Test Information Guide
Overview and Test Objectives
Field 50: Middle School Humanities
Test Overview
| Format | Computer-based test (CBT) and online proctored test; 100 multiple-choice questions, 2 open-response items |
|---|---|
| Number of Questions |
|
| Time | 4 hours (does not include 15-minute CBT tutorial) |
| Passing Score | 240 |
The Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) are designed to measure a candidate's knowledge of the subject matter contained in the test objectives for each field. The MTEL are aligned with the Massachusetts educator licensure regulations and, as applicable, with the standards in the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks.
The test objectives specify the content to be covered on the test and are organized by major content subareas. The chart below shows the approximate percentage of the total test score derived from each of the subareas.
The test assesses a candidate's proficiency and depth of understanding of the subject at the level required for a baccalaureate major according to Massachusetts standards. Candidates are typically nearing completion of or have completed their undergraduate work when they take the test.
Sub area I 25%, Sub area II 15%, Sub area III 25%, Sub area IV 15%, Sub area V 10%, and Sub area VI 10%.
Test Objectives
| Subareas | Range of Objectives | Approximate Test Weighting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple-Choice | |||
| I | Literature and Language | 01–03 | 25% |
| II | Reading, Rhetoric, and Composition | 04–06 | 15% |
| III | History | 07–12 | 25% |
| IV | Geography, Government, and Economics | 13–15 | 15% |
| 80% | |||
| Open-Response | |||
| V | Integration of Knowledge and Understanding of English | 16 | 10% |
| VI | Integration of Knowledge and Understanding of History | 17 | 10% |
Subarea I–Literature and Language
Objective 0001: Understand the characteristics and elements of various genres and types of literature, including literature for children and young adults.
- For example: characteristics of major literary genres (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama); elements of fiction (e.g., plot, character, setting, theme, point of view); genres of fiction (e.g., novels, short stories); types of fiction (e.g., folk legend, fantasy, mystery, realistic novel) and their characteristics; genres of nonfiction (e.g., biography, autobiography, letters, essays, reports) and their characteristic elements and structures; genres of drama (e.g., serious and tragic drama, comic drama, melodrama, farce) and their characteristic elements and structures; genres of poetry (e.g., lyric, concrete, dramatic, narrative, epic) and their characteristic elements and structures; types of patterned lyric poetry (e.g., sonnet, ballad, haiku); characteristics of literature for children and young adults; and literary devices (e.g., figurative language, imagery, irony, symbolism, ambiguity, rhythm, rhyme, sensory detail) and ways in which they contribute to meaning and style.
Objective 0002: Understand American literature and language from the precolonial period to the present.
- For example: myths and legends of indigenous peoples of North America; characteristics of major movements (e.g., Romantic, Harlem Renaissance, Modern), periods (e.g., colonial, Civil War, contemporary), and various ethnic literary traditions (e.g., African American) in American literature; significant genres and themes; changes in literary forms and styles; major American authors and representative works and the significance of these works in the development of American literature from the colonial period to the present; and how the structure and use of American English have changed.
Objective 0003: Understand world literature from ancient times to the present, including British literature and language.
- For example: characteristics and significance of world mythology, folk literature, and traditional narratives; major literary forms, works, and movements in British and other world literature; significant genres and themes in world literature (e.g., archetypal themes in ancient texts such as the Old Testament); major authors and representative works and their significance in the development of British and other world literature; and the evolution of English language structure and use.
Subarea II–Reading, Rhetoric, and Composition
Objective 0004: Understand research-based theories of the reading process and effective methods of reading instruction and assessment.
- For example: structural features of language (e.g., phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic); research-based theories relating to the reading process; vocabulary skills and strategies; a reader's literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension of literary and expository texts; a reader's use of metacognitive techniques to monitor reading comprehension; a reader's application of comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading; research-based instructional strategies to promote development of particular reading skills (e.g., word analysis, vocabulary, comprehension); principles for planning, managing, and differentiating reading instruction to support students' reading development; the adjustment of reading instruction based on ongoing assessment; and instructional technologies to promote students' reading development.
Objective 0005: Understand principles of rhetoric and uses of language as they apply to various forms and purposes of oral and written communication.
