Beginning teacher education students get jump on Praxis preparation
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Nearly 100 students chose to spend the last Saturday morning of their summer vacation getting a jump on preparation for admission to the Teacher Education program. The School of Education’s Office of Recruitment and Retention offered an inaugural free Praxis I practice test to help first year and transfer students prepare for the real thing. Students must pass the Praxis test as part of the requirements for admission to teacher education and certification. They need to have passing scores on all three sections of the Praxis I, Reading, Writing and Mathematics.The Praxis I practice test is a part of ongoing support for students preparing to take the Praxis. The practice test used an out-of-cycle exam formerly used by Educational Testing Services (ETS), distributors of The Praxis Series, providing students with an authentic look at how they might perform on the actual exam. “Once those scores are tallied,” said Director of Recruitment and Retention, Ghangis Carter, “we’ll be able to get a sense of who needs additional support.” Students can see areas where they need to improve and focus on those problem areas.
The Praxis I Practice test is just one part of a broader initiative to encourage students to seek support and take the test earlier. Carter said he was surprised by the number of students who had already taken the test and came just for the orientation at the beginning of the testing session or to take one the test in one subject area. “That is the mindset that we’d like all of our students to have, is that they begin to prepare for this and take it earlier,” he said. “The data suggests that those who wait later, some of their basic skills are either forgotten or just not utilized and may adversely impact how they perform on the exam.”
Free individual tutoring for Praxis is offered through the Office of Teacher Education. Workshops and classes offered later in the semester for Praxis study will provide support for students who need help with general preparation for Praxis I or for retaking an individual subject area. The Office of Teacher Education can also point students toward online resources, including study guides, self-assessment modules and additional simulated test opportunities. The extra programs are not mandatory, but students, especially those who need to improve in one area or have difficulties with testing are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these resources.
Information about scheduling individual tutoring sessions or these other program is available in Suite 1000 in the Office of Teacher Education or on their Praxis webpage. http://education.indiana.edu/PRAXISITesting/tabid/5426/Default.aspx.
