Praxis Assessment Overview Educational Testing Service Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board Frankfort, Kentucky January 21, 2007 Copyright 2004 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.

Teacher Licensure in Education Licensure – a state responsibility and necessary protection ETS is highly experienced and capable in the area of licensure assessment Praxis – used in 38 states, D.C., Dept. of Defense, 3 territories, and major agencies

Overview of Praxis Test Development Process Standards of Professional Organizations State Standards State Licensing Requirements Literature in the Domain Sample Curricula 1. Primary Documents Review

Confirmation Survey of Domain Analysis 2. Test Development Committee Analyze Standards Analyze Domain Define Subset of Domain Draft Test Specifications Recommend Test Design Overview of Praxis Test Development Process

3. National Advisory Committee Confirm Subset of Domain to Be Tested Review, Revise, Approve Test Specifications Confirm Test Design Overview of Praxis Test Development Process

4. Local Development Committee Test Questions Develop Pools of Test Questions Test Question Review Overview of Praxis Test Development Process

5. ETS Test Development Construct Test Forms Conduct Fairness Reviews of Questions and Test Forms Review Test Forms Overview of Praxis Test Development Process

6. National Advisory Committee Review and Approve First Test Form Overview of Praxis Test Development Process

7. States Select Test Titles for Review Conduct Validation & Standard Setting Studies Adopt Test Overview of Praxis Test Selection Process

The Standard Setting Study Overview of Praxis Standard Setting Study Process The Standard Setting Study Two Fundamental Outcomes –Confirm the appropriateness of the content of the test –Establish a recommended passing score

The Standard Setting Study Overview of Praxis Standard Setting Study Process The Standard Setting Study Appropriateness of Content –A test is only “valid” for a job if it measures what people must know and be able to do on that job –Panels of Kentucky educators validated the content and rigor of the tests

The Standard Setting Study Overview of Praxis Standard Setting Study Process The Standard Setting Study The recommended passing score –From this study emerged a recommended passing score through professional judgments –How many questions would a beginning teacher be able to answer correctly

The Recommended Passing Score Overview of Praxis Standard Setting Study Process The Recommended Passing Score Generated by Kentucky educators Reviewed and approved by the Kentucky Teacher Standards Board

Licensure Testing and Legal Defensibility The nature of a licensure test – assesses core content knowledge across the full domain Licensure tests should be appropriately used Reliable, valid, and legally defensible ETS is committed to the successful implementation of licensure testing in Kentucky