October 28, 2010

PRAXIS QUESTION!?!?

Hey friends!  I was selected to represent TN at ETS in Princeton, NJ on the team that will be reviewing the Art PRAXIS & setting the score for all new art teachers seeking certification.  It has been many moons since I've taken the PRAXIS test...and was wondering if some of the new teachers that swing by my blog have any thoughts on their experience with the test.  Did you feel the content was fitting?  Was anything just totally out there to you???  I want to hear from you so I can take the information with me!   THANKS!!!!

7 comments:

  1. ehhhhh i just took the Praxis this past year and am in my first year teaching. I went to school at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN and there we needed the test, but am now teaching in FL where we dont need the test to be certified. So for starters a little more nation wide unity on it would be great but that's not really the point of you asking i suppose :). But in short I received straight A's in all of my Art classes and then had to take the praxis 2 exam twice because of not passing by 3pts due to the fact that they had artist on there that i had never even heard of. I think its hard to give a test on such specifics when every person is taking different art history courses and also taking the basic art history classes in their first 2 years then not having to take the test till their senior year. Lots of time to forget details. So why not test the specifics on more commonly known artists rather than such a wide range, the same knowledge would be tested just not as much random memorization would be necessary. Or if the range in artists in a big part the it would be nice if the review books provided were a little more informative on what areas to study and what artists to focus more on. In teaching we can always research the artist before we teach is it truly necessary to have everyone memorized, or are the skills and aesthetics more important? Other than my issues with the history portion of the exams the other parts like production or skill, i don't recall its exact name, but that was all great. Hope this was semi helpful :/

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  2. I took it 3 years ago. We had to take the Content and Knowledge multiple choice and then choose to take either the Art Making or Art: Content, Traditions, Aesthetics, and Criticism test. The multiple choice content and knowledge felt easy. It was easy especially if you knew your material. Basic basic vocabulary on processes, elements, principles, crit, and aesthetics.
    I choose to take the Art Content portion of the test after that. Simple. A couple of art works and you basically critiqued them. Time period, style, elements used, and analysis. I did hear that the Art Making test was difficult and many people had some issues with that one. But have no inside knowledge of it.
    If I were you I would purchase and ETS Praxis book about the tests to be a bit more knowledgeable. Amazon may have them.

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  3. I took the tests (there were 3 of them in Arkansas) two summers ago. I studied everything I could think of and then some. The study book was a little helpful, but I got the most help online from others who had taken the test. It was still extremely hard. I passed but not with "flying colors." I think the time factor was the biggest problem. I felt so rushed to finish that I couldn't say everything I wanted to.

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  4. I took this test four years ago. Personally, I thought the Art Praxis was the easy one. I can't say that I got every question right or anything, but I certainly had no trouble passing it. It may have helped that I had just taken two art history courses the same semester that I took the test.

    The Art Praxis was a breeze compared to the PLT Praxis (Principles of Learning and Teaching). I had to take that one twice, and even then just barely passed. Really there are major time issues with that one.

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  5. On the Art Making exam, I was asked to illustrate foreshortening of the figure. I thought then I was screwed!!!! I don't like that prompt. Have them cancel that question! Fortunately I managed to pass with flying colors :) At the time I left feeling very uneasy.

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  6. i took the praxis about 3 years ago. i passed the first time in both, but i would agree with kelly on the art history. there were definitely quite a few artists that i had never heard of before, and that i'm sure many others hadn't either. of course, i think they said that some questions were ones they wouldn't be counting anyway, so maybe those were the ones. but i think it's kind of silly to test new teachers on such random ideas. sure, it should be challenging, but keep it realistic too.

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  7. I took the Art content test this past summer and felt the making of art questions were fair but some of the questions regarding artist were difficult if you didn't know each artist. One question asked me which two artist works were most similar. I knew the four artist from the multiple choice but I didn't know the artist in the question segment. Either add a picture in or get rid of that question. I take the Art: Content, Traditions, Criticism, and Aesthetics, the other required test for the state of Maryland tomorrow. I've only heard that there are typically random artist chosen for that test but I can't say from my own experience.

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