NES General Curriculum Subtest 1: Language Arts and History/Social Science (827) Practice Tests

Competencies 0001–0004 make up about 30% of the test. They ask you to apply knowledge of major genres and works of literature, including literature written for children, that represent a range of perspectives; apply knowledge of informational texts; apply knowledge of the characteristics of effective writing and research, and more.

• Competency 0001: Apply knowledge of major genres and works of literature, including literature written for children, that represent a range of perspectives. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics of different genres and types of literature (e.g., poetry, drama, folktales, myths, fables) and their characteristic elements (e.g., plot, character, setting, theme, voice, point of view, repetition, rhyme, meter) and structural elements (e.g., paragraph, sentence, stanza, verse, scene, act, cast of characters, stage directions, soliloquy, dialogue, script); Apply knowledge of the theme or central idea of a text and how it develops over the course of the text; Apply knowledge of how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text; Apply knowledge of how to interpret the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in grade-specific texts and content; Apply knowledge of figurative language (e.g., similes and metaphors in context), word relationships, and nuances in word meanings; Demonstrate knowledge of how to integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media; Apply knowledge of how to analyze two or more texts that address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the authors' approaches; Demonstrate knowledge of criteria for evaluating children's literature for classroom use according to the dimensions of text complexity and other factors (e.g., students' reading ability and interests; multiple genres; depiction of diverse cultures, perspectives, and time periods).
• Competency 0002: Apply knowledge of informational texts. Skills tested: Apply knowledge of types of informational texts (e.g., autobiography, biography, literary nonfiction, editorials, speeches, technical texts) and informational text structures (e.g., chronological, cause/effect, comparison/contrast, problem/solution); Apply knowledge of how to use informational text features and search tools (e.g., headings, table of contents, glossary, captions, bold print, subheadings, sidebars, electronic menus, icons, key words, hyperlinks) to locate specific information efficiently; Apply knowledge of how to interpret information presented visually and quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, and timelines) in informational texts; Apply knowledge of author's point of view and purpose in informational texts and how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints; Apply knowledge of how to identify central idea(s) and how it/they develop over the course of the text; Apply knowledge of how to trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in informational texts, including how to assess whether reasoning is sound and whether evidence is relevant and sufficient and how to recognize irrelevant information presented as evidence; Apply knowledge of how to use textual evidence to analyze what informational texts say explicitly and to draw inferences from informational texts; Apply knowledge of how to determine the meaning of grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in informational texts.
• Competency 0003: Apply knowledge of the characteristics of effective writing and research. Skills tested: Apply knowledge of techniques for composing opinion pieces and arguments by introducing an opinion or claim(s), supporting the opinion or claim(s) with clear reasons and evidence, logically grouping related ideas, using linking words and phrases, and providing a concluding statement that follows from and supports the opinion or argument presented; Apply knowledge of techniques for composing informative and explanatory texts by introducing a topic; developing the topic with logically organized and relevant facts; using precise language and domain-specific vocabulary, definitions, quotations, and examples; using formatting and multimedia to aid comprehension; and providing a conclusion that follows from the information or explanation presented; Apply knowledge of techniques for composing narratives by orienting the reader (e.g., introducing a narrator and/or characters, describing the setting, establishing a conflict); using narrative techniques (e.g., dialogue, pacing, description) to develop experiences, events, and/or characters; using sensory details; using precise words and phrases and relevant descriptive details to convey a tone and to convey experiences or events; and providing a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events; Apply knowledge of techniques for conducting research, including developing a research question; gathering relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; evaluating sources for accuracy, bias, credibility, and reliability; and citing sources accurately and responsibly; Apply knowledge of techniques for producing clear and coherent writing in which development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience; Apply knowledge of strategies for developing and strengthening writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach; Apply knowledge of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing; Apply knowledge of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing; Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for using technology, including current web- based communication platforms, to interact and collaborate with others to generate, revise, edit, produce, and publish writing; Demonstrate knowledge of selecting appropriate evidence from grade-level literary or informational texts to support written analysis, interpretation, reflection, and research.
• Competency 0004: Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for speaking and/or expressive communication and listening and/or receptive communication to use in a variety of contexts. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of language, including standard English when appropriate, and language conventions and how to adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks when speaking or listening; Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for presenting information, findings, and supporting evidence in a way that supports listeners' ability to follow a line of reasoning (e.g., using diverse media formats and visual displays to express information); Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for presenting information, findings, and supporting evidence such that organization, development, vocabulary, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience; Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for initiating and participating in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners by building on others' ideas and by expressing one's own ideas clearly and persuasively.

Competencies 0005–0009 make up about 60% of the test. They ask you to apply knowledge of basic economics, physical and human geography, and the relationships between geography and culture; apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, and technological developments in world history to 1700 CE; apply knowledge of the history of the United States, and more.

