The following is a lot of information pieced together by Marie Kelsey
You need to take 10310 (School Library Media Specialist).
The exam is being given on ??? Go to: (www.ets.org/praxis/prxtest.html)
1. Scroll down to find the library media specialist exam price and practice exam.
2. KNOW THE ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE QUESTIONS. SOMEONE SAID THEY ARE ON THE ACTUAL TEST.
3. Click on Registration on the left (Praxis II) to find out about dates and places.
4. REGISTER EARLY. I've heard that tests have been closing because of room capacity.
5. Be prepared for some confusion if you run into any problems. ETS is
overwhelmed and is not responding to issues as one might wish.
6. Don't lose your score when it comes to you in the mail, because ETS
has been very inconsistent with what they send us. Many times the media
test scores do not come to us. If that happens in your case, I'll ask
you to send me your copy.
7. There's a place in the exam for you to indicate College of St. Scholastica as the receiving institution for your score.
BE SURE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS DISCUSSION BOARD from East Carolina Unniversity.
http://attila.net.ecu.edu/talk/ltdi/comments/praxis/
You will find a lot of really helpful information.
Read the Woolls textbook for review. I recall a question on the
practice media specialist exam that sounded like it came directly from
Woolls.
Study the ALA website closely. www.ala.org Probably especially
the American Association of School Librarians portion of the ALA
website. But other things as well, especially all the material about
library rights and right to read.
These are some things to know about (past test-takers have told me):
The censorship court cases: Pico vs. Island Trees, Tinker vs. Des Moines, Hazelwood vs.
Kuhlmeier, and Annie on My Mind. You can find something on all of these
in the Internet at large I would think. Or you might have articles from
the Collection Development course.
Bloom's taxonomy, especially the higher end such as synthesizing and
organizing. Find that on the Internet somewhere and read up on it
a little.
I'd look at the Loertscher Taxonomy also.
Things about ways of learning such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic,
tactile and interpersonal vs intrapersonal. (Don't ask me where to find
this information!!)
Keith Curry Lance and the state studies. Look on the Internet. You'll
find something. Remember the Colorado study? Be sure you can recognize
this man's name and what he's famous for.
David Loertscher and the Bird Units. Loertscher is the one with the
Taxonomy of media specialist involvement with teachers and units. Look
him up in Library Lit and find out what the deal is with the Bird
units. He has advice on how to stop doing units like this and assign
more meaningful projects to your students.
What organization is responsible for Information Power. (the author of the book) Know Information Power content well.
All kinds of acronyms, such as ALA, AACR2R, AASL, and AECT. You can find these easily enough.
The Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read (look at the ALA
website for Freedom to Read, look at your Van Orden textbook for
Library Bill of Rights)
Think through all the various possibilities for types of information: Internet,
encyclopedias, pamphlet file (also called the Vertical File), almanacs,
subscription databases, etc. and be prepared to answer questions
concerning what resource would answer a certain type of question best.
The Communications Decency Act (the CDA) and CIPA (Children's Internet
Protection Act). Know what those are. You can find some fulltext
articles in either Library Lit. or Wilson education that will bring you
up to speed on these.
Sample questions: http://www.morgan.k12.ga.us/MCHS/newlms/samplepraxis.htm
More hints: http://academics.css.edu/edm/PraxisHints.html
From a former EDM student (May 2006):
1. Do not spend too much time re-reading text books that you have
already read. Most of the questions coming from these are general and
you have covered the material time and again in assignments. Instead,
focus on the little details that you may have forgotten.
2. Set up a notebook and divide it into the following sections: General
Media Info, Best Teaching Practices, Awards, Organizations,
Bibliographic Materials and Resources, Authors and Genres, Court Cases
and Acronyms
3. Read through the above threads and put the information mentioned into
the above categories.
4. Make sure to study/include each of the following:
General Media Info: Flexible scheduling, Loertscher Taxonomy, Research
Methods (know the steps and the authors of the Big 6 and Pathways to
Inquiry), How to cite something, Dewey Decimal Divisions, Staff roles in
the media center (know the jobs descriptions and preferred training),
Boolean logic, encumbered expenses, COPPA, CIPA, CDA, Keith Curry Lance,
David Loertscher and bird units, MARC Records and main tags
Best Teaching Practices: Blooms Taxonomy (know levels and key words),
Gardners Multiple Intelligences (know intelligences and applicable
activities), Cooperative Learning (definition and grouping), Graphic
Organizers (uses and different types)
Awards: Know the names of all of the awards listed on the ALA website
and what they are given for.
Organizations: Know all of the media organizations (especially the
divisions of ALA as listed on the ALA website) and their acronyms.
Bibliographic Materials and Resources: Know well known bibliographic
materials and what they are best used for. Know well know book reviews,
what they are best used for and who publishes them. Know research
journals, what they are best used for and who publishes them.
Authors and Genres: Create a list of genres (making sure to include
things like folk tales, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, etc). Create a
list of authors and books that represent each of these genres.
Court Cases: Know Tinker vs. Des Moines, Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier, Annie
on my Mind, Pico vs. Island Trees, Bethel School Dist. Vs Frasier, and
Ashcroft vs. ACLU
Acronyms: Be familiar with as many acronyms as possible
*****
No one IN THE CSS PROGRAM has failed the test yet. 630 is passing. 990
is what's possible. The score to beat among CSS students is 790.
Marie