• 42 questions

MTEL Academically Advanced Practice Test

Unofficial practice for MTEL Academically Advanced (52): literature, rhetoric and mathematics, then the teaching of advanced learners, each answer sourced.

What is the determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix whose first row is 2, 1 and whose second row is 3, 4?

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Exam mode: 42 questions, 63 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson. Bank checked October 15, 2026.

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All 42 questions

Subarea I: Curricular content 26

  • A captain shouts, "All hands on deck!" and means the sailors themselves. Which figure of speech names a thing by one of its parts? Wikipedia, "Synecdoche", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • A function is given by f(x) = (x² − 16) ÷ (x − 4) for every x except 4. Which value does f(x) approach as x gets close to 4? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • A parent says the district should add one advanced mathematics class. An opponent answers, "So you want to cut every other program in the school?" and argues against that. Which fallacy is the answer? Wikipedia, "Straw man", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • A savings plan sets each month's deposit at twice the deposit of the month before, less $1. The first deposit is $3. How much is the fourth deposit? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
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Subarea I: Curricular content, continued

  • A school network links 10 computers so that exactly one path joins any two of them. In graph theory such a network is a tree. How many links does it have? Wikipedia, "Tree (graph theory)", lead and Definitions (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
  • A student holds her proposal for longer library hours until the week of final exams, judging that this is the moment when it will be heard. Which Greek term names the right or opportune moment to speak? Wikipedia, "Kairos", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • A student revises a faulty list so that its three items match in grammatical form. Which version is parallel? Wikipedia, "Parallelism (grammar)", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • A surveyor stands at a boundary stone. One fence post is 8 m away and another is 3 m away, and the two lines of sight meet at 60°. How far apart are the posts? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
  • A theater group's income from a show is R(p) = −5p² + 200p dollars when a ticket costs p dollars. Which ticket price brings in the most income? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • A town of 4,000 people shrinks by 10% each decade. By this model, how many people remain after 3 decades? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • Classical rhetoric divides a speaker's work into five canons. Which canon is the search for and discovery of arguments? Wikipedia, "Inventio", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • During a launch, a model rocket's upward speed t seconds after liftoff is v(t) = 6t meters per second. How high has it climbed when t = 5? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • In Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay "A Modest Proposal" a fictional narrator sets out, deadpan and with calculations of the financial benefits, an outrageous remedy for the troubles of the Irish poor. What kind of writing is it? Wikipedia, "A Modest Proposal", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • In Stephen Toulmin's model of argument, a writer claims that a city should plant street trees and offers data on summer heat as grounds. What is the warrant? Wikipedia, "Stephen Toulmin", Toulmin model of argument (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • Of the 13 calculators in a classroom set, 4 have dead batteries. A student takes 2 without looking. What is the probability that both have dead batteries? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
  • Ridership on a harbor ferry rose from 1,250 passengers in June to 1,430 in July. What was the percent increase? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • The temperature of an oven is T(m) = 2m² + 5m + 70 degrees after m minutes. How fast is the temperature rising at m = 3? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • Three of these four numbers are multiples of 7. Which one is prime: 91, 97, 119 or 133? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0003
  • To correct a grading mistake, a teacher raises every quiz score by 5 points. What happens to the class mean and to the standard deviation? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
  • "We ask for books. We ask for teachers. We ask for time." Which rhetorical device is the repetition that opens each sentence? Wikipedia, "Anaphora (rhetoric)", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0002
  • What is the determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix whose first row is 2, 1 and whose second row is 3, 4? MTEL Academically Advanced (52) test objectives, subarea I Curricular Content; the answer is worked from the numbers in the question. Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0004
  • Which classic of Japanese literature was written in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period, by the lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu? Wikipedia, "The Tale of Genji", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • Which poet of Amherst, Massachusetts, largely unpublished and unknown in her lifetime, often wrote in ballad stanzas and made frequent use of slant rhyme? Wikipedia, "Emily Dickinson", lead and Structure and syntax (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • Which Puritan poet, who died in North Andover, Massachusetts, in 1672, was the first writer in England's North American colonies to be published? Wikipedia, "Anne Bradstreet", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • Which rhyming verse form, invented by Dante for the Divine Comedy, is built of tercets in which the second line of each sets the rhyme for the first and third lines of the next? Wikipedia, "Terza rima", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001
  • Which text recounts the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, with a Maya creation myth and the exploits of the Hero Twins? Wikipedia, "Popol Vuh", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0001

