What You Need To Know About The RICA

Whichever subject you intend to teach, you’ll find that passing the RICA test will require you to make use of two sets of skills: recalling the knowledge that you possess; and answering exam questions quickly and accurately.

Both of these skill sets are vitally important. A good RICA study guide can help you develop these skills.

What is the RICA?

The RICA is intended to show that a teacher is competent to teach students to read and to understand what they are reading. The exam is divided into four “domains”:

Two Types Of Questions, Two Types Of Challenge

RICA exam questions come in two forms: multiple-choice questions ask you to choose the best answer from a number of options. In these questions, it is important to remember that the best answer isn’t necessarily the only correct answer. You may find that two answers look correct; one answer will be more correct than the other. (This also means that when two answers look the same, you’ve got a 50/50 chance of guessing the right one.)

Constructed-response questions ask you to discuss, describe, analyze, explain etc. You may be asked to complete more than one task. Always read the question carefully and make sure that you have completed all the tasks.