The Praxis tests are required for individuals to receive their teaching certificate. Each state has a different set of requirements – some require different tests and some require different results on the same test. Receiving your test scores, though, may not initially tell you how well you did. Here are some basic tips to help you decipher the score sheet when you receive it.
Information on the Praxis Score Report
The score report that you receive in the mail contains many different pieces of information. Your personal information will be first, followed by your educational information and then the schools who received the scores. Those who received the scores are those whom you requested to have ETS send a copy of the score report to when you took the test.
Next on the report will be the current test scores for the most recent tests taken. Under that will be your history of scores from all the tests – this is important to understand because you can take the same test more than once in order to raise your score.
The next page will include all of the tests you took, the highest scores you earned and what the required passing score was for the schools who received a copy of the scores. This information will tell you whether you passed the test for the individual school that you opted to have receive a copy of your scores.
The last page gives a breakdown of each individual testing section, the number of points received and the range of scores received by the middle 50% of scores by test examinees who the same version of the test that you took. This is important because the test does change to help prevent cheating, so you can use this information to know exactly how you compared to other individuals on the exact same test you took.
Understanding the Praxis Test Scores
All of the Praxis tests provide a total score instead of a simple pass/fail. These scores are not given in percentages of 100, though, as is often used. So instead of a score of 80 (which would traditionally be a B, or a passing grade), you might receive a 179. Knowing how to interpret this score will help you know if your score is passing.
Next to your score is a range – this range is the possible scores for the test. So for example, if your score was 179, the possible score range might be 150-250. This gives you an idea of how well you did overall. Next to the range is another range of scores. This range is the average scores that individuals taking the test receive. This will further help you know how well you did compared to others who took the test and give you an idea of how strong your scores are.
Did I pass the Praxis?
Understanding whether you passed the praxis test or not requires knowing the specific requirements for the state or school for which you are applying to teach. If you want to teach in one particular school district, and the required passing score is 170 and you received a 179, then yes, you passed the praxis test. This does not mean that you have passed for every school district though, as another district might have had a required passing score of 180.
While retaking tests is never a fun task, it might be prudent to check the scores of each school district that you are interested in teaching in, finding the highest required passing score for each test and strive to receive that score. This might mean retaking the test a couple times but in the end will save you a lot of grief if you choose to apply to a different school district down the road a couple years.
Source
Interpreting Your Praxis Examinee Score Report
Jennifer Wagaman - Jennifer is a mother of 2 and has both public, private and administrative experience in the education field.
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