GES, KHS, MHS show encouraging PRAXIS results

As the deadline draws near for all public school teachers in the CNMI to pass the PRAXIS requirement, three schools have only encouraging results to show for faculty members who took the exam.

Garapan Elementary School, considered the largest elementary school in the Commonwealth with 870 students, has seen 50 percent of its teachers passing PRAXIS.

GES principal Yvonne Gomez said that, among her 42 teachers, 25 of them have already taken and passed PRAXIS 1. Fourteen GES teachers have also taken and passed PRAXIS 2 and two of their counselors have also taken and passed PRAXIS 1.

Gomez said these teachers have already submitted their results to her office. GES is keeping the central office posted on the status of the state certification requirement.

She said that her teachers are now realizing the importance of the certification and have shown a positive attitude toward it. “Teachers now have a very good outlook [on the test],” she said.

The PRAXIS tests form part of the U.S. Department of Education’s “Highly Qualified Teachers” requirement for all public school across the nation and its island territories.

At the Marianas High School, the largest public high school in the Commonwealth with more than 1,000 students, more than 50 percent of its 65 teachers have passed PRAXIS.

MHS principal Karen Borja said half of the total teachers in her school have passed PRAXIS 1 already but only 20 percent of the MHS teachers have passed PRAXIS 2.

Borja said the teachers have signed up for more reviews and certification tests. She said she is not worried about her school’s ability to meet the PRAXIS requirement this coming August, as she does not see any problem with the teachers meeting the requirement by that time.

She and fellow administrators and teachers have been encouraging the teachers to comply with the requirement. She said she told her faculty not to worry about the consequence of failing the exams yet. “I told them not to look at the ‘what ifs’ but let’s look at that when the time comes,” Borja said.

Kagman High School, the second largest high school with 839 students enrolled this school year, also showed positive results in meeting the requirement.

Principal Doreen Tudela and vice principal Mary Pangelinan confirmed that, of the 41 teachers at KHS, 10 have completed PRAXIS 1 while seven took and passed PRAXIS 2.

Tudela said 23 other teachers have signed up to take the PRAXIS 1 and 2 in March. Tudela said her teachers have been very cooperative in terms of complying with the state requirement.

The principal said her teachers are concerned about the fees in taking the test, but the PSS, in recent reports, said it would reimburse the teachers once they submit the results of their tests to the central office.

Tudela’s only observation is that some teachers who have not taken any exams in 15 years are finding it hard to cope with the review process “because they are not up-to-date with the learning practices now.”

The central office 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.

According to reports, the CNMI will lose at least $10 million worth of federal assistance if the PSS fails to meet this nationwide requirement.