Praxis II Art Making 0131 Exam

Planning to teach Art K-12? Your licensing state may require that you take the PRAXIS II Art Making exam (0131). The PRAXIS II Art Making test is a one-hour exam that has two parts, a “Documentation of Personal Art Making” section and a “Working Knowledge of Basic Art Concepts and Techniques of Art Making” section. The former contains two essay questions; the latter contains two exercises. Each essay question evaluates your ability to thoughtfully and thoroughly discuss two pieces of your own work. The exercises test your mastery of basic concepts in art.

Documentation of Personal Art Making

To successfully complete the essay portion of the PRAXIS II Art Making test, you must bring copies of four pieces of own artwork (in a minimum of two different media) to the test. They must be at least 4x6 inches in size, and they must be in color. The essay prompts require that you discuss two of these pieces, each in different media. Topics may include theme, technical considerations, processes, underlying concepts, and influences, among other things.

Your responses on this section of the PRAXIS II Art Making exam will be assessed on a 0-5 scale. Combined, they make up 76 percent of the total test grade. If you don’t answer a question or your answer is off-topic, you’ll receive a zero. Illogical and/or incomplete responses will score a one. Those that use art terminology incorrectly, show little understanding, and/or have insufficient detail will receive a two. Answers that are adequate and contain sufficient detail earn a three. If you use art terms accurately and your response is detailed, in depth, and insightful, you’ll score a four. To earn a five, your essay answer must be highly insightful and thorough, and you must use art terms extensively throughout it.

Working Knowledge of Basic Art Concepts and Techniques of Art Making

You must also complete two 5-minute exercises worth 24 percent of the PRAXIS II Art Making test score. Each tests your ability to describe and/or demonstrate understanding of the basic techniques and skills involved in printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, drawing, painting, crafts, and/or digital media. Each of your answers will be graded on a scale of 0-3. To earn a three, your response must be detailed, accurate, and insightful. You must successfully use art terminology, too. To score a two, must use correct terminology as well, and you must demonstrate that you have a good grasp of the subject matter. Undeveloped answers that may contain misused term receive ones. Off-topic or inaccurate answers receive zeroes.