Domain I: Vocabulary, reading comprehension and text forms 12
A bus timetable lists departures from Main Street at 7:05, 7:35 and 8:05 a.m. and notes that each trip reaches the depot 25 minutes later. Which is the latest bus a rider can take and be at the depot by 8:00 a.m.?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0004
A flowchart of a returns process asks "Is the receipt attached?" and branches to Yes and No. Which shape normally holds that question?Wikipedia, "Flowchart". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0004
A magazine article on battery research cites four kinds of sources. Which one has been checked by other experts in the field before it was published?Wikipedia, "Scholarly peer review". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0002
A poster reads: "Everyone in town is switching to our soap. Do not be the last." Which propaganda technique is this?Wikipedia, "Propaganda techniques". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0003
A reviewer could call a character "determined" or "stubborn". Both words denote holding firmly to a purpose. In what do the two words differ?Wikipedia, "Connotation". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0001
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Domain I: Vocabulary, reading comprehension and text forms, continued
A warranty reads: "This limited warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship for 12 months from the date of purchase. It does not cover damage caused by accident or misuse." Three months after buying a phone, the owner drops it and the screen cracks. What does the warranty provide?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0004
An ad for an animal shelter shows a shivering dog under the words "He has no one but you." Which appeal does the ad rely on?Wikipedia, "Modes of persuasion". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0003
The Declaration of Independence calls the king's record "a history of repeated injuries and usurpations" and then says: "To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world." How is the part that follows organized?National Archives, "Declaration of Independence: A Transcription". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0002
English took words such as "justice", "jury" and "pardon" from French. Which event opened the way for most of this borrowing?Wikipedia, "Influence of French on English". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0001
In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln says that "we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground" and turns to "the unfinished work" that remains. What is the main purpose of the speech?Wikipedia, "Gettysburg Address". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0002
Lincoln closes the Gettysburg Address with "government of the people, by the people, for the people". Which rhetorical device repeats the same words as successive phrases end?Wikipedia, "Epistrophe". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0003
The words "benevolent", "benefit" and "benign" share a Latin element, and a reader who knows it can work out part of each meaning. What does bene- mean?Wikipedia, "List of Greek and Latin roots in English/B". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0001
Domain II: Analyzing and interpreting literature 12
A regular line of iambic pentameter has how many syllables, in what pattern?Wikipedia, "Iambic pentameter". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0006
Early in a story a character notices a loose stair rail and thinks nothing of it. In the last chapter the rail gives way. Which device has the author used?Wikipedia, "Foreshadowing". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0005
Emily Dickinson writes: "Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me; / The carriage held but just ourselves / And Immortality." Which figure of speech shapes these lines?Emily Dickinson, "The Chariot", in Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete (Project Gutenberg eBook 12242). Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0006
The epic of Sundiata, set in 13th-century Mali, has been handed down by word of mouth for generations. Who are its traditional narrators?Wikipedia, "Epic of Sundiata". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0007
How is an English, or Shakespearean, sonnet built?Wikipedia, "Sonnet". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0006
In a novel, a village accepts without surprise that a young woman rises into the sky while folding sheets. Which mode, closely linked with Latin American fiction, does this illustrate?Wikipedia, "Magic realism". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0007
In a tragedy, a prince alone on stage debates aloud whether to act, and no other character hears him. Which dramatic device is this?Wikipedia, "Soliloquy". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0005
Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston wrote during the Harlem Renaissance. What was this movement?Wikipedia, "Harlem Renaissance". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0008
Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) follows a Black family in Chicago. Where does its title come from?Wikipedia, "A Raisin in the Sun". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0008
The narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" writes: "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." What does the sentence reveal?Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (Project Gutenberg eBook 1952). Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0005
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) portrays the poverty of immigrant workers in the Chicago stockyards. Which public response did the novel in fact produce?Wikipedia, "The Jungle". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0008
Where and when did Transcendentalism, the movement of Emerson and Thoreau, develop?Wikipedia, "Transcendentalism". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0007
Domain III: Conventions, composition, writing process and research 9
A student must report the main point of a 20-page article in two sentences of her own. Which technique is she using?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0011
A student wants to judge the credibility of an article on wetland loss before she cites it. Which step should come first?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Evaluating Sources: General Guidelines". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0011
A student who cannot settle on a topic writes without stopping for ten minutes and corrects nothing. Which prewriting method is this?Wikipedia, "Free writing". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0010
A student writes: "Hoping to finish early, the essay was written in one night." What should a peer reviewer point out?Wikipedia, "Dangling modifier". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0009
A student writes: "The storm passed, we went outside." What is the error, and how can it be repaired?Wikipedia, "Comma splice". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0009
Which research question is both focused and open-ended?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0011
Which revision best removes the wordiness from "In my personal opinion, I think the end result was completely unanimous"?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Eliminating Words". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0010
Which revision gives parallel structure to "The new library is quiet, has good lighting and it is open late"?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Parallel Structure". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0010
