ATLANTA — The Southern Regional Education Board is partnering with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to help teachers in 16 Southern states prepare for the Praxis™ tests by taking practice mini-tests on SREB’s dedicated Web site for teachers, TheTeacherCenter.org. Many states use The Praxis Series™ Assessments as part of their teaching licensing certification process.
The first of the mini-tests was announced by Louisiana Governor and SREB Chair Kathleen Babineaux Blanco at the SREB Annual Meeting today. A sampling of items from the full test, it helps teachers prepare for test 0014 — Elementary Education Content Knowledge. Others mini-tests will follow in groups of five, beginning in July, said Bruce Chaloux, director of SREB’s Electronic Campus, the nation’s most comprehensive distance-learning marketplace, which includes TheTeacherCenter.org.
By accessing TheTeacherCenter.org, teachers can take the ETS Praxis II Elementary Education Content Knowledge mini-test to assess their current knowledge of four major subject areas: language arts/reading, mathematics, social studies and science at the primary through upper elementary school grades.
TheTeacherCenter.org also gives teachers instant access to hundreds of online programs and courses, professional development resources, financial aid and scholarship opportunities, licensure and certification information, and more. In addition to the mini-tests, an awareness campaign for the improved and expanded Web site kicks off in July. SREB will distribute posters promoting the site to teachers in about 30,000 public schools in the 16 SREB states, among other activities.
“ETS is proud to be a part of TheTeacherCenter.org,” says Senior Vice President and General Manager of ETS’ Higher Education Division Mari Pearlman. “Providing resources to help states license teachers and provide them with opportunities for growth is among the most important work conducted at ETS. We are so pleased to be able to give teacher candidates the opportunity to experience a slice of the licensure tests they will eventually take.”
ETS and SREB share an important mission to advance education quality and help teachers teach more effectively.
The Educational Testing Service is a private, nonprofit organization devoted to educational measurement and research, primarily through testing. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, it develops and administers millions of achievement and admissions tests each year in the U.S. and 180 other countries.
For more information about the mini-tests, contact SREB Communications or e-mail Bruce Chaloux, director of the Electronic Campus, at bruce.chaloux@sreb.org.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
