FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

PraxisPass is a Maryland Praxis exam preparation platform built for teacher certification candidates. It runs five integrated engines: the Exam Readiness Score (ERS), OODA wrong-answer recovery, Constructed Response Scorer, 25-Minute Daily Mission, and Retaker Recovery Protocol. Unlike content-only platforms, PraxisPass gives you a real-time readiness signal — it tells you when to book your exam.

ERS is a 0-100 composite score per exam, calculated from five dimensions: domain mastery (40%), study velocity (15%), consistency/streaks (15%), constructed response quality (20%, PLT only), and mock simulation results (10%). It updates after every question you answer.

PPS is the weighted average of all your active exam ERS scores. It represents your overall likelihood of passing on your scheduled test date. When PPS reaches 90% — sustained over a 7-day rolling average, with 2 or more passing mock simulations — PraxisPass triggers the Readiness Declaration.

The Readiness Declaration fires when two conditions are both met: (1) your PPS reaches 90% and stays there for 7 consecutive days, and (2) you have completed at least 2 passing mock exam simulations. When both conditions are met, PraxisPass displays the declaration banner and links you to the ETS registration portal.

PraxisPass covers all exams required for Maryland Initial Professional License certification, including: Praxis Core Reading (5713), Praxis Core Writing (5723), PLT Grades 7-12 (5624), PLT Grades K-6 (5623), PLT Early Childhood (5622), and all 21 CTE certification area content exams including Health Science, IT/Computer Science, Business, Agriculture, Family & Consumer Sciences, Visual Arts, Music, PE, Health Education, Special Education, Elementary, Middle School, Secondary ELA, Secondary Math, Secondary Sciences, School Counselor, Reading Specialist, ESOL, and Administration/Leadership.

OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. In PraxisPass, it is the mandatory wrong-answer recovery loop that fires on every incorrect answer. Observe: see your wrong answer next to the correct answer. Orient: identify the domain and subdomain (e.g., 'This tested Vygotsky's ZPD'). Decide: complete a minimum 15-second micro-lesson on the concept. Act: answer 3 follow-up questions — 2 of 3 must be correct to advance. There is no skip button, dismiss, or bypass.

No. The OODA loop is mandatory. There is no skip button, no dismiss button, no close button, and no bypass. Every wrong answer is a mandatory learning event. The exam doesn't offer skip buttons either.

Every session in PraxisPass is structured as a 25-minute mission: 60 seconds of briefing (target domain, current ERS, objective), 23 minutes of active study (questions from your weakest domain, OODA on every wrong answer), and a 60-second Win Report that declares a specific ERS movement. Sessions never end without a declared win.

The CR Scorer scores PLT 5624 constructed responses against the official ETS rubric. Submit your response by text or voice. The scorer evaluates 5 dimensions (0-3 each, 15 total): Purpose & Focus, Organization, Development & Support, Language Use, and Conventions. Full rubric score returned in under 10 seconds. CR scores count for 20% of your PLT ERS.

The Retaker protocol is for candidates who have already taken a Praxis exam and received their official ETS score report. Upload the PDF score report — the AI extracts your domain performance data, identifies the exact gaps below passing threshold, and builds a surgical 28-day recovery plan. You skip Phase 1 diagnostics and start directly at your gaps. Your ERS is initialized from your real score data, not from zero.

7403 is the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) score recipient code that must be selected every time you register for a Praxis exam at ETS. This code sends your official scores to MSDE automatically. If you forget to enter this code, you must pay a separate fee to have scores sent after the fact. PraxisPass reminds you of this code at every relevant touchpoint.

Gates are deadline checkpoints in your mission clock. Gate 1 is your proficiency check date (default: July 18, 2026). If your PPS reaches 85% on all active exams by Gate 1, you advance to booking an August exam sitting. Gate 2 (default: November 10, 2026) is the hard deadline — all exams must be sat by this date with no adjustment.

The dashboard domain heatmap shows all content domains for each active exam, color-coded by ERS score: red (0-59%), gold (60-79%), green (80-89%), blue (90-100%). Clicking any domain cell launches a mission targeting that domain.

