Is it possible to take Praxis subject before Praxis Core?

[intotheblue]

Hi,

I am interested in joining Teach Now program that leads to D.C. Certificate.
Since I am interested in elementary education, I need to take the following Praxis tests to meet the certificate requirements

1. Praxis Core
2. Praxis Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects
3. Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching: Grades K–6

I created an ETS account today, but found out that unlike Praxis Core, the test dates for the other two tests are not as often as available. In fact, although Praxis Core test dates are available until December 2018, the latest date I can take the other two tests is early August 2018 in the country I live.

For this reason, I am wondering if I should take the other two tests before taking Praxis Core.
Is this possible? Is it ok to take these tests without passing Praxis Core first?

Also, I tried the sample questions that were included in the study companion on the ETS website
(https://www.ets.org/praxis/prepare/materials/5712)
Whoever took the praxis tests before, I would like to ask you if the difficulty level of the actual tests are well represented by the sample questions that are provided in the ETS study companion.

Thank you

[PsyGuy]

Yes, its absolutely possible, there is no prohibition or limitation like some states have with state specific certification tests. The issue is rather you should or not...

The core subject tests and the elementary tests both test fundamental levels of knowledge achievement. The subject matter content isnt hard, but for some candidates the material is so rudimentary its passed their recollection (consumers and producers for example) or they over think the meds/peds/asst (teaching a young child to read isnt just about sounds and vocabulary).
The PLT exam can be somewhat stressful. In a very real way the entirety of the Teach Now seminar course is test prep for the PLT exam. Not scoring high on it reflects directly on the EPP/ITT (Teach Now) program.

The issue of if should you take the subject and PLT exam before the core tests or before you start the program or without the EPP/ITT programs approval is they may have said no, but more importantly, you shouldnt take it unless you are VERY VERY VERY sure you will pass, since your score (and pass/fail) will be part of the measure their EPP/ITT program is evaluated by. If you fail, they may not admit you, since your fail would then becomes their fail and lower their performance score.

They are highly representative, they are past actual items from previous exam administrations that have been released.

[intotheblue]

@PsyGuy,

Thank you very much for your response again. Happy New Year.

So what you are saying is that Teach Now program basically prepares their students for the PLT exam and I should wait to take PLT until I finish the first 6 months of the program?

As for the sample questions I mentioned earlier, I was referring to the FREE sample questions in their study companion, not the ones from the priced test preparation.
Were you referring to the same one?

May I ask you approximately how many questions I need to answer correctly to pass Praxis Core?
I personally found the reading and math free sample questions quite easy, and answered about 80-90% of the questions correct. However, I was still bit worried since I saw several people posting reviews on prep books stating that they failed the math part of the test even after studying with the prep books.

If the actual questions on the current tests are similar to the free sample questions I found, I feel like I can pass the reading and math part of the test without really studying for them.

Thank you

[idonteven]

As someone who recently completed the Teach-Now program as well as the Praxis PLT (I finished the Core/Subject ones a good bit earlier), here's my two cents:

The core exam is pretty easy. That said, even though it kind of feels like a racket, I would purchase the official online practice test from ETS. Mostly because it gives you a good feel for the pacing and interface of the actual test. Even though you would probably pass anyway, think of it as peace of mind/insurance.

I treated the PLT as an afterthought, not intentionally but due to a combination of procrastination and a hectic schedule. I took it at the last minute, and even though there was a long time between registration date and test date, really only studied a couple days before, which consisted of a couple run-thrus of the practice test and a making mental notes of the questions I answered incorrectly.

Overall I was reasonably satisfied with TN, that said I think they do a mediocre job of preparing you for the PLT, which as PG said is obviously a major point of the program. When I took the PLT I found it to be a strange mix of:

a) Questions that can be answered by common sense, or common sense + a passing familiarity with education trends (TN helps with the latter)

b) Pedagogical/Instructional/Assessment questions that ranged from straightforward to pretty obscure/random (but this could be a reflection of my preparation level)

c) The case study long response questions

After I finished the test I thought I probably failed. I ended up passing with a 169 (160 is the minimum score for DC). But it was definitely stressful waiting for it to be graded and I would recommend taking more time to study and prepare for it than I did. I also may have been lucky in terms of which human being actually graded my case study answers (25% of the test).

