Okay. So I am not one to complain about the school of ASU. I practically like/love everything up here minus the weather and what not. But I believe the way they adminster the Praxis is ridiculous. I happened to not take the SAT because if you go to a community college and then transfer, you are not required to take it. I happened to be a bad test taker. I tend to get very distracted. I somehow always do think I did bad and come back with good. But not when it came to the Praxis. I took all three at the same time and the first time I was in there, the whole room was full of students. I passed the Math and Writing, but not the Reading. While taking the Reading, all I could hear was keyboards banging. Many of the students in there was taking their Writing part of the test. I even had on headphones and the noise drove me insane! For one, the keyboards are not silent. For another, I think the fact that they take students in there one at a time is beyond crazy. App should have one day where students take Writing, one day to do Math, and one to do Reading - if students take one at a time. Then they should have one day to do all three for those who want to get it over with. But they should get everyone in there and adminster the parts at the same time. When time is no longer available, give everyone the next part of the test...like an EOG or SAT is adminstered. It helps those like me who are bad test takers. Appalachian is a big teaching school, why not be a little considerate? I am not sure if other schools do this like App does but it should be changed in my opinion. I missed the Reading by one point. The next time I took it was in the summer session I think and I happened to be the first one in there so I was not distracted at all. I thankfully passed it then. I am also not one to blame something else for my grades but I have spoken with others who have taken the Praxis that has gone through very similar situations. I do see one good thing that came out of this ordeal and that is that as a teacher, I am really going to connect with my students who are bad test takers.

I find the fact that we have to take the Praxis kind've ironic. In our education classes we spend so much time talking about EOG's, teaching to the test, SAT's, and how they really are not the best ways to administer and evaluate learning. We talk about the stresses of having timed tests, how everyone has different learning styles and so on. We are taught to try and change the system as best we can and really try and work out a way to help our kids learn and not just teach to the test or asses things in the "normal" test taking way. Yet we are required to take the Praxis. It's like they are using a double standard almost. They tell us to do one thing yet they do another.

When I took the Praxis I chose to get the earmuffs and they helped so much to drown out the sound of keyboards. When I took it, every student was on a different section and they left and others came in during my test. I don't think I would have done as well without the earmuffs; I would have been too distracted. That was the first long computer test I had taken, and to me, that was a little difficult. I kept having to look up at the screen and then down at my paper to jot notes or equations. I got tired of doing that after a while. I guess I prefer the paper and pencil tests. I do think we need a better way to administer that test, especially after we learn about the corecct way to test students. Every one of my classes has enforced that standardized testing is not the greatest thing, but I have to take a standardized test before I can be a teacher?

I also had a hard time taking the praxis because of the noise. I could still hear the keyboards as well. I totally agree with taking students in one at a time is horrible because it's so distracting. With the test on the computer is a good idea, but staring at a screen for like 3 hours is very hard on my eyes and it gets hard to see. I believe they do have a paper/pencil test of the Praxis and all the other tests as well. I don't know a way they could improve things though unless of everyone starting at the same time.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the same way. I was very distracted! I don't really understand why we need to take the Praxis to begin with. I don't care if you've taken the SAT or not, what does the test prove? I took the SAT 5 times and also took a course on taking the SAT all because I'm a horrible standardized test taker. Now if you looked at my SAT scores you would not know that I made all A's my first year here at Appalachian. I hate the SAT and I hate the Praxis. What a waste of time and money. Both these test do not measure your achievement in the classroom.

I agree that it does seem pointless to take the Praxis before entering the teaching program at ASU, but I also think that we are under the impression that it is pointless because we moved straight from high school into college and have just taken the SAT. I think if we were a student coming to college say, in their late twenties, thirties, or fourties, it wouldn't be such an easy task and might assess the student's capabilities in straightforward concepts. I'm not saying that I agree that it is a fundamental test for entering the school of education, but I suppose there are some circumstances where it isn't QUITE so pointless. I do agree about the distractions though, I'm the kind of person who can't concentrate on a test if I even hear tapping, so the entering and exiting of the room made me a little uneasy.

Can't you still take the test the old pen and pencil way?? I thought you could... NOT to take away from the fact that your experience was shared by many people. I know that I absolutely hated the test because it was one a computer. I normally do really well on standardized tests, but the whole computer idea was more distracting to me than anything else. I did pass all of the parts the first time, but the my writing score was humorous considering my major. I did the writing part last and by the time I got to it I wrote a crappy paper in 10 minutes just to get out of the room. I think that there should be more opportunities available to take a traditional test.

Actually, I was able to take mine a couple summers ago with pencil and paper. I found that way fairly easy because the test was administered at one time and people weren't allowed to leave the room. I still think it is pointless because I would hope that if you can graduate high school, you would have basic reading, writing, and math skills. Even if you do score highly on the praxis, it doesn't necessarily someone will apply their skills to the best of their ability. I think looking at past grades and just the overall motivation of a student is more key than taking a test.

I did not have to take the Praxis because of my SAT scores which was only implemented a few semesters ago. But I have only heard bad things about the way that the test is administered and I have to agree with Elizabeth about how we focus on not teaching to the test and then we have to take standardized tests. I mean some people of course are not going to be great test takers and to think in order to graduate you have to pass? I just don't agree.

I also did not pass the reading section of the Praxis, by 2 points. I am very easily distracted but in the Praxis I was very distracted. Not only were the people in there taking the testing getting on my nerves but the student who was proctoring the test kept walking in and out of the room, letting the door slam each time.

When I went to take it again I was the only one in the room and passed it, many points above the requirement.

I do not know how ASU could change its policy on the Praxis but it is very distracting. I guess I was lucky the second time and took it alone.

I agree with everyone about the Praxis because it was very difficult for me to pass the reading comprehension section of Praxis I. Each time I only missed it by 1 point, and this was extremely frustrating to me and my parents, who were paying for the test each time. One of my friends wanted to be an elementary teacher so badly and she would have made a great one, but she is an awful test taker and she could not pass it. She attempted to take it seven times and never could make the right score. She has now had to change her major, take different classes, and her financial aid will no longer support her because they feel that she isn't progressing because she just changed her major as a junior. It is really frustrating for her to have to go through this. I will say though that I took the Praxis II over the weekend and I felt that the information was more of what I learned as a student here and not what I would generally know innately. I felt that it was more focused on the skills and information that I learned in my methods courses here at App, so there is hope for the future.

I absolutely hated taking the praxis. I ended up taking it with the computer. I did find the constant clicking to be a bit of a distraction. Overall, my biggest problem was having to sit still for such a long period of time staring into a bright computer screen. If I could go back I definitely would have tried harder to take the pper and pencil test. I will say however I was pretty upset when they passed the rule saying if you scored a certain number on the SAT you were exempt from taking the Praxis... especially when I thought of all the money I could have saved had the implemented the rule a semester earlier.

I also found out about the SAT “immunityâ€