I passed the Praxis II !!!

Whew. What a relief. I thought for sure I was going to have to at least take it a second time. Many of the folks in the classroom with me were taking it for their second and third times. We were organized alphabetically, so maybe the W last names tend to do poorly on the Praxis II, but I was an outlier!

I needed a 172 to pass and received a 191 out of 200. I just wanted to pass, but the score was a pleasant surprise! Especially after not taking a high-stakes test like this since high school.

Now I can focus my attention on all the other work I still have yet to complete for this teaching license – practicum (only a few more hours), this semester and all of its work, two classes this summer, then student teaching in the fall.

What a weight off my chest!

Testing for teachers

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately since I’m swimming in standardized tests for my teaching license.

I took the VCLA reading and writing test this morning, which was fairly easy and straightforward, but long! And I’m set to take the Praxis II English (0041) tomorrow morning. I’m actually nervous about that one since it tests content knowledge, which is why I’m blogging (ahem, procrastinating) instead of studying. I took a Cliffs practice test yesterday and my score took my breath away. Needless to say I need to study poetry meters tonight.

Not the best planning on my part to schedule two tests in two days, especially over spring break, but I’m hoping this will be the only time I have to take these tests (fingers crossed!).

Taking these two tests was enough, but to think if I had to take the Praxis I! I’m lucky my SAT scores were high enough to exclude me from having to take the Praxis I, because I don’t know how much more of this testing I can take, let alone how much more my wallet can take. With registration fees and testing fees, I spent nearly $300 on the two tests.

What are your experiences with these tests? How did you study? What are your opinions on these sorts of tests?

I’m thinking if I were actually teaching the content day-to-day I would be more confident with the material, but since I’m not I feel grossly unprepared for the Praxis II tomorrow. I’ve been told not to worry, but I’m a terrible test taker.