A historian of the 1913 flood in Dayton reads a diary that a shopkeeper kept during the week the water rose. What kind of source is the diary?Wikipedia, "Primary source". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0001
A revolt of enslaved people in the French colony of Saint-Domingue ended in 1804 with an independent state. Which country was founded?Wikipedia, "Haitian Revolution". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0003
A textbook divides the past into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. What is the name for sorting the past into named stretches of time?Wikipedia, "Periodization". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0001
After 1492, maize and potatoes reached Europe while horses, wheat and smallpox reached the Americas. What do historians call this transfer?Wikipedia, "Columbian exchange". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0003
After the French and Indian War, what did the Royal Proclamation of 1763 forbid the colonists to do?Wikipedia, "Royal Proclamation of 1763". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0005
Show all 50 questions (45 more)
Domain I: History, continued
At which meeting of 1884 and 1885 did European powers set rules for claiming territory in Africa?Wikipedia, "Berlin Conference". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0004
By 1938 a laid-off worker could draw weekly payments from a state fund, and the country had a federal system of old-age benefits. Which law of 1935 lay behind both?Wikipedia, "Social Security Act". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0008
Chinese historians described a pattern in which a ruling house rises, grows corrupt, loses the Mandate of Heaven and is replaced by a new one. What is this pattern called?Wikipedia, "Dynastic cycle". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0001
In 1786 and 1787 indebted farmers in western Massachusetts closed courts and marched on an arsenal. Which conclusion did many leaders draw from the uprising?Wikipedia, "Shays's Rebellion". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0005
In 1823 a president told Congress that the United States would treat new European colonies in the Americas as a threat. What is this policy called?Wikipedia, "Monroe Doctrine". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0006
In 1896 the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana law that required separate railway cars for Black and white passengers. Which doctrine did the ruling establish?Wikipedia, "Plessy v. Ferguson". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0007
The long title of an act of 1830 speaks of "an exchange of lands with the Indians" and of "their removal west of the river Mississippi". Which act is it?Wikipedia, "Indian Removal Act". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0006
The Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca joined in a league before Europeans arrived. By what name is the league known?Wikipedia, "Iroquois". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0005
Which body of texts, composed in Sanskrit, makes up the oldest scriptures of Hinduism?Wikipedia, "Vedas". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0002
Which emperor, ruling from Constantinople, ordered the collection of Roman law now called the Corpus Juris Civilis?Wikipedia, "Corpus Juris Civilis". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0002
Which Enlightenment writer, in The Spirit of the Laws, set out the theory that the powers of government should be separated?Wikipedia, "Montesquieu". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0003
Which group of British colonies exported so much wheat and other grain that it was called the breadbasket colonies?Wikipedia, "Middle Colonies". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0005
Which reformer of about 508 BCE is credited with setting the government of Athens on a democratic footing?Wikipedia, "Cleisthenes". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0002
Which waterway, finished in 1825, joined the Hudson River to Lake Erie and cut the cost of shipping goods between the East and the Great Lakes?Wikipedia, "Erie Canal". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0006
Which way of life did the Neolithic Revolution replace across many human cultures?Wikipedia, "Neolithic Revolution". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0002
Domain II: Geography and culture 11
A class studies how the Dutch built dikes and drained land that lay under the sea. Which of the five themes of geography does the lesson fit best?Wikipedia, "Five themes of geography". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0009
A coast has hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Which climate type is this?Wikipedia, "Mediterranean climate". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0010
A health department plots each case of an illness on a digital map and lays maps of wells and water lines over it to look for a pattern. Which tool is it using?Wikipedia, "Geographic information system". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0009
The Aral Sea in Central Asia has lost most of its water since the 1960s. What was the main cause?Wikipedia, "Aral Sea". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0010
As a country industrializes, its death rate falls first and its birth rate falls later, until both are low. What is this model of population change called?Wikipedia, "Demographic transition". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0011
Buddhism began in India and reached China along the trade routes of the Silk Road. What is this spread of beliefs from one culture to another called?Wikipedia, "Trans-cultural diffusion". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0011
On a wall map Greenland looks about as large as Africa, although Africa is many times larger. Which projection gives this result?Wikipedia, "Mercator projection". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0009
Which name is given to the movement of Black Americans out of the rural South to the cities of the Northeast, Midwest and West in the decades after 1910?Wikipedia, "Great Migration (African American)". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0011
Which of these languages belongs to the Indo-European family?Wikipedia, "Indo-European languages". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0011
Which process carved the basins of the Great Lakes?Wikipedia, "Great Lakes". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0010
Which river system drains most of the United States between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains?Wikipedia, "Mississippi River". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0010
Domain III: Government 9
A member of Congress drafts a bill to raise the federal tax on gasoline. Where must the bill be introduced first?Wikipedia, "Origination Clause". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0014
A party wins 48 percent of the votes in a state but 10 of its 14 seats in Congress, because of the way the district lines were drawn. What is drawing lines for such an advantage called?Wikipedia, "Gerrymandering". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0012
