Praxis - A How To Guide
For those of you who are teachers or are trying to become teachers, you've probably heard of the Praxis Exam series.
When I moved to Connecticut in the late fall, I had begun to pursue graduate programs to obtain my teaching certifcation. This required me, first and foremost, aside from all of the other application requirements, to take the Praxis Exam. I studied, only really, for about two and a half weeks because I was under tough deadlines and the scores can take up to 6 weeks to come in. I applied to two separate programs, hoping to start in January - ultimately fell short - and will be starting classes in the late spring to hopefully be officially accepted into my program by August to start graduate classes for a Masters in Education in September.
After I registered for the Praxis, the first thing I thought to do was buy a study guide. Because I was so short on time, I really wanted to get a lay of the test, find out what they'd test me on, and get a few pointers.
There are some amazing study guides out there, I used the Kaplan study guide, as well as the ETS Study Guide. Both were inexpensive and purchased off Amazon (thank you Amazon Prime for free two day shipping!)
The first thing I learned when I took some practice tests after reading the tips was that there really are no trick questions. This is not the SAT although the material may seem it especially in the way that there's a reading, math and writing section. If you know basic algebra and geometry, you will do fine on the math section but definitely watch out for those word problems. Those get me every time.
You can either take the test written - they have test dates every other month or so - or on a computer at a Sylvia Learning Center. I took mine on the computer and the only complaint was how incredibly LONG it was. Each section was about 60-75 minutes long. The writing, is broken into two 30 minute sections - one for grammatical testing, and one for an essay.
When writing the essay - be precise. Get to the point. Don't think you're going to sway the graders by using big words. Make 3 main points and reinforce them at the end. You don't have a lot of time, so there's no reason to over think it. Getting your point across is really the biggest hurdle.
If you take the computerized test, you'll have the reading and math scores at the end. Your writing scores will be available in 2-4 weeks online.
Before the end of your teaching prep program, you'll likely have to take the Praxis II which actual content area testing. I'm not there yet, but I'll be sure to share my experiences with that when I get there.
What are your experiences with graduate school entrance exams? LSAT, GRE, GMAT, Praxis or MCAT?
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Reader Comments (2)
nice post.
Good post.Trying to build confidence in those who are preparing for the Praxis exam.Advises to be precise and to the point.For further guidance and additional tips visit Praxisloopholestube .