How to Pass the Praxis Reading Test

Why the Praxis Reading Test Is Different

Let's cut to it. The Praxis reading test isn't your typical reading comprehension exercise. You're not just reading a passage and answering "what happened?" You're dealing with passages specifically crafted to confuse, distract, and make you second-guess yourself.

ETS - the company that writes the Praxis - has spent decades perfecting the art of the plausible wrong answer. Every incorrect option on the reading test is designed to look correct. Sort of correct. Almost correct. And that "almost" is where most test-takers lose their points.

Here's the thing most praxis reading study guides won't tell you: reading more doesn't help. If you can read a college-level textbook, you have enough reading ability to pass this test. What you probably don't have is a systematic method for attacking ETS-style reading questions. That's what separates people who pass from people who keep scoring just below the cutoff.

And if you've been using praxis reading practice tests as your main prep tool? They're useful - but only if you're practicing with strategy, not just grinding through questions and hoping the repetition sticks. Practice without strategy is just expensive frustration.

Which Praxis Reading Test Do You Need?

Before we get into strategy, let's make sure you know exactly which praxis reading test you're up against. Because there are several, and they're genuinely different exams.

Not sure which one your state requires? Check with your certification office. But regardless of which praxis reading test you're taking, the strategic principles we cover here apply. ETS writes all of these exams, and they use the same patterns across the board.

How to Pass Praxis Core Reading (5713)

The praxis core reading passing score varies by state - usually somewhere between 150 and 162. That might sound like a narrow target, but here's the encouraging part: you don't need to get every question right. Not even close. You need a strategic approach that maximizes the questions you do get right while minimizing time wasted on the ones designed to trip you up.

This test gives you roughly 90 seconds per question. Sounds like enough, right? It's not - if you're reading every passage from start to finish before looking at the questions. That's the single biggest time-killer we see. And it's completely avoidable.

Wild concept, right? Read the questions first. It sounds almost too simple. But it transforms the entire experience. Instead of passively absorbing a passage and then trying to remember relevant details, you're actively hunting for specific information. Your brain locks onto what matters and filters out the rest.

Students who adopt this one praxis reading strategy alone typically shave 15-20 minutes off their total test time. That's 15-20 minutes you can redistribute to the harder questions. If you've been running out of time on praxis core reading, this is probably why. Check out our complete guide to passing the Praxis Core for strategies across all three subtests.

How to Pass the Teaching Reading Praxis (5205)

If the Core Reading test measures whether you can read, the Teaching Reading praxis measures whether you can teach someone else to read. Totally different beast. And honestly? This is the one that surprises people the most. Students who breezed through their reading coursework suddenly hit a wall when the praxis 5205 asks them to apply that knowledge in clinical scenarios.

The teaching reading praxis is heavily rooted in the science of reading - phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. If those terms make your eyes glaze over, you're not alone. But here's what matters for test day: ETS tests these concepts in predictable patterns.

And then there are the constructed-response questions. Three of them. They're worth a significant chunk of your score, and they're where most people either pull ahead or fall behind. You'll typically get a student scenario - reading level data, work samples, maybe some assessment results - and you need to write a response analyzing the student's needs and recommending instructional strategies.

The constructed responses aren't about writing beautifully. They're about demonstrating that you can think like a reading specialist. ETS uses rubrics, and if you match the rubric criteria, you score well. It's that straightforward - once you know what they're looking for.

Praxis Foundations of Reading: What You Need to Know

The praxis foundations of reading exam (5206) overlaps significantly with the 5205, but it zooms in on the foundational skills - the building blocks that make reading possible in the first place. Think of it as the "before fluency" exam. Print concepts, phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, early decoding.

If you're prepping for this one, the good news is that the content is more focused than the 5205. The challenging news? ETS expects depth, not breadth. You can't just know what phonemic awareness is - you need to know the developmental progression, how to assess it at different stages, and what intervention looks like when a student is struggling.

But here's what stays constant across every reading praxis test: the way ETS writes their questions. They love the "which would be MOST appropriate" framing. They love giving you four good-sounding answers where only one matches the developmental stage described in the scenario. And they really love testing whether you know the difference between assessment types.

The praxis reading tips that work for Core Reading and Teaching Reading work here too - just applied to different content. Read questions first. Eliminate extreme language. Look for the answer that's most developmentally appropriate for the student described. Don't overthink it. If you've been through an education program that covered the science of reading, you know this material. You just need to learn how to show ETS that you know it.