A president has negotiated a trade treaty and wants it to bind the United States. Whose advice and consent does the Constitution require?Wikipedia, "Treaty Clause". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0014
In 1965 students in Des Moines, Iowa, were suspended for wearing black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. In its 1969 ruling on their case, which rights did the Supreme Court recognize for students in public schools?Wikipedia, "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0013
In 1974 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on a president's claim of executive privilege. What did it order the president to do?Wikipedia, "United States v. Nixon". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0013
In a certain country a handful of wealthy families make every public decision, and no elections are held. Which form of government is this?Wikipedia, "Oligarchy". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0012
In Federalist No. 10, what danger did James Madison argue that a large republic could best control?Wikipedia, "Federalist No. 10". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0013
Ohio taxes income, and so does the federal government. What is the name for a power that both levels of government may use?Wikipedia, "Concurrent powers". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0014
Which English philosopher argued in his Two Treatises of Government that government rests on the consent of the governed and exists to protect natural rights?Wikipedia, "Two Treatises of Government". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0012
Domain IV: Economics 5
A new seed lets farmers grow more soybeans at the same cost, while the demand for soybeans stays the same. What happens in the soybean market?Wikipedia, "Supply and demand". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0015
A saver puts $2,500 in an account that pays 4% interest compounded once a year. With no other deposits, how much is in the account after two years?Wikipedia, "Compound interest". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0015
A village has money for either a fire truck or a repaved main street. It buys the truck. In economic terms, what is the repaved street?Wikipedia, "Opportunity cost". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0015
In the Soviet Union, state planners decided what each factory would make, in what quantity and at what price. Which kind of economic system is this?Wikipedia, "Planned economy". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0015
Prices are rising quickly across the economy, and the Federal Reserve acts to dampen spending. Which kind of monetary policy is this?Wikipedia, "Monetary policy". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0016
Domain V: Ohio in the United States 5
Between 1859 and 1885 a vast wetland in northwest Ohio was drained to make farmland. What was the wetland called?Wikipedia, "Great Black Swamp". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0017
In 1803 Ohio became the 17th state. From which territory was it the first state to be formed?Wikipedia, "Ohio". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0017
The Ohio constitutional convention of 1912 sent voters amendments that let citizens propose laws and vote on laws passed by the legislature. What are these two powers called?Wikipedia, "Constitution of Ohio". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0017
On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired on a crowd at Kent State University, killing four students. What were the students protesting?Wikipedia, "Kent State shootings". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0017
Which treaty of 1795, signed a year after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, redrew the line between Native lands and land open to United States settlement in the Ohio country?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Greenville". Written to OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) framework, competency 0017
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the assessment framework for Ohio Assessments for Educators field 031, Middle Grades Social Studies, read 2026-10-12 on the program's site (https://www.oh.nesinc.com/CONTENT/STUDYGUIDE/OH_SG_OBJ_031.htm; test page https://www.oh.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/OH031_TestPage.html): 125 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, passing score 220; History (competencies 0001 to 0008, 40%), Geography and Culture (0009 to 0011, 21%), Government (0012 to 0014, 19%), Economics (0015 to 0016, 10%) and Ohio in the United States (0017, 10%). The bank holds 50 questions spread by the percentage the framework prints beside each competency: 20 on History, 11 on Geography and Culture, 9 on Government, 5 on Economics and 5 on Ohio. Every fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the Wikipedia article the question names. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This free OAE Middle Grades Social Studies practice test spreads 50 questions of our own over assessment 031 by its published weights. We are unofficial and not affiliated with the Ohio State Board of Education or Evaluation Systems, Pearson.
Read the full guide
What OAE Middle Grades Social Studies (031) covers
The framework at oh.nesinc.com, read October 12, 2026, weighs History 40%, Geography and Culture 21%, Government 19%, Economics 10%, and Ohio in the United States 10%. The 50 questions split the same way: 20, 11, 9, 5 and 5.
Ohio in the United States
Competency 0017 is a domain of its own: Ohio from the prehistoric period to the present, with its geography, constitution and economy. The five Ohio questions here take up the Treaty of Greenville, statehood, the amendments of 1912, the Great Black Swamp and Kent State.
Timing
Exam mode gives the 50 questions on this page 72 minutes, matching the real 1.44 minutes a question.
In History, each period up to 1850 (world) or 1877 (U.S.) carries about 7% and each later period about 2%; review accordingly.
Questions and answers
Is this OAE Middle Grades Social Studies practice test free?
Yes. No sign-up, no fee. Each question is checked against the public article its explanation names, and none is taken from the real assessment or its sample questions.
How many questions does the OAE social studies test for grades 4–9 have?
It has 125, all multiple choice and none written, in 3 hours of testing time after a 15-minute tutorial. No reference materials are listed for it on the test page.
What passing score does Ohio set for OAE Middle Grades Social Studies?
Ohio's State Board of Education has set it at 220, on a reporting scale of 100 to 300. The scaled total comes from the count of multiple-choice questions answered correctly.
Who has to take OAE Middle Grades Social Studies?
Candidates for Ohio's Middle Childhood (4–9) license in social studies, who also sit Assessment of Professional Knowledge 002 and Foundations of Reading 190, by the program's table. Test 031 is one route to the grades 4–6 generalist endorsement as well.
Can the OAE Middle Grades Social Studies test be taken online?
Yes. Online proctoring is by appointment in one-week testing windows each month, and the test page says that format has no breaks. A seat at a test center can be booked in any month.