Basically for the PLT, I would say having a general idea of the ethos of modern education and familiarity with most of the big recurring buzzwords will give you at least a decent shot at passing. The problem is "decent" isn't the adjective I'd want to be using when failure means spending hundreds of dollars more to re-take a test and delaying certification.

[intotheblue]

@idonteven

Thank you very much for your response.

I will take Praxis PLT towards the end of the program or after I complete the program.

But, do you think it's better to take Praxis Core and Subject (Elementary Education Multiple Subjects in my case) before starting my Teach-Now program?

How much workload is there for Teach Now program? I think I saw on their website that the workload usually requires 15 ~ 25 hr per week. Would you say this is accurate?

I also have a full time job at the moment, so I am wondering if it would be too much to start the program and study for Praxis Core/Subject all at the same time.

Even if I take Praxis Core and Subject (4 subsets) before joining the program, do you think I would need at least 2-3 months to prepare for them if I have a full time job? Again, I have no background in US history, so I assume I need to spend some good amount of time to study for the social studies part of the Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects.

Thank you

[idonteven]

intotheblue wrote:
> @idonteven
>
> Thank you very much for your response.
>
> I will take Praxis PLT towards the end of the program or after I complete
> the program.
>
> But, do you think it's better to take Praxis Core and Subject (Elementary
> Education Multiple Subjects in my case) before starting my Teach-Now
> program?

Not before starting the program, but I would try to get them out of the way early on in the program. It’s difficult to give a hard recommendation because some of this depends on your schedule and how much you need to study (I don’t know anything about the Elementary multiple subject Praxis). The first TN module also gives you some guidance wrt how to approach the Praxis exams and a suggested timeline for completing them.

I would first apply and get accepted to TN, then pick the earliest available date you feel comfortable with for completing the Praxis Core. Then worry about the Elementary subject exam, and then the PLT.


> How much workload is there for Teach Now program? I think I saw on their
> website that the workload usually requires 15 ~ 25 hr per week. Would you
> say this is accurate?

That sounds about right. I’d say most of the weeks will be around the 15 hour figure, but for some weeks depending on different variables it could be more. It also depends on how much attention you pay to the suggested reading materials in each module, which are useful but not always required for completing assignments.

> I also have a full time job at the moment, so I am wondering if it would be
> too much to start the program and study for Praxis Core/Subject all at the
> same time.

I would focus on one test at a time. Do the core, then register for the Elementary exam. Use the free guide on the ETS site to do some preliminary prep, then register for a test date and purchase their practice test (there’s only one version of the paid practice test, so I think it's better to do at least some studying before taking it. You can take the free sample test cold and use that to prep a bit for the paid version). Take the practice test and see what areas you need to work on, make a study plan and go with it.

> Even if I take Praxis Core and Subject (4 subsets) before joining the
> program, do you think I would need at least 2-3 months to prepare for them
> if I have a full time job? Again, I have no background in US history, so I
> assume I need to spend some good amount of time to study for the social
> studies part of the Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects.

I don’t know what the Elementary Praxis is like but it obviously depends on you. My guess is that if you make a reasonable study plan based on your strengths/weaknesses and are consistent, 2-3 months would be plenty even with a full-time job.

[PsyGuy]

@intotheblue

Yes, EPP/ITT skills based pathways are generally assessed by their regulatory authorities based on their passing rates on the various meds/peds/asst exam (in this case the PLT).

Yes, I was referring to the sample questions in the free study prep guide. Those questions are from previous exam administrations that have since been released.

How many you need to answer isnt known until after you take the exam. In the past when paper based testing was used there was such a long delay so that all exams could be scored and raw data produced and then it was scaled. Now since all that data is done on computer scaling and standardizing the results takes much less time.

Those individuals who did poorly on the maths portion of the exam dont understand maths. This is elementary maths, its content 11 year old are expected to know, youre smarter than an 11 year old arent you?

I wouldnt bother purchasing the practice test, its just wasted coin, and its not insurance against anything. However, again, I never studied at all for any of the exams Ive taken.

I think 5 hours a week getting closer to 10 hours of actual work is fine. Most of the responses you can do off the top of your head, its just doing the writing, the thinking is pretty easy. If you did the sample items and got 80%-90% raw score you dont need to prepare or study aside from being rested on the day of the exam.

[intotheblue]

@idonteven, @psyguy

Thank you very much for the response. Have a nice day.