If you need help studying for the ILTS Early Childhood Education exam or just want some more information about what the exam is like, you’ve come to the right place!
Click below to take a free ILTS Early Childhood Education practice test!
What’s on the Exam?
First, let’s talk about the questions on the exam. There are 100 multiple-choice questions total, but only 80 of the questions will count toward your score. Why is that?
The 20 unscored questions on the exam are called “pretest” questions. These are added to the exam to determine if they’re good enough questions to add to future versions of the test.
The trick is that you won’t have any way of knowing which questions are scored and which ones are pretest. They will appear just like the scored questions throughout the test.
The time limit for the exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes. There aren’t any scheduled breaks, but you’re free to take restroom breaks as needed.
The exam is split into four subareas:
1. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING, AND ASSESSMENT
25 questions
- Early childhood development from birth to grade two
- Factors that affect childhood development and learning
- Goals, benefits, uses, and types of formal and informal assessments
- Creating and maintaining a safe and productive learning environment
2. LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
31 questions
- Young children’s verbal and nonverbal language and communication development
- Supporting and enhancing listening and speaking skills in young children
- The foundations of literacy development
- Promoting literacy development of young children
- Word-identification strategies
- Vocabulary development
- Reading comprehension
- Independent reading
- Writing processes
- Promoting writing competence in young children
3. LEARNING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
31 questions
- Fundamental math concepts
- Fundamental scientific concepts
- Fundamental social science concepts
- The physical, emotional, and social development of young children
- Fine arts concepts
4. PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
13 questions
- Building positive and collaborative relationships with children’s families, community agencies, and other professionals
- Major federal and state laws, regulations, and ethical standards related to early childhood education
- Engaging in ongoing personal and professional development
- Teaching young children in a variety of settings
How to Register
To get started with the registration process, you’ll need to create an ILTS/ISBE account on their website. You can then register for the exam via your account.
The testing fee is $122.
How the Exam is Scored
The ILTS Early Childhood Education exam is scored using a scaled scoring method. Here’s how it works:
A passing score is a scaled score of at least 240.
The reason your raw score is converted to a scaled score is because everyone who takes the exam is given a slightly different set of questions. Since everyone has a different arrangement of questions, and because some questions are harder than others, converting your raw score to a scaled score ensures a more even playing field.
FAQs
How many questions are on the ILTS Early Childhood Education exam?
The exam contains 100 questions.
What is the time limit for the ILTS Early Childhood Education exam?
The exam is timed at 3 hours and 15 minutes.
What is the passing score for the ILTS Early Childhood Education exam?
You’ll need to get a score of at least 240 to pass the exam.
How much does the ILTS Early Childhood Education exam cost?
The exam fee is $122.