Chapter 1

Previewing the Praxis

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Knowing why you’re taking the Praxis

Bullet Finding out what’s on the Praxis

Bullet Seeing how the Praxis is scored

For decades, teacher candidates have been taking assessments to meet certification requirements. Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators is the latest version of these tests that measures core skills in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics for potential teacher candidates. This chapter gives you an overview of what you need to know about the exam.

Why Take the Praxis?

If you want to become a teacher, you may face the Praxis at some point on the road to certification. You may take it to get into a teaching program at college, or you may take it to get your teaching license before starting a second career. If you’re lucky, you may only take it once, but our bet is that you’ll take it twice before you’re fully qualified to work in a classroom.

Colleges and universities use the Praxis Core testing series to determine whether teaching program candidates meet the minimum requirements to enter into the field of teaching. Most colleges and universities won’t allow admission into their teacher preparation programs until candidates complete this basic skills exam. Undergraduate students generally take the Praxis early in their college careers. Some students may be able to skip taking certain parts of the Praxis if they have high scores on college entrance exams like the ACT.

Most states also use the Praxis as a certification test to show that you’ve mastered the skills needed to be a highly competent teacher. In many cases, teaching licenses are directly tied to this test. Age doesn’t get you out of this standardized test.

Almost every state in the country uses some form of the Praxis. Contact your state department of education for specific licensure details.

Breaking Down the Praxis

The updated Praxis Core evaluates the core academic abilities of prospective educators in the areas of reading, writing, and math. Previously, this test was called the Praxis I PreProfessional Skills Test, but ETS (Educational Testing Services, the folks who create the exam) decided to make a change to reflect the requirement to get potential teachers up to the level needed to meet ever-changing standards. According to ETS, the exam is broken down into the following three parts:

The reading test: This test poses multiple-choice questions based on reading passages and statements.
The writing test: This test is divided into two sections. The multiple-choice section tests grammar usage, sentence correction, revision in context, and research skills. The test also requires you to write two essays based on information presented; one is an argumentative essay, and the other is an explanation of a topic.
The mathematics test: This test measures multiple mathematics topics up to the advanced high-school level. The format of the test has numeric entry questions and multiple-choice questions that may require you to select one or more choices. You do have access to an on-screen calculator.

The following sections give you more details about the subtests and the question types so you don’t encounter any (or too many) surprises when you sit down to take the test.

Knowing what topics are covered

Just like most other standardized tests you’ve taken, the Praxis includes long reading passages, complicated math problems, and detailed essay topics. You’ll have a set number of questions about certain topics to answer in a given amount of time. Check out Table 1-1 for the breakdown.

TABLE 1-1 Breakdown of the Praxis

Test Subject	Number of Questions	Time
Reading	56 multiple-choice questions	85 minutes
Writing	40 multiple-choice questions and 2 essays	100 minutes
Mathematics	56 multiple-choice questions	85 minutes

Each subject is broken down further into specific concepts.

Reading:

Key ideas and details: This section requires you to closely read text, make logical inferences, connect specific details, address author differences, and determine uncertain matters. You’ll see 17 to 22 questions about these concepts.
Craft, structure, and language skills: This section requires you to interpret words and phrases, recognize the tone of word choices, analyze text structure, assess points of view, apply language knowledge to determine fact or opinion, determine word meanings, and understand a range of words and word nuances. You’ll see 14 to 19 questions about these concepts.
Integration of knowledge and ideas: This section requires you to analyze diverse media content, evaluate arguments in texts, and analyze how two or more texts address similar themes. You’ll see 17 to 22 questions about these concepts.

Writing:

Text types, purposes, and production: This section requires you to produce one argumentative and one informative/explanatory essay. This section also requires you to edit and revise text passages. You’ll see 6 to 12 multiple-choice questions about these concepts.
Language and research skills: This section requires you to demonstrate command of English grammar, usage, capitalization, and punctuation. This section also requires you to apply and recognize research skills. You’ll see 28 to 34 multiple-choice questions about these concepts.