- For example: general principles of classical rhetoric (e.g., Aristotle's arrangement of the parts of a speech); structural devices (e.g., repetition, parallelism, antithesis); application of modern rhetorical principles (e.g., unity, coherence, emphasis); strategies for writing or speaking effectively for a variety of audiences, purposes (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain), and contexts (e.g., formal and informal situations); and use of appropriate arrangement and organization (e.g., logical ordering of ideas), style and tone (e.g., word choice, word order, cadence), and form of delivery.
Objective 0006: Understand the composition process and the conventions of standard, written American English.
- For example: distinguishing features of various forms of writing (e.g., reflective essay, editorial, summary/abstract, argument, creative writing); processes for generating and developing written texts (e.g., prewriting, drafting, editing); techniques for gathering, analyzing, and evaluating information; effective sentence, paragraph, and essay development (e.g., development of thesis statement, transitional devices, overall coherence); techniques for improving text organization; selection of appropriate details to support an argument or opinion; use of appropriate rhetorical, logical, and stylistic criteria for assessing written work; revising written texts to improve clarity and economy of expression; accurate use and effective application of written language conventions (e.g., sentence construction, spelling, grammar, punctuation); and techniques for editing written texts to achieve conformity with conventions of standard American English usage (e.g., maintaining parallel form, eliminating misplaced modifiers).
Subarea III–History
Objective 0007: Understand the characteristics of early human societies and major ancient and classical civilizations from prehistory to A.D. 500.
- For example: human origins and prehistory; political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of the early civilizations of Egypt, the Middle East, India, and China; fundamental ideas and beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism; origins, central teachings, and legacies of Judaism; institutions, culture, and legacies of Greek civilization (e.g., literature, philosophy, arts, science, principles of Athenian democracy); Alexander the Great and the spread of Greek culture; institutions, culture, and legacies of the Roman Republic and Empire (e.g., republican government; Roman law, architecture, and engineering); origins, central teachings, and spread of Christianity; the decline and fall of the Roman Empire; the rise and achievements of Byzantine civilization; and the relationship of Greek and Roman political concepts to modern government.
Objective 0008: Understand major political, economic, social, and cultural developments that shaped the course of world history during the growth of agricultural and commercial civilizations from 500 to 1500.
- For example: emergence, central teachings, and expansion of Islam; characteristics of the trans-African slave trade to the Middle East; characteristics, components, central figures, and events of early European civilization (e.g., early medieval church, Charlemagne, Norman Conquest); European feudalism and manorialism; European government, society, and culture in the High Middle Ages (e.g., Magna Carta, church-state rivalries, Gothic art, scholasticism); origins, course, and consequences of the Crusades; rise of the Ottoman Empire; decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula; political, economic, and cultural developments in the major civilizations of Asia (e.g., India, China, Japan), Africa (e.g., Ghana, Mali, Songhai, city-states of East Africa), and the Americas (e.g., Maya, Aztec, Inca); and interactions among European, Islamic, and Asian societies (e.g., the Silk Road).
Objective 0009: Understand major political, economic, social, and cultural developments that shaped the course of world history from 1500 to the present.
- For example: the European Renaissance and Reformation; causes and consequences of European expansion and exploration; characteristics of the transatlantic slave trade; the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire; absolute monarchies and constitutional governments in Europe; the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment; origins, stages, and consequences of the American and French Revolutions (e.g., Latin American wars for independence); causes and consequences of the agricultural and industrial revolutions; European nationalism and the new imperialism; causes, course, and consequences of World War I; the Russian Revolution; the Great Depression and the rise of fascism; origins, events, and results of World War II (e.g., decolonization and national independence movements, the Chinese Revolution, the expansion of communism, the Cold War); characteristics of contemporary Islamic societies; the collapse of the Soviet Union; globalization; and the emergence of world terrorism.
Objective 0010: Understand the causes and course of European exploration and settlement of North America; the development of colonial societies; and major political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic developments in U.S. society through the War of 1812.
- For example: political, economic, and cultural features of Native American societies; political, religious, and economic motives of European explorers and colonizers; coexistence and conflict between Europeans and Native Americans; early settlements in North America; early Massachusetts settlement (e.g., Puritanism, town meeting, schooling); importation of Africans and the emergence of slavery; labor and family life across classes, races, and regions of colonial America; major causes, events, and turning points of the American Revolution; debates over the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution; politics and government in the new nation (e.g., notable figures, the emergence of political parties, evolution of the Supreme Court); and expansion and conflict in the early Republic (e.g., Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812).
