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PRAXISCode: 7002📖 Science of Reading · ILA + IDA AlignedSubtest of 7001 · 110 min⚠ Retiring August 2028

Praxis® Elementary Education:
Teaching Reading (7002)
Practice Test & Study Guide

The most science-of-reading-intensive reading assessment in the standard elementary Praxis series — 80 questions in 110 minutes across five content categories built on the National Reading Panel's five essential components. Aligned to ILA 2017 Standards and IDA standards. The longest subtest of the 7001 series. Retiring August 2028.

55
Questions
110 min
Time limit
Varies
Passing score*
5
Content categories
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The 7002 Teaching Reading is built on the science of reading — the most rigorous reading assessment in the standard elementary Praxis series. Per ETS, the 7002 specifications are based on the International Literacy Association (ILA) 2017 Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards. The 7002 is structured around the five essential components of effective reading instruction as identified by the National Reading Panel (2000): phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension — plus Written Expression in Category V. Assessment questions are embedded throughout all five content categories. This is fundamentally different from the 5002 Reading and Language Arts subtest, which is a broader CCSS-aligned content knowledge test.

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Source: All exam details are drawn from the official ETS Praxis Elementary Education (7001) Study Companion. The 7002 is one of four separately timed subtests of the 7001. Passing scores vary by state — always confirm at ets.org/praxis/states. Note: the live site states 55 questions/3 domains — the confirmed count from the official Study Companion is 80 questions/5 content categories.

Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002) — Test at a Glance

Key facts confirmed from the official ETS 7001 Study Companion. The 7002 is the longest and most science-of-reading-focused subtest of the 7001 series.

Test code
7002
Subtest of 7001
Total questions
80
All selected-response
Time limit
110 min
Longest 7001 subtest
Standards
ILA 2017 + IDA + National Reading Panel
Science of reading
Category I
Phonological/Phonemic Awareness & Emergent Literacy
15% · 12 questions
Category II
Phonics and Decoding
20% · 16 questions
Category III
Vocabulary and Fluency
24% · 19 questions
Category IV
Comprehension of Literary and Informational Text
24% · 19 questions
Category V
Written Expression
17% · 14 questions

About the Praxis Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002)

What this subtest assesses and why it is the defining assessment of the 7001 series.

The Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002) is designed to assess the knowledge and skills a beginning elementary teacher must have to support reading and writing development in kindergarten through sixth-grade students. It is the most science-of-reading-intensive reading assessment in the elementary Praxis series. The 7002 focuses on the knowledge needed to teach reading effectively — not just knowledge of reading content.

Per ETS, the 7002 is based on the International Literacy Association (ILA) 2017 Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards. The five content categories align directly with the National Reading Panel's five essential components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. A fifth category — Written Expression — assesses the relationship between reading skills and writing instruction. Assessment questions (applying knowledge to instructional decisions) are embedded throughout all five categories.

The 7002 contains 80 selected-response questions administered in 110 minutes — the longest subtest of the 7001 series. The 7002 is part of the 7001 series that retires in August 2028, being replaced by the new 8006 Elementary Education Fundamentals: Teaching Reading.

The National Reading Panel's Five Essential Components — The 7002's Framework

The five content categories of the 7002 map directly to the five essential components of effective reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel (2000). Category V adds Written Expression, reflecting ILA's integrated literacy model.

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Phonemic Awareness
Category I — 15%
The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. The most foundational literacy skill — prerequisite for phonics. Includes the full phonological awareness hierarchy from syllables down to phonemes.
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Phonics
Category II — 20%
Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds (grapheme-phoneme correspondence). Systematic, explicit phonics instruction; multisyllabic decoding via syllabication and morphological analysis; sight words vs. decodable words.
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Vocabulary & Fluency
Category III — 24%
Vocabulary instruction methods matched to word complexity; word-solving strategies; building automaticity; reading with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody; how fluency bridges decoding and comprehension.
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Comprehension
Category IV — 24%
Listening and reading comprehension; background knowledge activation; explicit comprehension strategies; metacognition; text structures and literary genres; digital literacy; Scarborough's Reading Rope model.
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Written Expression
Category V — 17%
Writing as a recursive process; Simple View of Writing; Not So Simple View of Writing; structured literacy; spelling as encoding; grammar; writing types (narrative, informational, argument). Reflects ILA's reading-writing connection.

