Testing for Admission
to Teacher Education
In
addition to minimum grades of C in EPSY 302, Educational Psychology,
ENGL 101, Composition I, and SPCM 101, Introduction to Speech,
satisfactory completion of the sophomore field experience, and a minimum
cumulative grade point average of 2.60, students seeking admission to
teacher education must complete the three sections of the
Pre-Professional Skills Test, Praxis I, (PPST) with minimum scores of
173 in reading, 172 in writing, and 171 in mathematics.
This standardized examination provided by the Educational Testing
Service (ETS) is administered six times during the year on Northern’s
campus. For the top ten questions asked about Praxis testing:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/PRAXIS/pdf/5081_top10_Flyer.pdf. Teacher Candidates register for the class through the University
College in Dakota Hall. Scores
received on the test must be sent to the School of Education Office, or
teacher candidates may bring in their official copy of the test scores from ETS.
Preparation
for Praxis I and II Exams
The
University College provides study materials and assistance for students
preparing to take the Praxis I, Pre-Professional Skills Test.
Study guides may also be purchased at the NSU bookstore.
Study
guides for the Praxis II content and pedagogy exams are available for
purchase at the NSU bookstore and are held on reserve at the NSU
library. In addition, the
ETS website
http://www.ets.org/praxis (Tests at a Glance) or (http://www.testprepreview.com/praxis_practice.htm)
provides test guides and practice questions.
Certification Testing
The
most recent national legislation of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, otherwise known as the No Child Left Behind act requires
that schools hire “highly qualified” teachers for P-12 classrooms.
States must define who will be highly qualified and how that will
be determined. The
South Dakota Department of Education (SDDOE) worked with selected groups of P-12 teachers
and university faculty to determine the levels for passing the Praxis II
exam in each of
the content areas and the pedagogy exam.
Students graduating are required to take the
examinations and meet the passing
scores in order to achieve certification.
Graduates
will be required to take and pass a specific Praxis II content area exam
in each certification area as well as the pedagogy exam, Praxis II:
Principles of Learning and Teaching, at the appropriate certification
level, K-6 or 7-12. The
taking and passing of these examinations has been incorporated into the
teacher education programs at Northern State University. Content area exams must be completed with passing scores
prior to placement in student teaching.
The pedagogy exam must be completed during the student teaching
semester. Passing scores
are required in order for a recommendation of certification to the SDDOE.
Additional
content area certifications in minors or endorsements may be sought from
the SDDOE by completing and passing the appropriate content area exam
and submitting the score to the SDDOE.
For more information:
http://doe.sd.gov/oatq/praxis/index.asp.
Content
Major Examinations Prior to Student Teaching
Teacher candidates
admitted to teacher education and planning to student teach must attend
the mandatory student teaching Pre-Registration Seminar the semester preceding
the anticipated student teaching experience.
In addition, all students must complete and
pass the
Praxis II content examination in their teaching major prior to
their student teaching placement and achieve a score within or
above the range set by the SDDOE.
Content area examinations are administered on the NSU campus six
times each year. Registration
booklets for the exams are available in the School of Education Field
Experience Office. Teacher
Candidates
are responsible for registering, paying, and completing the examination.
When they receive the official test scores from ETS,
teacher candidates
should bring those official score returns to the Field Experience Office
to be recorded. Any
teacher candidate who has not submitted passing scores by the time of student
teaching will be dropped from the student teaching experience.
The
South Dakota Department of Education will require the submission of
passing scores on the Praxis II content area for each teaching major to
receive teacher certification. For information on "Highly
Qualified Status" see the following SDDOE links:
http://doe.sd.gov/oatq/praxis/docs/The%20Praxis%20Colored%20Sheet%20Bible.pdf
and
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/specialed/docs/SPED_HOUSSE_rules_SD.pdf
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Praxis
testing
Tests
to be taken & passed prior to student teaching:
Session 1 (2 hr. test) ($75*):
K-8 Elementary
Education - 10014**
K-12 Art - 10133
K-12
Business - 10100
K-12
Music - 10113
K-12
Physical Education - 10091
K-12 Spanish - 10191
7-12
Language Arts/English Education - 10041
7-12
Mathematics - 10061
7-12
Social Science - 10081
7-12
History - 10941
Session
2 (2 hr. test) ($75*):
K-12 French - 20173
K-12 German - 20181
7-12
Biology - 20235
7-12
Chemistry - 20245
**Instead
of 10014 Eled/Sped Double majors could take - 20146
Session
2 (1 hr. test) ($60*):
K-12
Special Education - 20353
Tests
to be taken during the Professional semester:
Session
3 (2 hr. test) ($85*)
Principles
of Learning & Teaching K-6 -
30522
Principles
of Learning & Teaching 7-12 -
30524
(*plus $40
registration fee)
The exams and required scores for these and additional
certification areas are posted on the S.D.D.O.E. website
http://doe.sd.gov/oatq/praxis/index.asp.
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Pedagogy
Examinations during Student Teaching
By
directive of the South Dakota Board of Regents, all teacher candidates completing
teacher education programs or post-baccalaureate certification
requirements must take the Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching
pedagogy examination during their student teaching semester.
Elementary
education major students take the Praxis II, Principles of Learning and
Teaching, Grades K-6 (PLT K-6).
Secondary
and K-12 education major students take the Praxis II, Principles of
Learning and Teaching, Grades 7-12 (PLT 7-12).
Students are
responsible for registering and paying the appropriate fees for
these Praxis exams. Registration information may be found
at the Praxis web-site:
http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=3c0ab46b45d68010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=29655ee3d74f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD
Passing
scores on the Praxis II content exam and on the Praxis II pedagogy exams
(PLT) are required for teacher
certification in South Dakota.