When Should You Take the Praxis?

It is possible that you will have a choice in when to take the Praxis and Praxis Subject Tests. Sometimes your school will give you guidance on this, but sometimes, you can choose. So, when should you take the Praxis tests?

When Should You Take the Praxis? Late Enough That You Know the Material

This applies to any Praxis test, be it the Praxis Core or Praxis Subject Tests. You will need the Praxis to get your teaching license so you need to have it before that. You want to make sure, though, that you have learned most of the material that you will be tested on. That means you will likely want to take it towards the end of your coursework.

Taking the Praxis while you are still enrolled in school also has another advantage: you may qualify for a fee waiver!

But Give Yourself Time to Retake the Test, Just in Case

Not everyone passes the Praxis the first time. It’s no big deal to retake the Praxis (though you will have to pay again), but you want to make sure to have time to do it. Working backwards from the time you need to have your license in order to teach, you should have enough time for two test cycles. By test cycle, I mean: register, study, take the test, wait for your scores. You probably won’t need to study as much the second time around, but you will still need to complete the other steps. If you are really worried about passing, you can always give yourself time for three test cycles, just try not to take it so early that you haven’t learned everything yet!

Allow Preparation Time

You probably want to have 4 to 8 weeks of study time before you take the Praxis. You can do this in the evenings while you are nearing the end of your coursework, if that works for your schedule. You can also figure out your own study plan! The important thing is not to leave out studying when you’re figuring out timing.

So, when should you take the Praxis? Take a look at when the Praxis test is offered. Then you can aim to take the Praxis test at the sweet spot of late enough so you know the material and have time to study but not too late to retake the test if you need to. 🙂

Author

Allison White

Allison is an Early Childhood Educator who has been a teacher since 2010. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 with a degree in Psychology, focused in Child Development. She began her teaching career as a 2nd grade teacher in Washington, D.C. After moving to Denver, Colorado she discovered a passion for Early Childhood Special Education. She earned a Master’s in the subject from University of Colorado Denver in 2015. She spent Spring 2016 teaching pre-service early childhood educators at the undergraduate level. Now she and her husband are on a big adventure travelling around the western United States in an RV!

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When Should You Take the Praxis?