Five Content Categories — Weighted Distribution

Categories III (Vocabulary and Fluency) and IV (Comprehension) are tied as the largest at 24% each — together accounting for nearly half the exam. Category I is the smallest at 15%.

I. Phonological/Phonemic Awareness & Emergent Literacy
12 questions
15%
II. Phonics and Decoding
16 questions
20%
III. Vocabulary and Fluency
19 questions · TIED LARGEST
24%
IV. Comprehension of Literary and Informational Text
19 questions · TIED LARGEST
24%
V. Written Expression
14 questions
17%

Official Exam Blueprint: 5 Content Categories

All content categories confirmed from the official ETS 7001 Study Companion. Assessment questions — applying content knowledge to instructional decisions — are embedded throughout all five categories.

Category I — 15%
Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness, and Emergent Literacy
12 questions

Phonological Awareness (broader): methods for teaching phonological awareness across the full developmental hierarchy — compound word parts (largest unit) → syllables → onset-rime → phonemes (smallest unit, most abstract); identifying and providing examples of phonemes, syllables, onsets, and rimes; distinguishing phonological awareness (broader — includes syllables, rhyme, onset-rime) from phonemic awareness (narrowest — individual phonemes only).

Phonemic Awareness (basic and advanced): basic phonemic awareness tasks — blending (combining separate phonemes into words) and segmenting (separating a word into its individual phonemes); advanced phonemic awareness tasks — phoneme deletion (say "slip" without /s/ → "lip"), phoneme substitution (change /k/ in cat to /m/ → mat), phoneme addition; knowing the developmental sequence from basic to advanced PA skills; formal and informal assessment for phonological and phonemic awareness to guide instructional decisions.

Emergent Literacy: expressive and receptive oral language development and its role in literacy acquisition; concepts about print (directionality left-to-right/top-to-bottom, return sweep, parts of a book, word spacing, punctuation awareness, form and function of print); letter recognition strategies; the alphabetic principle — understanding that written letters represent spoken sounds; assessment of concepts about print and emergent literacy.

Category II — 20%
Phonics and Decoding
16 questions

Phoneme-grapheme correspondence: the alphabetic principle applied systematically; common letter-sound correspondences (consonants, short vowels, long vowels, consonant blends, digraphs, diphthongs, r-controlled vowels, schwa); common phonics patterns and spelling conventions; systematic, explicit, recursive phonics instruction as the research-supported approach — distinguishing it from embedded/implicit phonics.

Phonics patterns and word recognition: common phonics patterns — consonant blends (initial and final), consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh, ph), vowel teams, vowel-consonant-e (silent e), r-controlled vowels, diphthongs; syllable types (open syllable ending in a vowel, closed syllable ending in a consonant, vowel-consonant-e, vowel team, r-controlled, consonant-le); word families; onset and rime patterns; using analogies to known words for decoding novel words.

Morphological analysis: decoding multisyllabic words through syllabication strategies; prefixes, suffixes, base words, and derivational suffixes; Greek and Latin roots for content-area vocabulary; morphological analysis as both a decoding strategy and a vocabulary strategy.

High-frequency sight words vs. decodable words: distinguishing irregularly spelled sight words (words that cannot be fully decoded using phonics patterns — e.g., the, was, said, of) from decodable words (fully decoded using learned phonics patterns); grade-appropriate approaches for each type; multisensory approaches for irregularly spelled words. ELL phonics approaches: how first-language phonology affects learning English phonics; formal and informal phonics assessment to guide instruction.

Category III — 24%
Vocabulary and Fluency
19 questions · Tied largest

Vocabulary instruction: building expressive and receptive vocabulary; teaching vocabulary systematically, explicitly, and repeatedly; matching instructional method to word complexity; the three-tier vocabulary framework (Tier 1: conversational; Tier 2: high-frequency academic across content areas — highest instructional priority; Tier 3: domain-specific technical); multiple approaches to word solving — context clues, structural analysis, word associations, semantic mapping, and external resources; knowing when each strategy is most appropriate; domain-specific and content-area vocabulary; academic language across subject areas. Formal and informal vocabulary assessment.