Subarea II: Promoting learning in academically advanced students 16

  • A district pairs a sixth grader who writes poetry with a published local poet, who meets her each month to advise her and guide her work. Which arrangement is this? Wikipedia, "Mentorship", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006
  • A district-run public middle school with a specialized science curriculum takes students from all parts of a city, and attending it is voluntary. What is such a school called? Wikipedia, "Magnet school", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0007
  • A fourth grader walks to a sixth grade room for mathematics each morning and spends the rest of the day with her own class. Which form of acceleration is this? Wikipedia, "Academic acceleration", Types (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006
  • A fourth grader's score report shows a national percentile rank of 98 in mathematics. What does the number mean? Wikipedia, "Percentile rank", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • A math circle brings mathematicians and school students together regularly to solve problems outside class. Where did the form appear in the United States in 1994? Wikipedia, "Math circle", History (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0007
  • A parent assumes that "standardized" means multiple-choice. By definition, what makes a test standardized? Wikipedia, "Standardized test", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • A rural district has one student ready for calculus and no teacher for it. She takes the course online from a university, with teacher and learner in different places. Which program option is this? Wikipedia, "Distance education", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0007
  • A science unit opens with a question, "Why do some ponds freeze before others?", and students plan ways to find out while the teacher acts as facilitator. Which approach is this? Wikipedia, "Inquiry-based learning", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006
  • A seventh grader and her teacher agree on a topic, the history of a local canal, which she will research for a term with the teacher's guidance, outside the regular syllabus. Which strategy is this? Wikipedia, "Independent study", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006
  • A teacher judges a student's new essay only against the essays the same student wrote earlier in the year. Which kind of assessment is this? Wikipedia, "Ipsative", In education (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • A test meant to find advanced mathematical reasoning is written in long, dense word problems, and strong readers outscore stronger mathematicians. Which quality of the test is in doubt? Wikipedia, "Test validity", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • Benjamin Bloom reported in 1984 that the average student taught in one particular way performed two standard deviations better than students in a classroom. Which way was it? Wikipedia, "Bloom's 2 sigma problem", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006
  • In an enrichment program students stay with their age peers and receive extra material. What do critics say of this approach? Wikipedia, "Gifted education", Enrichment (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0007
  • One test measures the skills and knowledge a student has gained from instruction in a grade. Another aims at a more general and stable cognitive trait. What are the two kinds of test, in that order? Wikipedia, "Achievement test", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • To decide on services for one unusually advanced first grader, a team gathers her work, scores, observations and interviews into one in-depth, detailed examination. Which method is this? Wikipedia, "Case study", lead (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0005
  • What did the 2004 U.S. report A Nation Deceived conclude about academic acceleration? Wikipedia, "Academic acceleration", Impact (read 2026-10-15). Written to MTEL Academically Advanced (52), objective 0006

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test objectives of MTEL Academically Advanced, field 52, as the test information guide prints them on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure website (https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/Content/StudyGuide/MA_SG_OBJ_52.htm and https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/MA052_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-15): 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items in 4 hours; multiple-choice subareas I Curricular Content (61 to 63 questions, 50% of the score, objectives 0001 to 0004) and II Promoting Learning in Academically Advanced Students (37 to 39, 30%, objectives 0005 to 0007), and the open-response subarea, 20%. Each fact was read on 2026-10-15 in the Wikipedia article named under its question; the answers in mathematics are worked from the numbers in the question. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This unofficial MTEL Academically Advanced practice test asks 42 questions of our own on field 52. The site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson.

Read the full guide

Two subareas, weighted 50 and 30

The test objectives give Curricular Content (literature, rhetoric and composition, and mathematics through introductory calculus) 50% of the score and 61 to 63 questions, and Promoting Learning in Academically Advanced Students 30% and 37 to 39. This bank holds 26 and 16.

The clock

With an online proctor, the MTEL site gives 2 hours 30 minutes for the 100 multiple-choice questions. A timed run here keeps that pace: 42 questions in 63 minutes.

What the real test adds

Two open-response items carry the other 20% and may draw on any subarea. Each asks for an organized, developed analysis in writing, which this page does not score.

  • Objective 0005 names three terms of assessment outright: ceiling effects, performance gap and out-of-level testing. This bank does not ask them.

Questions and answers

Is there an official MTEL Academically Advanced practice test?

The MTEL site lists sample multiple-choice questions and a sample open-response assignment for field 52 in its test information guide, and no full practice test. None of it is reused here: each question was written for this page and names its objective and source.

How many questions are on the MTEL Academically Advanced test?

100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response assignments. Testing time is 4 hours, inside a test center appointment of 4 hours 15 minutes.

What is the passing score for the MTEL Academically Advanced test?

240 is the qualifying score on the MTEL site. The open-response items are part of it, so a count of right answers here does not convert to it.

What is the Academically Advanced endorsement in Massachusetts?

An endorsement set out in 603 CMR 7.14(6). Its prerequisites are an Initial or Professional license in a core academic area at the PreK–8 level and a year of teaching under it; it asks for 150 hours of field experience and a subject matter test.

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