Objective 0011: Understand major political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic developments in U.S. society from 1815 through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
- For example: Jacksonian democracy and the rise of popular politics; social and political change in antebellum America (e.g., educational reform, abolitionism, woman suffrage movement); developments in transportation and industry (e.g., canal building, key inventions, the Lowell mills); differences between the northern and southern economic systems (e.g., capital, industry, agriculture, land, labor, trade); Irish immigration and nativist hostility; key events and issues related to westward migration (e.g., Indian removal, the Mexican War, concept of Manifest Destiny); slave life and resistance in the American South; issues and events leading to the secession crisis (e.g., Missouri Compromise, Dred Scott decision, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry); significant leaders, turning points, and consequences of the Civil War, North and South; achievements and failures of Reconstruction; and the Compromise of 1877.
Objective 0012: Understand major political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic developments in U.S. society from 1877 to the present.
- For example: causes and consequences of industrial expansion (e.g., scientific and technological developments, the new immigration, urbanization); Populism and Progressivism; emergence of the United States as a world power (e.g., Spanish-American War, U.S. participation in World War I); major cultural, social, and economic developments of the 1920s (e.g., Harlem Renaissance, mass consumerism, race conflict and nativism); causes of the Great Depression; Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal; key events and consequences of U.S. participation in World War II (e.g., the U.S. victory at Midway, D-Day, effects of World War II on U.S. society, wartime diplomacy, the Bretton Woods Conference, the Marshall Plan); the Cold War at home and abroad (e.g., the doctrine of containment, Korea, McCarthyism, Vietnam); the revival of political liberalism; the civil rights and women's movements; Ronald Reagan and the growth of conservatism; and the changing face of America (e.g., rise in immigration from Asia and Latin America, new provisions for domestic security).
Subarea IV–Geography, Government, and Economics
Objective 0013: Understand major physical and political features of the world and the effects of geographic factors on the development of human societies.
- For example: shape, location, and relationships among major land masses and bodies of water; major political units and divisions; application of basic geographic terms and concepts (e.g., region, location, plateau); characteristics and uses of basic geographic sources (e.g., almanacs, atlases); the use of maps to obtain data for solving locational problems and to answer questions, infer relationships, and analyze spatial change; and the influence of geographic factors on patterns of human settlement, major historical events, and patterns of economic activity.
Objective 0014: Understand the characteristics of American government and the structure and operation of the U.S. political system.
- For example: central concepts and purposes of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution (e.g., representative government, separation of powers, individual freedom, popular sovereignty); other key documents of U.S. government (e.g., Mayflower Compact, Bill of Rights, The Federalist papers); structure and functions of government at the local, state, and national levels (e.g., checks and balances; judicial review; federalism; the lawmaking process; relationships between federal, state, and local governments); elements and operation of the U.S. electoral system; role of political parties and interest groups; ways citizens participate in and influence the political process; and the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.
Objective 0015: Understand fundamental economic concepts, the characteristics of major economic systems, and the organization and operation of the U.S. economic system.
- For example: basic economic concepts (e.g., scarcity, choice, production, distribution, supply and demand, free trade); types of economic systems (e.g., market, command); historical development of the U.S. economy (e.g., stages of economic change in New England, effects of technological innovations on the U.S. economy); fundamental principles and characteristics of the U.S. economic system (e.g., competition, entrepreneurship, free enterprise); components of the U.S. economy (e.g., consumers, households, business, labor, financial institutions); the role of government in the U.S. economy (e.g., regulatory activities, fiscal and monetary policy); and factors influencing the activities of American producers and consumers in international markets (e.g., exchange rates, trade pacts, tariff barriers).
Subarea V–Integration of Knowledge and Understanding of English
Objective 0016: Prepare an organized, developed analysis on a topic related to literature, language, reading, rhetoric, and/or composition.
- For example: significant genres and types of literature; writers, works, and movements in the development of American, British, and other world literature; rhetorical principles and devices; the writing process; and reading theory and instructional practice.
Subarea VI–Integration of Knowledge and Understanding of History
Objective 0017: Prepare an organized, developed analysis on a topic related to history, geography, government, and/or economics.
- For example: the influence of ancient Greek and Roman societies on the development of Western civilization; the emergence, expansion, and evolution of Islam; the causes and consequences of the Age of Exploration; the formation of American democracy; and the economic and social consequences of industrial expansion in the United States.