The Praxis® Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge (5857) exam is a test used to evaluate the knowledge and skills of prospective entry-level K-12 health and physical education teachers.
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Exam Outline
This exam contains 130 selected-response questions and has a time limit of 130 minutes. There are several different forms of selected-response questions, any combination of which may appear on the exam:
- Single-selection multiple-choice
- Hot spot
- Drag-and-drop
- Numeric entry
- Drop-down
- Sentence selection
The exam is organized into two main parts, Health Education and Physical Education, and is further split into five content categories.
Health Education
The questions in this category are grouped into two areas:
Health Education as a Discipline
- Reliable and valid sources of data
- Appropriate educational materials that meet the needs of diverse groups
- Major health behavior theories
- Curricular and extracurricular programs for student health needs
- Health-related data
- Assessment tools for determining school health needs
- Professional, ethical, and legal practices
- Continuing education
- Effective communication
- Physical growth and development
- Character education
Health Instruction
- Aligning curriculum with district, state, and national standards
- Reflective teaching process
- Assessing learning needs for groups and individuals
- Classroom management
- Sequential instruction planning
- Effective implementation of instruction
- Assessing student learning
II. Health Education Content (32 questions)
The questions in this category are grouped into three areas:
Health Promotion and Prevention of Injury and Disease
- Nutrition
- Disease etiology
- Disease treatment and management
- Stress management and coping skills
- Research on chronic and communicable disease prevention
- Personal hygiene
- Goal-setting and decision-making for healthy lifestyles
- Effects of substance use and abuse
- Anatomy, physiology, and body system interrelationships
- Injury and sudden illness care
Healthy Relationships/Mental and Emotional Health
- Issues related to human sexuality
- Effects of decision-making on relationships
- Different types of abuse and violence
- Interpersonal communication
- Various mental and emotional health issues and prevention strategies
- Psychosocial development throughout life
- Healthy interaction skills
Community Health and Advocacy
- Health-related careers
- Environmental health issues
- Delivering appropriate health-promoting messages
- Consumer health issues
- Individual responsibility to society and the environment
- Factors of decision-making in health policies
- Valid sources of health information, services, and products
- Role of the health educator as a liaison between school staff, students, parents, and the community
- Community health agencies available for referral and assistance
- Health education advocacy opportunities
Physical Education
The questions in this category are grouped into two areas:
Core Concepts
- Exercise physiology
- Liability and legal considerations relating to equipment use, program selection, supervision, and class organization
- Principles of biomechanics and kinesiology
- Current and historical issues, trends, and developments in physical education
- Basic science terminology
- Basic science principles, concepts, and applications
- Effects of substance abuse on student health and performance
- Knowing the skills, rules, strategies, concepts, and techniques pertaining to movement activities
- Movement concepts
- Anatomy and physiology
- Exercise physiology
Student Growth and Development
- Developmental readiness to learn and refine movement patterns and motor skills
- Sequential and developmentally appropriate practice and learning opportunities
- Use of appropriate professional support services and resources
- Monitoring of individual and group performance
- Perception in motor development
IV. Management, Motivation, and Communication/Collaboration, Reflection, and Technology (29 questions)
The questions in this category are grouped into five areas:
Management and Motivation
- Organization and management of resources
- Effective behavior management plans
- Motivation of students to participate in physical activities
- Psychological and social factors that affect learning
- Promotion of positive relationships
- Establishing a productive learning environment
Communication
- Appropriate and specific feedback regarding student learning, skill acquisition, and motivation
- Respectful and considerate communication
- Effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills
- Communication of classroom management
Collaboration
- Integration of knowledge and skills from multiple subject areas
- Promotion of physical activity opportunities
- Educational issues that cross subject matter boundaries
- Support of student growth and well-being via the establishment of productive relationships
Reflection
- Development and growth as a reflective professional by using available resources
- Facilitation of change by using the reflective cycle
Technology
- Communication, instruction, networking, information presentation, recordkeeping, and resource allocation by using technologies
- Student learning activities that integrate information technology
V. Planning, Instruction, and Student Assessment (21 questions)
The questions in this category are grouped into two areas:
Planning and Instruction
- Enhancing skill development by providing feedback
- Teaching of physical activity, skillful movement, and fitness via a wide variety of means
- Current issues and laws affecting physical education activities
- Basing unit and lesson plans on national, state, and local standards
- Identification and implementation of appropriate goals and objectives
- Provision of feedback to enhance the development of skills
- Sequencing of motor skill activities to improve learning
- Safety and injury prevention guidelines
- Linking physical activities to learning experiences
Student Assessment
- Understanding fitness assessments
- Ways of interpreting assessment results
- Assessment of skill performance and fitness
- Types of assessments and methods
- Appropriate assessment techniques
- Student involvement in peer assessment and self-assessment
- Referral procedures
- Gathering and assessing student learning data
Check Out Mometrix's Praxis Health and Physical Education Study Guide!
