ParaPro Practice Test
This free ParaPro practice test has 15 questions written by the StudyPDF team, five each in reading, writing and math. The real ParaPro Assessment has 90 questions, 30 per subject, and gives you 150 minutes. About a third of its questions put you in a classroom, helping a student sound out a word or fix a sentence, so a third of these do too. Answer all 15, then check your score and read the explanation for every question.
Read the passage: Many schools now schedule recess before lunch instead of after it. Teachers at schools that made the switch report that students throw away less food, because they are no longer rushing to get outside. Some also describe calmer classrooms in the afternoon. The change costs nothing, although the lunch staff's schedule has to be adjusted. Which statement best expresses the main idea?
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All 15 questions at a glance
Prefer to read before you play? Every question in the sampler is listed below. Answers and explanations stay collapsed until you open them.
1. Read the passage: Many schools now schedule recess before lunch instead of after it. Teachers at schools that made the switch report that students throw away less food, because they are no longer rushing to get outside. Some also describe calmer classrooms in the afternoon. The change costs nothing, although the lunch staff's schedule has to be adjusted. Which statement best expresses the main idea?
- A. Moving recess before lunch appears to bring several benefits at little cost.
- B. Students waste a large amount of food at lunch.
- C. Changing the lunch staff's schedule is difficult for schools.
- D. Classrooms are calmer in the afternoon than in the morning.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Moving recess before lunch appears to bring several benefits at little cost.
The main idea has to cover the whole passage, and the passage is about one change and its results: less wasted food, calmer afternoons and no cost. The other three each pick up a single detail, and the third and fourth go further than the passage, which never says the schedule change is difficult or compares afternoons with mornings.
2. Which statement is an opinion rather than a fact?
- A. The school library has about 4,000 books.
- B. The library opens at 7:30 every morning.
- C. The library is the most welcoming room in the building.
- D. The library added 300 new books this year.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The library is the most welcoming room in the building.
A fact can be checked: you can count the books, look at the opening time and read the purchase records. Most welcoming is a judgment, and two people could honestly disagree about it. Words that rank or praise, such as best, worst, most or should, are the quickest signal that a statement is an opinion.
3. A chart shows the number of books each class read in March: Room 4 read 52, Room 5 read 61, Room 6 read 47 and Room 7 read 58. Which statement is supported by the chart?
- A. Room 7 read the most books.
- B. Every room read more than 50 books.
- C. Room 4 read fewer books than Room 6.
- D. Room 5 read 14 more books than Room 6.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Room 5 read 14 more books than Room 6.
Room 5 read 61 and Room 6 read 47, and 61 minus 47 is 14. The other statements fail on a single number: Room 5 read the most, not Room 7; Room 6 read only 47; and Room 4 read 52, which is more than Room 6. On data questions, check every number a statement mentions before choosing it.
4. A second grader gets stuck on the word unhappiness while reading aloud. Which of these would help the student break the word into parts?
Select all that apply.
- A. Cover the prefix un- and the suffix -ness so the student can find the root word happy.
- B. Have the student clap the syllables: un, hap, pi, ness.
- C. Say the word for the student right away and move on so the reading keeps its pace.
- D. Point out that the y in happy changes to i when -ness is added.
- E. Ask the student to skip the word and guess it later from the picture.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Cover the prefix un- and the suffix -ness so the student can find the root word happy., B. Have the student clap the syllables: un, hap, pi, ness., D. Point out that the y in happy changes to i when -ness is added.
Breaking a word into its prefix, root and suffix, clapping syllables and explaining the spelling change from y to i all give the student a way to read the word, and the next long word too. Saying the word straight away solves this one word and teaches nothing, and guessing from a picture skips decoding altogether. Classroom questions on the ParaPro favor the answer that helps the student work it out.
5. Complete the sentence.
In the word cake, the letter a makes a _____ vowel sound, and in the word cat, the letter a makes a _____ vowel sound.
Options for blank 1: long, short, silent
Options for blank 2: long, short, silent
Show answer and explanation
Answer: long, short
A long vowel says its own name, as the a in cake does, and the silent e at the end of the word is what makes it long. A short vowel makes its other common sound, as in cat, hat or map. Comparing a pair like cap and cape is a quick way to show a young reader what the final e does.