Fluency: the three components — accuracy (reading words correctly), rate (reading at an appropriate pace measured in words per minute), and prosody (reading with appropriate phrasing, intonation, expression); fostering automaticity at the phoneme, word, and passage levels; the fluency-comprehension connection — automaticity in word recognition frees cognitive resources for comprehension (LaBerge and Samuels' Automatic Information Processing Model); the most research-supported fluency interventions — repeated reading, reader's theater, choral reading, partner reading — and when each is most appropriate; formal and informal fluency assessment (ORF probes, running records, words correct per minute [WCPM]).

Category IV — 24%
Comprehension of Literary and Informational Text
19 questions · Tied largest

Foundational comprehension: listening comprehension and its relationship to reading comprehension (the Simple View of Reading: Reading Comprehension = Decoding × Language Comprehension); speaking and listening skills for productive text discussion; activating and building background knowledge; explicit, systematic comprehension instruction; metacognition — teaching students to monitor their own comprehension; differentiating instruction for diverse learners; graphic and semantic organizers for text structure support.

Literary text: genres (poetry, prose, drama); structural elements — story elements (setting, character, conflict, plot structure, theme, point of view), elements unique to poetry and drama; literary devices — figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idiom, alliteration, onomatopoeia), nuance in word meaning, tone, author's voice; Ehri's phases of reading development (Pre-alphabetic, Partial alphabetic, Full alphabetic, Consolidated alphabetic); Scarborough's Reading Rope (word recognition strand and language comprehension strand working together toward skilled reading).

Informational text: informational text types, structures (cause/effect, sequence, compare/contrast, problem/solution, description — each with signal words), and text features (headings, subheadings, captions, tables, diagrams, bold text, glossaries, indexes); integrating information from multiple informational texts; evaluating argument quality (claims, reasons, and evidence).

Digital literacy: technology for comprehension instruction; online reading — evaluating source credibility; comparing digital and print texts; multimodal literacy. Formal and informal comprehension assessment.

Category V — 17%
Written Expression
14 questions

Writing as a recursive process: writing as a self-regulating, iterative process — not a linear series of steps; the writing process (planning/prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing) and how its recursive nature supports self-expression and communication; systematic and explicit writing instruction at every stage.

Frameworks for writing: the Simple View of Writing (writing = transcription × text generation; transcription includes handwriting/keyboarding and spelling; text generation includes vocabulary, syntax, and text structure knowledge); the Not So Simple View of Writing (additionally incorporates working memory, motivation, self-regulation, and metacognition); knowing both models well enough to identify which factor a student's writing struggle most likely reflects.

Writing types: informational/expository writing (explains, describes, informs); argument/persuasive/opinion writing (takes a position with reasons and evidence, acknowledges counter-arguments); narrative writing (tells a story with characters, setting, conflict, and resolution); the defining characteristics of each type; transitional language within and between types; selecting appropriate mentor texts.

Reading-writing connection: integrating reading and writing instruction; how decoding and encoding (spelling) are reciprocal and mutually reinforcing skills; systematic, explicit, multisensory, recursive approach to spelling instruction; teaching grammar and mechanics as a support for writing — not in isolation; digital tools for writing, communication, collaboration, and publishing. Formal and informal writing assessment.

Key Topics by Content Category

The most heavily tested concepts within each of the five content categories — at the depth the 7002 requires for beginning teacher candidates.

