RICA Test Pass Rate

In 1998, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing adopted the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA). Read to learn more about the RICA Test pass rate in this article.

Did you know that from 1992 – 1998, 52% of 4th grade students living in California could not read?

Yes, the RICA Test is extremely difficult to pass for people in training to become a credentialed teacher in California. However, when educators are professionally trained to teach reading, students’ literacy rates increase. This makes significant and positive implications on the individual’s life, and also our society.

When the CTC adopted the RICA Test in 1998, another literacy standards-based test was given to 4th graders, and in 2017 the rate of non-literate students dropped to 39%.

Providing effective reading instruction is a science, and the level of reading knowledge for California teachers needs to remain high. That is why the RICA Test is so important. It allows teaching candidates to demonstrate their knowledge of reading instruction and ability to meet the needs of all learners in the classroom.

RICA as one of the most difficult teacher exams

Throughout the years of administrating the RICA Test, the education institutions as well as the teachers themselves noticed exactly how challenging passing the RICA Test was, due to the low pass rate.

To better support incoming teachers, and try to provide some financial relief, the CTC in 2021 split the RICA Test into three subtests.

The total price remains the same, and the amount of questions a teacher needs to answer correctly is also the same. The concept behind this change is that by reducing the amount a teacher needs to study to pass, more teachers will pass faster.

Latest RICA Test Pass Rates

Now that the RICA Test is divided into three subtests, we can configure percentages based on the more specifically selected areas.

  • RICA Subtest 1 Pass Rate: 84.7%
  • RICA Subtest 2 Pass Rate: 83.9%
  • RICA Subtest 3 Pass Rate: 73.5%

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