How do I begin to prepare ????

Why Praxis ?? 35 states in US currently use Praxis for assessment purposes in CT - used for assessing skills of future teachers, assuring high quality teachers CT used ‘home grown’ assessments before development of Praxis series

Praxis I (reading, writing, and math skills) for entry into teacher prep program Praxis II (content area knowledge) before issuance of initial certificate, and for addition of other endorsements Why Praxis ??

Praxis I tests required in Connecticut subject area test code test namequal. score all areas PPST reading PPST writing PPST math 171 OR 5710 Computerized PPST Reading Computerized PPST Writing Computerized PPST math 171 no calculators

Does everyone have to take Praxis I? Praxis I required of all prospective teachers unless: you took the SATs after July 1, 1995 and scored a combined total of more than 1100 points you took the SATs before July 1, 1995 and scored a combined total of more than 1000 points you took the ACT exams and scored the equivalent of a combined total of more than 1000 points application for a Praxis waiver is available from the CT State Dept. of Education via this web link:

What’s on the Praxis I exams? ** note : This program will describe the computerized PPST exams; the content of the paper-and-pencil exam formats is the same, but the number of questions varies PPST Reading : literal comprehension questions / 56% of exam critical & inferential comprehension questions / 44% of exam PPST Writing: grammatical relationships questions / 13% of exam structural relationships questions / 18.5% of exam idiom/word choice, mechanics, no error questions / 18.5% of exam essay -- 1 question / 50 % of exam PPST Math: conceptual knowledge & procedural knowledge questions / 45% of exam representations of quantitative information questions / 30% of exam measurement & informal geometry, formal mathematical reasoning questions / 25% of exam

PPST Reading - What skills do I need to demonstrate? literal comprehension : understand accurately and completely what a passage explicitly states; recognize how passage is organized & uses language literal comprehension skills : to be able to recognize in a passage….. a main idea or primary purpose a supporting idea or detail how vocabulary words or phrases are used critical & analytical comprehension : understand aspects of a passage that aren’t explicitly stated, understand implications, make predictions, analyze an argument, compare situations and arguments critical & analytical comprehension skills : draw an inference or implication evaluate supporting evidence identify an assumption distinguish fact from opinion identify the author’s attitude toward the topic extend and predict based on passage content draw conclusions make an application to another situation

PPST Reading - What can I do to practice using these skills? LITERAL COMPREHENSION a main idea or primary purpose a supporting idea or detail how vocabulary words or phrases are used some resources available for practice in using skills: (ETS) PPST Pre-Professional Skills Tests Study Guide, 2nd edition chapter 4 - preparing for the reading test chapter 8 - practice reading test study guide available for purchase through ETS : (ETS) PPST Test-at-a-Glance practice questions - download from web site reading - ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdfftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdf (Internet) free test prep review - contains self-assessment modules and self-improvement links …. (note : There are many other resources listed on the Internet, many of which charge for service.)

PPST Reading - What can I do to practice using these skills? CRITICAL & ANALYTICAL COMPREHENSION some resources available for practice in using skills: (ETS) PPST Pre-Professional Skills Tests Study Guide, 2nd edition chapter 4 - preparing for the reading test chapter 8 - practice reading test study guide available for purchase through ETS : (ETS) PPST Test-at-a-Glance practice questions - download from web site reading - ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdfftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdf (Internet) free test prep review - contains self-assessment modules and self-improvement links …. (note : There are many other resources listed on the Internet, many of which charge for service.) draw an inference or implication evaluate supporting evidence identify an assumption distinguish fact from opinion identify author’s attitude toward the topic extend &predict based on passage content draw conclusions make an application to another situation

PPST Writing - What skills do I need to demonstrate on the multiple-choice section of the test? usage and sentence correction types of questions, covering these major areas: parts of speech noun verb adjective adverb pronoun preposition conjunction interjection grammar forms of adjectives & adverbs comparisons subject-verb agreement verb tense parallelism noun-pronoun agreement negation modification punctuation comma usage colon usage semicolon usage apostrophe usage clarity of expression redundancy wordiness parts of sentences subject predicate phrases & clauses other sentence fragments & run-on sentences capitalization word usage (diction) idiomatic expressions

PPST Writing - What can I do to practice using these skills? usage and sentence correction types of questions, covering these major areas: parts of speech parts of sentences clarity of expression sentence fragments run-on sentences grammar punctuation capitalization word usage (diction) idiomatic expressions some resources available for practice in using skills: (ETS) PPST Pre-Professional Skills Tests Study Guide, 2nd edition chapter 6 - preparing for the writing test - multiple choice section chapter 7 - the essay chapter 10 - practice test, writing study guide available for purchase through ETS : (ETS) PPST Test-at-a-Glance practice questions - download from web site writing - ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5720.pdfftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5720.pdf (Internet) free test prep review - contains self-assessment modules and self-improvement links …. (note : There are many other resources listed on the Internet, many of which charge for service.)

