The sessions are being held at Garapan Elementary School every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 noon for Praxis I, and at Oleai Elementary School every Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. for Praxis II.
“Every Saturday morning from here on to July we are going to have Praxis seminars. The first two hours will be language arts and the second two hours from 10 to 12 will be math. The Friday sessions don’t start until this week,” said Steve Smith, language arts coordinator from the PSS central office.
He conducts the Praxis seminars at Garapan Elementary School with Bryan Torres, math coordinator for PSS central office; Richard Waldo, former finance director for PSS and now Saipan Southern High School teacher; and Leila Staffler, language arts teacher from Kagman High School.
“We have materials that have been purchased for these seminars. We have experienced teachers to conduct the training,” Smith.
PSS aims to have only highly qualified teachers and personnel to have a better educational system, enhance their teaching skills and content knowledge, and comply with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 so it can continue to receive federal education grants.
Commissioner on Education Rita A. Sablan wants to keep all the teachers and get them certified.
“Because of the NCLB Act we are mandated to have professional certification and professional examination showing competency in content areas,” Smith said.
Praxis I measures basic academic skills while Praxis II tests general and subject-specific knowledge and teaching skills.
If a teacher is not Praxis certified by Aug. 2011, he will not be allowed to teach in CNMI public schools.