The PraxisPass Float is a fixed-position AI coach that appears on every dashboard page except the active mission screen. It opens as a 56px navy circle with 'PP' in gold, expands to a 400px chat panel with quick-prompt chips: 'Quiz me on my weakest domain,' 'Score my CR response,' 'How far am I from passing?', 'What's my next mission?', 'Explain what I got wrong.' The Float is excluded from /dashboard/mission to prevent distraction during active study.

FERPA prohibits sharing individual student/employee academic records without consent. The PraxisPass Department dashboard shows only aggregate data for the cohort: average ERS per exam, total session count, active members count, and cohort average PPS. Individual names, scores, and user IDs are never returned by department-context queries. This is enforced at the database query layer — the app cannot return individual records in department context even if the UI was modified.

Maryland allows candidates who have earned a 3.0 or higher GPA on their most recently earned degree to apply for a waiver of the Praxis Core Reading (5713) and Core Writing (5723) exams through MSDE. This exemption requires MSDE approval and official transcript submission. Carlton A. James is not eligible for this exemption and must pass all exams without exception. PraxisPass presents this option during onboarding.

Maryland requires either the edTPA (for student teachers) or the PPAT Performance Assessment for teacher candidates as of July 1, 2025. There is no minimum score set by MSDE — the assessment is pass/fail based on portfolio submission standards. PraxisPass tracks PPAT as part of your exam stack. Phase 2 will include PPAT portfolio review and rubric scoring (coming after initial launch).

Praxis scores are valid for 10 years from the test date in Maryland. A score from a prior exam sitting may still be eligible for MSDE submission if it was earned within 10 years.

Maryland enforces a 28-day mandatory waiting period between Praxis exam attempts. A failed exam in late June cannot be retaken until late July at the earliest. PraxisPass displays a retake countdown when the Retaker protocol is active.

Yes. PraxisPass uses the Anthropic claude-sonnet-4-6 model exclusively for all AI features: mission briefings, OODA micro-lessons, Win Reports, CR scoring, Retaker recovery plan generation, and the PraxisPass Float AI coach. All Anthropic API calls run server-side only — the API key is never exposed to the browser.

No. PraxisPass is an independent platform built and operated by 25 Alpha LLC. PraxisPass is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Educational Testing Service (ETS), the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), or Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS). 'Praxis' is a registered trademark of ETS, used descriptively to identify the exam type.

PraxisPass collects account data (name, email), study session data (questions answered, scores, timing), ERS scores per domain, and constructed response submissions for scoring. Data is stored in a Neon PostgreSQL database. Clerk handles authentication — PraxisPass never stores passwords. See our Privacy Policy for full FERPA and data handling details.

Yes. Your individual ERS scores, session data, and question results are visible only to you. If your account is part of a department cohort, your DEPT_HEAD administrator can see aggregate cohort data only — not your individual scores. This is enforced at the database query level per FERPA requirements.

Create a free account at praxispass.app/sign-up. Complete the 6-step onboarding: select your certification area, confirm your exam stack, set your gate dates, complete a baseline diagnostic, configure your session cadence, and set notification preferences. Your ERS initializes immediately after the diagnostic.

The onboarding diagnostic presents 10 questions per active exam, drawn from all content domains. Your answers initialize your domain-level ERS scores. You are not graded or judged — the diagnostic exists to populate your starting ERS so the mission engine knows where to target first.

Yes. You can update your certification area from your Settings page. The CTE Pathway Router will reassign your exam stack, and your existing ERS data for unchanged exams is preserved. New exams in the updated stack will start at a baseline of 0 until you complete questions for them.

If you pass, you retain access to PraxisPass at your current plan level. Your session history, ERS data, and Win Reports remain accessible. If you do not pass, the Retaker Recovery Protocol activates — upload your official score report to begin the 28-day surgical recovery plan.

Your ERS updates after every question you answer. The update recalculates all five dimensions (domain mastery, velocity, consistency, CR score, mock score) and upserts the result to the database. Your Pass Probability Score and dashboard heatmap reflect the new value immediately.

PraxisPass is a progressive web application that runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile. The 25-minute mission interface is mobile-responsive. The Voice input for CR responses uses the Web Speech API — supported in Chrome, Edge, and Safari on iOS.

Email support@praxispass.app or use the contact form at praxispass.app/contact. Support response time target is 24 hours on business days.