Praxis Health and Physical Education Online Center
This Praxis Health and Physical Education Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
Praxis Health and PE Practice Center
Take a full form, then read the explanation under every question you missed. This is really two tests in one, roughly 58 health questions and 72 physical education questions, and most candidates are noticeably stronger in one than the other. Score the halves separately.
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Praxis Health and Physical Education at a glance
This is a combined certification test and the split is roughly 45 percent health and 55 percent physical education, about 58 questions and 72. Candidates almost always come in strong on one side and thin on the other, usually because their degree emphasized one. The other thing to plan around is scheduling: unlike most Praxis tests, this one is not available continuously.
| Test code | 5857 (Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge) |
|---|---|
| Status | Current. |
| Number of questions | 130 selected-response questions. There is no constructed response. |
| Time limit | 130 minutes, so one minute per question |
| Availability | Not continuous. ETS schedules this test in windows across roughly six months of the year, so check the current schedule before you plan a date. |
| The split | ETS states approximately 58 health questions and 72 physical education questions. |
| Format | Computer-delivered, at a test centre or at home |
| Score scale | 100 to 200 |
| Passing score | ETS does not set one. Each state sets its own qualifying score. |
| What it is aligned to | SHAPE America teaching standards. |
ETS publishes counts and percentages for all five categories, and the first two are the health half while the last three are the physical education half. That is the split worth planning around: about 45 percent health and 55 percent physical education. ETS also names the sports it expects familiarity with, including basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball, and it names the data sources it draws on, including the CDC, the WHO, and SHAPE America.
The five categories, in plain language
ETS lists each category and the topics under it. Here is what each one asks of you.
The health half (about 58 questions, 45 percent)
Categories I and II: what health teachers must know and how they teach it.
- Anatomy, physiology, and body systems
- Nutrition and healthy eating
- Communicable and chronic disease prevention
- Substance use and its effects
- Mental and emotional health
- Sexual health at an age-appropriate level
- Safety, injury prevention, and first aid
- Consumer and community health
- Planning, delivering, and assessing health instruction
The physical education half (about 72 questions, 55 percent)
Categories III, IV and V: movement, fitness, and teaching them.
- Motor development and skill themes
- Movement concepts and biomechanics
- Exercise physiology and the body’s response to activity
- Health-related and skill-related fitness components
- Training principles, including FITT and overload
- The named sports and their rules and strategies
- Assessment in physical education
- Class organization, safety, and liability
- Adapted physical education and inclusion
A study routine for a combined certification test
One minute per question across two different subjects. The whole game is finding out early which half is your weak one, because that is where all the recoverable points are.
Complete topic map
Every topic ETS lists under the five categories, weighted the way the test is weighted.
Health Education as a Discipline / Health Instruction (20 percent, about 26 questions)
- 01Apply the major health behavior theories, including stages of change, behavioral change theory, the transtheoretical model, and the health belief model
- 02Interpret health-related data gathered using appropriate research methods
- 03Identify valid and reliable data sources and databases, including YRBSS, NIH, CDC, SHAPE America, AMA, WHO, and peer-reviewed journals
- 04Use tools for conducting a school health needs assessment, including a comprehensive school health plan, surveys, needs assessments, and the WSCC model
- 05Select curricular and extracurricular programs that address identified student health needs
- 06Select appropriate educational materials from professional organizations that meet the needs of diverse audiences
- 07Identify the resources and components involved in the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model
- 08Communicate effectively with school staff, students, parents, and the community
- 09Apply professional, legal, and ethical practices when handling sensitive health issues
- 10Apply models for responsible decision making
- 11Apply concepts of character education
- 12Apply knowledge of physical growth and development
- 13Pursue continuing education and professional development as a health educator
- 14Assess the learning needs of individuals and of diverse groups
Health Education Content (25 percent, about 32 questions)
- 15Explain disease etiology, prevention practices, treatment, and management
- 16Distinguish communicable from noncommunicable diseases
- 17Apply research on practices that prevent chronic and communicable disease
- 18Apply goal setting and decision making toward healthy lifestyles
- 19Apply concepts of physical fitness and health-related fitness, including body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and the FITT principle
- 20Apply knowledge of nutrition
- 21Apply stress management and coping skills
- 22Identify ways to reduce and prevent health risks
- 23Apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and the interrelationships among body systems
- 24Apply knowledge of personal hygiene
- 25Identify behaviors that can compromise health or safety
- 26Explain the relationship between lifestyle choices and health outcomes
- 27Explain the physiological, psychological, legal, and societal effects of substance use and abuse