6. Which sentence is written correctly?
- A. Their going to the library after lunch.
- B. They're going to the library after lunch.
- C. There going to the library after lunch.
- D. Theyre going to the library after lunch.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. They're going to the library after lunch.
They're is short for they are, and they are going makes sense here. Their shows ownership, as in their books, and there points to a place, as in over there. The last option drops the apostrophe a contraction needs. To check, read the sentence again with they are in place of the word.
7. Which of these is a sentence fragment?
- A. The bus arrived late.
- B. We waited in the office.
- C. Because the bus arrived late.
- D. The bus arrived late, so we waited.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Because the bus arrived late.
Because turns the clause into a dependent clause, which cannot stand on its own even though it has a subject and a verb. It needs a main clause, for example: Because the bus arrived late, we missed the first period. The last option is complete, since a comma followed by so correctly joins two full sentences.
8. In the sentence The quiet student quickly finished her worksheet, which words are labeled with the correct part of speech?
Select all that apply.
- A. quiet: adjective
- B. quickly: adverb
- C. finished: noun
- D. student: noun
- E. worksheet: verb
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. quiet: adjective, B. quickly: adverb, D. student: noun
Quiet describes the student, so it is an adjective. Quickly describes how she finished, so it is an adverb, and many adverbs end in -ly. Student is a noun, the person doing the action. Finished is the verb, the action itself, and worksheet is a noun, the thing that was finished.
9. Complete the sentences.
A student writes nonstop for five minutes about a topic without worrying about spelling or order. This prewriting step is called _____. Later the student moves two paragraphs and rewrites the thesis statement so the essay makes a clearer point. That step is called _____.
Options for blank 1: freewriting, editing, publishing
Options for blank 2: editing, revising, proofreading
Show answer and explanation
Answer: freewriting, revising
Freewriting means writing continuously to get ideas out, with no stopping to fix anything. Moving paragraphs and sharpening the thesis changes the content and the organization, and that is revising. Editing and proofreading come after, and they fix the surface: grammar, spelling and punctuation. Keeping revising and editing apart is one of the most tested ideas in the writing section.
10. A student writes: Me and him went to the park after school. Which response best helps the student fix the sentence?
- A. Tell the student to change it to Him and I went to the park.
- B. Tell the student it sounds fine in conversation, so it can stay.
- C. Suggest He and I went to the park, and show how to check by saying each part alone: He went, I went.
- D. Cross out the sentence and write the correct version above it.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Suggest He and I went to the park, and show how to check by saying each part alone: He went, I went.
The subject of a sentence needs subject pronouns, so the correct version is He and I. Testing each pronoun on its own, I went instead of me went, gives the student a check they can use again without help, which is why it beats simply correcting the work. Him and I fixes only half the error, and the informal version is not standard written English.
11. Which fraction is between 1/3 and 1/2?
- A. 1/4
- B. 2/5
- C. 3/5
- D. 1/6
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. 2/5
As decimals, 1/3 is about 0.33 and 1/2 is 0.5, and 2/5 is 0.4, which falls between them. 3/5 is 0.6, which is more than a half, and 1/4 and 1/6 are both smaller than a third. Changing fractions to decimals, or to a common denominator, is the reliable way to compare them.
12. In a class of 30 students, 40 percent bring lunch from home. How many students bring lunch from home?
- A. 6
- B. 8
- C. 10
- D. 12
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. 12
40 percent is 0.4, and 0.4 times 30 is 12. Another way is to find 10 percent first, which is 3, and multiply by 4. If you get a number that looks too small or too large, compare it with half the class, 15, since 40 percent should come out a little under that.
13. Complete the equation.
6 + 2 × 3² = _____
Options for blank 1: 24, 42, 72, 144
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 24
Order of operations: exponents first, then multiplication, then addition. 3 squared is 9, 2 times 9 is 18, and 6 plus 18 is 24. Adding first gives (6 + 2) × 9 = 72, and treating 2 × 3 as the number being squared gives 6 + 36 = 42. Both are common traps.
14. A student says 1/8 is bigger than 1/4 because 8 is bigger than 4. Which responses would help the student understand?
Select all that apply.
- A. Fold two paper strips of the same length into fourths and eighths and compare one piece from each.
- B. Explain that a bigger denominator means the whole is cut into more pieces, so each piece is smaller.