Mathematics:

Number and quantity: This section focuses on the understanding of order among integers, representations of numbers in more than one way, place value, whole-number properties, equivalent computational procedures, ratios, proportions, and percentages. You’ll see approximately 17 questions about these concepts.
Algebra: This section assesses the ability to handle equations and inequalities, recognize various ways to solve a problem, determine the relationship between verbal and symbolic expressions, and interpret graphs. You’ll see about 17 questions on these concepts.
Geometry: This part assesses the understanding and application of the characteristics and properties of geometric shapes, the Pythagorean theorem, transformation, and use of symmetry to analyze mathematical situations. (Knowledge of basic U.S. and metric systems of measurement is assumed.) You’ll see approximately 11 questions about these concepts.
Data interpretation, statistics, and probability: This part assesses the ability to read and interpret visual displays of quantitative information, understand the correspondence between data and graph, make inferences from a given data display, determine mean, median, and mode, and assign a probability to an outcome. You’ll see around 11 questions about these concepts.

The good news about the math subtest is that an on-screen four-function calculator is available for your use, which reduces the chance that you’ll select a wrong answer choice based on a simple arithmetic error.

Seeing what types of questions you’ll face

The Praxis Core gives you multiple types of questions. Taking all of our practice tests will give you a consistent idea of what you will see on the actual test. Before you get to the practice tests, check out this list of question types you’ll encounter in the different subtests:

The reading test has four categories of text paragraph sections:

Reading Category 1 questions deal with paired passages of about 150 to 200 words combined with four to seven questions, such as “Unlike the author of Passage 2, the author of Passage 1 mentions …” or “Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between the two passages?”
Reading Category 2 questions deal with lengthy paragraphs of about 175 to 200 words combined with four to seven questions that may ask, “Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?” or “The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?”
Reading Category 3 questions deal with abbreviated passages of 75 to 100 words with two or three questions, such as “The passage is primarily concerned with …” or “Which of the following is an unstated assumption made by the author of the passage?”
Reading Category 4 questions deal with short statements followed by a single question.

The writing test has four categories of multiple-choice questions and two essays.

The multiple-choice writing questions are straightforward questions covering sentence correction, revision in context, usage, and research skills. You have to find only one correct answer for each of these questions.
The argumentative and informative/explanatory essay sections test your skills to write a detailed essay in a very short period of time. See Chapter 11 for more on the essay questions.

The mathematics test has several question categories:

One of the categories deals with numeric entry. These types of questions require you to input an integer or decimal into a single box or a fraction into two separate boxes.
The other categories contain multiple-choice questions followed by five answers, with either one or two of those choices being correct. Be aware that the test may not tell you the number of choices to select, but the directions will tell you to check all that apply.

Understanding How the Test Is Scored

The Praxis Core exam is divided into three tests: reading, writing, and mathematics. Take careful note of the difference between our use of “exam” and “test.” Each test is scored separately, and most states that require passing scores for the exam require that exam-takers pass each of the three tests that compose the exam. Some states consider exams to have passing scores when their composite (overall) scores are high enough. Your score on a given test is based on a raw score and adjusted to a scale that ranges from 100 to 200 points.

Your raw score is the number of questions you answer correctly. You don’t lose any points for answering a question incorrectly. If you were to answer every single question incorrectly, your raw score would be 0, which is exactly what it would be if you didn’t answer any questions at all. That’s why you have nothing to lose by guessing if you don’t know the answer to a question.

Your score for each test involves taking your raw score, or the number of questions you answer correctly, and comparing it to the number of questions on the test. This comparison, along with the level of rigor involved in the particular test you take, determines your final score, the number that exists in the range from 100 to 200. Your final score determines whether you pass the test. (Note: When you take the practice tests in the book or online, there is no way to convert your raw score to a final score.) You pass the test in most states by answering at least 60 percent of the questions correctly. This gives you a benchmark to measure yourself against as you go through the practice tests.

If you fail the Praxis the first time you take it (or if you’ve already failed it), you can look at your scores for each content category to see where you did well and where you struggled. Use those scores to direct your studies in anticipation of taking the test again.

Each state that requires passing the exam has its own minimum scores for each of the tests that make up the exam, except for states in which a high enough composite score qualifies as passing. What constitutes a passing score in one state may not be a passing score in another state. Contact your state department of education for the actual cut scores.