Phonological/Phonemic AwarenessCategory I — Most Heavily Tested Topics
15% · 12 questions
Phonological awareness developmental hierarchy: compound word manipulation (easiest) → syllable manipulation → onset-rime manipulation → phoneme manipulation (hardest, most abstract). Within phoneme manipulation, the developmental sequence from easier to harder: phoneme isolation → blending → segmentation → deletion → substitution → addition. Know which level is appropriate for which developmental stage and what each level reveals about a student's literacy readiness.
Phonemic vs. phonological awareness: phonological awareness is the broader umbrella — the ability to hear and manipulate all units of spoken language (syllables, onset-rime, phonemes). Phonemic awareness is the narrowest, most abstract level — specifically the ability to hear and manipulate individual phonemes. A student can demonstrate phonological awareness (e.g., rhyming) without having phonemic awareness (e.g., cannot segment individual phonemes). Know why this distinction matters for assessment and instructional planning.
Concepts of print — most heavily tested emergent literacy area: understanding that written text carries meaning (vs. pictures); text is read left to right, top to bottom, with return sweep; words are separated by spaces; letters combine to form words; words combine to form sentences; sentences end with punctuation. The concept of "word in text" (one-to-one matching of spoken words to printed words) is a critical milestone. Know how to assess concepts of print and which student behaviors indicate mastery or gaps.
Assessment of phonological/phonemic awareness: formal assessments (e.g., DIBELS Next phoneme segmentation fluency; PAST; CTOPP); informal assessments (observation, teacher-created tasks); interpreting assessment results to place students on the phonological awareness developmental continuum; using data to design targeted instruction; knowing which specific PA tasks to use at each developmental level to both assess and develop skills.
Phonics and DecodingCategory II — Most Heavily Tested Topics
20% · 16 questions
Systematic and explicit phonics instruction: systematic = phonics taught in a planned, sequential order from simple to complex patterns (e.g., CVC words before CCVC blends before multisyllabic words); explicit = the teacher directly teaches and models the phoneme-grapheme relationship rather than students discovering it through reading experience. Know why systematic, explicit phonics is the research-supported approach and how to distinguish it from embedded or whole-language phonics approaches.
Syllable types and multisyllabic word decoding: the six syllable types — open (CV, ends in a long vowel: "me," "ba-by"), closed (CVC, short vowel: "cat," "nap-kin"), vowel-consonant-e / CVe (silent e, long vowel: "cake," "com-pete"), vowel team (two vowels together: "rain," "sea-son"), r-controlled (vowel followed by r: "bird," "per-son"), consonant-le (a final unaccented syllable: "ta-ble," "sim-ple"). Know these cold — they are the foundation for teaching students to decode multisyllabic words by syllabication.
High-frequency sight words vs. decodable words: high-frequency sight words are common words with irregular spellings that resist phonics decoding (the, was, said, of, they, have, one) — these require memorization through repeated exposure, multisensory practice, and explicit instruction. Decodable words follow learned phonics patterns and should be decoded — not memorized. Know how to select appropriate words for each instructional approach and why treating all high-frequency words as sight words is counterproductive (many are actually decodable).
Morphological analysis as a decoding and vocabulary strategy: breaking multisyllabic words into meaningful units — prefixes (un-, re-, pre-, mis-), suffixes (-tion, -ment, -less, -ful, -ing, -ed), derivational suffixes (change word class: -ment, -ness, -tion), base words, and Greek/Latin roots (graph, phon, bio, port, dict). Morphological analysis works at the intersection of phonics (decoding) and vocabulary (meaning) — a powerful strategy for upper elementary students encountering academic vocabulary.
Vocabulary and FluencyCategory III — Tied Largest Category (24%)
24% · 19 questions · Tied with Comprehension
Three-tier vocabulary framework (Beck, McKeown, and Kucan): Tier 1 = basic conversational words that most students know without instruction (run, happy, house, book); Tier 2 = high-frequency academic words that appear across multiple content areas and are critical for academic success — these are the most important to teach explicitly (analyze, contrast, significant, evidence, justify, conclude, demonstrate, elaborate); Tier 3 = domain-specific technical words limited to specific content areas (photosynthesis, legislative, denominator, allegory). The 7002 tests whether you know which tier a word belongs to and which instructional approach is most appropriate for each tier.
Vocabulary instruction methods and when to use them: direct explicit instruction (best for Tier 2 academic words — teach the definition, example, non-example, and extend usage); context clues (efficient but often insufficient alone — context can be misleading or absent); morphological analysis (powerful for academic vocabulary — analyzing roots and affixes); semantic mapping and word associations (builds vocabulary depth and word relationships); wide reading (most effective for incidental vocabulary acquisition); word walls; dictionary and glossary use (a strategy of last resort, not first). Know which method is most appropriate for a specific word type and learning purpose.
Fluency components and assessment: the three fluency components — accuracy (reading words correctly), rate (appropriate pace; measured in words correct per minute, or WCPM), and prosody (phrasing, intonation, expression resembling spoken language). Formal fluency assessment: ORF probes (DIBELS, AIMSweb), timed oral reading samples. Informal: running records, listening to student read aloud. A student who reads slowly but accurately has a different instructional need than one who reads quickly but inaccurately.