5 Praxis Reading Strategies That Actually Work

Forget the generic praxis reading tips you've been seeing everywhere. "Read carefully." "Get enough sleep." Great advice for life, useless advice for beating ETS. These are the strategies that change scores.

1. The Strategic Scan

Stop reading passages word-for-word. Seriously. For the praxis core reading test, you don't need to absorb every detail of every passage. You need to find specific information fast. Here's the method:

• Read questions first: Spend 30 seconds scanning all the questions for a passage before reading a single word of the text
• Identify question types: Detail questions, main idea questions, inference questions, vocabulary-in-context questions - each gets a different approach
• Scan with purpose: Now read the passage looking for the specific information the questions are asking about
• Mark key locations: Note where you found relevant information so you can verify your answers quickly

2. The Evidence Rule

This single praxis reading strategy eliminates more wrong answers than any other technique. The rule is simple: if you can't point to specific text that supports your answer, it's probably wrong.

ETS loves creating answers that "feel right" based on general knowledge or common sense. But the correct answer on a reading comprehension test is always - always - supported by something in the passage. When you're torn between two options, go back to the text. The one with direct evidence wins. Every time. Students who internalize this rule see their praxis reading scores jump immediately.

3. Elimination Over Selection

Don't pick the right answer. Eliminate the wrong ones. It sounds like the same thing, but it's genuinely not. When you try to pick the right answer, you're comparing four options simultaneously - and your brain gets overwhelmed. When you eliminate wrong answers one at a time, you're making simpler decisions.

For praxis reading questions specifically, wrong answers typically fall into recognizable categories: too extreme (uses "always" or "never"), too broad (goes beyond what the passage actually says), partially correct (true statement that doesn't answer this specific question), or reversed (flips the relationship described in the passage). Get in the habit of labeling why each answer is wrong before selecting your final choice.

4. The Two-Pass System

Running out of time on the praxis reading test is a strategy failure, not a speed failure. The two-pass system fixes it:

5. Know the Question Types Cold

Every praxis reading question falls into one of a handful of categories. And each category has a best approach:

• Main idea: First and last paragraphs usually tell you everything. The correct answer is broad enough to cover the whole passage but specific enough to not be vague
• Detail/factual: The answer is literally in the passage. Find it. Point to it. If you can't point to it, you've got the wrong answer
• Inference: The trickiest type. The answer isn't stated directly but must be logically supported by what IS stated. Stay close to the text - don't make big leaps
• Vocabulary in context: The word probably has multiple meanings. The correct answer is the meaning that fits THIS passage, not the most common definition
• Author's purpose/tone: Look for clue words - adjectives, qualifying phrases, rhetorical choices. The author's tone is almost never "neutral" on the Praxis; there's always a lean

Common Mistakes That Tank Your Reading Score

We've worked with hundreds of students preparing for the praxis reading test. The same mistakes come up over and over. And they're almost never about not knowing how to read.

Your Praxis Reading Study Plan

Whether you've got weeks or just days before your test date, here's how to structure your praxis reading test prep for maximum impact. Notice something? We're not telling you to read more books. We're telling you to practice strategy.

Seven days. That's it. And honestly, if you're working with us directly, we compress this into 48 hours because we can customize the approach based on your specific score patterns and weaknesses. But even on your own, a focused week of strategy practice beats months of content review. For more study tips, check out our guide on how to study for the Praxis.

Praxis Reading Passing Scores by State

One of the most confusing parts of the whole Praxis experience is figuring out what score you actually need. The praxis reading passing score isn't universal - it varies by state and by exam. Here's a general overview, but always confirm with your state's department of education.

For Praxis Core Reading (5713), most states set the bar between 150 and 162. That's a scaled score, not a raw percentage - so don't try to calculate "how many questions do I need right" by simple division. The scaling accounts for question difficulty, and ETS doesn't publish the exact conversion.

What we can tell you: you don't need a perfect score. You don't even need to get 80% of questions right for most states. The praxis core reading passing score is achievable - genuinely achievable - with strategic preparation. Students who learn our approach typically score well above the minimum threshold. Not because they suddenly became better readers, but because they stopped leaving easy points on the table.

Need state-specific guidance? We've got detailed breakdowns for New Jersey, Louisiana, Utah, Tennessee, and New York. Each page covers the specific praxis requirements for that state, including which reading tests are required and exactly what score you need.

Frequently Asked Questions