Which sentence is correct?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Making Subjects and Verbs Agree". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0009
Domain IV: Modes of writing 12
A draft says: "We can ignore Dr. Lee's traffic study because she does not even own a car." Which flaw should a reviewer name?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Logical Fallacies". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0014
A report must show what share of a club's budget goes to each of five categories. Which graphic fits best?Wikipedia, "Pie chart". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0013
A story opens with its hero clinging to a cliff face and only later explains how she came to be there. Which narrative technique is this?Wikipedia, "In medias res". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0012
A student is drafting an essay that explains what a school garden teaches. Which sentence states its thesis?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Tips and Examples for Writing Thesis Statements". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0013
A student will compare how two poems treat death. Which plan organizes the essay point by point?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0015
A student will explain how a bill becomes a law. Which organizational approach fits the subject best?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0013
In a personal narrative about a championship game, the writer stops the action to show a practice from two years before. What is this interruption called?Wikipedia, "Flashback (narrative)". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0012
In an essay arguing for a later school start, which sentence anticipates and answers a counterargument?Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Organizing Your Argument". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0014
Mary Shelley subtitled Frankenstein "The Modern Prometheus". Which parallel does the subtitle invite a reader to analyze?Wikipedia, "Frankenstein". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0015
Which revision of "Kids these days are, like, totally glued to their phones" keeps a formal style for an argument essay?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0014
Which sentence best uses specific nouns, strong verbs and sensory detail?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0012
Which sentence is an arguable thesis for an analysis of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", not a summary of the poem?Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken", in Mountain Interval (Project Gutenberg eBook 29345). Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0015
Domain V: Oral and visual communication 6
A campaign video films a rival candidate from above, with the camera looking down. What effect does this angle usually have on viewers?Wikipedia, "High-angle shot". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0017
A class listens to a recording of a poet reading aloud, only to enjoy the sound and rhythm of the lines. Which type of listening is this?Wikipedia, "Appreciative listening". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0016
A student presented water-quality findings to the city council and must now present them to fourth graders. Which change best fits the new audience?OAE English Language Arts (020) assessment framework, competency 0017
A teacher wants to show a two-minute clip of a film in class to criticize how it frames a scene. Which doctrine of U.S. copyright law may permit this without a license?U.S. Copyright Office, "U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0017
During a group discussion a student says, "So you are saying the deadline is the real problem. Is that right?" Which listening skill is she using?Wikipedia, "Active listening". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0016
In his 1961 inaugural address, John F. Kennedy said: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Which device repeats words in reverse order?Wikipedia, "Antimetabole". Written to OAE English Language Arts (020) framework, competency 0016
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the assessment framework for Ohio Assessments for Educators field 020, English Language Arts, read 2026-10-12 on the program's site (https://www.oh.nesinc.com/CONTENT/STUDYGUIDE/OH_SG_OBJ_020.htm; test page https://www.oh.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/OH020_TestPage.html): 150 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, passing score 220; Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Reading Various Text Forms (competencies 0001 to 0004, 23%), Analyzing and Interpreting Literature (0005 to 0008, 23%), English Language Conventions, Composition, Writing Process, and Research (0009 to 0011, 19%), Modes of Writing (0012 to 0015, 23%) and Oral and Visual Communication (0016 to 0017, 12%). The bank holds 3 questions for each of the 17 competencies. Every quotation and fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the public page the question names: Project Gutenberg editions of Dickinson, Frost and Gilman, the National Archives transcription of the Declaration of Independence, the Purdue Online Writing Lab, the U.S. Copyright Office and the named Wikipedia article. Eight questions that turn on reading a short text of our own, or on choosing among sentences of our own, name the competency alone. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This free practice OAE test for English Language Arts, grades 7–12, has 51 questions of our own, three per competency of assessment 020. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the Ohio State Board of Education or Evaluation Systems, Pearson.
Read the full guide
What OAE English Language Arts covers
The framework at oh.nesinc.com, read October 12, 2026, weighs Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension and Reading Various Text Forms 23%, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 23%, Conventions, Composition, Writing Process and Research 19%, Modes of Writing 23%, and Oral and Visual Communication 12%. This bank holds 12, 12, 9, 12 and 6 questions.
Timing
The real assessment gives 3 hours after a 15-minute tutorial, 1.2 minutes a question. Exam mode asks all 51 here in 61 minutes, the same pace.
Which license needs test 020
The program's table of license types pairs English Language Arts (020) with the Adolescence to Young Adult (7–12) Integrated Language Arts license, beside the Assessment of Professional Knowledge (003). Middle Grades English Language Arts is a separate test, 028.
The test page lists no reference materials for this assessment, so the terms of rhetoric, poetry and grammar must come from memory.
Questions and answers
Is this OAE language arts practice test free?
Yes, with no account and no fee. All 51 questions are ours, written from the published framework. Each explanation names a public text to open: a poem, a founding document or a writing guide. None comes from the real assessment or its sample questions.
How many questions are on the OAE English Language Arts test?
150 multiple-choice questions and no written assignment. The test page adds that an assessment may include questions being evaluated for future use, which do not affect your score.
What is the passing score for OAE English Language Arts?
220, where scores run from 100 to 300. The State Board of Education sets the minimum, and the scaled score depends on how many multiple-choice questions are answered correctly.
Can I take the OAE English Language Arts test at home?
Yes. The test page offers an online proctor in one-week testing windows every month, and no breaks are allowed in that format. Test centers in Ohio and nationwide take appointments year round.