Fluency-comprehension connection and interventions: LaBerge and Samuels' Automatic Information Processing Model: automaticity in word recognition frees cognitive resources for comprehension. When decoding is effortful, comprehension suffers. Research-supported fluency interventions: repeated reading (student reads same text repeatedly until reaching fluency criterion — most evidence-based); reader's theater (students practice scripted dialogue for performance — motivating); choral reading (teacher models prosody while students read aloud together); partner reading (paired fluency practice). Know what evidence supports each intervention.
ComprehensionCategory IV — Tied Largest Category (24%)
24% · 19 questions · Tied with Vocabulary and Fluency
Simple View of Reading (Gough and Tunmer, 1986): Reading Comprehension = Decoding × Language Comprehension. This is the foundational theoretical framework for the 7002. Decoding includes all the word recognition skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, fluency); Language Comprehension includes vocabulary, background knowledge, inferencing, grammar, and text structure knowledge. If either factor is zero, reading comprehension is zero. The 7002 tests whether candidates understand that both word recognition AND language comprehension must be developed — weakness in either produces poor reading comprehension.
Scarborough's Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001): a detailed model of skilled reading showing two intertwined strands: (1) Word Recognition strand — phonological awareness, decoding, sight recognition; (2) Language Comprehension strand — background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge. Both strands must be developed simultaneously and become increasingly automatic and strategic for skilled reading. The Reading Rope is explicitly cited in the 7001 Study Companion Discussion Questions — know it thoroughly.
Explicit comprehension strategies: predicting (using text evidence to anticipate what will happen/come next); questioning (generating questions before, during, and after reading); visualizing (creating mental images of text); clarifying (monitoring for confusion and using fix-up strategies); summarizing (identifying main ideas); making connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world). Know how to teach each strategy explicitly — modeling the thinking process through think-alouds.
Informational text structures and graphic organizers: five major informational text structures — Description (categorizes/describes, no specific order); Sequence/Chronological (events in time order: first/next/then/finally); Cause/Effect (explains why/result: because/therefore/as a result); Compare/Contrast (shows similarities and differences: however/similarly/on the other hand); Problem/Solution (identifies a problem and presents solutions: the problem is/one solution). Know the signal words for each structure and the most appropriate graphic organizer for each (e.g., Venn diagram for Compare/Contrast; fishbone diagram for Cause/Effect).
Ehri's phases of reading development — extensively tested on 7002: Pre-alphabetic (no phoneme-grapheme correspondence — recognizes words by visual features like logos); Partial alphabetic (uses beginning/ending consonants but not medial vowels); Full alphabetic (knows all phoneme-grapheme correspondences, fully decodes but slowly); Consolidated alphabetic (recognizes larger units — morphemes, spelling patterns, common rimes — reads fluently). Know what each phase reveals about a student's reading development and which instructional approach is appropriate for each phase.
Written ExpressionCategory V — Written Expression
17% · 14 questions
Simple View of Writing (Berninger and colleagues): Writing = Transcription × Text Generation. Transcription includes handwriting/keyboarding (physical production) and spelling (encoding); Text generation includes vocabulary (word choice), syntax (sentence construction), and text structure (organizational knowledge). If either transcription or text generation is zero, writing output is zero. Students who struggle with transcription cannot devote cognitive resources to text generation — improving fluency in transcription frees resources for expressing ideas.
Not So Simple View of Writing (Berninger and Winn, 2006): extends the Simple View by adding foundational factors: working memory (holding ideas in mind while producing text), long-term memory (accessing knowledge of language and world), reading (reading-writing connection), and executive functions (goal-setting, planning, monitoring, evaluating writing). Know that writing difficulty can stem from weaknesses in any of these factors — not just transcription or text generation.
Writing types and their instructional implications: opinion/argument writing — takes a position with reasons and evidence; requires distinguishing fact from opinion; teaching claim-evidence-reasoning structure; informational/explanatory writing — explains or describes without taking a position; requires topic sentences, supporting details, and logical organization; narrative writing — tells a real or imagined story; requires narrative elements (character, setting, conflict, plot structure, theme); choosing appropriate mentor texts for each writing type; how to scaffold each type for different developmental levels.
Spelling as encoding — reciprocal with decoding: decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) are reciprocal skills — phoneme-grapheme correspondence learned in phonics directly supports spelling, and spelling practice reinforces decoding patterns. Systematic, explicit, multisensory spelling instruction follows the same sequence as phonics instruction. Invented/phonetic spelling in early writing is developmentally appropriate and diagnostically informative — it reveals what students know about the phoneme-grapheme system. Know the stages of developmental spelling (Pre-communicative, Semiphonetic, Phonetic, Transitional, Conventional) and what each reveals.

