tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post115418903665122666..comments2023-11-03T03:04:40.105-07:00Comments on EduInsights: The Highly Qualfied Math TeacherDr. P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13453266968836513453noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-84578822652313995752016-05-03T14:04:13.752-07:002016-05-03T14:04:13.752-07:00Collection of 2000 MCQ for teaching aptitude is av...Collection of 2000 MCQ for teaching aptitude is available to download. It helps for Praxis test http://www.gatecseit.in/netsolved/previous-year-solved-question-teaching-aptitude/CBSE NEThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06376774922729609683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-32153919723018974452013-04-29T04:39:26.663-07:002013-04-29T04:39:26.663-07:00Thanks for posting such a nice and fruitful blog f...Thanks for posting such a nice and fruitful blog for us. Even I am trying for Praxis 2 exam of mathematics but Couldn't clear yet!! . . . <a href="http://praxis2.org/math.html" rel="nofollow"><b>Praxis 2 Math</b></a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12287854762607169010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-41485591712814983432009-03-10T14:41:00.000-07:002009-03-10T14:41:00.000-07:00For what it's worth, the relationship between the ...For what it's worth, the relationship between the raw score and the scaled score is not linear. One sample raw/scale conversion chart I saw for the Praxis II Math showed that anything less than 15 correct out of 50 still earned the minimum possible scaled score of 100. This should significantly cut back on the number of guessers passing the exam by accident.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-28332147423173746032008-06-12T08:47:00.000-07:002008-06-12T08:47:00.000-07:00Dr. P,I just took the April Praxis 0061 (score = 1...Dr. P,<BR/><BR/>I just took the April Praxis 0061 (score = 195) and I honestly thought that the material in the exam was completely fundamental and basic for a math instructor to understand. I actually disagree with the notion that its a challenging exam, especially for math majors who theoretically should have taken a second course in Linear Algebra, a course in Modern Algebra and two semesters of Analysis. I think its absolutely scandalous that the average score on the exam is ~ 140. <BR/>What that tells me is that math education in the US is horrific from elementary school through the college level.<BR/><BR/>One particular thing that I found disturbing is the amount that test takers stress the use of fancy graphing calculators, the TI-e^50000. I went in with a 30 year old TI-30 solar calculator and barely even used it. And now searching for positions I am finding that calculators are playing a huge role in the classrooms. This is just plain awful, its one thing to use a program like Mathematica or Matlab, but these graphing calculators are completely useless past the intro undergraduate level. More importantly, there are critical skills to be learned from understanding and applying approximation methods. Students will never learn this fact precisely because, from what I see, their teachers dont understand it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16660338296359722688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-42293297032320887492007-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:002007-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:00I know this is an old post, but I just took and pa...I know this is an old post, but I just took and passed the Praxis II and found this page. Something curious about the post is the assumption that all math teachers prior to NCLB were qualified (highly or otherwise) to teach math. Eliminate the assumption that all math teachers are math majors that know their stuff prior to the introduction of the Praxis test. It now makes sense to have a low bar as a bare minimum level of math content knowledge a teacher needs to know. While the requirements are low, at least there are requirements. I bring this up because by passing this test I just became the second math teacher in my whole district to be HQ in math.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09364953286972702270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-64323687275893402852007-01-12T06:17:00.000-08:002007-01-12T06:17:00.000-08:00The estimate is based on the raw-to-scaled score c...The estimate is based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion table that the Education Trust used in its analysis. This table was valid for one particular administration of the exam. That administration was also the one the Education Trust used when they performed their content analysis. The scaled-scores are calculated to represent equivalent levels of mathematical knowledge, so the raw-to-scaled conversions can change. But you should get the same scaled score (with the margins of error) regardless of the difficulty of any particular test administration.Dr. P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13453266968836513453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-1165934089153512182006-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:002006-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00Dr. P - as one who is about to take the math Praxi...Dr. P - as one who is about to take the math Praxis, I'd like to know what is the basis for your estimates of the percent right necessary to pass in each state. Are you just assuming something close to a straight-line between the minimum (100) and maximum (200), which certainly makes sense, or do you have some inside knowledge beyond that (since ETS apparently refuses to disclose even a general relationship between percent right and score)? As a 56 year old contemplating a move to teaching and trying to remember his calculus and trig, I'd like to believe you are right that the required number of correct answers is so low (even if, as a matter of policy, that is bad), so I'd certainly like to have a basis for confidence in your estimates. