Competency 003—(Oral Language Foundations of Reading Development): Understand foundational concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of oral language, including second-language acquisition, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level oral language skills.

For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing various aspects of students’ oral language development, including their academic language development (e.g., knowledge and usage of sentences and grammatical structures of increasing complexity).

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in oral language development, including sentence and grammatical complexity, and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of the continuum of oral language development as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 6), including basic stages of oral language development; characteristic features of children’s oral language at different stages of development; and the importance of providing students with frequent, repeated, incremental exposures to and opportunities to use new academic language structures in meaningful contexts, including providing opportunities for low-risk oral language rehearsal.

D. Recognize that individual variations in oral language development occur and that speech or language delays require additional support and monitoring in the early childhood education classroom and may warrant in-depth evaluation and/or collaboration with other professionals, if improvement is not achieved through classroom interventions.

E. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ understanding and use of sentences and grammatical structures of increasing complexity (e.g., compound sentences, complex sentences, relative clauses).

F. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ understanding and use of grade-level instructional language, including terminology and sentence structures used to label and describe people, things, places, and locations and to name, describe, and explain actions, directions, positions, sequences, locations, and categories (e.g., colors, shapes, textures).

G. Demonstrate knowledge of the interrelationships between oral language and literacy development and various ways in which oral language provides a critical foundation for reading skills and comprehension development, particularly for young children at the emergent and beginning stages of reading development, including factors that affect oral language development (e.g., familial, cultural, educational, socioeconomic, linguistic, and developmental characteristics).

H. Demonstrate knowledge of the importance of English learners’ home language as an asset that provides an essential foundation for their oral language and literacy development in English, and apply knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for facilitating language transfer by helping English learners make cross-language connections (e.g., explicitly pointing out words that are cognates in English and the home language, using objects or pictures from students’ home cultures to connect new English words with familiar meanings).

I. Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts related to second-language acquisition as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 6) (e.g., recognizing that general education teachers have a shared responsibility in promoting English learners’ English language development, that an English learner’s English language proficiency level does not relate to the student’s grade level, that beginning-level English learners may experience a “silent period” during which they are listening actively without producing oral language, that English learners acquire a new language best when they are provided with multiple, incremental opportunities to expand and extend their English language skills as they build on their strengths in the home language).

J. Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristic features of the four English language proficiency levels as described in the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) (i.e., beginning, intermediate, advanced, and high advanced) in order to plan appropriate language and literacy instruction for English learners.

K. Demonstrate knowledge of culturally responsive instruction, including research-based strategies and best practices for supporting English learners’ oral language, literacy, and concept development across academic disciplines as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 6) (e.g., identifying and aligning relevant language objectives with content area lessons; using appropriate scaffolds, particularly visual cues, to support understanding).

L. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in oral language development, including in sentence and grammatical structures, in order to address the assessed needs of all students.

Competency 004—(Phonological and Phonemic Awareness): Understand concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of phonological and phonemic awareness, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level phonological and phonemic awareness skills. For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing students’ development of phonological and phonemic awareness skills.

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in phonological and phonemic awareness and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of the role of phonological and phonemic awareness in the development of literacy in an alphabetic language.

D. Demonstrate understanding of the distinctions between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness and the distinctions between phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle.

E. Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts related to the development of phonological and phonemic awareness (e.g., recognizing that young children naturally attend to the meaning of language rather than its sounds and that larger units of sound are easier to detect and manipulate than smaller units of sound).

F. Demonstrate knowledge of the phonological awareness continuum as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 2) and apply knowledge of the phonological awareness continuum in order to plan and deliver instruction that is systematic and sequential.

G. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting young children’s development of phonological awareness skills.

H. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting development of phonemic awareness skills, including strategies that help make the concept of phonemes more concrete for young children (e.g., using manipulatives).

I. Recognize that a student’s home language or language variety may not include all the sounds used in standard English and that English learners and speakers of various dialects or regional styles of English may require explicit, linguistically appropriate support in order to perceive and manipulate some of the phonemes of standard English.

J. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness skills in order to address the assessed needs of all students.

Competency 005—(Print Concepts and Alphabet Knowledge): Understand concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of print concepts and alphabet knowledge, including understanding of the alphabetic principle, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level print concepts and alphabet knowledge and their understanding of the alphabetic principle. For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing various aspects of students’ development in print concepts and alphabet knowledge, including their understanding of the alphabetic principle.

