Alexis Hagan

Edu 299
Praxis Analysis
9/21/2020
Praxis Core Exam Analysis

Exam Requirements:

               Why is Praxis testing important to various educational institutes? It allows them to gain

an understanding of your base knowledge for Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, and

Writing. They assess a potential educator’s understanding of the core subjects that are being

taught to our children. Schools want to make sure a future educator has a comprehensive

understanding of these important areas so that such a person can confidently teach lessons on

these subjects. Unfortunately, the mainly just look at a person’s score and not just the effort they

made. The passing scores for Praxis I exams are as follows: 150 for Math in forty-eight states,

and 142 in the remaining two states, 156 for Reading, for Writing it is 162 for forty-eight states.

In North Dakota, the passing writing praxis I score is 160 and in Washington, it is 158. The

passing scores for praxis II exams differ between states. For the state of Nevada, Elementary

Education professionals will also need to take a science and social studies Praxis, which have

passing scores of 159 and 155, respectively.

Practice Exam Preparation:

               I did not study or prepare to take the practice Praxis tests. I desired to know my scores

based on my understanding of the material as it was at that moment. Whether I have studied or

not, I was never a person who tested well, I believe there are other ways to accurately assess a

person’s comprehension that aren’t clouded in negative anticipation and severe anxiety. Having
this understanding of myself, I wanted something tangible to look back at so that I could

accurately assess my improvement once I’ve studied and completed the exam again.

My Results:

For both the Reading and Writing praxis, I scored in the 64-65% range, categorized as “Needs

Improvement”. For the Language and Research Skills for Writing portion of the writing exam, I

came in at 61%, which isn’t my best seeing as how I tend to pride myself on being great with

English Language Arts subjects. However, I am a little surprised at how high this percentage is

as this portion determines your understanding of text syntax, of which I have none. Oxford

comma? Never heard of her.

The reading praxis consisted of three parts, “Key Ideas and Details”, “Craft Structure and

Language Skills” and “Integration of Knowledge and Ideas”. I earned 52%, 66%, and 73%,

respectively. The “Key Ideas and Details” as well as the “Integration of Knowledge and Ideas”

portions consisted of the reading comprehension questions where you read a passage and then

answer a set of questions. I feel as though reading comprehension questions are quite fluid

because there’s always more than one accurate answer, I struggle to find the most accurate

answer because I always find reasons why each answer could be the most accurate answer, this is

not my favorite form of testing for comprehension. The “Craft Structure and Language Skills”

were just about plugging best fitting missing words into sentences and recognizing transitions

and phrases that are better known to beef-up a person's writing. I didn’t do poorly on this portion,

but I didn’t do as well as I thought I had.

The Math Praxis was, by far, my worst. I was not surprised. In my whole academic career, I have

never done well in math, my passing grades consisted of a lot of make-up work, and the very
little extra-credit Math teachers give out. I already knew going into this practice test that it was

going to be rough, and boy was it. Overall, I received a 59%, which lies just barely on the cusp

of “improvement needed” and “substantial improvement needed”. It was a tragedy in four parts.

“Number and Quantity” subsequently, just the basics, which I achieved 68%, the highest

percentage I achieved in this catastrophe, “Algebra and Geometry” in which I received 47%,

algebra, and geometry are my two worst sections of mathematics. “Data Interpretation and

Representation, Statistics, and Probability” 58%. I have never been great with this, especially

probability. I never could understand questions having to do with pulling items out of a bag, and

what is the chance that you’ll pull out a different item. This is also why I don’t play at the tables

down on the Strip. Lastly, “Knowledge of Operations: Algebraic Thinking, Counting and

Number in Base 10.” 0%. I believe this section contained responses that were meant to be typed.

With honesty, I was exhausted, my head hurt, and my brain could barely do the math with

multiple choice answers, so I did not do the writing questions.

Future Test Prep:

               For future tests, I will study. The website which was used to take the tests provides

study guides, as do a multitude of other websites. I learn best Kinesthetically, I plan on creating

some hands-on ways to study. Additionally, I currently work at Pinecrest Academy. I plan on

utilizing this resource, asking if the teachers would be willing to assist me with any questions or

concerns I have with these tests. This is something I plan to use most specifically for the Math

Praxis, I have never been able to learn math in an online or independent environment, and have

always needed someone there to explain the process to me, and answer any questions I have at

the moment.