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-1155781248596543242006-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:002006-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:00I read this post before, and came back to it since...I read this post before, and came back to it since you mentioned it in a comment on my web site. <BR/><BR/>Turns out that California started doing away with the Praxis II tests in 2003:<BR/>http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/CAW-exams.html#CSET<BR/><BR/>In the comments, I listed what the Praxis II requirements in California were 8 years ago when I took the tests:<BR/>http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2006/08/testing-teachers.html#comments<BR/><BR/>I have no knowledge about these new "California Subject Examinations for Teachers" other than what's on the state website I mentioned above.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-1154824679563660362006-08-05T17:37:00.000-07:002006-08-05T17:37:00.000-07:00Thanks for the comments Stephen. I'm glad your tea...Thanks for the comments Stephen. <BR/><BR/>I'm glad your teacher was able to stay a few days ahead of the class so that you could learn calculus, but I don't think that's the model we want to follow. Why was a teacher that didn't know calculus assigned to teach it? If everyone can just learn from the textbook why do we need teachers at all? The fact that you could tell the teacher was doing this meant it must have been apparent in their teaching performance.<BR/><BR/>The math Praxis II, IMHO, is a pretty good test. In future posts I'll go into some detail, but remember that EVERY question was vetted for its relevancy to teaching. Another way to think about this is that every miss uncovers a defect in a teacher's preparation.<BR/><BR/>It is not dishonest to guess when you don't the answer. Even on test with penalties students should guess if they can eliminate an answer choice. It is simply stupid to disadvantage yourself. I've seen the data and very few questions are left blank. <BR/><BR/>But even if your comment were true, some people will guess. I was trying to show how little math a <I>highly qualified</I> teacher needs to know. That gets us to the guesser who takes the test multiple times and eventually gets lucky and so scores above their <I>true</I> ability level. <BR/><BR/>In fact, I will leave it as exercise for the reader to calculate the probability that a zero content knowledge guesser in Arkansas (needs 20 out of 50) can pass.Dr. P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13453266968836513453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-1154722239830082342006-08-04T13:10:00.000-07:002006-08-04T13:10:00.000-07:00I had calculus in high school. It was the first t...I had calculus in high school. It was the first time the course was taught in my high school. The teacher was clearly a few days ahead of us for the entire course (all year).<BR/><BR/>When I got to engineering school, I noticed that the calculus courses used the same book, and we had clearly completed two semesters of calculus, to the page, in our two semester course. So, I started math with the third semester. And this worked fine.<BR/><BR/>My point is that my high school calculus teacher could not possibly have passed a calculus test before teaching us (though clearly, he'd have done OK after). Yet he was an excellent instructor as measured at the college level. It seems unlikely that Praxis captures this. And, at least for some teachers, it's much more important than mastery of the material. So in addition to other complaints, it can be shown that it tests for the wrong attributes.<BR/><BR/>This idea that math majors and math teachers score poorly on an unchallenging test is also not much of a surprise. Many tests are full of distracting puzzles to lure the unwary test taker away from the correct answer. One really can develop general skills in test taking to overcome this issue. This is not explicitly taught in school. However, with the emphasis on the MEAP, perhaps secondary schools will start teaching test taking. For example saying that, <I>with no penalty for wrong answers that people will guess</I>, just isn't as true for those without test taking skills. Many will not guess, and it is a testament to their honesty.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03934169832326108710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31449718.post-1154567180889120432006-08-02T18:06:00.000-07:002006-08-02T18:06:00.000-07:00I agree that the content of many of the Praxis exa...I agree that the content of many of the Praxis exams is unchallenging. That why it is important to understand both content and passing scores. However I think the 0061 is an exception, in that it requires a real mastery to score above a 190 and considerable skill to score in the 180s.<BR/><BR/>In contrast on the science Praxis II tests one can get high scores without mastery. The Physics test required only a formulaic understanding. One could be be weak on the concepts.<BR/><BR/>I don't think I know enough chemistry to be an effective chemistry teacher. I only had high school chemistry and freshman college chemistry 30 years ago, and that's it. I still scored above a 180 on the Praxis II chemistry test. The passing score in my state (at the time) was a 119. This was when I realized the public was being scammed. We were getting credentials but not competence.Dr. P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13453266968836513453noreply@blogger.com