PRAXIS status report to USDE due this May

The CNMI Public School System will submit a PRAXIS status report to the U.S. Department of Education in May, as required by state officials, according to PSS associate commissioner for administrative services David M. Borja.

As such, he is reminding all public school teachers in the CNMI to take and pass the certification exam as soon as possible.

In a letter from the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Margaret Spellings provided all chief state school officers the key policy letters addressing the significant academic achievement gap in the standards of education across the nation.

Borja said the letters only request state school officers to submit data to the federal education office about the progress of teachers in taking and passing PRAXIS.

“It is very important that our data gathering be submitted in May,” he said.

Spellings said the department would review the accuracy of the data and determine each state’s progress in meeting the “Highly Qualified Teachers” goal. If a state falls short of the HQT goal by January 2006, Spellings said a revised plan must be submitted to the USDE by May 31, 2006.

Spellings said the department recognizes the concerted effort of the states to meet the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by ensuring that all teachers of the core academic subjects are highly qualified through providing teachers with the training and professional development they need.

“Despite these efforts, we have real concerns that not all states have established appropriate definitions for what a highly qualified teacher is,” said Spellings.

FOUR MONTHS LEFT

This means that there are only four months left for CNMI public school teachers to meet the national requirement.

PSS finance director Richard Waldo, who currently is conducting a PRAXIS II review course for 21 teachers at Marianas High School, said that, so far, the CNMI has 300 teachers who have taken PRAXIS. He could not confirm, though, the breakdown on how many are PRAXIS I or II takers.

Waldo confirmed that the teachers who turned in their favorable PRAXIS test scores to his office have received at least $300 in refunds for passing both PRAXIS I and II. If the teachers also initially paid for their review classes, an additional $200 dollars are given them.