PPST Writing - What makes a ‘good’ essay? The essay, which is 50% or your score, is scored on a scale of 6-1, 6 being high and 1 being low. One way to prepare for writing the essay is to understand and work with the scoring system by focusing on key words in the scoring guide. The official ETS scoring guide follows. score …. demonstrates a high degree of competence in response to the assignment but may 6 have a few minor errors…… states or clearly implies writer’s position or thesis organizes & develops ideas logically, making insightful connections between them clearly explains key ideas, supporting them with well-chosen reasons, examples, or details displays effective sentence variety clearly displays facility in the use of language is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics score …. demonstrates clear competence in response to the assignment but may have minor 5 errors…… states or clearly implies writer’s position or thesis organizes & develops ideas clearly, making connections between them explains key ideas, supporting them with relevant reasons, examples, or details displays some sentence variety displays facility in the use of language is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics Ask yourself questions such as: What words would I use to show that ideas are developed logically, rather than just clearly? What would show that a detail is well-chosen, rather than just relevant? What makes sentence variety effective?

PPST Writing - What makes a ‘good’ essay? scoring guide (cont’d)…. score …. demonstrates competence in response to the assignment…. 4 states or implies writer’s position or thesis shows control in the organization & development of ideas explains some key ideas, supporting them with adequate reasons, examples, or details displays adequate use of language shows control of grammar, usage, and mechanics, but may display errors score …. demonstrates some competence in response to the assignment, but is obviously 3 flawed…..reveals one or more of the following weaknesses…… limited in stating or implying a position or thesis limited control in the organization & development of ideas inadequate reasons, examples, or details to explain key ideas an accumulation of errors in the use of language an accumulation of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics Ask yourself questions such as: What words would show that I limited stating my position? What would make reasons or details inadequate, rather than adequate? What’s the difference between displaying errors and having an accumulation of errors?

score …. seriously flawed…..reveals one or more of the following weaknesses…… 2 no clear position or thesis weak organization or very little development few or no relevant reasons, examples, or details frequent serious errors in the use of language frequent serious errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics PPST Writing - What makes a ‘good’ essay? scoring guide (cont’d)…. score …. demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills…..essay contains 1 serious or persistent writing errors, or is incoherent, or is undeveloped score …. essay is off topic, is not a response to the topic specified 0 Ask yourself questions such as: What are some examples of serious errors in the use of language and grammar? What would make an essay incoherent? What are some signs of weak organization?

PPST Reading & Writing exams general preparation suggestions read practice materials specific to PPST read other materials, such as magazines, journals, and non-fiction books published for general audiences practice the skills using these materials study with others preparing for the PPST

PPST Mathematics - What skills do I need to demonstrate? conceptual knowledge - order, equivalence, numeration, place value, number and operation properties procedural knowledge - skills for matching real-life problems with appropriate math procedures, operations, and quantities; finding solutions to applied problems, determining information needed, & interpreting and adjusting results of computation representations of quantitative information - reading and interpreting visual displays of quantitative information; finding average, range, mode or median; making comparisons, predictions, extrapolations, or inferences; applying variation; recognizing connections between symbols and words, tables, graphs, data, equations, number lies, and the coordinate plane measurement & informal geometry - knowledge of customary and metric systems; reading calibrated scales; using geometric concepts and properties; solving measurement problems formal math reasoning in a quantitative context - connectives & quantifiers, Venn diagrams, validity, & conclusions

PPST Mathematics - What can I do to practice using these skills? some resources available for practice in using skills: (ETS) PPST Pre-Professional Skills Tests Study Guide, 2nd edition chapter 5 - preparing for the mathematics test chapter 9 - practice mathematics test study guide available for purchase through ETS : (ETS) PPST Test-at-a-Glance practice questions - download from web site reading - ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdfftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5710.pdf (Internet) free test prep review - contains self-assessment modules and self-improvement links …. ftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5730.pdfftp://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/5730.pdf (note : There are many other resources listed on the Internet, many of which charge for service.)

PPST Mathematics exam general preparation suggestions read practice materials specific to PPST practice the skills using these materials use a variety of PPST test preparation materials study with others preparing for the PPST seek out students who have already taken the test