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Registration
To register for the Praxis Health and Physical Education exam, you will need to create an online account with ETS. Through this account, you can submit an application to take the exam.
During registration, you will be asked to select the test-taking format (remote or at a testing center), test location (if you are taking the test at a testing center), and test date. You will also need to pay the $130 exam fee.
Test Day
In-person Testing
On the day of your testing appointment, you should arrive at the testing center 30 minutes before the scheduled time (this will allow time for the check-in process). When you arrive, you will be asked to show a valid, government-issued photo ID.
Personal items will not be allowed into the testing room, so it is best to leave things like bags, notebooks, and food items at home or in your car.
Once the check-in process is complete and you are fully approved for testing, you will be led to the testing station and receive a piece of scratch paper for notes.
Remote Testing
To take the exam remotely, you must use a laptop or desktop computer. Tablets, smartphones, or any other touchscreen devices are prohibited. You will also need a webcam, speakers, and a microphone, whether internal or external.
Before exam day, you will need to download and install the ETS Secure Test Browser on your computer.
When you check in, the remote proctor will ask you to show proof of identification and to move your webcam around the room so that your testing area can be observed.
Once the proctor has approved your testing area, they will walk you through the testing process and begin your exam.
How the Exam is Scored
Your score is based on your raw score, which is the number of questions you answer correctly. The raw score is then converted to a scaled score. The scaled score you need to obtain differs slightly depending on which state you take the exam in, but the passing score is generally 160.
Check Out Mometrix's Praxis Health and Physical Education Flashcards!
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Study Tips
Start with a Practice Test
Before creating your study schedule, take a Praxis practice test to establish a starting point. You don't need to wait until you have reviewed every fitness principle, sport rule, teaching strategy, and assessment method. At this stage, the goal is to identify where your preparation time will have the greatest effect.
Review your results across the two main content categories:
- Health Education: Do you understand health behavior theories, instructional methods, decision-making models, substance use and abuse, mental health, health advocacy, nutrition, and physical fitness?
- Physical Education: Do you understand motor learning, kinesiology, liability, sport skills, and biomechanics? Are you able to manage equipment, reflect on instructional feedback, assess skill performance, and interpret assessment results?
Identifying those specific weaknesses will show you where to devote more attention during your study time.
Review Difficult Questions
After each practice session, review every question you answered incorrectly AND every question you guessed on or answered with low confidence.
For each difficult question, determine which of the following caused the problem:
- You didn't know the underlying health or physical education concept.
- You misunderstood a biomechanical relationship.
- You knew the sport skill but selected an inappropriate teaching progression.
- You overlooked the student's developmental level.
- You chose an activity that was too difficult or too easy.
- You selected an effective activity but overlooked safety.
- You confused formative with summative assessment.
- You chose a health message that was scientifically accurate but developmentally inappropriate.
- You overlooked an individual student's needs.
- You selected a disciplinary response when better class organization could have prevented the problem.
- You knew the content but failed to answer from the perspective of a K–12 health and physical education teacher
Then, outline a specific plan for improvement based on what you discovered. In other words, don't just say, “I need to study exercise science.” Note that you need to practice applying FITT to different fitness goals and predicting acute vs. long-term responses to exercise.
Similarly, replace “study health” with something specific, such as reviewing communicable versus noncommunicable disease.
Utilize Answer Explanations
Answer explanations are an underutilized studying resource. To take full advantage of them, read the explanation for every question you found difficult, including questions you answered correctly.
For each one, make sure you can confidently explain:
- Why the correct answer is correct
- Why each incorrect option is less appropriate
- Which of the five ETS content categories is being tested
- What information in the question controls the answer
- What a health or physical education teacher should do
- How the same principle could appear with students of a different age or ability
If the question involves muscular fitness, be sure to distinguish muscular strength, muscular endurance, and power.
For biomechanics questions, ask yourself what forces are acting, where the center of gravity is, ho torque affects rotation, and how the movement can become more efficient.
Study Physical Education as Movement + Development + Instruction
Don't study the Physical Education portion as a collection of sport rules.
When studying a motor skill, use this framework:
Skill → Biomechanics → Development → Practice → Feedback → Assessment
For example, suppose you are studying an overhand throw. Don't stop at just knowing the movement pattern. Ask yourself what an immature version looks like, which body parts contribute the force production, what developmental progression is appropriate, which practice task should come next, and how you would assess improvement.
FAQs
How many questions are on the Praxis Health and Physical Education (5857) exam?
There are 130 selected-response questions on the exam.
How long is the Praxis Health and Physical Education (5857) exam?
The time limit for the exam is 130 minutes (2 hours and 10 minutes).
What is the passing score for the Praxis Health and Physical Education (5857) exam?
The passing score differs depending on which state you take the exam in. In most states, to pass the exam, you must achieve a minimum scaled score of 160.
How much does the Praxis Health and Physical Education (5857) exam cost?
The examination fee is $130.
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