- 28Apply care for injuries and sudden illness, including first aid, CPR, AED use, and activating emergency medical services
Content Knowledge and Student Growth and Development (Physical Education) (17 percent, about 22 questions)
- 29Apply the terminology, principles, concepts, and applications of the basic sciences related to motor skills and movement activities, including anatomy and physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics and kinesiology, motor development, and motor learning
- 30Apply principles of biomechanics and kinesiology to motor skills and movement patterns
- 31Apply movement concepts, including body awareness, spatial awareness, effort, and relationship
- 32Apply exercise physiology, including the components of health-related fitness, the components of skill-related fitness, fitness guidelines, principles of exercise, the roles of body systems in exercise, the short-term and long-term effects of physical training, nutrition as it relates to exercise, and metabolic response to exercise
- 33Apply anatomy and physiology of the skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems
- 34Recognize current and historical trends, issues, and developments in physical education
- 35Apply the rules, strategies, skills, techniques, and concepts associated with a variety of movement activities and games, with ETS naming an emphasis on basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball
- 36Apply liability and legal considerations for equipment use, class organization, supervision, and program selection
- 37Explain the effects of substance abuse on student performance, health, and behavior
- 38Sequence developmentally appropriate learning and practice opportunities based on stages of growth and motor development
- 39Monitor individual and group performance to design safe instruction that meets developmental needs
- 40Judge developmental readiness to learn and refine motor skills and movement patterns
- 41Apply the role of perception in motor development
- 42Deliver instruction that is appropriate and effective given students’ cultures, ethnicities, personal values, family structures, and community values
Management, Motivation, and Communication / Collaboration, Reflection, and Technology (22 percent, about 29 questions)
- 43Apply principles of classroom management that create effective learning experiences in the activity setting
- 44Account for the psychological and social factors that affect individual learning, group learning, participation, cooperation, and performance
- 45Organize, allocate, and manage resources so that learning experiences are active and equitable
- 46Motivate students to participate in physical activity both in school and outside of school
- 47Promote positive relationships, encourage responsible personal and social behavior, and establish a productive learning environment
- 48Develop and use an effective behavior management plan
- 49Use effective verbal and nonverbal communication in a variety of physical activity settings
- 50Give specific and appropriate instructional feedback that supports skill acquisition, learning, and motivation
- 51Communicate classroom management and instructional information in more than one way
- 52Communicate with respect and consideration for students, colleagues, and parents
- 53Recognize current educational issues that cross subject matter boundaries
- 54Integrate knowledge and skills from other subject areas into physical education
- 55Establish productive relationships with school colleagues, administrators, parents and guardians, community members, and organizations to support student growth and well-being
- 56Promote a variety of opportunities for physical activity in the school and the community
Planning, Instruction, and Student Assessment (Physical Education) (16 percent, about 21 questions)
- 57Teach skillful movement, physical activity, and fitness drawing on pedagogy, sociology, psychology, anatomy and physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics and kinesiology, motor development, and motor learning
- 58Sequence motor skill activities and use movement concepts and effective strategies to improve learning
- 59Provide feedback that sharpens skill development
- 60Design activities that improve health-related fitness and skill-related fitness
- 61Account for current issues, trends, and laws that affect the choice of appropriate physical education activities
- 62Identify, develop, and implement appropriate program and instructional goals and objectives
- 63Develop unit plans and lesson plans based on local, state, and national standards
- 64Select instructional strategies that facilitate learning in the physical activity setting
- 65Use teaching resources and curriculum materials to design learning experiences
- 66Use explanations, demonstrations, and appropriate instructional cues and prompts to link physical activity concepts to learning experiences
- 67Apply general and specific safety and injury prevention guidelines when planning movement and fitness activities
- 68Assess student skill performance and fitness using a variety of tools, including observations, data, charts, graphs, and rating scales
- 69Gather data and assess student learning in the cognitive and affective domains
- 70Apply knowledge of fitness assessments, including the Presidential Youth Fitness Program and FITNESSGRAM
Before test day
Do not let the stronger half hide the weaker one. A candidate who scores well on physical education and poorly on health can end up close to the line without ever noticing, because the total looks respectable. Score the halves separately every time you practise. And be exact about the training principles: overload, progression, and specificity are different ideas, and the distractors are written for candidates who treat them as interchangeable.
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Praxis Health and Physical Education: study questions
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