• Competency 0005: Apply knowledge of basic economics, physical and human geography, and the relationships between geography and culture. Skills tested: Apply knowledge of the basic economic concepts of scarcity, choice, needs, wants, goods, services, income, and voluntary exchange; Analyze the relationships between natural resources, human resources, industries, jobs, and economic activities; Analyze factors that affect people's decisions about saving and using resources and buying goods and services; Demonstrate the ability to read, analyze, and interpret maps (e.g., cardinal directions, scales, legends, titles); distinguish physical and political maps; and compare various map projections (e.g., Mercator, Peters); Examine human interaction with the environment, including the effects of physical geographic features, climate, and natural resources on settlement patterns, the growth of major urban/suburban areas, and trade; Analyze patterns of human settlement and movement, including voluntary migration and forced migration (e.g., refugees, people driven from their homelands, enslaved people); Examine the ways in which complex societies interact and spread from one region to another (e.g., by trade, cultural or linguistic exchanges, migration, conquest, colonization, religious conversion); Demonstrate knowledge of the geography of North America and the world, including physical features such as bodies of water, rivers, mountain ranges, deserts, and political demarcations (e.g., national boundaries, state and provincial borders); Analyze the diverse cultural nature of the regions of the United States (i.e., Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West), including contributions by all peoples that have had impacts on the regions, including Native Peoples, African Americans, Europeans, Asians, Latinx people, and immigrants from other regions of the world.
• Competency 0006: Apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, and technological developments in world history to 1700 CE. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of human origins and early societies (e.g., African origins, early migrations, Neolithic agricultural revolution, complex societies); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies of the areas now known as Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa (e.g., Mesopotamia, Egypt, Nubia, Phoenicia, Israel and Palestine); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies of the area now known as Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Axum, Songhai, Swahili coastal societies, Ghana, Mali); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies of the areas now known as Central and South Asia (e.g., Indus Valley civilization, Mauryan Empire, Gandharan Kingdom, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, Persian Empire) and East Asia (e.g., the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Song, and Yuan dynasties of China; the Mongol Empire; the Kamakura shogunate; ancient Korea); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies of the areas now known as Southeast Asia and Oceania (e.g., Khmer Empire, Aborigines, Maoris); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies of the areas now known as South and Central America (e.g., Maya, Olmec, Teotihuacán, Zapotec, Toltec, Chavín, Nazca, Moche, Lenca, Huetares, Chorotegas, Miskito) and the Caribbean Islands (e.g., Arawak, Taino, Carib); Demonstrate knowledge of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics and historical development of the early societies in the area now known as Europe (e.g., Celtic societies, Minoan and Mycenean societies, ancient Greece, Roman Empire and Republic, Islamic Empire); Analyze the types of interactions between ancient societies (e.g., conquest; trade; colonization; diffusion of religion, language, and culture) and their effects on those societies; Apply knowledge of competing theories of the origins of Native Peoples and identify archaeological evidence of the political, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of major societies of North America; Evaluate reasons for early European exploration of North and South America, and analyze the nature of the contacts between European explorers and Native Peoples; Examine the relationship of European settlers to the Native Peoples of the Americas in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the great loss of life due to diseases introduced by Europeans to Native populations, the loss of territory by Native Peoples, and the conflicts between the two groups.
• Competency 0007: Apply knowledge of the history of the United States. Skills tested: Analyze the diversity of Native Peoples, present and past, in the New England region (e.g., names and locations of tribal territories, physical geographic features and their influence on locations of traditional settlements, contributions of tribal groups); Demonstrate knowledge the formation of the original thirteen English colonies in what is now the United States; Analyze the origins of slavery in what is now known as the United States, its legal status in the colonies through the eighteenth century, and the prevalence of slave ownership, including by many of the country's early leaders; Demonstrate knowledge of the Triangular Trade and the conditions of transatlantic voyages (called the Middle Passage) for enslaved Africans; Demonstrate knowledge of the living and working conditions of enslaved and free Africans in the colonies in the eighteenth century and of how some enslaved people sought their freedom; Analyze the causes, events, and results of the American Revolution, including the events that led to the Revolution; battles and actions of the Revolutionary War; the role of Native Peoples, African Americans, and women; consequences of the Revolution; and significant historical figures of that period (e.g., Samuel Adams, Crispus Attucks, John Hancock, James Otis, Paul Revere, John and Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Phillis Wheatley, Peter Salem); Analyze the growth and expansion of the United States through territorial acquisition; wars; trade, transportation innovations, and public works; and human migration (e.g., immigration, westward expansion, the Trail of Tears); Examine nineteenth-century conflicts between Native Peoples and national, state, and local governments in the United States over land ownership, loss of territory, and rights to self-government; Analyze why the United States is called "a nation of immigrants," identify the significant impacts of migration and the elements that define the culture of a society, and examine how a community is enriched by contributions from all the people who form it today; Examine the ideas and roles of the