PRAXIS Testing Overview

PRAXIS is a series of tests that are used by states, and other organizations, as part of teacher licensing and certification. According to the Educational Testing Service (ETS), 39 States and U.S. jurisdictions make use of the PRAXIS test for teacher licensure (the complete list of states and jurisdictions, and their requirements, may be found on the ETS web site). This represents 80% of all states that require passing a test for licensure. Hundreds of colleges and universities also make use of the PRAXIS tests. Many colleges and universities may require that students entering teacher education programs take the PRAXIS I tests.

The PRAXIS Series of tests consists of three areas of tests that correspond to major milestones in teacher development. These include:

1. PRAXIS I: Academic Skills Assessments - taken by individuals who are entering teacher training programs. The intent is for these Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) to be taken early in a student's college career.
2. PRAXIS II: Subject Assessments - taken by individuals just entering the teaching profession to measure knowledge of the subjects that they will teach, as well as teaching skills and knowledge.
3. PRAXIS III: Classroom Performance Assessments - taken by individuals after the first year of classroom teaching.

PRAXIS Tests are intended to be used with other criteria by state organizations for teacher certification or licensure. "Passing" scores for the PRAXIS tests are set by individual state teacher licensing agencies (typically the Department of Education). ETS does, however, provide an "ETS Recognition of Excellence" program for 11 of the most commonly taken PRAXIS II tests. To earn an ETS Recognition of Excellence Award, a test taker must achieve a score equal to or greater than the ROE target score. This ROE score is a scaled score earned by the top 15 percent of test takers who took the test in the past five years.

The PRAXIS Tests are given in hundreds of locations throughout the United States and in some foreign countries. Not all PRAXIS tests are given on a given test date. For a complete list of test dates and locations you should consult the ETS web site.