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I'm a teacher candidate at a university/college I'd like to transition to teaching I'm a current / former teacher I'm in leadership for K-12 or Higher Ed (EPP)Praxis️ Core: Mathematics Update – What’s New With 5733?
If you haven’t already heard, Praxis️ released a new Praxis️ Core: Mathematics test in September 2019. This updated exam has a few specific changes from the previous version, Praxis️ Core: Mathematics 5732. Keep reading for more information about the updates and what you need to know.
According to ETS, the ‘Praxis️ Core Academic Skills for Educators (Core) Test measures academic skills that are important to success in preparation to be an educator.’ This test assesses basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills with three subtests – Mathematics, Reading and Writing. Typically, the Core Test is used as an admission requirement for teacher certification programs (such as universities, colleges, and alternative certification programs).
After evaluation by a 200-member faculty panel to determine which skills were critical for any teacher regardless of teaching area, several updates were made to the Praxis️ Core exam. An April 2019 release on the updates communicated that all skills kept on the test were clearly confirmed as important by the teacher educators involved in the test’s redesign.
So, What Changed?
All of the changes on the Praxis️ Core exam apply only to the Mathematics subtest. The Reading and Writing portions of the exam stayed the same and have not been updated other than getting a new test code. The focus of the Mathematics exam has shifted, with an increased emphasis on ‘Data Interpretation and Representation, Statistics, and Probability’ and fewer questions dedicated to ‘Algebra and Geometry’.
What does increased emphasis mean, exactly? Well, in the 5732 version of the exam, Statistics and Probability made up 20% of the question, but in 5733 that and the new Data Interpretations and Representation will be 32% of the content. This means an increase from approximately 11 questions to 18 questions in the new exam. Algebra, Functions and Geometry made up a combined 50% of the total exam questions in the old exam but are now only a combined 32% of the exam – approximately 11 Algebra questions and 7 Geometry questions will be included on each 5733 test.
The shift to include more data interpretation and representation questions comes from the test panel deciding the exam should have a greater emphasis on data literacy. This means the exam will contain more questions with data and graphs to test how well you understand how the information presented is related, how quantitative data can be interpreted and how to infer information from displayed data.
Because there is less emphasis on Algebra and Geometry, several concepts – like identifying rational and irrational numbers, solving for radicals, working with functions and 3D figures – are no longer included on the exam. In addition to the standard onscreen calculator, a reference sheet with geometric formulas will now also be included as a help screen, which means a few less things to worry about memorizing!
The 5733 subtest is now 90 minutes long (five minutes more than the previous version) but still contains 56 questions. That includes ‘pretest’ questions that are being field-tested and aren’t included in your overall score. Scoring on the test is still the same and graded on a curve, so each question you answer correctly is worth one “raw” point. Your “raw” score – all the questions you answer correctly – is then scaled, which means that ETS looks at how everyone else answered the same questions and then adjusts, or “scales”, your score accordingly.
Until August 2020 both versions of the Praxis️ Core test will still be available. While the new Mathematics subtest does contain different content, the only difference between the Reading and Writing subtests is the test code: 5712, 5722 and 5732 denote the old tests for Reading, Writing and Mathematics in that order, while 5713, 5723 and 5733 are the new test codes. You can visit the Praxis️ state requirements page to find out which version of the test you are required to take.
And of course, 240 Tutoring has your study guide needs covered – we offer a comprehensive, online study guide for the Praxis️ Core exam for both Mathematics 5732 and 5733 that includes the same content focus as the test.
For a detailed breakdown of the Praxis️ Core exam and additional testing strategies to help you pass, you can also check out the 240 Tutoring Ultimate Guide and Free Practice Test here: https://www.240tutoring.com/praxis-prep/praxis-core/.