- C. Tell the student the bigger number on the bottom always means the bigger fraction.
- D. Show that 1/8 is 0.125 and 1/4 is 0.25 if the student already works with decimals.
- E. Tell the student to memorize the answer for the test.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Fold two paper strips of the same length into fourths and eighths and compare one piece from each., B. Explain that a bigger denominator means the whole is cut into more pieces, so each piece is smaller., D. Show that 1/8 is 0.125 and 1/4 is 0.25 if the student already works with decimals.
A hands-on comparison, the idea that more pieces means smaller pieces, and a decimal comparison all help the student see why 1/4 is bigger, which is the part that carries over to the next problem. The third choice states the student's mistake as a rule, and memorizing one answer does nothing for the next pair of fractions. Paper strips are often the clearest for young students, because they show the size directly.
15. A paraprofessional records spelling scores for five students: 6, 9, 10, 6 and 9. What is the mean score?
- A. 8
- B. 6
- C. 9
- D. 10
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. 8
The mean is the total divided by the number of scores: 6 + 9 + 10 + 6 + 9 is 40, and 40 divided by 5 is 8. The other answers come from mixing up the measures. The median, the middle score once they are put in order, is 9, and 6 and 9 are both modes because each appears twice.
What the ParaPro test looks like
The ParaPro Assessment is the test ETS gives to people who want to work as a paraprofessional, also called a teacher's aide or paraeducator, and to aides who already do. According to ETS it has 90 selected-response questions: 30 in reading, 30 in math and 30 in writing. You get 150 minutes, the test is taken on a computer, and you can sit it at a test center or at home with a remote proctor. ETS also notes that some questions may not count toward your score.
In each subject, about two thirds of the questions test the skill itself: the main idea of a passage, a grammar error, a percentage. The other third asks you to use that skill to help a student, for example choosing how to help a child break a long word into parts or how to explain why a fraction is bigger than another.
There is no national passing score. ETS states that qualifying scores are set by the state or school district, and they differ from place to place. Some states have also moved from ParaPro to ParaPathways, a newer ETS assessment taken as two tests, one for reading and writing and one for math, and a few accept ParaPro only until a set date. Before you register, check the state requirements page on the ETS ParaPro site and ask the district you are applying to which test and which score it wants.
How to handle the skill questions and the classroom questions
Reading. Read the question before the passage, then answer from the passage only. For main idea questions, pick the answer that covers the whole passage rather than one detail. For fact or opinion, ask whether the statement could be checked; words like best, most welcoming or should usually signal opinion. Expect a table or chart too.
Writing. The skill questions are about spotting errors: subject and verb agreement, their, there and they're, fragments and run-ons, commas, parts of speech and spelling. The classroom questions are about the writing process, from prewriting and drafting to revising and editing. Revising changes what the writing says and how it is organized; editing fixes grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Math. Most of it is arithmetic you already know: fractions, decimals, percentages, order of operations, simple equations, units, time, area and perimeter, and reading a graph or finding the mean, median and mode. Write down the setup before you calculate, and check that the answer is a sensible size.
Classroom questions. Choose the answer that helps the student work it out rather than giving the answer away, that builds on what the student already knows, and that stays patient and respectful. An answer that only tells the student they are wrong is almost never the best one.
An honest note: the StudyPDF team wrote every question here from the content topics ETS publishes. None of them are real ParaPro items, none come from a prep company's bank, and StudyPDF is not affiliated with ETS.
How to build more practice tests from your own materials
Fifteen questions can show you which subject needs work. They cannot get you ready on their own, especially if your district hands out its own study packet or your prep book leans on one area.
StudyPDF works from your material instead. Upload your study guide, a prep book, your notes or the packet your district gave you. Then press New material, pick a practice test, choose those files as the sources and set how long it should be. You get a test written from those exact pages, and every explanation cites where the answer comes from.
Bo is the tutor for the rest. Ask him why an answer is right and he explains it from your own pages, with a hint first if you want one.
You do not have to upload anything to start. Name a topic instead, for example fractions and percentages, or fixing sentence fragments. A free account is enough, with no card and no time limit. Free covers about four new materials a week, and Pro and Ultra cover more.
Written by the StudyPDF team. Last updated 2026-08-19.