Praxis.

I took the Praxis today. I am glad it is over, but I just want to know what my results are. I won't find out for about 4 weeks.

What is the Praxis??? It is an oh so lovely test that all teachers have to take and pass before they can be considered "highly qualified" teachers. It all came about because of No Child Left Behind. There are parts of the NCLB that I agree with and parts that frustrate me. The Praxis is some of the frustrating part.

The Praxis is based on content knowledge. Basically they test in four content areas: Language Arts, Math, Science, & Social Studies (which includes: Geography, History, Economics, etc.). There is not an official study guide. Basically, just know everything there is to know in each of these areas and you will do great.

I am all for being tested to see if I am a qualified teacher or not. Just give me something as a study guide. Just tell me some general idea of what I need to know and I will learn it. After all, I am not going to know everything there is to know in all of the content areas just in my head. If there is something that I am going to teach to my students that I don't know, then I will brush up on it and learn what I need to.

In my opinion, the Praxis test should be testing me on my ability to be able to find information I don't know about and see if I can learn it and teach it. Not testing me to see if I have all kinds of general information already stored in my head.

Today I was doing fine on the test. The Language Arts and Math were a breeze. Then I hit the Science. . .oh, dear. They had a cross section of an amoeba and I was supposed to know how to label the different parts. What? Who just has that information in their head??? Not me. That is for sure!

History was tough too. I knew some of the answers, but there were some specific questions about Theodore Roosevelt and laws and specifics about his Presidency that I just didn't have in my little brain.

If I didn't pass, I am not going to stress. MANY MANY people take the test several times before they pass it. I hope that I passed, but if I didn't, I guess I will be hitting the text books and brushing up on my knowledge about science and history.

Until then, I will just TRY not to worry about it.