If you plan to teach early elementary school, your state may require you to pass the Praxis Elementary Education exam. This test is a key part of becoming a classroom teacher.
The Praxis Elementary Ed test assesses your basic knowledge of elementary-level math, social studies, and science, ensuring you’re ready to teach these subjects to young students. To prepare for the exam, it’s crucial to understand its scoring system. This article delves into everything you need to know about Elementary Education exam scores.
Overview of the Praxis Elementary Education Exam
The Elementary Education exam will evaluate your knowledge of essential elementary-level topics via these three subtests:
- Praxis Elementary Education: Mathematics (5903)
- Praxis Elementary Education: Social Studies (5904)
- Praxis Elementary Education: Science (5905)
Overall, the test consists of 165 multiple-choice questions. Each subtest is timed separately. The Mathematics subtest has a time limit of 1 hour and 5 minutes, while the Social Studies and Science subtests each have time limits of 1 hour. This adds up to a total testing time of 3 hours and 5 minutes.
Our Praxis Elementary Education exam overview can give you more information about the structure of this test.
How the Exam is Scored
The Praxis Elementary Education exam is scored by taking the sum of your correct answers and converting this into a scaled score that takes test difficulty into account. The exam is scored via computer.
Passing Score
To pass the Elementary Education exam, you must pass all three subtests. The minimum passing score may vary, so you should check what the passing score is in your state.
Understanding Your Score Report
Your Praxis Elementary Education score report will include:
- Whether you passed
- Your score on each subtest
- The minimum passing score for each subtest
- A performance breakdown by content area and question type
To see an example of a score report, refer to this Praxis score explainer.
At the top of your score report, you will see a section that reports the following:
- Your name
- The date of this score report
- Your ID number
- Personal information such as your date of birth
- The institution where you have received teacher training
- Information related to your education, such as your major and G.P.A.
Under this information, your score report will usually consist of three sections:
Section I will include:
- The date of the test(s) you took
- The name and code of each test
- Your score on each test
- A box plot showing how your score compares to the average performance range
- Whether you passed the tests
- Each institution that received your scores
Section II includes:
- Your highest test scores for each exam you’ve taken in the past decade
- The name and code of each exam
- The minimum passing score
- Whether you passed the test
- The date you took the test
- Whether your score was reported
- The state agency or institution(s) to which your score was sent
Section III includes:
- Each test you took
- Each content category that appeared on the test
- The number of questions you answered correctly in each content category
- The average performance range on each content category (so you can compare your performance to that of other test takers)
Retaking the Exam
If you don’t pass the Elementary Education exam, you can retake it. You will need to re-register and submit a new payment. You must wait 28 days between attempts.
Before you re-register, it’s crucial to evaluate what went wrong on your previous attempt. Carefully analyze your score report to identify areas of weakness and develop a targeted study plan to improve your performance on those subtests, content domains, or question types.
Conclusion:
Your Praxis Elementary Education exam scores help gauge your basic readiness to instruct young students in math, science, and social studies. Understanding how this test is scored and what is required to pass should help you prepare more effectively, maximizing your chances of success. If you don’t pass the exam on your first try, remember to take advantage of the detailed performance breakdown on your score report. It may provide helpful insights.
With diligent study and a clear understanding of the test, you will be prepared to excel on the Elementary Education exam.
More Praxis Elementary Education Resources
