MTEL Foundations of Reading Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

The Official Pass Rate Numbers

Massachusetts DESE and Pearson publish annual MTEL performance data, and the most recent official figures for Field 190, the current MTEL Foundations of Reading test, come from the 2023-24 annual report. According to that report, 68.2% of first-time test takers passed, while the pass rate across all test takers dropped to 66.0%. That gap matters: it tells you the exam is not trivial on a first attempt, and that a meaningful share of candidates need more than one sitting to clear the 240 passing score.

These numbers apply specifically to Field 190, which replaced the retired Field 90. If you're researching older data online, make sure you're looking at Field 190 statistics and not legacy Field 90 numbers, which are no longer representative of the current test blueprint, item counts, or scoring model.

First-Time Takers vs. All Test Takers

The 2.2-point spread between first-time (68.2%) and all-test-taker (66.0%) pass rates reflects the reality that some candidates who fail on attempt one struggle again on retakes. This isn't unusual for a licensure exam with a fixed content blueprint, but it underscores why preparation strategy matters more than simply "trying again." Retaking the full 190 without changing your study approach tends to produce similar results.

This is exactly the scenario MTEL-Flex was designed to address for candidates who come close but don't quite reach 240.

MTEL-Flex 904/905 Retake Pass Rates

If you scored between 231 and 239 on Field 190 on or after February 8, 2021, you may be eligible for MTEL-Flex, a targeted written performance-assessment retake that costs $69 instead of the full $139 Field 190 fee. Rather than repeating all 102 items, you submit written work tied to a single objective:

• MTEL-Flex 904 corresponds to Objective 0010, Foundational Reading Skills
• MTEL-Flex 905 corresponds to Objective 0011, Reading Comprehension

The all-test-taker pass rates diverge noticeably between these two options: 904 passed at 78.6% while 905 passed at 64.7%. That's a substantial gap, and it suggests that candidates who narrowly miss passing due to weaknesses concentrated in foundational skills objectives (phonemic awareness, phonics, word analysis) have a statistically better shot at closing the gap through 904 than those retaking comprehension-focused content through 905.

Why Candidates Fall Short of 240

The 240 passing score sits on a scaled range, and the test's structure gives you little room to coast through any single section. Field 190 consists of 100 multiple-choice questions plus 2 open-response items, for 102 scored components total, delivered across a 4-hour testing window (4 hours 15 minutes for computer-based appointments including tutorial, or 4 hours 30 minutes for online-proctored sessions with a built-in 15-minute optional break). A few recurring failure patterns show up among candidates who don't clear the bar:

• Underestimating Subarea I content, which carries 43-45 multiple-choice questions, more than any other multiple-choice subarea
• Treating the two open-response assignments as an afterthought despite them being worth two full 10% objectives
• Confusing general reading knowledge with the specific terminology and instructional frameworks the test expects
• Running out of pacing buffer because they didn't rehearse the open-response writing process under timed conditions

For a full breakdown of how difficult the exam actually is relative to other licensure tests, see How Hard Is the MTEL Foundations of Reading Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

How Domain Weighting Shapes the Numbers

Pass rates aren't random noise, they're a direct product of how the exam is weighted. Field 190 is built from four domains, and understanding their relative size explains where most points, and most missed points, come from:

Because Domain 1 alone accounts for over a third of the scored content, candidates who under-prepare on foundational skills topics like phoneme segmentation or morphology often see that weakness reflected disproportionately in their overall score. For an objective-by-objective walkthrough, see the MTEL Foundations of Reading Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas, or go deeper into each domain individually via Domain 1: Foundations of Reading Development, Domain 2: Development of Reading Comprehension, Domain 3: Reading Assessment and Instruction, and Domain 4: Integration of Knowledge and Understanding.

The Open-Response Factor

Domain 4's two open-response assignments deserve special attention because they behave differently from multiple-choice scoring. There's no partial credit for guessing, and each response is evaluated on how well you integrate concepts from foundational skills, comprehension, and assessment into a coherent, well-supported written answer. On the online-proctored appointment, you're given 1 hour 30 minutes for the open-response portion after 2 hours 30 minutes of multiple-choice work and an optional 15-minute break, so pacing your writing matters as much as pacing your content knowledge.

Candidates sometimes discover after receiving a 231-239 score that their open-response work was the deciding factor. That's part of why MTEL-Flex was created: it lets you resubmit written work tied to a single objective rather than repeating the entire 102-item exam.

How to Improve Your Odds

Given that Domain 1 is worth more than a third of your score and Domain 4 hinges entirely on written synthesis, a smart preparation sequence front-loads foundational skills, then layers in comprehension, assessment, and integrated writing practice as the test date approaches.

For a complete week-by-week plan with practice question targets, the MTEL Foundations of Reading Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt walks through this in more detail. You can also run full-length timed simulations on our MTEL Foundations of Reading practice test platform to get comfortable with the 100-question, 2-open-response format before test day.

Putting the Numbers in Context

A 66-68% pass rate doesn't mean the exam is unreasonable, it means the test is doing its job of verifying that candidates genuinely understand reading science before they're licensed to teach it in Massachusetts classrooms. Field 190 is required for Early Childhood, Elementary, and Moderate Disabilities licenses, and it's intended for candidates who've already completed coursework or seminars on teaching reading, not a cold-start exam. If you're still weighing whether the licensure investment makes sense for your career path, Is the MTEL Foundations of Reading Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 breaks down the tradeoffs, and MTEL Foundations of Reading Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown covers the full fee structure including retake costs.

It's worth remembering that Field 190 itself isn't a standalone renewable credential, licensure validity and renewal are handled separately by Massachusetts DESE, so passing this exam is one step in a broader certification pathway rather than the entire process.

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