details in a passage that support the main idea. Approximately 20 percent of the questions measure this kind of content knowledge. The second kind is the specialized content knowledge needed to teach the student curriculum; this is the knowledge a teacher would use, for instance, when choosing the most appropriate graphic organizer to help students identify the supporting details for a main idea.

This specialized content knowledge is not knowledge that students are expected to learn, nor is it general knowledge of classroom management strategies or learning theory; it is content knowledge specialized to the work of teaching elementary reading and language arts.

Approximately 80 percent of the questions measure this kind of content knowledge. Each question focuses on specific reading and language arts content. Questions that measure specialized content knowledge also incorporate a particular task of teaching; these questions are intended to measure the specialized content knowledge needed to carry out the task effectively.