BOE coaxes teachers to take PRAXIS

The Board of Education has said that the Public School System is already “bending over backwards” just to coax public school teachers to take and pass PRAXIS 1 and 2.

During its monthly board meeting held Thursday, secretary and treasurer Marja Lee Taitano said the PSS is doing all it can to encourage teachers who have yet to take the exam to review for it. It even gave each of them a $300 allowance just to take review courses, according to Taitano.

Late last July the PSS flew in a PRAXIS consultant from the University of Guam to prepare middle school and high school teachers for the PRAXIS test.

Teacher representative Ambrose Bennett brought up the issue based on his recent meetings with public school teachers, saying that teachers are getting mixed up with the requirements for PRAXIS. He also said that teachers from Rota and Tinian told him that Saipan public school teachers have an advantage in taking the PRAXIS because PSS is paying for the review and the test.

Taitano immediately refuted Bennett’s statements and said the PSS would also be sending PRAXIS consultants to Rota and Tinian. The teachers would also be paid for the review.

Acting Education Commissioner David M. Borja said teachers have also been provided information about these tests during the professional development days and leadership meetings.

Teachers were reminded of the refresher courses for PRAXIS 1 and 2. The dates for these refresher courses will be from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6, which is in time to meet the test date on Jan. 7. Another set of review classes will then be scheduled on April 10 to15 to meet the test date on April 29. The dates in June would still be determined and announced later this year.

In a presentation during the last Professional Development for public school teachers in August, federal programs advisor Tim Thornburgh said the PSS would again offer PRAXIS II refresher courses at least three more times before the Aug. 1, 2006 deadline.

He said the PSS is working double time to assist the teachers to meet the “highly qualified teachers” challenge of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 set by the BOE, which requires teachers to have attained at least a bachelor’s degree, to attain full certification at least the five-year certification and to pass the applicable PRAXIS exams.