What's Your Marketability Quotient?

What is Praxis?

ETS offers this explanation of the Praxis® tests: "The Praxis® tests measure the academic skills and subject-specific content knowledge needed for teaching. The Praxis tests are taken by individuals entering the teaching profession as part of the certification process required by many states and professional licensing organizations."

Who requires Praxis®?

Most states require public school teachers to be licensed. Part of the licensing process is taking and passing Praxis I and/or Praxis II. Praxis I tests your competence in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Many education programs will accept Paxis I scores in place of SAT or ACT scores. They basically test the same kind of readiness for tertiary-level academic work. From ETS: "These tests measure academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. They were designed to provide comprehensive assessments that measure the skills and content knowledge of candidates entering teacher preparation programs.

Praxis II consists of subject or content tests. These are offered in standard subject areas such as Spanish, physics, language arts and so on. If you seek to be licensed as a physics teacher, for example, you would pass the Praxis II exam in physics as part of that requirement. From ETS: "These tests measure subject-specific content knowledge, as well as general and subject-specific teaching skills, that you need for beginning teaching."

How do you prepare for the tests?

There are several Praxis test prep resources available, both for purchase and at no cost. Khan Academy offers free test

I have interviewed hundreds of job applicants over the years. I can assure you that a job interview will contain all kinds of traps. Sometimes the interviewer sets the traps. She will build questions into her interview script so she can see how you handle unexpected situations. Other times you will unknowingly set a trap for yourself by making a statement which the interviewer determines is worth exploring in greater detail. Against that backdrop, let's review how to handle some of those traps which might occur when you interview for that job as the math teacher at St. Agatha's Academy.

1. Do some role-playing.

Preparing for a job interview is an essential part of the process if you truly want the job. That's because the competition is a lot tougher these days. Public schools and colleges and universities have been down-sizing their teaching staffs. There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line is that more qualified education professionals are applying for teaching jobs than ever before.

How should you prepare for your interview? A few weeks before your interview do some role-playing, enlist the aid of a trusted friend or family member to play the part of the interviewer. Dress up in your interview outfit. Do the role-playing in a setting similar to what you might expect for the interview, such as an office or a table in Starbucks. The 16th-century adage that 'practice makes perfect' applies to your job interview. You will be amazed at

Do Your Child's SSAT or ISEE Scores Really Matter?

Standardized admissions tests are part of the drill in most private school admissions offices. You may well be wondering why your child's academic transcripts and teacher recommendations from her current school are not sufficient. Why is it necessary to prepare and register for a standardized admissions test? The results of a standardized admissions test indicate to the school what your child knows and doesn't know academically. Essentially, it would serve no purpose to accept your child only to have her flounder academically. You would be unhappy. Your child would be miserable. The school would also be in a difficult position of being unable to deliver the academic results it can achieve. To avoid this losing situation, most private schools will insist on all applicants taking a standardized admissions test.

SSAT and ISEE

The two most commonly used admissions tests are the SSAT and ISEE. These tests measure your child's language and math skills. How do the admissions offices use the test scores the testing organizations send them? Primarily for comparison purposes. For example, if a school has an applicant pool with an average verbal score of 600 and yours is 700, you will be at the top of the list in that one aspect of all the factors the school looks at. Conversely, if your quantitative score is 550 and the pool average is 750, you will be at or near

We parents are in a rather difficult position when it comes to finding out information about private schools. Because they are private schools, they are not subject to the usual sunshine or freedom of information laws. They are just like a privately-held company. They are under no legal obligation to tell you or the general public anything. You need to know exactly what is lurking behind those gorgeous web photos and enthusiastic classroom shots. You need to know the condition of the school from reliable sources. That's where hiring an educational consultant comes in. These professionals know their schools from the arts curriculum to the vintage of the Zamboni machine used on the hockey rink. This is information which you need in order to permit you to make the informed decisions you need to make about finding the right private school for your child.

One caveat, and it is a major one: there are educational consultants who claim to be able to get you into a school. Be careful. The sign of the genuine article is an educational consultant who will offer to help you find the best match for you and your child's requirements. Just be aware.

The following questions are ones you might want to ask but probably feel uncomfortable asking. That's why it's a good thing to hire an educational consultant. She can ask such questions with relative impunity. Plus she will think of dozens of other questions and raise many other issues about