Preparing educators for today’s classrooms requires more than ensuring they understand content. Across the field, there is growing recognition that effective teaching depends on a combination of knowledge, dispositions, professional skills, and the ability to adapt in dynamic environments shaped by technology and changing student needs. 

Praxis Foundations reflects this shift. It is a new approach to educator readiness designed to help educator preparation programs, school districts, and alternative pathways better understand and support what it means for candidates to be truly ready to teach. 

A Broader View of Educator Readiness 

Traditionally, readiness has been defined narrowly through measures of basic academic skills. While reading, writing, and mathematics remain essential, they represent only part of what educators need to succeed. 

Praxis Foundations was designed to expand that definition. It brings together multiple dimensions of readiness into a single, integrated experience—one that recognizes that teaching requires not only knowledge, but also judgment, collaboration, and adaptability. 

Rather than asking whether a candidate can pass a test, this approach asks a different question: Are they prepared to succeed in the complex, real-world environments where teaching happens? 

Four Integrated Components for Stronger Teacher Preparation.  

Praxis Foundations is organized around four components, each focused on a critical aspect of readiness. 

• Academic Content Modules support the development of essential academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. These modules are designed as guided learning experiences with embedded knowledge checks, helping candidates strengthen key skills and identify areas for growth early in their preparation journey. 
• Praxis Personal Skills and Qualities (PSQ) Inventory focuses on professional dispositions. It provides insight into characteristics such as collaboration, dependability, composure, and resourcefulness—traits that are consistently linked to success in teaching and other helping professions. By offering a common language for discussing these traits, PSQ supports coaching, reflection, and candidate development. 
• Durable Skills Simulations shift the focus from what candidates know to how they apply what they know. Through scenario-based experiences, candidates engage in realistic situations that require communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. These simulations provide a window into how candidates navigate complex interactions and make decisions in context. 
• AdaptAI Assessment introduces another important dimension: AI literacy. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in education, educators need to understand not only how to use these tools, but how to evaluate them and apply them responsibly. AdaptAI focuses on these skills through scenario-based tasks that reflect real instructional and professional situations. 

Looking Beyond Academic Content to Educator Success

Together, these components create a more complete picture of educator readiness. While Praxis Foundations includes attention to foundational academic skills, it intentionally goes further by capturing areas that have historically been more difficult to measure. 

This broader approach reflects what research and practice have made clear: success in teaching depends on the interaction of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Communication, collaboration, adaptability, and professional judgment are not “extra”—they are essential. 

It also reflects the realities of today’s classrooms, where educators are expected to integrate technology thoughtfully, respond to diverse student needs, and work collaboratively within schools and communities. 

Supporting Teacher Development Across the Educator Pipeline 

One of the strengths of Praxis Foundations is its flexibility. It is designed to support candidates and educators across multiple entry points into the profession. 

Educator preparation programs can use it to gain earlier insight into candidate readiness and provide more targeted support. School districts can use it to better understand strengths and needs as educators enter the workforce and to inform induction and professional learning. Alternative route programs can use it to provide structured, developmental support for candidates coming from nontraditional pathways. 

In each of these contexts, the goal is not simply to evaluate readiness, but to support it—using insights to guide growth over time. 

Research-Based Design Aligned to Teaching Standards

Praxis Foundations is aligned to widely recognized frameworks that define effective teaching and workforce readiness. These include the InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards, which articulate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions expected of educators, as well as O*NET education-related profiles that identify traits associated with success in teaching roles. 

This alignment helps ensure that the insights generated through Praxis Foundations are relevant, research-informed, and meaningful for programs, districts, and candidates alike. 

 A More Complete Picture of the Educator 

At its core, Praxis Foundations is about seeing the whole candidate. By bringing together academic skills, dispositions, durable skills, and AI literacy, it offers a more complete and actionable understanding of readiness. 

For the field, this represents an important shift: from measuring isolated skills to understanding how those skills come together in practice. For candidates, it offers clearer feedback and more opportunities for growth. And for institutions, it provides better information to support the development of effective, confident educators. 

As educator preparation continues to evolve, approaches like Praxis Foundations point toward a future where readiness is not defined by a single measure, but by a richer, more authentic view of what it means to teach well.