What is the Praxis PLT 5623?
The Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) 5623 Middle Grades 5-9 is a middle school exam designed to assess a candidate's knowledge and competency in general pedagogical skills necessary for beginning teachers.
It is a part of the Praxis Series, a set of examinations provided by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) used for licensure and certification processes by many state education agencies in the United States.
The PLT 5623 exam usually covers several areas: students as learners, instructional process, assessment, professional development, and school-community involvement.
It uses selected-response questions and constructed-response questions based on case histories. It also covers teaching scenarios based on the middle school classroom.
This is one of several exams states use to certify their early childhood teachers.
What does the Praxis PLT 5623 Consist of?
The test has a range of questions on education theory, best practices in classroom management, content-area reading instruction, differentiation for students who struggle, professional development, assessment, and major laws in education.
In addition, the PLT 5623 questions focus on scenarios having to do with middle school grades 5-9. The five main categories are:
- Students as Learners
- Instructional Process
- Assessment
- Professional Development, Leadership, and Community
- Analysis of Instructional Scenarios (Constructed Response)
- Students as Learners
- Instructional Process
- Assessment
- Professional Development, Leadership, and Community
The first four categories are selected-response (multiple-choice). The last content category–Analysis of Instructional Practice–is the constructed-response section.
Notice the constructed-response portion pulls from the four content categories of the exam. Therefore, be prepared for constructed-response questions that cover all the categories of the exam.
*The selected-response section is worth 75% of the overall score, while the constructed-response questions are worth 25% of the overall score. Therefore, you will want to be strong in both categories.*
What is the passing score for the Praxis PLT 5623?
Most states require at least a 160 to pass this subtest. This score is a combined score that includes the selected-response questions and the constructed-response questions.
How many questions are in the Praxis PLT 5623?
The Praxis PLT 5623 has approximately 70 selected-response and four constructed-response questions. You will have two hours to complete the exam. Most states require at least a 160 to pass this exam.
Many of the selected-response questions are scenario-based, meaning you will have to evaluate a classroom situation and choose the best approach. Here is an example of a selected-response question for the PLT 5623. This is taken from the ETS Study Companion for the PLT 5623.
Daryl, a sixth-grader, receives a score report from a standardized mathematics test taken by his entire sixth-grade class that includes both a grade-equivalent score and a national percentile rank. Daryl’s grade-equivalent score is 8.2. His national percentile rank is 87. Daryl’s grade-equivalent score indicates that which of the following is true?
- Daryl did as well on his test as an average eighth-grade student in the second month of school would do on an eighth-grade test
- Daryl can do the mathematics expected of an average eighth-grader who is in the second month of the school year
- Daryl may well encounter difficulties in the later stages of the eighth-grade mathematics curriculum
- Daryl did as well on this test as an average eighth-grader in the second month of school would do on the same test
Correct Answer: D
Answer Explanation: A grade-equivalent score is a score that compares the raw score attained on a test by the individual student to the raw score attained by the average student in the norm group for the particular test and then reports the grade and month level of that norm group comparison. In this case, Daryl’s raw score was equivalent to the average raw score of all eighth graders in the second month of school who were part of the norm group. The first number in a grade equivalent score is the grade level. In this case, that is 8th grade. The second number, .2, is the month of the year the student is in. In this case, that’s the second month.
Quick Tip: The term “percentile” indicates a norm reference exam, which leads to the words “norm group” in answer choice D.
You can see that this question is quite challenging. That’s why it’s important to prepare for this exam, using materials that cover these concepts.
My Praxis PLT exam had more than 70 questions on it. Why?
Please understand that you may have several additional questions on your test. ETS, the company that makes the exam, will often field test new items on the exams. You will never know which test items count toward your score and which items are being field tested. You can learn more about this HERE.
Field testing items is common practice in the testing industry. Therefore, if you see a couple more questions on your exam, don’t panic. Just answer all the questions on your test.
The best ways to pass the Praxis PLT 5623
Everyone is different in terms of how they want to prepare for the exam. People have different strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important you choose the right program for you. The following are a few resources you can consider when preparing for this test.
The ETS Study Companion
The first and most important thing you can do to pass your Praxis PLT test is to review the test structure and content on the test by examining the test specifications in the Praxis PLT 5623 Study Companion. This document is developed by ETS and shows you everything you are responsible for on the exam. It even has practice test questions similar to what you will see on test day.
Study Guides
Beyond that, most people prefer to use a study guide with practice tests to prepare for the exam.
Our Praxis PLT study guide is fully aligned with the test specifications and blueprint outlined in the ETS Study Companion. It also has hundreds of practice test questions for each subtest and content category, so you are fully prepared for the exam.
Online Courses
For those who need additional support, online courses that come with tutorial videos and practice are helpful. We have a comprehensive, self-paced online course with hours of videos that will help you pass the Praxis PLT 5623 exam.
How many questions do you need to get right to pass?
It is difficult to predict exactly how many questions you must get correct to pass the Praxis 5001 because a scale score is used rather than a raw score. This means that your raw score—the number of questions you get correct—is put into a formula to calculate a scale score.
To keep things simple, we recommend scoring at least a 75% on the practice tests before you go in to take the exam. Getting 75% of the questions correct when you practice indicates you are ready to take the actual test.
Remember, each section of the exam is scored separately.
Free resources for the Praxis PLT
There are many free resources you can use to pass the exam. Our PLT Playlist on our YouTube Channel is packed full of videos to help you with all the foundational skills tested on the exam. You might also want to check out our free Praxis PLT webinar, which includes prep for the 5623. It comes with a free study guide, test strategy tips, and more. Just fill out this form and you will gain access to all of that.