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in print concepts, alphabet knowledge, and the alphabetic principle, and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of the continuum of development of knowledge and skills related to print concepts, alphabet knowledge, and the alphabetic principle as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 3).

D. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting young children’s development of print concepts (e.g., understanding that illustrations and print carry meaning; distinguishing between illustrations and print and between a letter and a word; identifying key conventions of print that contribute to meaning) and print and digital book-handling skills (e.g., identifying a book’s front cover, back cover, and title page; turning pages correctly).

E. Demonstrate understanding of the role of alphabet knowledge in reading development (e.g., recognizing that phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge are key predictors of early reading success because phonemic awareness skills, letter recognition, and letter-sound correspondence provide the foundation for decoding and spelling development).

F. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting young children’s development of alphabet knowledge, including strategies for reinforcing alphabet knowledge (e.g., using multimodal techniques).

G. Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabetic principle (i.e., the understanding that letters and combinations of letters represent the sounds of spoken language and that phonemes have a predictable, systematic relationship to those letters and letter combinations) and the role of the alphabetic principle in reading development (e.g., interrelationships between letter-sound correspondence, phonemic awareness, and beginning decoding).

H. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting young children’s development of the alphabetic principle (e.g., identifying the most common sound or sounds associated with each letter of the alphabet), including strategies for reinforcing the alphabetic principle (e.g., using 9 articulatory feedback when teaching letter-sound relationships, encouraging engagement in meaningful writing using phonetic spelling).

I. Demonstrate understanding of the role of predictable texts in promoting young children’s development of print concepts and alphabet knowledge.

J. Demonstrate understanding that not all written languages are alphabetic, that many alphabetic languages are more phonetically regular than English, and that English learners’ literacy development in English is affected by these factors.

K. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in print concepts, alphabet knowledge, and the alphabetic principle in order to address the assessed needs of all students.

Competency 006—(Phonics and Other Word Identification Skills): Understand concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of phonics and other word identification skills, including related spelling skills, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level phonics and other word identification skills and related spelling skills. For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing various aspects of students’ development in phonics and other word identification skills, including related spelling skills.

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in phonics and other word identification skills, including related spelling skills, and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts related to beginning reading, including the role of phonics and other word identification skills in students’ development of accurate, automatic decoding; the role of accurate, automatic decoding in reading fluency and comprehension; the reciprocity between decoding and encoding; the importance of sequencing instruction in phonics according to the increasing complexity and relative utility of linguistic units; and the importance of providing students with explicit, systematic instruction in phonics and frequent practice applying new decoding skills in connected text.

D. Demonstrate knowledge of the continuum of phonics skills as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 5), from sounding out and blending each letter in decodable words, to recognizing VC and CVC words as units, to decoding more advanced words that contain increasingly complex letter combinations and/or less common phonics elements.

E. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for delivering explicit, systematic phonics instruction (e.g., short vowels in VC and CVC words; short vowels in CVCC and CCVC words, first with consonant digraphs, then with consonant blends; long-vowel words spelled with silent e [VCe and CVCe]; long-vowel words spelled with vowel teams [CVVC]; words with an r‑controlled vowel [CVrC]; words with vowel teams that are diphthongs; words with consonant trigraphs or complex consonant clusters [CCCVC, CVCCC]).

F. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for teaching common word patterns (e.g., word families), including explicitly teaching related spelling skills and patterns once students have developed basic phonics skills and orthographic knowledge.

G. Demonstrate knowledge of the role of high-frequency words in accurate, automatic decoding of grade level text and knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of grade-level high-frequency words, including high-frequency words that are not phonetically regular.

H. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of words that contain common inflectional endings (e.g., -s, – ed, -ing, -er, -est), including teaching common orthographic guidelines related to inflections and connecting an inflectional ending to its grammatical meaning.

I. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of common homophones, homographs, and contractions.

J. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for teaching students how to self-monitor when reading connected text in order to confirm accurate decoding and comprehension, including how to use semantic and syntactic clues to verify the meaning and pronunciation of homographs.

K. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for reinforcing students’ development of beginning reading skills (e.g., reading and rereading decodable texts that feature elements already taught, practicing applying newly taught elements in their writing).

L. Recognize that a student’s home language or language variety may not include all the sounds or sound sequences used in standard English and that English learners and speakers of various dialects or regional styles of English may require additional support in order to perceive, produce, read, or spell certain phonics elements (e.g., consonant clusters) or inflectional endings.

M. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in phonics and other word identification skills in order to address the assessed needs of all students.

Competency 007—(Syllabication and Morphemic Analysis Skills): Understand concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of syllabication and morphemic analysis skills, including related spelling skills, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level syllabication and morphemic analysis skills and related spelling skills. For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing various aspects of students’ development in syllabication and morphemic analysis skills, including related spelling skills.

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in syllabication and morphemic analysis skills, including related spelling skills, and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of the continuum of knowledge and skills related to syllabication and morphemic analysis skills as described in the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 6).

D. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for teaching accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of compound words.

E. Demonstrate knowledge of common syllable types in English (e.g., closed, silent e, open, vowel team, rcontrolled, consonant + le); common syllable division patterns (e.g., VC/CV, V/CV); and research-based strategies and best practices for developing students’ accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of multisyllabic words.

F. Demonstrate knowledge of common morphemes in English (e.g., base words, roots, inflections, derivational affixes), including the distinction between inflectional and derivational suffixes, and researchbased strategies and best practices for developing students’ accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of multisyllabic words that contain two or more morphemes.

G. Demonstrate understanding of the importance of teaching students to read common syllable types and morphemes as chunks in order to promote accurate, automatic decoding of multisyllabic and multimorphemic words and to support their ability to read increasingly complex texts with fluency.

H. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for teaching accurate, automatic decoding and spelling of less common syllable types and morphemes, as well as other more advanced elements, including multisyllabic words with multiple sound-spelling patterns.

I. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for teaching students how to use print and digital resources to determine syllabication, pronunciation, meaning, and word origin, including how to alphabetize a series of words to the third letter in order to facilitate their ability to use a variety of print resources.

J. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in syllabication and morphemic analysis skills in order to address the assessed needs of all students.

Competency 008—(Reading Fluency): Understand concepts, principles, and best practices related to the development of reading fluency, and demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate, research- and evidence-based assessment and instructional practices to promote all students’ development of grade-level reading fluency.

For example:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of explicit, research-based strategies, tools, and techniques for assessing various aspects of students’ development of reading fluency.

B. Demonstrate ability to accurately interpret the results of ongoing assessments in reading fluency and to use the results to inform instructional planning and delivery, including differentiation strategies and interventions.

C. Demonstrate knowledge of the continuum of fluency development as described in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and the TEKS for ELAR (Kindergarten through Grade 6), from accurate, automatic letter naming, to word reading, to reading connected text, to reading increasingly complex connected text.

D. Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts related to reading fluency, including the key indicators of fluency (i.e., accuracy, rate, and prosody); the role of automaticity in reading fluency; interrelationships between accuracy, rate, and automaticity; the role of fluency in reading comprehension; interrelationships between prosody and comprehension; the importance of providing explicit and frequent instruction in fluency to students at all stages of reading development; and the importance of varying fluency instruction for students at different stages of development in decoding.

E. Demonstrate knowledge of common factors that disrupt reading fluency (e.g., limited phonics knowledge; lack of automaticity in key decoding skills; limited recognition of grade-level, high-frequency words; unfamiliarity with a text’s content, vocabulary, and/or grammatical structures), and apply knowledge of strategies for addressing these factors.

F. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ accuracy in order to enhance reading fluency and comprehension (e.g., reteaching grade-level decoding skills or high-frequency words not yet mastered).

G. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ reading rate and automaticity in order to enhance reading fluency and comprehension (e.g., engaging students whose decoding skills are not yet automatic in oral reading or whisper reading with teacher monitoring for accuracy and feedback; engaging students whose decoding skills are accurate and automatic in silent reading with accountability for comprehension).

H. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for promoting students’ prosody (i.e., reading with appropriate phrasing, expression, and intonation) in order to enhance reading fluency and comprehension (e.g., providing explicit teacher modeling of prosody, engaging students in echo reading and phrase-cued reading, preteaching unfamiliar vocabulary and grammatical structures prior to assigning a text, engaging in readers’ theatre).

I. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for selecting texts for fluency practice (e.g., using decodable texts with students who are acquiring basic phonics skills, transitioning students to a broader range of appropriate texts as they progress in their decoding skills, using both literary and informational texts for fluency practice).

J. Demonstrate knowledge of research-based strategies and best practices for differentiating instruction in reading fluency in order to address the assessed needs of all students.