people of the pre–Civil War era who led the struggle for the abolition of slavery and for voting and property rights for African Americans (e.g., Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe); Examine the causes, events, and consequences of the Civil War, including the events that preceded the war, central figures of the war, major battles of the war, and the important consequences of the conflict; Analyze the consequences of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and demonstrate knowledge of the living conditions for African Americans following the Civil War and during the Jim Crow era (e.g., limited educational and economic opportunities, separate public facilities, white supremacist beliefs and organizations, violence from the Ku Klux Klan and other groups); Demonstrate knowledge of the causes, challenges, and effects of the struggle for civil rights of African Americans, women, and others in the United States, including key events, people, organizations, and legislation (e.g., the 1963 March on Washington, efforts to desegregate schools, Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Gloria Steinem, Lorraine Hansberry, César Chávez, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Title IX); Examine the relationships between the twentieth-century African American Civil Rights Movement and other movements for civil rights (e.g., the second phase of the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s, the disability rights movement, the LGBTQ rights movement).
• Competency 0008: Apply knowledge of the development, principles, structure, and functions of government in the United States. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of the purposes of a government and how governments provide services, spend funds, protect rights, and provide community safety; Apply knowledge of the fundamental principles and values of political and civic life in the United States (e.g., liberty, the common good, justice, equality, tolerance, law and order, due process, rights of individuals, diversity, civic unity, patriotism, constitutionalism, popular sovereignty, representative democracy); Analyze the development of government, the role and structure of local government, and the ways in which people participate in and contribute to their communities; Demonstrate knowledge of the structure and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments in the United States, including ways in which governments at various levels divide and share power; Analyze key ideas and principles in major documents that influenced the development of government in the United States, including documents that restrict rights (e.g., Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Iroquois Confederacy Constitution); Demonstrate knowledge of the reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, the weaknesses of the Articles as a plan for government, and the reasons for their failure; Demonstrate knowledge of the major issues debated by members of the Constitutional Convention and the political principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution, including the Preamble; Apply knowledge of the content of the Bill of Rights, including the restriction of full citizenship to white male property owners over the age of 21; Apply knowledge of key amendments to the U.S. Constitution (e.g., the Fourteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments); Demonstrate knowledge of unifying symbols, phrases, and songs in the United States (e.g., the U.S. flag, E pluribus unum, "The Star-Spangled Banner"); Demonstrate knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens and residents (e.g., electing leaders who serve fixed terms, paying taxes, contributing to the community) and of the skills and dispositions necessary for participation in a democratic society (e.g., ability to make and support arguments, respect for others, capacity for listening).
• Competency 0009: Apply knowledge of methods, procedures, and sources used in the study of history and social science and of the guiding principles and instructional practices of effective history and social science education. Skills tested: Demonstrate knowledge of the methods that are used cooperatively by archaeologists, historians, geographers, economists, and political scientists to analyze evidence, develop hypotheses, and construct interpretations about ancient and classical civilizations; Demonstrate knowledge of how different academic fields in the social sciences concentrate on different means of studying societies in the past and how current historical interpretation might build upon, extend, or reject an interpretation of the past; Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic, and evaluate the bias, credibility, accuracy, and relevance of primary and secondary sources; Demonstrate the ability to interpret information and data from multiple primary and secondary sources presented in a variety of formats and media (e.g., charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines, photographs, videos, maps); Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally), and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation; Demonstrate knowledge of methods for gathering information from print and digital sources and of methods of reporting research findings; Identify purpose, point of view, and central ideas in primary and secondary sources, and distinguish fact from opinion; Demonstrate knowledge of how individual contexts and perspectives influence perceptions about history; Demonstrate the ability to critique evidence-based claims and reasoned arguments on social science topics; Demonstrate knowledge of effective instructional strategies that encourage honest and informed academic discussions about prejudice, racism, sexism, and/or bigotry in the past and present; Identify problematic narratives and instructional strategies that conflict with current historical scholarship and pedagogy and uphold racism, sexism, and/or bigotry.

Competencies 0010–0010 make up about 10% of the test. They ask you to prepare an organized, developed written analysis comparing the treatment of a specific history/social science topic in given primary and secondary sources.

• Competency 0010: Prepare an organized, developed written analysis comparing the treatment of a specific history/social science topic in given primary and secondary sources. Skills tested: Determine and compare the main ideas or information presented in each source; Analyze and compare the purpose and point of view of each source; Integrate information and cite evidence from multiple sources to support comparison of primary and secondary sources. SUBTEST 2: MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY/ENGINEERING.