Registration, Test Day & Scoring

Everything you need to know before and on exam day for the 7002 — the longest subtest of the 7001 series at 110 minutes.

Registration

Where to registerpraxis.ets.org
Subtest of7001 (can take independently)
Testing formatsIn-person or remote
Arrive (in-person)30 min early

Scoring

Score typeScaled score
Wrong answer penaltyNone
Passing scoreVaries by state
Results available~5 weeks post-test

Test Day

Total questions80 selected-response
Time limit110 minutes (longest 7001 subtest)
CalculatorNot provided
Average pacing~82 seconds per question

Retirement Timeline

7002 retiresAugust 2028
Replaced by8006 (new Fundamentals series)
New series launchedMarch 9, 2026
Verify your stateets.org/praxis/states

Passing Score Requirements by State

Passing scores are set individually by each state or licensing agency.

Important: Before registering for the 7002, verify your state still requires it at ets.org/praxis/states. Some states have already transitioned to requiring the new 8006 (Elementary Education Fundamentals: Teaching Reading). The 7002 retires August 2028. There is no penalty for incorrect answers — always answer every question.

How to Prepare for the Praxis Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002)

Strategies for the most science-of-reading-intensive reading assessment in the elementary Praxis series — 80 questions in 110 minutes, five categories, grounded in ILA, IDA, and the National Reading Panel.

  • Verify your state still requires the 7002 — some states have already transitioned to the new 8006. The 7002 is retiring August 2028 and being replaced by the 8006 Elementary Education Fundamentals: Teaching Reading, which also reflects IDA standards. Check ets.org/praxis/states before registering. If your state has transitioned, registering for the 7002 means paying for the wrong assessment and delaying certification.
  • Categories III and IV (Vocabulary and Fluency, and Comprehension) are tied as the largest at 24% each — together they account for nearly half the exam. Most candidates over-prepare phonics and under-prepare comprehension. The Comprehension category (19 questions) alone tests Scarborough's Reading Rope, Ehri's phases of reading development, the Simple View of Reading, text structures, explicit comprehension strategies, digital literacy, and formal/informal comprehension assessment. Start with Vocabulary/Fluency and Comprehension — they carry the most weight and the most content breadth.
  • Know Scarborough's Reading Rope and Ehri's phases of reading development — both are explicitly cited in the official ETS Study Companion Discussion Questions for the 7002. Scarborough's Reading Rope (two intertwined strands: Word Recognition and Language Comprehension) is the visual model that integrates all five NRP components into a holistic picture of skilled reading. Ehri's four phases (Pre-alphabetic, Partial alphabetic, Full alphabetic, Consolidated alphabetic) explain the developmental sequence of word reading acquisition. The 7002 uses both frameworks to test whether candidates can classify students' reading development and select appropriate instructional responses.
  • Category II Phonics and Decoding (20%, 16 questions) requires knowing the six syllable types and the developmental sequence of phonics instruction cold. The six syllable types (open, closed, vowel-consonant-e, vowel team, r-controlled, consonant-le) are the framework for teaching multisyllabic word decoding. Know all six types, their characteristics, and examples. Know the developmental sequence from single-syllable CVC words through multisyllabic word decoding using syllabication and morphological analysis. Know how to distinguish systematic explicit phonics from embedded phonics and why the research supports the former.
  • Category V Written Expression (17%, 14 questions) covers the Simple View of Writing and the Not So Simple View of Writing — frameworks most candidates have never studied. The Simple View of Writing (writing = transcription × text generation) and the Not So Simple View of Writing (a more comprehensive model including factors like working memory, motivation, and self-regulation) both appear in the 7002. Know the theoretical basis for each and what instructional implications each model has. Know that decoding (phonics) and encoding (spelling) are reciprocal — strengthening phonics also strengthens spelling. Know all three writing types (narrative, informational, argument) well enough to evaluate writing samples, select mentor texts, and identify appropriate instructional approaches.
  • Download the official ETS 7001 Study Companion and work through all five sets of Discussion Questions for the 7002 subtest. The Discussion Questions are open-ended questions covering all five categories that reveal exactly the depth of understanding the 7002 requires. Work through them in writing or with a study partner. Pay special attention to: discussion questions about Ehri's phases and Scarborough's Reading Rope (Category IV); questions about when and how to use specific phonics approaches (Category II); questions about the Simple and Not So Simple Views of Writing (Category V); and questions about when to use each vocabulary strategy (Category III). These discussion questions directly preview the analytical thinking the exam requires.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers sourced from the official ETS Praxis Elementary Education (7001) Study Companion.

How many questions are on the Praxis Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002)?+
The exam contains 80 selected-response questions with a 110-minute time limit — the longest subtest of the 7001 series. Questions span five categories: Phonological/Phonemic Awareness and Emergent Literacy (15%, 12q), Phonics and Decoding (20%, 16q), Vocabulary and Fluency (24%, 19q), Comprehension of Literary and Informational Text (24%, 19q), and Written Expression (17%, 14q). No calculator is provided.
What standards is the Praxis 7002 Teaching Reading aligned to?+
The 7002 is aligned to the International Literacy Association (ILA) 2017 Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards. The five categories align directly with the National Reading Panel's five essential components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The 7002 is the science-of-reading-intensive reading subtest of the 7001 series.
What is the difference between the Praxis 7002 Teaching Reading and the 5002 Reading and Language Arts?+
The 7002 (Teaching Reading) is built on the science of reading with 80 questions in 110 minutes, aligned to ILA/IDA standards, structured around the NRP 5 components. The 5002 (Reading and Language Arts) is a broader CCSS-aligned content knowledge test with 80 questions in 90 minutes, covering Reading (47%) and Writing/Speaking/Listening (53%). The 7002 is more rigorous and science-of-reading-focused. Different states require different assessments — verify at ets.org/praxis/states.
Is the Praxis 7002 Teaching Reading being retired?+
Yes. The 7002 is part of the 7001 Multiple Subjects series, which retires in August 2028, being replaced by the new 8006 Elementary Education Fundamentals: Teaching Reading (launched March 9, 2026). Both are currently active. Verify your state's requirement at ets.org/praxis/states before registering.
Can I take the 7002 independently without the full 7001 series?+
Yes. The four subtests of the 7001 (7002, 7003, 7004, 7005) can be taken independently or together in one 4-hour-35-minute session. If you pass three subtests but fail one, you only need to retake the failed subtest. Most states require all four subtests for elementary generalist licensure — verify at ets.org/praxis/states.
What is the passing score for the Praxis Elementary Education: Teaching Reading (7002)?+
Passing scores vary by state or licensing agency. Always verify the specific requirement for your state at ets.org/praxis/states before registering. There is no penalty for wrong answers — always answer every question.

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Adaptive practice questions covering all five science-of-reading categories — Phonological/Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and Decoding, Vocabulary and Fluency, Comprehension, and Written Expression — aligned to ILA, IDA, and National Reading Panel standards. Category-level analytics so you know exactly where to focus.

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Sources: ETS Praxis Elementary Education (7001) Study Companion (official PDF, praxis.ets.org/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-ets-praxisLibrary/default/pdfs/7001.pdf); ETS 7001 series test page; International Literacy Association (ILA) Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals (2017); International Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards; National Reading Panel (2000) — Teaching Children to Read (five essential components); Scarborough, H.S. (2001) — Reading Rope model; Ehri, L.C. (2014) — phases of reading development; Gough and Tunmer (1986) — Simple View of Reading; Berninger and colleagues — Simple View of Writing; Berninger and Winn (2006) — Not So Simple View of Writing; Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2013) — Bringing Words to Life (Tier vocabulary framework); LaBerge and Samuels (1974) — Automatic Information Processing Model (fluency-comprehension connection). Praxis® is a registered trademark of ETS. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by ETS, ILA, or IDA. Passing score requirements vary by state — always verify at ets.org/praxis/states.
Last Updated: May 22, 2026